Mighty Hunters or Land of the Visually Impaired Seafood

January 26, 2006

Friday, January 20, 2006 - Joe's Sound, Long Island
By Tom

Rob was up and gone at first light. I think he was a little embarrassed at not being able to find his boat in the dark. In all fairness, he is anchored 2.5 miles a way and it was a really dark night.

The wind hasn't dropped below 20 knots for the last three days and it is forecasted to stay this way through Monday. The nice thing about where we are anchored is that the reefs lie east of us and are therefore protected by Long Island itself, so they do not get covered in large swells. All that to say we were back out hunting today.

The girls (Sandy and Amy) actually joined us today and our party of 5 did really well. We hunted for about 2 hours and ended up with 7 lobsters and 3 fish! A true seafood bonanza. Team Dream Catcher accounted for 2 lobsters and 2 fish, one of which was large enough to be lunch for the two of us.

I cleaned the lobsters and we had everyone over for a lobster and spaghetti Alfredo dinner around 6 pm. We hung out til about 8:30 and I am happy to report everyone was able to find their respective boats after dark.

The wind doesn't seem to be slacking off anytime soon, so I predict we will be here for several more days. Oh well, there are worse places to be stuck

Saturday, January 21, 2006 - Joe's Sound, Long Island
By Amy

Our feats of exploration have been ill-fated on this trip. After a morning spear fishing venture for the boys, Team Dream Catcher decided to trek to the Santa Maria resort about 4 miles from here. It was nice to get off the boat and stretch our legs, until we noticed the black cloud racing toward us. Less than a mile out, we got a ten-minute squall that soaked us. We both hoped that important items on the boat (like computers!) made out better, despite our open hatches.

The bar was nice, but our reconnaissance efforts revealed no television on which to watch tomorrow's Steelers game. We enjoyed lunch of pizza (for Thomas) and cracked conch (for me) and then trudged back home. No rain this time, but my feet protested mightily about being confined in shoes. I have a couple sore spots to show for it.

We lounged the rest of the afternoon on the boat and then the Anam Cara's came over for movie night around 6:30. The evening's film was Team American. For those of you who haven't seen it, let me just say I never thought I'd learn so much about sex from a bunch of puppets. It was damn funny and I laughed all the way to bed

Sunday, January 22, 2006 - Joe's Sound, Long Island
By Tom

Rob, Don and I again took to the water early this morning to look for dinner. We spent about 2 hours battling the wilde beasts and the final score was 2 lobsters and 4 fish. I can't believe how good the fishing has been here.

In the afternoon, Don and Rob came over and we listened to the Pittsburgh Steelers play. Sandy chose to remain with her dogs on board Anam Cara. She is not a sports fan.

After the game everyone returned to their boats and Amy and I and the little fur balls had a broiled grouper and rice dinner. Tonight's movie was a re-run of Casa Blanca and you didn't hear it from me, but Amy still cries at the end.

Monday, January 23, 2006 - Joe's Sound, Long Island
By Tom

The weather is showing signs of slacking off some. Maybe tomorrow we can actually leave Joe's and explore somewhere else.

We took the day off from fishing, so I am happy to report that no sea life was harmed in the making of this log. I spent most of the morning working on various boat projects with varying degrees of success. Around happy hour the Anam Cara's and Rob came over for a cocktail or two.

Our time traveling in company is coming to an end. I think Rob will move his boat tomorrow and stage for heading over to Rum Cay. The Anam Cara's are going to follow him, but I think they may be a day behind. As for ourselves, we are going to see a few other places on Long Island before we return to Georgetown to await the impending arrival of the Buddy Fred.

After happy hour we had a quiet meal of (you guessed it) fish and chips. Another day in the books.

Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - Calabash Bay, Long Island
By Tom

After an aborted attempt to get out of Joe's Sound yesterday, we were finally able to pass through the cut and escape back into open water. The cut here is spooky.

We sailed a whopping three miles today and dropped anchor off of the Cape Santa Maria Resort on the north end of Long Island. Rob moved here yesterday, but he got underway this morning before we arrived. The Anam Cara's moved up here as well and they are preparing for departure tomorrow bound for the Dominican Republic.

Team Dream Catcher (sans ferrets) went ashore to the resort club for a drink in the afternoon. Afterwards, we returned to the boat and donned our hunting attire. There were some good reefs just beyond the anchorage and I nailed three medium groupers (Tigers) in 30 minutes.

The Anam Cara's came over in the evening to say good bye. We'll miss having them to hang out with, but maybe we'll see them again later in the spring. Early to bed in a flat calm anchorage.

Wednesday, January 25, 2006 - Calabash Bay, Long Island
By Tom

Actually, Don and Sandy came by early this morning so that they could listen to the weather on the single side band. We said goodbye again and they upped anchor and headed out to sea.

We spent the rest of the morning playing with the ferrets and doing household kind of stuff. Around noon we suited up and were back out on the reef in search of dinner. We didn't see much for the first hour or so and we thought we had struck out when I found a hole with several large fish hiding in it.

I ended up having to dive on the hole like thirty times or so, but in the end I snagged the HUGE School Master and his buddy the equally huge Tiger Grouper both of which are displayed stage right. Both fish dressed out into four individual meal, or 8 meals total, which in turn means we will be having fish for the next 4 days. Sweeet.

As a side note, I have been thinking lately that my hunting skills are improving greatly. Amy insists that thats not the case, but rather we have just found the area where the visually impaired sea creatures hang out. Dammit! You be the judge.

Flush with success, we returned to the resort bar and had a cocktail. While there we met a nice couple off of another boat here in the anchorage. We hung out with them for a little while and they invited us over to their boat for another drink.

Later, back on board we had a fish taco dinner before settling in for the night

Thursday, January 26, 2006 - Volley Ball Beach, George Town, Exumas
By Tom

We awoke to find our anchorage extremely rolly. A nasty swell was coming from the open ocean and wrapping around the head of Long Island thus turning our anchoring spot into a large scale washing machine.

We upped anchor at first light and under head sail alone we flew downwind back to Georgetown. We arrived around noon and anchored right off the beach at the Chat and Chill. One of my volleyball buddies called on the radio and asked if I could come out and play. I missed volleyball while we were gone. :(

The rest of the afternoon was spent putting the boat to bed and re-entering the Georgetown lifestyle. Tomorrow we hope to get into town for groceries and stuff. We'll probably just hang out here until the Buddy Fred arrives and then look to go back Out Island.

More to follow, stay tuned.