Our refrigerated meat coffers are filled for a while anyway. We have been eating fresh tuna since we caught so many in Rum Cay, then today I caught a nice Mahi Mahi on our way to Cat Island. Actually I intentionally strayed off course to go over a rise in the ocean bottom where it goes from 9,000 feet deep to only 34 feet of water. About a mile from the hump I caught the 38″ Mahi. You know it’s a dolphin (Mahi) when he runs 90 miles per hour across the surface and jumps 6′ in the air. It was an exciting catch.
We just put down the anchor on the South end of Cat Island. Linda already has the first batch of Mahi marinating. It’s got basalmic vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, honey and garlic in it. I suspect out dinner will be sensational. I tell you what…… This country boy has been converted, I love tuna sushimi…. (Raw tuna) with wasabi and soy sauce. It’s pure protein and flavor!
We don’t normally cross paths with such good fishing grounds as you find here in the Bahamian outback. Today as we approached Cat there were 4 sport fishing boats trolling just outside the harbor. I felt like telling them to go 10 miles out to Tartar Banks…… The Mahi are running, but sport fishermen are not likely to take advice from a sailboat. They are a testosterone filled big money crowd. If your not a “self proclaimed superman” who acts like an 8th grader, you won’t fit into that crowd.
Sport fishermen are cave men with money…… Hunter gatherers of the sea, not for meat but to prove that middle age hasn’t claimed their testicles.
Enough about that…… It’s just that when the sport fishermen move into a marina like Chubbs in the Berry islands, it’s ruined for cruisers. Suddenly the marina is crude, expensive and has nothing to do with you if you don’t buy 1,000 gallons of diesel a day.
Anyway I have been finally catching fish! The deal is…. We have been where the fish are lately…. In the outback.
Cat Island is pretty big. It appears they have a supermarket and quite a few services. Dave Calvert lives here on Cat as well. Dave is my sail maker. I called him earlier, and expect to meet up with him before we go.. Find out what there is to see here on Cat. From here we will probably go to Staniel Cay, back inside the well protected and warm Exuma Chain. I suspect the water is just about warm enough….. It’s lost the cold shock value when you first enter that it had when we came thru when we arrived. My plan all along was to do the out islands, see new places then come back inside the comfortable Exumas and soak in the water under the boat.
In the out islands sharks are numerous so Linda hasn’t been interested in bobbing under the bow. I suspect next week we will be back home in the protection of the near Bahamas islands. Near meaning closer to the USA. I’m ready for some lazy.. Less wild and remote locations myself. The Exumas are not “crowded” but the frequency of cruisers that pass thru have pushed the wild creatures (sharks) out to more remote areas, like where we are now.
Linda is about to cook my catch of the day, I can hear the pots and pans rattling in the kitchen. Today while underway in short following seas, I fixed our ice machine. It’s been on the fritz for a while, it seems to be working OK for now. Today started out with speeds of about 5 knots…. Then bumped 6 for an hour then the wind all but stopped. If not for a following sea and 1.5 knots of current, we would have been sitting still. I waited for a couple hours before starting a motor, but we didn’t get wind until we were 4 miles out. We did get to sail in so that was nice.
Tomorrow we find out what there is to do on Cat Island. Until then…
Sea Yawl Later!! Rusty