What a wonderful Sunday… We sailed up the Southern coast of Cat Island, then decided to go to Staniel Cay the next day so we backtracked a bit. I wasn’t aware.. But this is Memorial Day weekend….. The big event on Cat Island this weekend is a sport fishing tournament. Maybe that’s why prices at Hawks Nest Marina are sky high… Maybe not. Anyway, as we were heading back to our staging point for Staniel….. I decided to do some fishing since we are not always in the out islands… (The fishing grounds) And what do you know, I caught a bigger Mahi than we caught yesterday on the Tartar Banks. This one was over 48″.
We now have more fresh meat on the boat than we brought from Texas, except we caught it instead of bought it. We are anchored for the night at the SW tip of Cat so Staniel is only 51.2 miles away. Linda got her shower and is down in the kitchen making something wonderful with the fresh Mahi….. This is what cruising is all about. As remote as the Exumas are……. You can’t catch fish like this (or we haven’t) so the early part of this 2014 trip has been quite special for us. I can’t wait to see what Linda brings up from the kitchen….. It smells marvelous.
Paul on sv Cool Cat told us about a sea glass beach close to Staniel, so that’s where we are headed tomorrow. Today I did some snorkeling, Linda was worried about sharks so she didn’t go, I saw many different varieties of fish and picked up some sand dollars under the boat In about 7′ of water. She’s anxious to get back inside the Exumas so she can “bob”under the boat without the fear of larger marine wildlife taking off a leg or two. Today when I snorkeled I took my spear to ward off any unwanted guests…… But there weren’t any so all was well.
We have heard that the best trolling speed for big game fish is 8 to 14 knots. Yesterday and today I caught Mahi at 4.5 to 5 knots. Today when I reeled the big one in, there were two other Mahi following him to the boat….. I have heard they congregate and often follow a caught fish to the boat, but this was my first time seeing that happen.
Well, Linda is clean and cooking something superb, I need to shower and change to be ready for the feast so I’m off….. Sea Yawl Later !! Rusty