Old Bight, Cat Island, Bahamas

 Sorry if you don't like fish....

More fishing on the southern end of Cat Island today.  We trolled the drop off to deep water with success! 

Mahi!

And a nice fat yellow fin tuna!

Vacuum packed and in the freezer - out of the water just a few minutes.

 

Seared tuna for supper - it was fabulous!

 

We have a bit of windy weather for the next 24 hours so we'll probably just stay put here in the nice protected anchorage.

Port Howe/Reef Harbor, Cat Island, Bahamas

 We had the fishing lines out as soon as we crossed into deep water north of Long Island.

It wasn't long before we had both reels buzzing with these two smallish skipjack tunas.

 

In order to keep things easily cleaned, I had gotten most everything out of the cockpit earlier for just this occasion.  The step down with drains is the perfect protected place to take care of the fish before we pop them into the fridge.

 

We trolled for hours with several bites.  Brought one more small tuna aboard but didn't catch the Mahi I was looking for!!    

The winds were light so we were able to anchor in the small reef-protected lagoon at the southern end of Cat Island.  It's just a bit rolly but manageable. 

As soon as we anchored we got busy cleaning and vacuum packing the fish.  Extra fresh as it was only out of the water about 5 minutes before it was in the refrigerator.

I saved out a nice portion to grill - made a quick marinade of soy sauce, sugar, garlic and ginger powder.  It was so, so tender and delicious!

We'll move over 22 miles to Old Bight, Cat Island tomorrow and will fish for that elusive Mahi on the way!

 

 

Calabash Bay, Long Island, Bahamas

 Thompson Bay is not a particularly pretty place, it's just a protected anchorage from the east winds.  Plus there's a grocery store and fuel available.

We took advantage of both as our fresh veggie stores were down to a head of cabbage and some onions.....

Off to empty garbage and walk over to the grocery.

 

It's nice that they no longer require masks as they did when we were here last year.

 

So this is what $46 dollars buys.....

 

Next we were off to the filling station to get some diesel.  

 

We were surprised that there were only 6 boats in Thompson Bay - this is usually a busy anchorage and we hear that nearby Georgetown has 100's of boats anchored.....

 

Since we're moving north now, we pulled the anchor mid-day to travel to Calabash Bay at the north end of the island.

 

The winds were light but we were determined to sail the entire 24 miles....the water was beautiful!

 

Since the winds were so light and there was no wave action, I wandered up on the top of the roof for a few photos.

 

Winds were so light that we got down to 2.2 knots at a couple of points.

But we sailed into the anchorage and dropped the hook for the evening.  We'll leave tomorrow morning, again in light winds.  Hopefully the day will bring us a Mahi Mahi or Wahoo as we approach the southern end of Cat Island!

Salt Pond Thompson Bay, Long Island, Bahamas

 We pulled anchor at Hog Cay for the last time this season....out the cut into a bit of wind-driven chop.  Winds were forecast to be out of the southeast and 15-18 knots and 3' waves.  Perfect for an outside ocean sail to Water Cay as a mid-stopping point bound for Long Island.  Turns out the forecast was a bit low on both the wind and waves, but we struggled thru it because we wanted to fish!

 

 

Unfortunately, all we caught was this barracuda - much too big to eat so he went back into the ocean.  

 

It was a rather bumpy ride...surfing up and down the waves - we saw almost 10 knots at one point.  Steady 8 knots, though, so a great sail!

 

As we approached Water Cay in the Jumentos, Duane suggested that we could just continue on to Long Island and arrive around 10PM - since there's nothing much to see at Water, just a stopover spot, we agreed to continue.

 

On the calmer inside banks, we passed Guy on Trouble heading back to the Raggeds for the final few days of lobster season.  Talked to him a bit on the VHF.

 

And this boat Orion II (which we don't know).  Other than those 2, we saw nary a soul for the day.

 

94 miles - pretty good for  14 hours especially since the last 4 hours were motoring into 17 knot winds and waves at 4.5 knots!

Somewhere approaching the Comer Channel the sun set....we have previous tracks thru the channel so was not a problem even though it was low tide.  Lowest depth sounding I saw was 6.9 feet so plenty for our 4' draft.

Dropped the hook at Thompson Bay at around 10:45PM in the pitch black using our radar and a spotlight to make sure we didn't crash into anyone!   Will reprovision and make a plan but time for sleep!

Hog Cay, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

 We did a morning trail clearing exercise....we worked from one end, Dee worked from the other and we met in between!!

 

Duane taking a break in the hot sun. (Thanks Dee for the photos)

 

Just lovely out here!!!

Pretty sunset and a green flash.

 

A bit of a milestone tomorrow as we'll leave the Raggeds and head north to the Jumentos as we start the slow trek back to NC!

Hog Cay, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

Spent a very lazy morning....but in the afternoon we did some trailblazing on the cliff behind the cruiser hut.  

Our view from the front of the boat now....so nice to have just a few boats in the anchorage.

We will likely be heading north in the next few days as there is a nice southerly wind period coming up....it's just hard to make the final - "let's go" - call.

Hog Cay, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

 I defrosted the fridge for the first time in several months.  We had installed new seals last summer - they are doing a fabulous job keeping condensation out of the compartments!  Last year I was defrosting every few weeks.  Big difference!

We made a tank of water all morning and then in the afternoon went for a nice trail walk, thinking about blazing a new small connector trail.

The anchorage at Hog Cay is quite deserted - just 3 boats here in the afternoon.  Very peaceful!

 

Meshugga had sailed in from Little Ragged in the morning.

Sojourn and Consort.

 

 

We went in to the cruiser hut in the late afternoon to catch up with Meshugga.  Nice chatting with them again!  Plus we all saw a bit of a green flash at sundown.

Hog Cay, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

 The sun finally appeared in the early afternoon!

First we delivered a book that I had borrowed from Cindy on Booke-End (Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult) to Amy on Starry Horizons.  

Then we set off for a nice long walk.

Starry Horizions from the cliff.

 

We had a few "creepy" items to hang on the the Creepy Doll Trail....

 

With all the stormy weather lately, the seas are really churned up.

 

Walking back along one of the rock walls on the trail.

 

Back to the dinghy....

 

And back to Sojourn - ended up being a beautiful day!

Hog Cay, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

 It was one of those rare, all day rains....so not much to show....

Duane went ashore when some other cruisers were doing a trash fire to get rid of a few bags....I stayed on the boat and did some paperwork.  Hopefully there will be a little sunshine tomorrow as our batteries will need charged!

Hog Cay, Ragged Islands, Bahamas

 With light winds, we went out for a fabulous snorkel on the outside reefs early in the day at high tide.  The water is deeper outside and there really isn't interesting coral.  But there were lots of lobsters!!!  If you'll look closely at this photo, there is a lobster at the bottom.  It's actually a bit small so Duane is just waving his spear to get the lobster to be more careful and go hide!!!

 

It was a bit strange - so many lobsters!  Duane eventually said, enough!!  We gave some away....

Back at the boat for lunch - lobster wrap for me!!

 

After lunch, lobsters to prep and store.

 

Cracking all the legs and antenae.  Tedious!

 

Duane was studying the weather and we decided to pull anchor and head back to Hog Cay since the forecast would make Double Breasted at bit rolly overnight.  Wonderful downwind sail back to Hog.  The rain was moving away from us so not a problem.

 

Finished with the processing - a couple lobsters were frozen whole, the remainder chopped and ready for recipes!