The Sea Provides--Good Eats by Hand, Hook, and Spear

We have been in the Bahamas just about two and a half months and with our last week of good hunting, we realized that we've had lots of sea-provided meals in a short time, especially when we consider just how long we have stayed in national parks during that time! 

We don't eat a lot of reef fish due to ciguatera risks and personal tastes (not to mention that Nassau grouper season doesn't open until March), so we focus on lobster, conch, and pelagic fish. Here's how it's been going so far!

We didn't start hunting until we hit the Exumas this year. First up, conch in Highbourne Cay! We failed to keep count how many over our two days there as we gave some to friends, tossed some back, and ate a few.

A sweet spot of ours south of Highbourne gave us our first lobsters! (J-1; T-1)

After several weeks in the no-take Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, we found conch near Black Point Settlement.

Woo hoo! Big lobster haul on the sound side near Black Point. This was way more than we needed so we gave one to a friend as all three boats represented on the hunt worked the reef hard! (J-3)

A quick conch snack at Rudder Cay.

Two lobsters out at the Brigantine Cays (F-1; T-1) and a few (I think 2 or 3?) conch from near Lee Stocking Island.

Whoa, conch! We had another great haul near Lee Stocking.

After some time in George Town (we don't usually hunt there as there is just too much going on and way too many other hunting boaters all going to the closest legal reefs) we got crabby in Calabash Bay, Long Island!

Calabash bay continued to provide lobster! We got three on this hunt, with Trent scoring this monster! (F-1; T-2)

Fish on! We finally hooked up on some mahi mahi in the deep water between Long Island and Conception Island.

And back at Conception Island we found a few more big guys! (J-1; T-1)

Wait, did I say we don't hunt when we're in George Town? Well, conditions were decent today and Trent wanted to spear with a buddy of his...SCORE! We had a lovely lobster dinner! (T-1)

We will continue to hunt, especially in March as it's the last month of lobster season, but also the start of Nassau Grouper season! Can't wait to see how we do as the menu shifts more to fish!

~Jo, 1st Mate

Sea Change

Three weeks ago we mentioned that changes may be coming to our crew (What Is Next?) and a few days ago we came to a decision, one that surprisingly we all agree on after a bit of discussion. This summer we will return to the U.S. (as we had already planned), welcome Katreina home from France, welcome two of her French friends for a visit, then put the boat on the hard for some much-needed work and a break for boat and crew. 

Video chatting with Katreina 5 days ago to let her know that she won't be heading to a brick and mortar school quite yet!

And the crew will...TRAVEL! We have decided to do another year of homeschool while we do some less weather-dependent travel via air/land. How long? Depends on the crew! To where? Well, those votes are being tallied now...we will update this post when the results are in!

Keeping the votes anonymous!

UPDATE! All family members have casted their votes and...

¡NOS VAMOS A SUDAMÉRICA! ¿Donde exactamente? ¡No sabemos!

Captivating Conception Island

We left the hustle and bustle of George Town for the peace (and good hunting!) of Calabash Bay on Long Island. While the anchorage can be a little rolly, it was fine while we were there. Highlights: two spider crabs*, three lobsters*, and happy hour with friends at Cape Santa Maria Resort.

Happy Hour with S/V Makae. Sunsets here are amazing!

Calabash is also a natural departure point for those heading to Conception Island and we lucked into weather that would support a visit to one of our favorite, pristine stops! It didn’t hurt that we also picked up two mahi mahi* on the way. We were too early for the tropic birds on this visit, but we did have a great time exploring the island on foot and snorkeling the crystal clear waters. As the island is a national park and therefore a no-take zone, the sea life is abundant and not shy!

Such beauty on land...

...and in the sea!

This was also a great stop to say goodbye to our friends on S/V Makae as they continue their trip south. It’s been great connecting with someone from my little hometown in Illinois, meeting his beautiful wife, and talking all about boats and travel with them! 

We will miss you, Shanty and Kurt! Fair winds and following seas, S/V Makae!

We were super surprised by just how busy is was out there! We’ve never seen more than a dozen boats at Conception, but there were 20 our first night and 30 our second! Having debated heading to San Salvador, weather uncertainty had us heading back to Calabash. It was odd to be more “alone” when we returned to Long Island, sharing the southern anchorage with just one other boat (another Beneteau 393!). Hoping we will be able to visit Conception again this season when we start our northbound journey, but if we don’t I’m glad we at least made it out there once! (And San Salvador…I’ve still got my eye on you!)

* No awesome pics of our catches so that we don't confuse anyone about Conception Island--it is a NO TAKE ZONE. All of our catches were on Long Island...we'll share those details shortly!

Hatch green chilis from S/V Makae...what a great parting gift!

~Jo, 1st Mate

George Town (again!)

I was about to say that you can't cruise the Exumas without a visit to George Town, but as our friends Kurt and Shanty managed to avoid it I guess I need to change that statement! But if you've got kids on board, it is pretty much a must-stop. The large harbor can easily handle 300 anchored vessels and with two grocery stores, tons of restaurants, trash drop-off, free RO water, fuel, daily kid and adult events, and some of the most helpful, friendly fellow boaters you may ever find, it's a stop that meets many needs. I detailed most of it during out first year here--check it out at George Town--A Cruiser Mecca.

In the interest of doing "new" things this year, we did more hiking on Stocking Island, Frank went to more beach yoga classes, we tried a few new local eats, and we tried out the Masters Harbour anchorage for a frontal passage. I managed to do some sewing and "boat crafts" and Trent did, well, whatever a bunch of teenage boys do when they take off to an island together! 

We hiked the monument and saw our boat name in the pond below, and explored the windward side of Stocking Island several times. And I found more stromatolites!

Yoga at Chat & Chill and water aerobics right next to the boat at South Monument Beach kept us active Mon-Sat!

We discovered Chef Keva and her delicious baked goods! A call to 242-524-8016 was all it took to put in an order for pick-up the following day.

Anchoring at Masters Harbour for a front brought us to the abandoned development of Crab Cay Resort and Marina and some great local eats (via a "new" dinghy landing) at Fanny's.

During the front passage I made a cover for the fuel can and a cell phone sleeve for the dinghy seat thanks to a fabric-scrap-for-beer swap with another cruiser! On another windy day I made a mat from one of our old lines. Boaty crafty!

We FINALLY made it over to the Fish Fry Shacks! Such a great atmosphere and great food...can't wait to return!

Having filled up on fuel, food, and crowds for a bit, we departed for Long Island. Will we be back this season? Maybe!

Of course we hit the old favorite of all cruisers...Chat & Chill!

~Jo, 1st Mate

The Middle Exumas--mixing old favorites with new experiences

We continued our slow roll down the Exuma Cays, hitting a few old favorites with some new twists!

First up--Rudder Cay! We skipped this spot last year as a large flotilla of boats were there as we passed by, but this time we were almost all alone with only two other boats in the anchorage. We had a great afternoon of caving, visiting the mermaid, and snorkeling. While we didn't land any lobster on the reefs, we did manage to get some conch! 

The caves are about the only thing you can explore on this private cay owned by David Copperfield!

Copperfield's "Piano" sculpture is a family favorite! We have also had good luck conching here and the nearby reefs are very pretty!

As we headed out of Rudder Cut we (or rather, I) tried something new--the 1st Mate took the helm in a cut! These cuts can be treacherous, but with proper planning they really aren't bad. With winds out of the NNE and the tide flooding onto the bank, we had pretty calm conditions though did have to work against the current. This is NOT my usual role in the cuts and I'm happy that I finally did it! 

The Skipper looks totally relaxed with this swap! Hahahaha!

We fished our way down Exuma Sound and we realized we were going to be close on getting into Adderly Cut at Lee Stocking Island before the tide started to ebb. If we hit the cut at the ebb, we would have tide going against the wind which makes for dangerous conditions. Instead we opted to try Bock Cut for the first time and approached Lee Stocking from the bank side. It worked very well!

At Lee Stocking we decided to keep the "new" going and anchored in Williams Bay for the first time. The anchorage is deeper than charted, but there were many more boats than we have ever seen there and finding a spot that would leave us with a foot under the keel at high tide was actually a challenge! But we got settled in and spent a few days exploring the trails on the south end of the island and the real treat, checking out the Brigantine Cays for the first time! With our new dinghy set-up the 3nm run to the cays was quick and we did some shallow-water snorkeling and spearing that resulted in two lobsters! We also managed to find a lot of mature conch around Lee Stocking so the eating was good while we were there. 

We had fun hiking to Perry's Peak and along the trails on the south end of Lee Stocking. We even say a Bahamas Woodstar!

Lobster! Frank's is massive and Trent's is a full 2-inches bigger than the legal catch size! Both lost antenna during the hunt.

After a few days at Williams Bay we shifted to an anchorage right off the old research station. This year we did not go ashore at the station as there was definitely more activity from the owners and grounds keepers and we decided it's about time to start honoring their "no trespassing" signs. We watched from the boat as they did some landscaping and cleared filing cabinets from the science offices by the pier. 

So many conch! And I loved returning to the site of one of my college courses!

We did one more shift while in the area, heading back to east side of Norman's Pond Cay for a night so that we could slide without having to wait for high tide to get over a low spot near Lee Stocking. The holding around Norman's Pond Cay and Leaf Cay is variable and charted depths aren't super accurate off "the magenta line," but we poked around and set well for the night with great protection from NW winds. Really surprised at just how crowded all the anchorages around Lee Stocking were this time around, but as we are George Town-bound, we had better get used to lots of close company!

~Jo, 1st Mate