The Cat is out of the Bag--We head to Cat Island!

 Is it seriously April already? Anyway...

We left the Jumentos and hit Long Island for a few days on our way to Cat Island. We love Hillside Grocery and Tiny's Hurricane Hole in Thompson Bay/Salt Pond and had a few nights there before heading north. 

Tiny's--great good and fun! As weird as it sounds, I crave the brussel sprouts from here.

We were expecting strong winds from the east and lucked out with a VERY private, peaceful anchorage off the private Hog Cay (a different Hog Cay than the one we were at in the Raggeds!) for a night. We had some great snorkeling on the reefs (no dinner!) and enough solitude to properly shower on deck! The only downside was the discovery that a fish spike (likely from my hogfish) had pierced the starboard tube of our less-than-a-year-old dinghy! Gorilla tape and frequent pumping works for now, but a good patch is in our future.

It's blowing 20+ knots, but our anchorage is calm! But, ugh...the dinghy! Boo!

The next day we went "around the corner" for protection from SE winds in the south corner of Calabash Bay. The adults went for a little snorkeling/exercise and found even more corals we hadn't explored before here and a team spearing/wrestling match resulted in a very nice lobster! It was a nice way to close out our time on Long Island!

Frank's monster lobster that I helped secure. It was a sunrise departure from Calabash.

As we departed for Cat Island with winds and big swells on our stern, the forecast showed two days of NW and N winds. We decided to take a gamble and anchor at Port Howe on the south shore of Cat Island. A new place! It is an anchorage lined with a large reef that is notoriously reviewed as "rolly," but we thought we might luck out with the forecast. We entered the cut in the reef and anchored easily, but with winds and swell out of the SE on the first day we had a dreadfully rolly, sleepless night. It got better as the days went by, but surge definitely makes it in there. But it was also definitely protected from the north wind. The real treat? Super reefs to snorkel! And Frank brought in a beast of a lobster that we decided would be the last of the season for us. It's been a great run!

The entrance went really well considering we had waves and wind pushing us in. Great job, Skipper!

Frank's end-of-season mega lobster and a stunning sunset!

As winds shifted to the NE, we left Port Howe for the familiar waters of "the bight." We hit New Bight to visit the Hermitage, do laundry at Gilly's (SUPER nice laundromat!), get baked goodies and fresh eggs and tomatoes at Olive's Bakery, and find good food and cruiser camaraderie down at the Fish Fry. By the way, if you've never tried the island favorite "Chicken in da Bag," Gippy's is a great place to try it and they have ice cream, too! Next we shifted to Old Bight to wait out some strong SE winds before continuing our journey north, first to Bennett's Harbor then onward to Eleuthea. 

We had a nice walk up to the Hermitage.

The "parking lot" at New Bight gave us easy access to Gilly's Laundry, Gippy's for "Chicken in da Bag," and Olive's Bakery for those delicious Cat Island flour cakes. Some water is more green here, but some anchorages are this stunning blue!

Cat Island is really great and we are happy to see that more cruisers are making it a stop on their journey through the Bahamas. It's the home of Rake & Scrape and some really sweet folks. And while there is pretty much no where to hide from westerlies (unless you try Port Howe), you can anchor almost all up and down the west coast. Even with it's increasing popularity there was still plenty of room to spread out and skinny dip respectfully! And while we could happily spend more time with the lovely people here, more adventure awaits us to the north!

~Jo, 1st Mate

A quick trip up the Raggeds and Jumentos Cays

Before we left Ragged Island and Hog Cay we looked at weather and saw that we had a few solid good days before the next big blow out of the NE. While we could have weathered the blow in the Raggeds, we decided to spend the next few days exploring, then take advantage of a well-timed high tide and head back to Long Island before the blow. While we don't have a "schedule," we do have some other new-to-us places that we'd like to see this year and heading that way gives us more time and flexibility.

So from Hog Cay we went to Raccoon Cay, a short hop that gave us plenty of time to snorkel and hunt. I got my first hogfish and it was a beauty (not to mention, really delicious!). And we also grabbed a few conch for a fresh conch salad. 

Another epic day of sailing to a beautiful anchorage, and I got this awesome fish!

The next day we went just a little further to Buena Vista Cay. Trent wanted a "down" day so Frank and I went off to hunt/snorkel and came back with four lobsters (F-2, J-2) and a big snapper (F). We enjoyed some really beautiful reefs in the area and since it was St. Patrick's Day, we had lots of Guinness and some beer-battered fish  and potatoes to celebrate my Irish guys!

Sunrise at Racoon Cay before a great day in the water.

Our next move was to Flamingo Cay. We spent our first afternoon exploring via dinghy and foot. We dinghied into the cave at low tide and Trent "rescued" a sun shirt that was on the ocean floor. It fits me, but I'm reaching out to see if any friends claim it! We also hiked ashore, but that experience got its own write-up (see Tragedy in Paradise). The next day we found some nice reefs and came home with two lobsters (T-1, J-1) and a grouper (T). We got a weather update via satellite with our inReach (weather and chats with Katreina were about all we missed in the land of "no service") and saw that the forecast we had seen a few days earlier was still holding so we continued north that day.

For a while we were all alone at Flamingo Cay! We explored a cave and a wreck before heading ashore,

It was just a short hop from there to Water Cay, our staging point for the return to civilization. The short sail up had actually been quite squally and may have prompted one crew member to declare "I hate living on a boat!" so we had a pretty chill afternoon. I gave the Skipper a haircut, we made water, and we all read and relaxed before a nice lobster dinner and movie night. We were planning to depart before sunrise, so it was an early night for all hands!

Our "barber shop" has some nice views!

We definitely liked our first trip to this area and look forward to returning in future cruising seasons. I think we would shoot for a little later in the season to reduce the threat of fronts and we would DEFINITELY stay longer. As there is no cell service until you reach Hog Cay (non-boosted) and there aren't services like fuel and water, this maybe isn't the place to go if you need to work and need services, but for us it was just right!

~Jo, 1st Mate

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

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

Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park Revisited

We lucked into good weather for a slow roll through the Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park (ECLSP) this year and it was such a treat! We revisited old favorites, stopped at two new spots, and met some new cruiser friends. The ECLSP was established in 1958 and covers 112,640 acres of land and sea in the central Exumas. It is managed by the Bahamas National Trust (basically their National Park Service) and is patrolled by park wardens and Royal Bahamian Defense Force officers. The park is a no-take zone and as such boasts some pretty phenomenal marine life. The park does charge nominal fees for mooring or anchoring within the boundaries, but for our vessel it's not much--$30 for a mooring or $20 to anchor. You may be wondering why we would ever take a mooring then! Well, in some spots there just isn't any anchoring space or anchoring allowed so moorings are the only option. Moorings are also used in areas where the bottom ecology is fragile and anchoring would damage the environment. So if there are moorings, we use them as we feel it's a relatively small price to pay. Fees can be paid online (IF you can get cell signal!), by cash via pay boxes on various cays, or via cash to the Warden who comes around via boat. The park doesn't have fuel, water, trash service, or stores (except for the small gift shop at the headquarters on Warderick Wells Cay), so spending time there requires one to be self-sufficient and well-provisioned. But it does have an extensive network of trails on several cays, pristine beaches, and glorious reefs! Our journey this year took us to...

Shroud Cay

A dinghy ride through a mangrove creek, accompanied by turtles and baby nurse sharks, lands you at a powdery soft beach on the eastern shore. We grabbed a mooring just outside of a little lagoon that doesn't get many visitors (making it one of my favorite spots there!). The north entrance to the creek is pretty deep and large yacht tenders can get in (and set up their music and tents, unfortunately), but the southern path out is so shallow that high tide is helpful! There is also a southern mangrove path on the island that doesn't allow motorized vessels...it's on my "to do" list for a future visit!

Shroud Cay is a fabulous place to enjoy those "Exuma Blues!"

Hawksbill Cay

This was a new stop for us this year! We tried to edge our way into the northern moorings, but needed about another foot of water to make it work so we hit the southern moorings instead. Reviews noted uncomfortable surge there, but conditions were good and we had a very cozy night! We were also the only ones there until late in the afternoon. We took a dinghy ride to a northern cove and hiked up to the Russell Ruins, home to Loyalist settlers in 1785. From there we hiked out the eastern beach. While it was littered with plastic trash as it is a remote windward beach, it was beautiful. Trent and I swam while Frank explored the shoreline and found us a great piece of driftwood for our boat sign (more on that at the next stop!). On the way back to the boat we tucked into a mangrove lagoon right by our mooring. It was beautiful! And the entrance framed our boat perfectly. Conditions were so nice that I swam from the lagoon back out to the boat. While several tour boats stopped at the beaches near the mooring fields, it wasn't crazy and they were all gone well before sunset. Really, really enjoyed this new stop!

Hawksbill Cay was so beautiful and peaceful!

Warderick Wells Cay (ECLSP Headquarters)

While at Hawksbill we spoke to the Warden who told us all the Warderick Wells moorings were booked up until after the new year. We still headed that way on New Year's Eve and radioed the office to try our luck and we were lucky! Not only was one available, but several were and we were assigned the only mooring we've ever been on there, good 'ole number 8! As we entered there was tons of people traffic in the narrow channel! Paddleboarders, swimmers, snorkelers...it's a very tight channel with strong current so it was a little exciting for a few minutes, but we finally made it to our mooring and tied up with ease. Almost immediately I swam over to the shore because it is so close at low tide! We spent two nights here which allowed us to meet several new cruiser friends, reconnect with a crew we had met briefly in Great Harbour Cay, celebrate NYE on the beach with friends (and tons of biting bugs!), go snorkeling a few times, and take a few hikes around the island. We were the first folks to hike Boo Boo Hill in 2022 and left our new boat sign there, then I managed to get Frank to hike up to watch the sun rise the next day. It's really a great spot to enjoy the land and the sea!

Warderick Wells Cay is always a hit with our crew. So much to do and it's inevitable that you'll meet other cruisers in the mooring field! We loved ringing in the new year with new friends!

Hog Cay/Pirate's Lair

This was another new stop for us and it very quickly went towards the top of our "favorite places in ECLSP" and "favorite places in the Bahamas" lists. With four moorings on the southeast end of Warderwick Wells between WW and Hog Cay, the Pirate's Lair is by design peaceful. It can also be a bear to get into if conditions aren't right. While it is well protected, the current rips through so wind, swell, and current direction all need to be considered when making the approach. Knowing there are limited moorings we went there with time to execute a backup plan if it was full. Lucky for us, it was completely empty as we entered and I immediately felt like I was in "Treasure Island!" We grabbed a mooring, only to realize it was the "big boat (>100')" mooring, so we cast off and moved in further. A little later we were joined by friends on S/V Echo. It was just the two of us for a night, just us and M/Y Magical Days for another night, and on the final night, we were alone. There are seemingly endless trails (thick with poison wood!) on the south end of Warderick Wells Cay that you can easily get to with a one-minute dinghy ride that will take you to numerous beaches, the Pirate's Lair, and plantation ruins if you really are up for a long hike. And you can hike the spine of Hog Cay, too...check out Active Captain for a fun bit of treasure while you're here! There is a small yet beautiful reef right along the shore of WW and just outside of that is a fantastic field of stromatolites (we only have one crew member that is always in awe of stromatolites, but that's ok!). Because of the stromatolites you really can't anchor in this area--if it's full, move along! I didn't want to leave...everything about this place just worked for me. I could swim at slack tide, hike and hit the beach, see my reef fishy friends, and ogle stromatolites to my heart's content. I really hope the weather cooperates the next time we are passing through!

Pirate's Lair was AMAZING! Can't wait to return!

Cambridge Cay

This was an old favorite for us from our first year of cruising. From the moorings at Cambridge Cay you can do a little hiking and hit Rocky Dundas, the Sea Aquarium, a sunken plane, Tom's Elkhorn Garden, and Rachel's Bubblebath via dinghy. The elk horn coral were in pretty rough shape compared to our last visit, and we skipped the bubblebath because conditions were so calm it wouldn't have been "bubbling," but otherwise enjoyed revisiting some spots. The vibe was different this year...there was some generator/noise drama between two boats...but we still like it here. I think after the serenity of Pirate's Lair it was tough to compete! We also reconnected with some boats we'd met along the way and had some friends over for dinner as their stove was awaiting parts and I was happy to cook up a huge vat of curry for some fellow vegetarians! They spoiled us with gifts and wine in return, but the real treat was sharing the time and stories with them. It's one of the best parts of this lifestyle!

We love the snorkeling sites around Cambridge Cay (and the cell connectivity to catch up on weather reports!).

While there are still more sites we want to get to in the park someday, we decided to move along and continue our journey south. It was definitely our best visit to the park yet!

Trail and site maps are still available at the headquarters on Warderick Wells Cay.

For videos from our time in ECLSP head over to my Instagram account, @mariner99.

~Jo, 1st Mate

Let's talk CONCH

We have mentioned it before and talked about hunting for conch, but what the heck is it and how do we eat it? 

The conch we are after in the Bahamas are Queen Conch, "Stombus gigas," a species of edible sea snail with beautiful shells. We tend to find them near seagrass beds in pretty shallow water (less than 20') on the banks. We aren't looking for pretty pink shells out there, but rather shells with a bit of growth on them. But what is the most important thing we are looking for? Shells with a well-formed flaring lip are the only ones that are legal for harvest as these are "mature" conch. It doesn't necessarily matter if the shell is big as long as the lip is well-formed with a clear flare. That may sound a little vague, but once you start looking at a lot of conch it gets pretty easy to decide if a conch is adolescent or mature. Conch have been overfished in recent years so we are also very conscious about only collecting what we will eat right now--we don't collect a ton and freeze them. 

A mature Queen Conch

Getting them is as easy as picking them up! No special gear needed! In face, it's actually illegal to get the conch using SCUBA gear. Getting them out of the shell is the slightly harder part, but with practice it gets easier. Frank is actually pretty darn fast with extracting them and cleaning them now and happily shows fellow cruisers how it's done. The tools--a rock hammer/hammer/hatchet, a butter knife, and a sharp knife. The hammer (claw end if it's a regular hammer) is used to make a hole between the 2nd and 3rd row of spires from the top of the shell. Then you slide the butter knife into the hole, scraping down the inner wall of the shell to separate the muscle from the shell. After that, you just grab the conch's foot and yank it out! Ok, there's a bit of suction to overcome so it's not quite that easy, but it's not too hard! Then you use the sharp knife to take off the head, guts, foot...anything that's not white meat. And ta-da, you're ready to eat conch!

Collecting conch on a shallow skin dive.

Cleaning the conch! The boys have the extraction process well in hand. The bottom pic is the conch bodies before they are cleaned.

But how does one eat conch? The most popular preparations for our crew are conch fritters, conch salad, and cracked conch. I haven't made conch fritters, but that's just because I'm not a huge fan of deep frying anything so I save those for when we are out to eat on one of the islands. But I do make conch salad and cracked conch!

Conch salad is basically conch ceviche. Our dear friend Ronnie Brown, owner of Brown's Garden on Great Harbour Cay, was happy to share his preparation with us! The basic conch salad is conch, salt, white onion, green bell pepper, tomatoes, sour orange, lime, and a bit of goat pepper for some heat. Basically the conch and veggies get diced, it all gets salted and juiced, and after a minute or two your lunch is ready! It's bright, tasty, and healthy! Sometimes we don't have all the ingredients and have to go with something a little simpler, like scorch conch. Scorch conch is prepared with bigger pieces of conch (so the end result is a little chewier), onion, citrus juice, salt, and goat pepper if you're feeling spicy (go for it!). Simple and delicious!

Simple ingredients make a delightful salad! When we don't have goat pepper on hand, I use a few shakes of a Bahamian hot sauce (made with goat peppers) to spice it up.

Our youngest crew member isn't a huge conch salad fan so I'll also make cracked conch every now and then. Cracked conch is basically fried conch. The meat is tenderized a lot with a meat mallet, then breaded and fried. I use an egg dredge and a panko breading seasoned with salt, pepper, and cayenne, then just pan fry for a few minutes. I like to serve it with a dipping sauce of some sort (horseradish, mayo, ketchup, black pepper is good), too.

Tenderized conch gets dredged in egg and bread crumbs before getting fried to a golden brown.

So that's a little about one of our favorite Bahamian foods...hope you consider giving it a try!

~Jo, 1st Mate

Holidays 2021

How we celebrate the holidays has shifted almost annually for our family. For years it was dictated by duty stations, watch schedules, and even a cute kid intubated in the PICU. These days the weather and the moods of teens tend to shift how we celebrate! We have never been big on lavishly celebrating so this constant shift seems to suit us. 

This year we celebrated the season in the cerulean and turquoise waters of the northern Exuma Islands, surrounded by nature and dear friends! We spent the days swimming, snorkeling, gathering and eating conch, visiting with friends, watching Christmas movies, playing with our one big Christmas present (the new dinghy engine!), and talking to our girl between all of her Christmas parties in France. And perhaps my favorite…having our Christmas lights on at anchor! 

Good times in and around Highbourne Cay! Conch were plentiful and we were able to share with our friends!

Dusk on Christmas Eve.

Love "lights" season! We leave them on for a few hours each evening.

It was a truly enjoyable, salty, laughter-filled celebration!

Conception Island National Park

So we scrapped our plan to go to San Salvador. As we did a final check of the weather before losing cell phone coverage, we decided that the northerly swells that were forecast to arrive Sunday were no joke and would affect both San Salvador and Conception. And with our cruising season winding down and good friends heading to Conception, we altered course to join them! We now hold the record for the shortest goodbye...less than 6 hours until we saw them all again! 

A beautiful sail east!

We arrived around noon and quickly realized that while this island is sort of out of the way, it’s definitely popular! By nightfall there were 15 boats anchored here. But it is just stunning! The island has not had inhabitants in over 100 years and it’s believed that has contributed to its pristine nature. Sandy beaches, sandstone cliffs, mangroves, corals, birds...it’s all spectacular! Some corals are suffering from bleaching and algae growth, but much of what we saw was quite healthy. 

Our first excursion was to the mangrove creek. Only really accessible near high tide, our arrival was timed perfectly! On the ride there, long tail tropic birds circled overhead—they are so beautiful! Once we navigated the rough creek entrance (the swell was running right into it), we were treated to crystal clear, aquamarine waters and tons of turtles. It reminded us of the creek on Shroud Cay, but much shallower. 

A tropic bird—love the long tail!

The crystal clear mangrove creek.

Next we walked along the beach by our anchorage and found a trail across the island to another bay! We continued down the trail to a climbing rope that helped us get up a sandstone cliff for some more amazing views! 

Powdery sand, brilliant blues, and stunning views!

The day ended with sundowners on the beach with our friends and a movie night on S/V Kolohe for the group of six kids. Oh, and we discovered that if you raise the WiFi router up the mast in a dry bag, not only can you pull down an updated weather forecast, you can get dang good internet! So much for being disconnected for a few days! 

Watching the sun go down with our friends.

I started our second day in the park with a nice SUP paddle along the shore, scoping out trails and a shallow shipwreck. One kiddo was dealing with a stuffy nose so the rest of us went snorkeling and found some great shallow reefs south of the anchorage. The other kiddo got tired so Frank and I continued on to the north end of the island for some more underwater fun. The coral formations were huge, 15-20’ tall, and the animal life has definitely never been hunted—they all would come out to say hi! We saw large grouper and snapper, a massive conch, and a big lobster was just strutting across the sand without a care in the world! And Frank had two little fish swimming along with him for a solid 20 minutes—it was cute! When we returned to the boat we got a visit from “Mr. Lemon,” the resident lemon shark!

Awesome snorkeling!

It was one of our friend’s birthdays so while his family had sunset cake and cocktails on the beach, I stayed back to start dinner for the teens! The three teen boats decided to let all the kids hang out on our boat for dinner and Xbox while the adults gathered for dinner on another boat. I watch the sunset and made a ton of cheesy, unhealthy Mexican food—quesadillas and chips & queso—before heading to the adult party. We shared our remaining tuna with our friends and the sides came together for a perfect, Asian-inspired feast! We ate, drank, laughed, learned more about each other, and shared in the spirit of adventure that you find out here. It was such a great evening! 

A peaceful sunset before the party started.

And I’m so glad we all got together last night as at about 3am the northerly swell came into the anchorage. Waves started breaking on shore and between the swell coming in on our stern and the reflected waves coming back at us from shore, it was really getting uncomfortable. Boats started leaving at sun up and we decided to leave as well. It’s tough to leave such a beautiful place, especially after such a good time with friends, but I’m happy for the time we had and can’t wait to do it all again. 

Watching for coral heads as we get underway and watching our friends on Pleiades and Happy Together sail away.

We are headed for Cat Island...a new island for us! So far the sailing is great (broad reach, making 7 knots SOG) and while the swell is 6-10’ (higher when combined with wind waves), its long period makes it very bearable. If only all ocean passages could be this great!