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LOG OF THE TOP CAT
ABACO, BAHAMAS
JULY 2-6, 2010
It has been a while since we crossed the mighty Gulf Stream and enjoyed the crystal clear waters and friendly people of the Bahamas. On this trip we are returning to a place we have been a couple of times before, the Walkers Cay/Grand Cay area in the extreme northern Bahamas. We have a large group going this time, some old Bahamas hands and some first-timers, and our center of operations will be Rosie's Place on Grand Cay. With us on Top Cat are our nephew Michael and friends Steve and Debbie. Buddy boating with us on Blue Heaven are Bret and Sandy and their friends Brian and Shirley. Joining us on their big beautiful new catamaran Kiwanda are Jim and Beth, both experienced cruisers and Bahamas veterans.
Top Cat Blue Heaven
Kiwanda, Flagship of the Fleet
July 2, 2010
We launched Top Cat at 0700 at the Stan Blum launch ramp in Ft. Pierce, with our usual massive overload of stuff on board. We met Blue Heaven in the inlet at 0715 and set course for White Sand Ridge on the Little Bahama Bank, 60 nautical miles away. Kiwanda left a little earlier from St. Lucie Inlet bound for the same point on a converging course. We skirted a big squall, but its northerly winds kicked up quite a sea around the west edge of the Gulf Stream. It moderated by the east edge, and we had 20 miles or so of nice glassy conditions and searched hard for birds, weedlines, or rips without success. Following our rendezvous with Kiwanda at White Sand Ridge, we all proceeded the 45 miles across the Little Bahama Bank to Walkers Cay to clear Bahamas Customs, and then just one last short hop over to Rosie's Place on Grand Cay. Top Cat and Blue Heaven crews got slips for the boats and two cottages (very nice little 2 bedroom places right by the docks for $140 a night) while Jim and Beth stayed aboard in luxury and comfort on the massive Kiwanda. It has been four years since we have been to Grand Cay, and the place seems larger and more prosperous now, still with the friendly out island ambiance we love. Rosie, a little greyer and a lot thinner, still rules the roost at his marina/resort/restaurant/fuel dock.
Headed to Rosie's Rosie's Place
July 3, 2010
This morning was gloomy and squally, and we weren't quite sure what was going to develop. We decided to stay close, and snorkel and fish the patch reefs northwest of Double Breasted Cay. Everyone piled on the two small boats, and we set out around 0900. It was tough to read water with the heavy overcast, but patch reefs are abundant and we found some good ones, spearing hogfish and collecting a two boat limit of conch (12). About noon we ran in to Double Breasted Cay to clean fish and conch, have lunch, and wait out some rainy weather. Michael caught an enormous barracuda on his new rod and reel, and the rest of the crew caught a buzz on Blue Heaven's voodoo juice cocktails. After the weather cleared up a bit it was back out to the patches, where we managed some more hogfish and a small Nassau Grouper, plenty for dinner. Excellent and very fresh panko encrusted fish was on the menu. At 10:00, there was a fireworks show for the benefit of the visiting gringos, and well into the wee hours there was a junkanoo band parade (which we mostly missed because we were beat from all that snorkeling).
July 4, 2010
Today was pretty much a replay of yesterday - gloomy and threatening weather in the morning, clearing in the afternoon. Our game plan was also the same - we all piled on the little boats and stuck fairly close to home base. We went through Strangers Channel out past the barrier reef to fish the drop-off. On the way out, we saw some birds working and put out some trolling lures. Before we had the second rod out, we were hooked up to a small tuna! A second big hit and fast run proved to be not another tuna, but a big barracuda. We fished the reef edge in about 60 feet with chum and cut bait, and managed a trophy schoolmaster snapper and a couple of big triggers. We got one huge hit we just could not stop, and he rocked us up and cut us off (I keep saying us here, but it was Michael who caught virtually all the fish). We bounced around the patch reefs some more on the way home and got more conch and a couple more fish, which we once again stopped off at Double Breasted Cay to clean. Another big feast that night featured Jayne's Balsamic Cracked Conch, with a whole host of delicious side dishes prepared by the individual crews and brought over to Kiwanda, which can accommodate eleven diners in air-conditioned comfort. After dinner we enjoyed huge celebration thrown by the locals complete with fireworks and a junkanoo band!
July 5, 2010
Today we wanted to try and expand our area of operations a bit, and given the continued unsettled weather, we decided to all (except for Brian and Shirley, who wanted to explore Grand Cay a bit) pile aboard Kiwanda, and head for Matanilla Reef. Matanilla is a large area of big coral heads and reef about 20 miles east of Walker's Cay. With a big area and less fishing pressure, we are hoping to see some bigger fish. The day is cloudy, with squalls on the horizon, but only a gentle swell out of the north as we pass through the barrier reef at Walker's Cay. We are making 16 knots and trolling high speed lures the whole way just in case of a wayward tuna or wahoo. About half way to Matanilla, we notice an area of shoals and reefs on the chart that look promising and decide to stop there instead. We first snuck in behind the big reef and anchored in eight feet of water for some "sissy snorkeling" (that is, without a spear in your hand and blood lust in your heart). There were some very pretty little patches and HUGE CONCH EVERYWHERE in six or eight feet of water. I guess the commercial conching boats just never thought to look here. We collected a boat limit of six in about 30 seconds. Then we went to the outside edge of the reef, where huge patches jut upward from 30-35 feet of water almost up the surface. There was current here, and sharks, but the reef was just beautiful. We did see lots of big fish, but we just weren't in good enough shape to chase after them up-current, dive down 30 feet, stalk them, spear them, and drag them out of their holes in one breath-hold dive. We did manage a nice yellowfin grouper and a big hogfish, but after that we were beat. We anchored just off the reef and put out chum and went rod and reel fishing for a while. We got a couple of monster hits that rocked us up, some sharks that cut us off, and Michael was again the star of the show with some big yellowtail snapper. About 4:00, we headed back to Grand Cay for cocktail hour and another nice meal, which featured Jim's marinated ribs on the grill.
July 6, 2010
It's Tuesday and time to go home - the crossing forecast sounds good with east winds at 10 knots and 2-3 foot seas, and it is the sunniest start of the day we have seen the whole trip as we get all settled up, packed up, and ready to go. We pull out of Rosie's at about 0830 and run across the Bank to White Sand Ridge with a following sea of 2-3 feet on the bank, but I am noticing the wind has a good bit of north in it, which you really, really, don't want for crossing the Gulf Stream - the wind against the north flowing current stacks up the seas, something we saw a little of on the way over. The stream was a quartering sea of 3-5 footers, very steep and choppy, a real E-ticket ride. Top Cat punched through the slop like the little bulldog she is, and Blue Heaven hung right with us the whole way, but we were all glad to see the condo buildings of Hutchinson Island appear over the horizon, and then the welcoming sea buoys of Ft. Pierce Inlet. Top Cat was on her trailer in our Vero Beach driveway by 4:30, getting a much needed washdown.
It was really fun doing a trip with such a diverse bunch - everyone had a great time and everyone contributed to the success of the voyage. I'm already looking at the calendar to see when we can go back.
Photographs by Jayne Gorham and Sandy Noe
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