2005.2 - Abaco, Bahamas

NORTHERN ABACO :: JULY 2-5, 2005

Following our 10 day trip through the Abacos in June, it was hard to settle back into normal life. Why not take advantage of the Bahamian customs provision that allows for a free cruising permit on a second visit within 90 days, and go back? This would be a shorter trip, more focused on fishing and drinking, and we would go with another couple this time. Top Cat was still tuned up to within an inch of her life and ready to go, and so were we.

JULY 2 - We left Fort Pierce Inlet with our crew of four (Jayne and I and guests Steve and Sue) at 8:00 am bound for Walkers Cay. Rather than the normal route crossing the Little Bahama Bank, we plan to run “over the top”, passing north of Matanilla Reef, a straight 120 miles of open ocean blue water. Conditions are pretty good, about 2-3’ quartering sea, and we are running 25 knots. About 30 miles out, the Northstar GPS chartplotter suddenly just shuts down and cannot be revived. Major bummer - the Northstar contains dozens of navigational and fishing waypoints we were counting on. We dig out the old-fashioned paper charts and pull some lat/lons off them, and punch them into the old Garmin handheld GPS that lives aboard as a backup. Not as slick as the chartplotter, but it will have to do.

The good old Garmin takes us straight to Matanilla Reef, where we anchor up for lunch and some snorkeling on this remote and pristine coral reef. After lunch it is another 20 miles or so to Walkers to clear customs, and then to Grand Cay to check into our room and slip. The room is really nice, so Jayne and I quickly abandon our plans to sleep on the boat. There is still time to hit the patch reefs, and we get a couple of nice hogfish and some conch, which we clean on the beach at Double Breasted Cay before returning to Grand for the night.

Matanilla Reef

Docks at Rosies, Grand Cay

JULY 3 - Today we plan to hit more patch reefs between Grand and Strangers Cay, but the visibility is disappointing (for the Bahamas anyway – anywhere else 40 foot visibility would be considered great) and there is a strong current. So we run 10 miles or so southeast and pass through Strangers Channel, one of the scattered large gaps in the barrier reef that allow safe passage between the ocean and the Little Bahama Bank.

We try some deep fishing along a 200-300 foot deep drop-off, and catch some strawberry groupers and lots of triggerfish. Fishing that deep is hard work, so we move into about 70 feet, and catch some more strawberries and triggers. The sun is high now and the water easier to read, so we work our way in right up against the front side of the barrier reef. The water is much clearer here and the current has slacked off, so the snorkeling is wonderful. After a while, a couple of impressive and aggressive sharks show up, and we decide it time to get out of the water for a while. It looks like I can see a narrow path through the otherwise impassable barrier reef here, and we are able to (carefully!) pick our way through back to the Little Bahama Bank side. This saves about a 15-mile run back down to Strangers Channel. We pick up about a dozen conch in the 20-foot deep grass behind the reef. Fried fish and peas and rice for dinner tonight, prepared on the boat to the accompaniment of rum drinks and a beautiful sunset.

Beach at Double Breasted Cay

A days catch of conch

JULY 4 - The room, the slip, and the $4 a gallon gas are eating a hole in our wallets, so we decide to anchor out for our last night before heading back tomorrow morning. While Jayne prepares an excellent potato and onion frittata, I get us settled up and checked out.

Today we go back through our secret little passage through the reef (marked by a couple of waypoints on the trusty Garmin – the Northstar is still FUBAR) and try fishing again in about 70 feet. We are using chum to attract yellowtail snapper (and the inevitable sharks). Steve takes one of the smaller yellowtails and sends it down to the bottom on a stout rod. About 10 minutes later, that rod gets a huge hit and after a short struggle we boat a 20 pound yellowfin grouper – AWESOME! Another small yellowtail goes down and we bring up an 8 pound nassau grouper. Then comes the topper of the day. Apparently attracted by the chum slick, a huge mutton snapper comes all the way up to the surface and hits a tiny bait on a light spinning rod rigged for 2-pound yellowtail snappers. Steve skillfully fights the beast on the whippy little rod, and we bring the 18 pound mutton to the gaff. It’s not even noon, and it’s already a banner fishing day!

We top it off with a couple of hogfish and some more conch from the patch reefs, and then head in to Double Breasted to clean fish and make dinner. We are cleaning conch with the boat beached on a very steep-sloped little beach that is usually a very popular hangout, but this afternoon it is deserted. I am sitting in a foot of water in the shade of the hull, shucking conch with a rum drink by my side, when I notice that a couple of the fish picking away at the conch scraps are bonefish! So the cap to our fishing day is Steve catching his first bonefish, a nice 6 pounder.

After another excellent dinner and world-class sunset, it starts to get a little buggy. Steve and Sue decide to sleep on the beach in a tent rather than brave the bugs on deck. We beach the boat and get the tent set up. I decide I will just keep the boat beached overnight in case Steve and Sue need anything, with a bow anchor on the beach and a stern anchor set to keep from drifting in or out. A little voice tells me this is not a good idea, but I can’t think of why it isn’t, so we wish America a happy birthday and go to bed.

Yellowfin grouper

Mutton snapper and Nassau grouper

Cleaning fish

Steve’s bonefish

JULY 5 - I have to start listening to my little voice. I get up at about 4 am to check on things, and as I roll out the berth, I get a nasty shock. THERE IS 6 INCHES OF WATER IN THE CABIN! Near as I can figure, when the tide went all the way out last night, the bows (we are a catamaran) up on the steep beach must have pushed the stern down, which let water sit in the motor wells, which leaked in through the steering and cable boots, which made the stern heavier, which let in more water….

The bilge pumps in the starboard hull took care of the water, but the pumps in the port hull didn’t come on for some reason, and the hull filled with a good bit of water. When the tide came up and the bows floated again, the bow down attitude caused by Jayne and I sleeping in the cabin up front made the water run forward, which lifted the stern (fortunately) but flooded the cabin. The port side pumps wouldn’t work on manual either, so it was 5 gallon bucket and hand bilge pump time. It was dawn before all hands had all the water out, systems checked, and everything back to normal. Bullet dodged, and lessons learned.

About 8:00, we set out on the return trip, already tired and still a little jumpy. We are headed the traditional route, across the Little Bahama Bank to White Sand Ridge, then across the Gulf Stream to Florida, about 130 miles. It is a beautiful day, the Bank is calm, White Sand Ridge is its usual startling shade of unearthly cobalt blue, and the Gulf Stream is glassy, with maybe a 2 foot swell. We find a huge floating log about 40 miles from Florida, and visions of dolphin dance in our heads. But no luck – I can’t believe structure like this is not crawling with dolphin. We enter Fort Pierce Inlet about 1:00, and are finished with the customs and immigration ordeal by 3:00. Then home to clean the boat and wrap and freeze all our fish. What an excellent trip!

Floating log in the Gulf Stream