All conched out

 Today started off slowly with things like laundry and other chores but eventually it grew into going out on the Sea of Abaco for conch. The instigator, Jon, decided it was time to get out again and suggested we do a conch hunt given low tide coicided with light winds.
 With the challenge laid down in optimal conditions there was nothing else to do but accept. With snorkel gear and fins off we went for Johnny's Cay. See the GPS data for our tracks on the day. Jonny's Cay is in between Elbow Cay and Man-O-War Cay on the eastern reef protecting the Sea of Abaco from the Atlantic.
 We had about 15k of wind from the east so initially we were concerned that this would be too much for a dink out towards the ocean but our concerns turned out to be unwarranted. We had calm seas that lended themselves to easy snorkeling for conch. Once out there inside the cay and the reefs, we used my Home Depot look bucket to spot conch fields. Home Depot? Yes. I took an orange Home Depot Bucket, cut the bottom out of it and glued a piece of Lexan into the bottom. You can see the bottom really well through something like this. Deb did a great job once we were over the grassy areas and in short order we had several conch suitable for keeping and dinner. Diving down 8 feet or so was easy enough leaving me plenty of bottom time to examine a couple of conch before returning to the surface. One has to make sure one is retrieving mature conch. Fortunately there were no other signs of life in the area like sharks or barracuda but then the bottom had no structure that supported fish they would be interested in.
 Once we had our catch we headed back to Sea Spray and proceeded to pull the conch out of their shells and skin them. At this point I will say, with support from others, the first person to hunt conch for food had to be very hungry. It's a royal PITA to skin and prep them for cooking. But nothing beats a good conch fritter. All we need is a frydaddy or something like that. Deb refused to bring one down here in the interest of keeping my blood at a decent level. Some people are too concerned about the ratio of hemoglobin to oil.

 But we got all of that done and the day settled down into other chores like getting a Tohatsu 18HP outboard to idle well. Ours is a 4 stroke and it has chuffed and coughed at idle since day one. Speaking with a mechanic at a boat show the secret was revealed. Tohatsu has this green goal of running their engines very lean. As a result they set the idle mixture at the factory and install a plug over the idle mixture screw. It's all well and good when it works but if you are always stalling and restarting the engine the wasted fuel has to be as bad as running it a bit richer. It certainly beats a two stroke. If you think I am wrong start both equivelent horsepower outboards in a garbage can full of water and observe the results. So based on the recomendation I drilled out the plug and reset the idle mixture.

 Moving on here we see what the full moom looks like to the East of Sea Spray. I wish this was a shot of Freedom basking in the moon light but Sanctuary will have to do.

 Mars is up there to the South West of the Moon and don't let anyone tell you it could be a jet. Some people might have a tough time telling the difference between a jet and Mars at night but it isn't me. I don't care what you pump into me, I will never, ever, make the mistake of confusing a jetliner and Mars at night.

A day on the dink

 I was wondering what photo would best describe the day we had today. This one trumps the best of the views we had on this outing. It's a picture from the Northern most Pelican Cay looking North towards Tiloo Cay. We were just about to the anchorage we had Freedom at earlier this week. It may not be obvious in the photo but heading South in the dinks we crossed over an opening to the Ocean to get here. That was nothing serious in that the opening presented us with some 2-3 foot rollers that merely brought us up and down for a few minutes. The Atlantic has calmed down from this past weekend.
 This particular cay is barren and devoid of development. There is an abandoned foundation of old and some cactus within it, but that's about it for humanity's accomplishments. These cays are low lying. When it gets bad out there the water rolls right over them. Witness the next photo.

 This photo was taken at the South end of Tiloo Cay. We have no idea what these timbers were a part of before they wound up here but it is obvious they were all piled up by the ocean during some bad weather.

 And that leads me into what it was like here last weekend. We had some aft deck encloure zippers that were pulling away from the enclosure material and I elected to break out the whipping twine and sew them up again. The material the enclosure is made of is relatively tough stuff so I taped a nickle to my thumb enabling me to push a needle through it. I spent about 3 hours repairing the damage from past encounters with strong winds. It was a good thing that I invested the time here because we were hit with a spate of winds amounting to a constant 30 knots of wind right into the affected areas. If I had not sewn these up the aft deck enclosure would have been a wreck.

 Anyway, back onto the trip topic, since we had packed a picnic lunch we dined on sandwiches made with coconut bread I backed the night before. While eating lunch on the beach one of the dinks wound up being filled with water from a small swell that invaded our landing. After dragging it up to drain it, we hauled it out past the small breakers and set an anchor for it. That being resolved we finished up lunch and pondered our next move. Since there were no shells laying around on the beach we landed at and the Atlantic side was made up of extremely rough lunar like landscape we had nothing holding us here so we set out across the inlet North towards Tiloo Cay.

 With the wind out of the North now the ride was sloppy if we tried to go at a planing speed so we merely plodded along in about 1 foot of chop along the West bank of Tiloo. Once up in the lee of Lubbers Quaters Deb and I invited Mike and Valli up to Cracker P's for a beer but they had a chill in them and wanted no part of it.

 So we parted company with our walking and dink buddies and set out for Cracker P's. It was an easy ride over and in our minds it was worth it. We ordered up a couple of Goombay Smashes and a smoked fish apetiser and sat back to enjoy the view.  It doesn't get much better!

 This view is looking east from Cracker P's towards Tiloo cut. After enjoying a snack we set out in the dink for Sea Spray and called it a day.

 GPS data has been updated, and additional photoes will arrive soon.

Hello from Lynyard Cay. Even though we are back at Sea Spray I thought I would post this photo. At this point we are facing West at Lynyard Cay. The exact location would be something like N26 21.528 W76 59.155 if you want to plug that into Google Earth. We were fortunate to have some good people to travel with and one of the results was this great photo.
 Other than that I was able to get the recipe for the coconut cocktail. Ok, we did more than that like snorkeling etc..
 But to enjoy a coconut properly, husk it and shave off any excess fuzz so it does not make its way into the nut. Burly out one of the eyes until you are just about into the coconut water. Make sure the hole is just large enough to pass a funnel of your choice. When the whole is big enough push the funnel through the coconut meat opening up the inside. Fill it the rest of the way with Coconut Rum. This is not high powered stuff. Since there is quite a bit of coconut water inside the nut it gets watered down. Next put your finger over the hole after removing the funnel and shake vigorously.
 Leave it in a refrigerator for a couple of days, and then enjoy.

 I've also updated the photobucket at http://s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh40/danno53/Voyage0910/
 with some of the photos.

 It's been quite windy down here since we returned. Today it blew about 20 knots all day long today and there is no end in sight. In fact the wind is supposed to increase tomorrow.
 Here's a pretty good site that will give you an idea what the Atlantic is like just the other side of the berm to our stern.
 http://www.rockybay.com/webcam_page.htm
 The house is maybe a 1/4 mile North of where the marina is.

A little time on the hook

 Braving the shallow waters between Elbow Cay and Lubbers Quarters Cay we headed South for Lynyard Cay. A few of us here at Sea Spray were getting a bad case of cabin fever and since the weather was predicted to be good for the next couple of days we all headed out. Lynyard Cay is not much of anything besides a way station people choose to anchor at over night while traveling South to Eluthera and the Exumas. However nearby there is good snorkeling at Sandy Cay and there is also Pete's Pub. If the weather is right these are both an easy dink from the anchorage.
 The picture at the right was taken just off Lubbers Quarters Cay near Cracker P's while we were headed South. As you can see someone did not time the tide too well and they left some tracks in the bottom. There were several paths like this carved into the bottom in this area so as with us (see last year's blog on Pete's Pub) this area has made itself known to someone's propellors. We were lucky last year as the top few inches of the bottom is relatively loose.
 Moving further South into the Sea of Abaco headed for the Tiloo Bank. At our leisurely pace of about 8 knots we were treated to the view of some spotted rays, a bull shark chasing snapper right off our starboard side and a nurse shark laying on the bottom. If you look at the paths "Lynyard to Sea Spray" under the this link http://home.roadrunner.com/~danmapes/Voyage0910.kmz with Internet Explorer and Google Earth, you will see how we had to head South West to avoid the bank which is quite shallow. Some people thought the alternative path over that bank was acceptable but realised upon approach that the longer path around the bank was a better choice. Having been around this bank last year we elected to stick with our plan and take the deep draft route. By the way, that only supports about 10 feet of draft. After picking our way through the passage on the South end of the bank we found ourselves at the North Bar inlet in flat calm water. This was a welcome change from our first experience with this inlet that had us in 6-8 feet of confused seas.

 Shortly after we arrived at Lynyard Cay and dropped the hooks. After a few minutes and some lunch we all set off in the dinks for Sandy Cay. See the track called "Lynyard Cay Dink One". Sadly the Google Earth imagry for this area is lacking so you cannot get a good idea of what it was like. Suffice it to say the water was flat calm and clear with almost 80 to 100 feet of visability. We snorkeled over the reef and in the 20 feet of water to the east side of the reef by the cay.

 The diversity of the fish was a welcome treat for the eye. There was plenty of color! There were several kinds of Angels, Parrots, Tangs, Turtles, Rays, Grouper and etc.. Even a baracuda. But no more sharks thankfully.
 Back at the boats later on we had appetisers that turned out to be dinner they were so good. Afterwards we all crashed for the evening. In the morning we set off in the dinks again looking for a blue hole in the Bight of Old Robinson but struck out. However, we did manage to come across a pod of dolphins in shallow water. There were three of them and it was amazing how quickly they could move away from us with merely a couple of flips of their flukes. There were also more rays and turtles to be seen and quite frequently.

 Next we hit Pete's pub for a brew and some T shirts and thence back to the boats for lunch. After lunch we tried to snorkel Sandy Cay but by now the wind had kicked up from the South and given the long fetch leading up to the Cay we had about 2 feet of chop when we arrived so snorkeling was out for the uninitiated.
 Given the rough water we gave it up and went crashing back to the boats. In the morning we bailed out before the bad weather had a chance to set in. But we were not quite early enough. Crossing North Bar we had swells coming in from the east and about a foot of chop from the South on top of that making for a bit of roll on the way back to Tiloo Bank. Once around the bank things laid down well providing a smooth ride back to Sea Spray.

 All in all it was a pleasant trip with everyone having a good time snorkeling at Sandy Cay. In fact one of the crew mentioned this was what they came to the Bahamas for. Some of us might think his real reason was hacking up coconuts and drinking rum out of them but he was insistent that snorkeling was the real reason.
 I'm going to have to try out his recipe. We invited him to happy hour the other night but he proclaimed that he only needed a half an hour to be happy with one of those coconuts.

Tsunami! Updated...

 Yesterday we were relaxing aboard Freedom in the afternoon since we had taken a good walk up the beach to "On Da Beach" for lunch. "On Da Beach" is a little bit North of the mid point between Sea Spray and Hope Town on Elbow Cay. It must have been a good day in everyone's mind since we met several additional folks we know that decided to walk down from Hope Town. All in all there were six of us from the marina and six staying in Hope Town on moorings or at other marinas. We all had a good lunch at this great place over looking the Atlantic on a blue sky day.
 During the walk back I picked up a rather green coconut since we had used up all we had. Deb has become very adept at working with coconut. She's crusting all sorts of things with coconut now, and believe me her menu is expanding nicely along with my waist. It's a challenge to remain at an acceptable weight when someone is cooking like this.
 Since the rest of the folks here at Sea Spray had not seen the approach I use to open up a coconut, I demonstrated the technique for everyone. Instead of using a machete I use a regular claw hammer. No, I don't pound the heck out of it with the hammer end. I use the claw to perforate the husk in a line from end to end. The pointy end of the coconut can be penetrated the furthest but one has to be careful not to sink the claw into the fat end too far or you will open the nut inside prematurely. After a couple of perforation lines have been made I use the claw to pull the husk away. Then I work around the husk with additional lines from the stem end down to the fat end removing a bit of the husk at a time.
 Once the nut is fully removed I scrape it off with a knife to prevent fuzz from getting into the milk and fruit I remove later. There are three eyes at the pointy end and depending on the ripeness they will be soft or hard. Drill a hole in an eye and drain the milk into a cup. If you don't have a 19.2 volt drill with a 1/2 bit a sharp pocket knife can be used to whittle your way through the shell of the nut.
 Next with the clean empty nut in hand I crack it open by delivering a sharp rap around the circumfrence until it falls into two pieces. There's a bit of a knack to this but after a couple of coconuts it gets easy.

 So where was I with this Tsunami deal.. Ah yes, during the relaxation after all of this, Deb comes down into the salon and says we're under a Tsunami watch! So I put CNN on while Deb hunted around on the net. In a few minutes we found that the watch was canceled before it got too far due to the type of quake that had occured. Shortly afterwards we were again alerted by people who were moving around the docks knocking on boats letting people know about the watch. Fortunately we were able to assure everyone that we had learned the watch was canceled.

 A while ago I posted an entry about fishing just outside the cays in about 200-500 feet of water. The drop off is quite steeep which led me to the very coarse depth estimate. I really should have taken more of these videos because there were times we were getting soaked, and times the waves stacked up on us. This video was taken while we were headed back to Hope Town going South off Man O War Cay.

  Trolling for Wahoo

 Enjoy the ride for what it is. I know we did! One wahoo, but that was enough for us.

Watch the footing par duex

 Friday we went out to Tahiti Beach and walked around a bit. Usually there isn't much to find here and that turned out to be the case on Friday as well. It's not unexpected since this beach is on the Sea Of Abaco where there is little wave action to bring shells to shore. In addition most of the Sea of Abaco is grassy unlike the environment many of the more desireable shells live in.
 So on the way back we cut across some vacant property and that's where I located my find of the day. A nail. Right up through my flip flop and into the ball of my right foot. It's not exactly conducive to walking so we took Saturday off. Besides after playing chase the Gecko we were not really in the mood for a walk anyway.

 Today the tide was with us being low at 10:30 or so. With that, off we went for the Atlantic side here by Sea Spray. We walked North looking over the tidal pools and sandy spots. Deb found some really good shells today and considers today the best day of shelling she's had so far.

 She also found a new friend in this octopus. She just about put her foot down on it without realizing it was there. They camafloge themselves so well they are difficult to see unless you are looking for them. It was stuck just about high and dry perhaps foraging around for some food. However it was still quite active and able to seek the water below. When I stood in front of it for the photos it pulled itself into a wad on a rock and did its best to dissappear into the back ground. From five or six feet I was hard pressed to locate it again even though I knew exactly where it was.

 Those Octupus are crafty critters. It pulled itself in, changed the texture of its skin, alterred its color and blended in.

Dealing with the chill in the Bahamas

 Ok everyone is getting a bit testy about the notion that we find it cool down here these days. Instead of talking about how cold it is I'll talk about how we cope with this frigid weather. Last night was no exception with regard to the chill. In search of a warm climate several boats worth of us managed to meander up to the Abaco Inn here on Elbow Cay. They have a fireplace and a good menu but additionally and more importantly we played chase the Gecko at the bar last night.
 Wha?
 Yes, chase the Gecko. No this is not an insurance commercial it's a drinking game. At the Abaco Inn they have a drink special menu board behind the bar. It's artfully hand painted and probably 3 feet wide and 2 feet high. It's nailed into the wall and several high intensity lights illuminate it thus warming it up at night. The by product of being able to read the sign because of all the light is that some Geckos walk out on to it at odd angles unmaintainable by humans. They walk down from the ceiling beams, and come out of cracks in the wall to get onto the menu and walk around all over it looking for bugs.
 But-
 They stop on the house drink names painted on the sign occassionally and well that's where the game starts. Where ever the Gecko stops, that's what you order. The game didn't last too long last night since the Geckos (two of them last night) were all over the place. George was tending and he had his hands full. In fact he chased one of the Geckos off the sign because he was being worked to much.

 Because I suggested the Gecko game, I have been branded "An Enabler" and thus people are going to be less likely to take me seriously. At some point I'll see if we can get a photo of the Gecko's.

 Today the day after was not bad because I will step on a Gecko before I let it get the best of me. Instead since the cold wind was still blowing I elected to make some Rosemary, Oregano and Basil infused "french" bread while I worked on various aspects of the boat. The oven warmed up the salon nicely but it was killer when it came out of the oven. Without question one half a loaf dissappeared immediately. At least by not being deep fried conch fritters we stand to fair better on the scale.

Watch where you step

Walking around on the beach at low tide is always interesting down here. The bottom is worn down rock intermixed with some sandy areas and the rocks offer the aquatic life plenty of opportunities to nest in. Here we have a young spotted moray eel. http://www.beautifuloceans.com/coral-reef-creatures/caribbean-creatures/spotted-moray-(gymnothorax-moringa).html Note that they grow to reach a length of 6 feet. Given we've almost stepped on a few of these we are hoping to prevent them from converting one of our feet into extra length that gets them to that 6 foot adult length. This little guy was probably about 2 feet long and it was ready for action. When I approached it with the camera it turned and looked me right in the eye.

 The water we found it in was a tidal pool about 2 feet across and perhaps a foot deep. The rock he was hiding under was just under the surface and a good place to put a foot down in the process of walking along the shore.

 We also had a shot at a good sized lobster on the walk but the antenae broke off before I could get it out of the water and it got away. But we know where they hang out now and it's only a matter of time before I get one or step on a moray trying to.

 I will say this much about the moray. The picture doesn't do the crite justice. When the sun is on them they have brilliant greens, pinks and silver. Their colors really pop in the sunlight. If you click on the photo and enlarge it you will get about 20 percent of the brilliance because it was cloudy today.

 On another note, who turned off the heat! Tonite it's under 60 down here!

Happy New Years and a new location

So New Years Eve morning at about 7 a.m. Joe knocks on the side of the boat and says let's go fishing. Understand that Joe is the sort of person that hauls a 14 foot alligator into a 14 foot Whaler. Ok? Mentallity reset? The man owns the South Carolina record for alligators. They have to be tied to the boat before you can kill them. Think about that. He related the experience in part by saying the beast was munching on the transom of the boat before they had it under control.
In full knowledge of this I move down the dock and hop into his home built 26 foot center console with a single 250 Yanmar. It's a good riding boat that plows through slop well. Having heard of his exploits with the alligator I elected to wear jeans and sneakers thinking there would be hooks lines and all sorts of stuff to deal with.
I was wrong.
We beat out of South Man of War for about 10 minutes and realised that the Atlantic was more than we were at that time. Water was rolling in at us and we were starting to slam so we headed back in. I got my swim suit on, you know, what I should have worn originally, since we were next going for lobster and conch on the inside. Along the way we picked up another boater and headed into the Sea of Abaco looking for lobster.
I managed to spear a small one and locate an immature conch we threw back. Never mind the nurse sharks near the lobster habitats they move off when you look at them funny. After an hour of so of this the tide run out the inlets abated and out we went. We found ourselves in about 6-8 trolling along looking for wahoo. Since Joe knew the ropes he managed all the fishing gear while I drove. Steve hung out and drank beer. Ok, he wasn't alone we all did. At 10 am we were drinking beer in 6-8 trolling for wahoo.
It was great. While we only managed to pull one in it served to make a meal for all of us and our families. Deb and I had the bonus of a lobster for use as an appetizer.
So after a morning of fishing we moved on to the evening of celebrating the New Year. Hope Town does it right. It might be small but they have all they need and more to make New Years Eve all it should be. After a great dinner with some great folks we did a bar hop around the island and then returned to Hope Town for dancing and the fireworks. All said and done it was a terrific evening capped off by a slow dink ride across Hope Town Harbour to Freedom.
Happy New Year!

And now we are at Sea Spray further South on Elbow Cay. Shelling today at low tide I almost had another lobster in a tidal pool but wound up with a piece of antenna instead.

Apologies for the webcam. Because of the way they sell wifi down here I cannot tie it into the router and let it upload photos to the website. Some day I'll get a 12v powered pan tilt and zoom webcam I can put anywhere on the boat. Hopefully next year before we get over here.