Time for some dink action

 But first we had to put a patch on it. Somewhere along the line late last year the starboard tube started requiring a pump or two every other day or so. With additional use over here and cooler temperatures the requirement grew as the leak became more serious and after a cool night the tube was well on its way to being deflated. With the help of a neighbor we pulled it up onto the dock so I could work on it. At mid tide the lift was about 6 feet. After about an hour of looking around with soapy water a bubble finally appeared and it was a good thing because I was ready to give up at that point. It would seem that sitting in the sun on a warm dock increased the pressure in the tube enough to force the air out. With the patch installed just aft of the N in the registration the tubes were re inflated and since I had it out of the water the bottom was cleaned up and waxed. A review of the dink the next morning confirmed that the fix was good and we were ready for a ride. The wind was calm and the water was flat. Perfect for a run in the dink.

 Just about all the way across the Sea of Abaco heading for Snake Cay from Hope Town I happened to have the camera recording when a fish started tail walking in front of us.

 We were running at about 15mph at the time so perhaps that lends some insight into the capabilities of these fish. It's always fun to see these or flying fish take off away from the boat when we are underway. Some might say it's mean and we should not be in the water scaring them like this. We don't do it intentionally and we don't chase them. That this one happened to take flight in a direction aligned with ours is a coincidence. I look at it this way, through the extra exercise we encourage, maybe we are enabling a mutation that will be better able to defend itself. It might even become a man eater. Right.  

 Moving along, and some might say gratefully, we found ourselves on the West side of the Sea of Abaco by Snake Cay and with about half a receding tide under us we elected to go in behind the cays in the area to see what was in the shallows here. Some might recall the dink rides we did back in early 2009 at Hill's Creek near Treasure Cay and this area certainly held promise to be as good or better because of it's proximity to North Bar inlet. The notion being that perhaps more larger fish would be around spawning etc.. We did not happen upon any small sharks but the turtles were everywhere. Clicking on the photo will provide better detail of one shooting away from us. They may be slow on land but they can move very quickly in the water! In time with only a minor encounter with shallow water we made it down to the South end of Iron Cay but unfortunately we did not find the blue hole that is supposed to be in this area. Perhaps another day we will find it, and Wednesday could be that day since the winds are predicted to be light again. 

 Given this was a perfect day to be out and about in a dink on the way back we elected to pass by Hope Town and Freedom and head straight to the Atlantic Ocean and the reefs in between Elbow and Man O War cays. It was worth the extra time in the dink as the water was surprisingly clear and calm affording us a great view of the coral reef and fish living within it. 

 It's not often one gets the opportunity to hang around over a reef on the Atlantic in calm water like this! The GPS tracks have been updated and at some point I'll update this entry with a link to more photos when I get them loaded.     

 As always it's not a good day on the water unless we disturb Ray.