Crew Log for January 6th, 2023
Trip Summary:
• Port Lucaya, Grand Bahama to Petit Cay, Berry Islands
• Trip Distance of 62.1 NM, Total Distance To-Date of 2,618.9NM
• Departed at 06h00, arrived at 16h30
It was an early start given we had over 60 nautical miles to reach our anchorage for the evening in the Berry Islands. The Berries are a small chain of 30 some islands and 100 smaller Cays, roughly halfway between Grand Bahama and New Providence (Nassau). It is a relatively unpopulated area of the Bahamas, with less than 1,000 people spread over 30 square miles. Most live in Great Harbour Cay.
The islands are a very popular sport fishing destination, in addition to snorkeling and scuba diving. Their remoteness limits who can visit, which also explains why the islands have remained undeveloped, adding to its appeal. Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Lines have private islands in the northern part of the Berry Island Chain that they use for land based tropical island activities (aka water parks).
We had originally planned to anchor overnight between the cruise ship islands (Little Stirrup and Great Stirrup Cay) but followed the suggestion of Bert on sv See You Soon and set course for Petit Cay a small Island off the eastern shore of Great Harbor Cay. It was exposed to the prevailing easterlies, but we would avoid the constant tender traffic and their wakes, to and from the cruise ships at Stirrup Cay, and it would give us an easier run the following day.
It was a beautiful morning. Warm, slight breeze with winds forecasted to fill in as the day went on. We shoved off the docks at the Grand Bahama Yacht Club at 06h00. We were travelling with sv Blue Jazz and sv See you Soon and were joined by 3 other Quebec boats, including sv Parblue, who were staying in a neighboring marina. mv Anodyne would be leaving later that morning and heading to Great Harbor.
We were sailing across the Northwest Providence Channel which is over 3,000 feet deep. The water colour in the channel is a brilliant blue and incredibly clear. We put out the fishing line with a cedar plug lure for the first time, having no idea what we were doing. As we waited I was reminded of our son Mark telling grandson Lane, it’s called “fishing”, not “catching”. We let out a bit more line and a few minutes later we heard the reel spinning. Something was on the line!
We were travelling along at “7 knots and change”, as Judy likes to say, on a beam reach when the fish hit. In hindsight, we likely should have tried to slow the boat down, but this was our first rodeo. What did we know? Judy struggled to reel the fish in, so I offered to take a turn. It was hard! However, when we saw the distinctive yellow and green flash, we knew we had hooked a Mahi Mahi. The stakes just went up as we worked hard to make sure we didn’t lose the fish.
Mahi Mahi, or Dolphinfish have compressed bodies and a single long-based dorsal fin extending from the head almost to the tail, and a prominent forehead. However, despite their name and appearance, they are not related to dolphins. Mahi Mahi have distinctive colours, golden on the sides, and bright blues and greens on the sides and back, with iridescent blue pectoral fins. Mahi gradually change colour out of the water, before fading to a muted yellow-grey upon death. Mahi are also called Dorado, Spanish for golden. It was also interesting to note that Mahi in Persian means fish, which made me wonder if Hossian was watching over us.
After what seemed to be a long time, I passed the rod back to Judy as she brought the fish along the side of the boat and I grabbed the line and got it into the cockpit. From watching hours of Youtube, I recalled the quickest and most humane way to kill the fish was to pour rum in it’s gills. Drowned in alcohol! As silly as sounds, it was remarkably quick and effective. To underscore how inexperienced we were, we pulled out the fileting instructions that came with the knife I gave Judy several Christmases ago. Judy went about fileting the fish in the cockpit as we continued to sail along at “7 knots and change”.
Despite being a novice and working in awkward, uncomfortable positions, Judy did a wonderful job of fileting the fish. We got enough fish for 2 or 3 meals. We were looking forward to having fresh Mahi Mahi for our first meal on anchor in the Bahamas. How cool is that!
We enjoyed the rest of the sail and recounted the experience of catching our first fish over and over as we sailed past the massive cruise ships off of Great Stirrup Cay and the commercial traffic on route to Nassau. As we approached Petit Cay, it became very apparent just how unsuitable this anchorage would be for this wind direction. We also noted that Daniel on Blue Jazz had sailed past the anchorage, adding to our confusion.
We radioed Blue Jazz who said he was going to another “anchorage” that Bert told him about. We saw that Bert and Louise were anchored behind Petit Cay, although we couldn’t raise them on the radio. We relayed See You Soon’s location to Daniel and were pleased to see him return to Petit Cay a short while later, rather than continue on. It was next to impossible to find shelter at Petit Cay which meant we were in for a rolly night, but we were still thrilled to be eating fresh fish for supper.
As we expected, it was a long rolly, uncomfortable night and we got very little sleep. You know the anchorage is rolly when you feel seasick on anchor!
Blue Jazz and See You Soon were rushing off to New Providence Island. Bert and Louise’s daughter and grand daughter were coming to visit for a week and were flying into Nassau. We decided to head on down to Hoffmans Cay. The guide said there was good snorkeling and there was a blue hole that we were excited to see.
Wow. What a start to our Bahamas cruising adventure. We had an amazing sail from Port Lucaya to the Berry Islands and we caught our first fish! Little did we know, just how beautiful Hoffmans Cay was.
But more about that, next time.
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