WE GOT HIGH ON CAT ISLAND!!!!

On Thursday we took the day off from fishing (except SBS...surprise...surprise!) and decided to tour Cat Island. We loaded up a cooler and headed off. GP agreed to be our DD...yikes! He did a GREAT job but I think by the time we got back to Hawk's Nest we were all hoarse from yelling "LEFT...LEFT...LEFT..." at him the whole time!!!! There is one roundabout on the island. Maybe the hoarseness was because we had to go through it THREE times! LEFT...YIELD...LEFT...YIELD...WATCH THAT CAR! Since CP and KS had not had their "beach fix" yet we decided to search out the Greenwood Beach Resort where the 8 mile long pink sand beach is supposed to be the prettiest on Cat Island. After weaving and winding on several miles of gravel road we found it. The guy that owns it is German and has a heavy accent. Even though 5 tourists from Missouri were able to find this place we all decided that he was probably hiding out from someone or something....hummm...was he old enough to be in WWII???? Now, you know that I HATE the beach, but I will be the first to admit that it was unbelievably beautiful. Check this out.....

From 2010_05_27

From 2010_05_27

After bobbing around for a little while in the salt water and getting sand all over us (UGH) we decided to have lunch. We all had "cheeseburgers in paradise!" This was the first red meat we had had since arriving and WOWSA did they hit the spot! After CP and KS got to know everyone by first name AGAIN we said "goodbye" and headed out in search of The Hermitage situated on Mount Alverna....the "HIGHEST" (you were thinking something else, huh) spot in the Bahamas...all of 206 feet in elevation. Father Jerome retired in 1939 and received permission from the Catholic Bishop in Nassau to retire on Cat Island and in 1940 became a hermit and singlehandedly constructed The Hermitage of native rock. It has been said that he only converted 5 people to Catholicism during his stay on Cat Island. "Well," I am thinking....."they all thought this guys was CRAZY so no wonder he couldn't convince anybody to convert!" We all decided that perhaps we should have hiked up to the Hermitage before we downed several Kaliks and giant cheeseburgers at Greenwood but decided to go anyway. Once again, flip flops were NOT a good choice in footwear for this hike!

From 2010_05_27

This one's for you MDW....

From 2010_05_27

A few more shots of The Hermitage and and view from Mount Alverna....



Oops...time to go..."It's Three O'Clock Somewhere" and that cooler of beer is waiting down below!

From 2010_05_27

GP drove us safely back to Hawk's Nest, staying on the left side of the road MOST of the time, and navigated that roundabout safely for a final time! We bobbed around in the pool and washed off the sand and salt while downing a few more cold Kaliks before dinner and CP and KS got acquainted with a few more folks :) Catch you on the flip flop...

CJM

Day 2 With Nate

It was Wednesday and day 2 with Nate. CP and KS decided to take the day off and do a little scouting for our Thursday day of exploring and look for a beach with a bar :) This day we were going to target reef fish. We headed north out of Hawk's Nest toward Alligator Point. Most of the western side of Cat Island has a large shallow bank, up to about 80 feet deep, that extends out from 5 to 10 miles off shore. Alligator Point is about a 20 mile run from Hawk's Nest and is a point that sticks out about 8 miles. Nate's "honey hole" was on this point in about 60 feet of water. I was hugging the anchor pulpit at the time but SBS said, while watching the sonar, that there was some unbelievable structure under us. We anchored up without incident and began chumming and fishing. The fish were a little slow to come into our chum slick, but we saw some schools of YT's pass through occasionally. We caught a few of them, a large Horse-eye Jack, and tons of little Strawberry Grouper. Before releasing some of them we had to vent their air sac with a venting tool I gave CJM for Christmas:)

From 2010_05_26

We decided to move a little and we found the spot. The YT's came in much quicker and thicker. It was at times a "feeding frenzy." We boated 39 YT's, 2 Horse-eye Jacks, a few nice Grouper and GP caught all the grunts in the area.

From 2010_05_26

After a couple hours on the reef and a box full of fish we trolled our way back in. We saw a few birds working and had a couple hits but no hookups. We did have one hit from a Billfish. You can always tell a Billfish hit because the leader will be scuffed a foot or so in front of the lure as the fish is slashing at the bait with his bill. We all said "goodbye" to Nate, except SBS who planned to flats fish with him on Thursday.

From 2010_05_26

We definitely had dinner in the barrell!

From 2010_05_26

We had all the fresh YT Snapper and Grouper filets you could eat for dinner, deep fried by GP & SBS, with several cold Kaliks and rum drinks to wash it down. As Jabet and CJM says..."DELISH!"

CTM

"Off the Charts" @ Columbus Point

Nate showed up early Tuesday morning to take a look at our tackle and get everything ready for the hunt. He did not even want to look at the spinning rods only the big stuff AND the Billy Baits were out of the question. He helped me set up the 80's as this would be their first outing since we got them last year. He liked the rigged ballyhoo we had but rigged up some bigger baits for Marlin. We headed out for Columbus Point. Coincidentally Columbus Point is the same area George Poveromo fished on the video we had just watched. It is the southeastern most point on Cat Island. It juts out into the ocean a few miles from the tip of the shore with very deep water on each side. It actually is at the very end of our charts on our gps so we were "off the charts" so to speak.

From 2010_05_25

We started trolling just a few miles from Hawk's Nest at Devil's Point. We set up the two 80's with big lures on the flat lines on the corners, the two 50's with rigged ballyhoo on the riggers and the next biggest reel we had was a TLD 25 which we put in the shotgun position in one of the rocket launchers on the bridge. We had trolled along the edge, 300-800 feet of water, for a little over an hour when we spotted some birds working in a little deeper water. We headed for them and then spotted a small weedline there also. We were just starting along the weedline when the TLD 25, the smallest reel of the spread, was hit. The line was peeling off at an incredible pace. I handed the rod down to Nate........it was a Blue Marlin. It jumped and jumped and jumped and continued to peel line off. Gary & Scott must have had it made up ahead of time that they were going to pass the first fish off to me because they insisted I take it. The rest of the crew immediately got all the other lines in as CJM began to back down on the fish. CJM yelled from the bridge that the only question she missed on her Captain's test was how to back down on a fish! I just had the reel serviced and spooled with 450 yards of 40# line at WWS before the trip and I believe 449 yards were now in the water between me and this monster when the spool finally stopped turning. Nate kept saying, "I knew I shouldn't have put that lure on this little rig because this is a really good one for marlin." Thirty minutes Shark! Nate asked if we had a gun on the boat and I directed GP where it and the shells were. He wanted GP to kill the Shark before it killed our Marlin!!! I could go on for an hour or so describing the battle and how long it took, but the short story is with some masterful boat handling by CJM, GP standing guard with the shotgun, photographing the event by SBS, cheerleading and more photographing by Cindy and Karen, and some great coaching and handling of the fish for the release by Nate we had our first catch and release of a Blue Marlin on FF III. Nate estimated the fish at 225-250 pounds. Not a "grander" (a fish over 1000 pounds) but the FIRST BLUE MARLIN on FF III! Here's a slide show of the event...start to finish.



Now for the rest of the story.... We trolled around this same area and then continued out along Columbus Point. We had several hits on rigged ballyhoo, GP and SBS landed 3 very nice Mahi up to 25 pounds or so. GP said he was pretty sure his biggest one was 42 pounds 1 ounce but that might be a stretch. What do you think?

From 2010_05_25

We had another Billfish bite but no hookups. I can't believe that is all I can think of to say about catching 3 nice Dolphin, but with the big catch I guess I am speechless. By the way, Nate also showed us a new technique on cleaning big Dolphin I will have to try the next time we get one in the box. Fresh Mahi for dinner....

From 2010_05_25

CTM

HAWK'S NEST ON CAT ISLAND

Phew....what a week! We said goodbye to Petersons and Stinsons Friday evening and Saturday headed to Cape Eleuthera on the island of Eleuthera.

Leaving Hawk's Nest heading for Cape Eleuthera.....

From 2010_05_29

The Island of Little San Salvador.....

From 2010_05_29

"There's white caps on the ocean and I'm watching for water spouts" (yikes).....

From 2010_05_29

We are back in the 21st Century...phew!!!! I get kinda crazy when I don't have internet so I spent the last 6 days feeling like I was lost in the Bermuda Triangle (some of it had to do with the rum I think)! We arrived at Hawk's Nest on Cat Island on Monday and on Tuesday when I made the post about CTM rigging up the Big Dog for the hunt for the Big Dog little did I know that we were stealing wireless signal from a big a-- fishing boat that pulled out on Tuesday. There went our internet for the rest of the week except for in the main office. Needless to say, there was always a BIG line of people wanting to use it so blogging was OUT OF THE QUESTION!!!! Hawk's Nest on Cat Island is all about fishing! Unfortunately for Cindy and Karen there wasn't any shopping nor was there much of a beach. However, it had a very casual atmosphere. There was an honor bar...mix your own drinks and write it down, no locks on the doors of the rooms, if you wanted dinner you had to order in advance and seating was at 7:30ish! Most nights we had them cook our catch and did they ever! You could give them as much as you wanted and they would cook it all! We had a pile every evening (gonna let CTM elaborate on this). My kids and CTM can tell you that generally when I meet someone I know everything about them in five minutes. However, Cindy and Karen are the champs! They knew EVERYTHING about EVERYBODY and was on a first name basis with them all. There was Jerry and Jane (the owners of Hawk's Nest), Anton, jack of all trades, JR and Randy, the managers (C & K have a definite opinion about these two), their obnoxious son (can't remember his name), Savannah (this was a fisherman from Savannah, GA that they called "Savannah" because they couldn't remember his first name), Ena the waitress, Eva the cook (Ena's mom), and you'll have to ask them the name of the fisherman that they thought was "eye candy!" A good time was had by all! We are in Cape Eleuthera and revelling in the fact that we have internet and are taking the day off to rest, let our livers rest, and catch up on our blogging so stay tuned.....it'll knock your socks off!

Catch you on the flip flop....

CJM

BERMUDA TRIANGLE!!!

We arrived at Hawk's Nest on Cat Island on Monday, I made a post on Tuesday morning before our first fishing day and the internet has been "down" ever since! I am in the office bumming their computer to just let you know we have not been lost in the Bermuda Triangle!!!! CTM and I will say "goodbye" to Petersons and Stinsons tomorrow morning:( They will catch their flights back to reality and we will pull out for Cape Eleuthera :) I am hoping they will have "good" internet there so will catch you up on this week's fishing. Here's a hint...."big" and "blue" and "first!"

Catch you on the flip flop!

CJM

GOIN' FISHIN' WITH NATE....

We arrived at Hawk's Nest on Cat Island late yesterday afternoon. We fished our way over from Georgetown. Got into a school of chicken dolphin just out of Georgetown. We put 4 in the box so we would be assured fresh mahi for dinner. Since the limit is only 6 per boat we threw a couple back and decided to save a spot for a big dog. We trolled some more but the seas were very rough so most of the trip was spent hanging on! After we devoured fresh mahi prepared by the Hawk's Nest chef we hooked up with Nathaniel Gilbert....a local fisherman. I am actually watching George Poveromo fishing with Nate off of Cat Island catching marlin, mahi, and yellowfin on the DVD player as I write! So....CTM is rigging the big dogs for the search of big dogs!

From 2010_05_25

GAME ON, Jeannie! Catch you on the flip flop!

CJM

Georgetown In Retro....

Heading to Cat Island today to continue the "game." Here are a couple of slide shows of Georgetown, Exuma.

Chillaxin on Saturday.....



Chillaxin on Sunday.....



Catch you on the flip flop!

CJM

CHILLIN' AT CHAT & CHILL......

We took Saturday and Sunday off to chill... Here are a few pics of chillaxin in Georgetown, Exuma!

Karen, who the hell do you need to talk to on the cell phone while waiting for fresh conch salad?????

From 2010_05_22

This guy had a reputation for the best conch salad in Georgetown....it was AWESOME! Sherry, you have some competition here....DELISH!

From 2010_05_22

Gary and Cinny returning after a day on a private beach.....hummmm....wonder what went on there?????

From 2010_05_22

"Toes in the water....ass in the sand....well, maybe a lawn chair!

From 2010_05_23

Hollingsworth or Dunsmuirs Cove?????? Is that the Love Potion or La Vie Dansante or Five O'Clock Somewhere?????

From 2010_05_23

The Dixie Chicks???? No, I think it's the Golden Girls!!!

From 2010_05_23

Cinny, don't you know what happened to the Crocodile Hunter??????

From 2010_05_23

After spending the afternoon at Chat & Chill we were not only "in the bag" but we were "in the basket!"

From 2010_05_23

Who needs Pat Robertson?

The seas were a little rougher this morning (Friday) with winds from the northeast at about 10-15 knots. We decided to exit Elizabeth Harbor from the south and troll into the wind and angle out for deeper water and look for birds, boards and weeds. When we fished with Pat on Wednesday we let him decide on the trolling spread. He looked through the skirted rigs we had been using and through the many other skirts we had on board and changed out a few. He wanted more black & red. He also picked up a couple blue & white skirts to use. He didn't like the Billy Baits at all and put rigged ballyhoo on all the rods. We didn't have any luck with his spread so were headed in towards a reef spot when we saw some birds working on what appeared to be Skipjacks. We put out a BB and caught the only trolling fish of the day, a nice size Skipjack Tuna that we wanted to use for bait. Pat wanted to keep it to eat. CJM and I decided this fishing day was going to be different. We put out a couple Billys and a couple of rigged hoos with one running on the wire deep. Almost immediately after getting set up we were in 2000 - 3000 feet of water and had a hit on the wire rig then a hookup on the other rigged hoo. By the way, it had an orange skirt which has been the most productive for us over the years in the Bahamas. Gary grabbed the rod and the fight was on. Shortly we landed a 15-20 pound Dolphin.

From 2010_05_21

We got the lines back out and had another hit on the orange but the line broke. Not sure what happened, the drag was set right and we had new 60# line on. Must have been a nick in the line we didn't see. We got set again and another good hit and another equipment failure. This time the wire broke right at the swivel. It was one of Pat's haywire twists, not to point any fingers. We had a couple more good hits but no hook-ups so we continued out looking for that magical something. Nothing going on out there so we headed back in. When we reached that same 2000 - 3000 feet contour we hooked up again, this time a double. We were now trolling 2 orange rigged hoos and they were the target. Gary and Scott made short work of them and we had 3 nice fish in the box.

From 2010_05_21

We had a couple more missed hits as we trolled in and it was getting near the end of the day. But, we had another hook up, again on the orange rig. Karen was up and with some help from GP we got a 4th fish in the box....all very nice Dolphin.

From 2010_05_21

Jeannie's record is still intact but GP is getting in the groove and we are headed for Cat Island on Monday for some fertile fishing grounds, so who knows?

CTM

MOTHER MOTHER OCEAN I HAVE HEARD YOU CALL....

As the song goes "gotta stop wishin'....gotta go fishin'....I'm down to rock bottom again. Just a few friends....just a few friends...." So the rock bottom line is...we have cooked fish twice in the last three days but it was compliments AGAIN of Loopers and Kinscherffs! We are now OUT and dependent upon our skills once again! This is really scary :) On Wednesday we hired a local fisherman named Pat Robertson (should have been alarmed when we found out his name) to show us some local reef spots. First thing he told us was that the offshore fishing wasn't that good here and that the best fishing for dolphin and tuna was off of Staniel Cay and Highborne Cay where we had just left! Reminded us of the beer commercial where a couple of old guys bend over to get a beer out of the cooler and Haley's Comet flies by. We hope all of the dolphin and tuna didn't go north as we headed south! Back to the story....the seas were calm but it rained and rained and rained some more. I think P's & S's brought that from Missouri! We trolled some and anchored three times and not once did any bait fish come to our chum :( Caught a bucket full of assorted reef fish that we would have thrown back but Pat insisted we keep them. Here is a pic of the biggest catch so far!

From 2010_05_19

Jeannie, you are still in 1st place but GP says "the fat lady hasn't sung yet!" Thankfully he didn't hear me singing a Jim Morris song last evening while sipping a rum drink on the back of the boat before retiring :)

Thursday was pretty much a ditto of Wednesday. However, the sun is shining this morning for the first time and we are up readying Feeding Frenzy III for the hunt. Pics and report of the big catch later :) Catch you on the flip flop!

CJM

Georgetown, Exumas

We are now in Georgetown, Exumas. We traveled about 160 miles since leaving Nassau. We are about 300 miles from Islamorada as the Frigate flies. It has been very windy so we have not fished yet. Met up with the Stinsons and Petersons Monday night for dinner at Peace & Plenty. Interesting enough it was built by the great grandson of Henry Flagler who built the overseas railroad connecting Miami with Key West in the early 1800's. In our travels from Nassau we spent most of the time on the Exuma Bank or the leeward side of the Exuma chain of islands. The seas were much more manageable there, however, still very rough. The last day we had to venture out in the Exuma Sound through Square Rock Cut. The current was ripping through the cut and the chart said at times could challenge the mariner's skills. We made it without incident and headed south to Georgetown. We only had about 15 miles to go and by then the seas had laid down pretty good. The shore along the windward side of the islands looks very similar to the Tongue of the Ocean with lots of likely reef spots up close and very deep water right along side. We have a local fisherman lined up to go out with us this morning so stay tuned for pics and tales.

CTM

THE NAME IS BOND.....JAMES BOND.....

A little out of sequence but want to back up to Staniel Cay. We stayed in Staniel for 2 days. While there we decided to take a dinghy trip over to Thunderball Cave (obviously where the James Bond movie Thunderball was filmed) and go snorkeling! Now, most of you know I DON'T like to swim in the ocean but at the risk of once again being left behind I reluctantly decided to go. After all...I COULD just sit in the dinghy and make sure everyone made it safely back. "Isn't this the job of the captain????", I am thinking! I noticed CTM had put two sets of gear in the dinghy. Was he thinking of picking up someone else on the way....maybe Pussy Galore???? Oh wait....that was Goldfinger!!!! When we got there it was obvious that this was probably an experience that I did NOT want to miss. So...after spitting in our masks....off we went! It was breathtaking (again sounding like Herbstreit, huh JPB)!!! CTM had pumpkin whole wheat bread for the fish and obviously they were needing their fiber because they would just swarm him when he would crumble it in the water!

From 2010_05_16

O.K. I am thinking....where are those big fish that eat these little fish???? TIME TO GO!!!! Obviously the movie "Thunderball" is now on my Christmas wish list! Here are a few more pics of our experience.....



After CTM broke his little toe and I fell flat on my face coming out of the bar (involved a little rum :)) we decided it was time to move on to Georgetown! Catch you on the flip flop!

CJM

ONE RINGY DINGHY....TWO RINGY DINGHY.....

Arrived in Georgetown, Exuma late on Monday afternoon....about the same time as the Stinsons and Petersons. While Gary and Scott went flats fishing Cindy and Karen had lunch at Peace and Plenty and I think had plenty of rum drinks and are now on a first name basis with the bartender...Doc! After a trip to the Exuma Market for provisions CTM is hauling the gals back to their house with supplies.

From 2010_05_18

We will be joining them shortly for a dinner of mahi and yellowfin tuna compliments of Loopers and Kinscherffs AGAIN!!!!! Going fishing offshore tomorrorw...hopefully will have some fresh fish for tomorrow night's dinner :) Catch you on the flip flop!

CJM

JIMMY HAD TO GO BACK TO WORK AND WE DIDN'T!!!!

Since the "wind is blowin' harder now....50 knots or thereabouts" (well, only about 20 - 25) we have been in the "cruisin' mode".....no fishing.....just sleeping, eating, and drinking. So...it's Saturday night in Staniel Cay...hummmmm....some of that Looper's Love Potion sounded pretty good. So we mixed up a batch (I know it's a secret recipe but we think it was close) and cranked up Radio Margaritaville on the XM Radio. Low and behold Jimmy's LIVE concert from Indianapolis was being broadcast!!!!! CTM said, "That's what happens when you buy a big ass boat....you gotta go back to work!" Jimmy even played my now favorite song "Frank and Lola!" :) Life is good......catch you on the flip flop!

CJM

ALMOST GOT A BOO BOO ON BOO BOO HILL!!!

After lazing around on Friday morning we decided to hike to the top of Boo Boo Hill. The legend of Warderick Wells is that it is said to be haunted. There were 3 shipwrecks off of Warderick Wells....one laden with missionaries. It has been reported that on moonlit nights the sound of a congregation singing hymns can be heard! Naturally everyone wanted to hike to the top of Boo Boo Hill to check this out. Oh lordy mercy, I am thinking, but in order to not be left behind I decided to go! The terrain on the first part of the hike was rough and rocky. I now have a pair of hiking boots or at the very least some of those Tevas that strap on your feet on my Christmas wish list....flip flops were not a good choice for the hike and almost caused me to get a boo boo on the way to Boo Boo!

From 2010_05_14

The view was breathtaking (now I'm sounding like Herbstreit, huh JPB?)!

From Recently Updated

After the long hike we enjoyed cocktails on FF III and then joined John and Lori on Nanita for more cocktails (surprise surprise) and some grilled mahi and yellowfin tuna compliments of Loopers & Kinscherffs AGAIN!!!!

Here are a few more pics of our stay at Exuma Land and Sea Park....



Got up early Saturday for the short hop (18 miles) to Staniel Cay. Catch you on the flip flop!

CJM

Needed our "Big Girl Panties" on.........

After spending three nights at Highborne Cay we decided it was time to head south. We have not made it into the Exuma Sound yet as it has been very windy. The winds have been blowing 25+ knots pretty much night and day since arriving at Highborne. The seas on the Exuma Sound are 7 to 9 feet..........doesn't sound like much fun. It appears the Dolphin are biting out there as we have seen a couple bigger boats with fish. The north end of the Sound is similar to the Pocket in the Tongue of the Ocean. With the winds from the southeast it should push the fish right up into the north end but not for us at this time. We decided to head out yesterday. We got John & Lori's dinghy (patched two more holes before loading it)and motor loaded on the back of his boat and headed out. The nice thing about traveling the Exumas is that if the wind is from the east you can stay on the inside or on the Exuma Bank and have some protection or if it is from the west you can travel the Sound and have protection. The key word here is "some" protection. The winds were about the highest so far, 25+ knots, when we pulled out but it was time to go. We thought we could handle the 25 nm run to Warderick Wells. It really wasn't too bad, lots of sea water on the curtains and a little rockin and rollin. There is one area called "Wide Open" where there is no protection and it got pretty rough, about 4 to 6 feet seas, but it only lasted a little while. This is where the "big girl panty" subject was brought up! There are mooring buoys here at Warderick Wells. It is the headquarters for the "Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park." It is the first land & sea park in the world. It covers 176 square miles and stretches 22 miles from Wax Cay Cut to Conch Cut and extends 4 nautical miles on either side of the cays. It is a no-take zone by both land and sea, nothing living or dead can be taken from the park. Take only pictures and leave only footprints they say..... The mooring buoys were set in the middle of a narrow channel. The buoys have a tag line with a smaller float on the end. The idea is to ease up to the smaller buoy and pick it up with the boat hook and run a line through the eye on the end of the mooring line and back to the cleat on the boat. Usually you put 2 lines to the 2 cleats on the front of the boat so the boat stays straight behind. There was a lot of current and kind of tight quarters so CJM was not sure whether she wanted to handle the lines or run the boat but after some discussion she opted to run the boat. It worked perfectly, we picked up the line on the first try and were secured in a few minutes. It did not work quite as well for John & Lori. She opted to handle the lines and when she almost had the line through the loop, the boat hook fell out of her hand into the ocean. She dove in after it. John handled the boat perfectly to get it into position to retrieve her and she had retrieved the boat hook. We had not put our dinghy in the water yet, we were just relaxing and having a beer when this all happened. There were two other boaters who immediately showed up at the scene to assist them and they were secure in a matter of minutes. Now it was definitely cocktail hour. More on Warderick Wells tomorrow.

CTM

TWO HEADS ARE BETTER 'N ONE!

John & Lori, our cruising partners, decided to join us at the marina in order for the two engineers to put their heads together to get their dinghy up and going again!

From 2010_05_12

Ahhhhhhhh.....SUCCESS! The motor is running and the patches are drying on the dinghy!

From 2010_05_12

While relaxing on the beach look what showed up!!!! Highborne is VERY remote.....here's the only other way to get here if not on a boat!

From 2010_05_12

Off to check on John & Lori's dinghy to see if the patches held and then we're both headed to Warderick Wells. Don't know about internet there as we will be on a mooring ball for a day or two!!!! Catch you on the flip flop......

CJM

The "First Leg" and How We Fared

The first leg of our trip is over and it is time to see how we fared. We were of course accompanied by the Looper's and Kinscherf's who passed their cruising test with flying colors. We traveled just under 500 nautical miles which equates to nearly 600 statue miles in 9 days. We fished 6 days, traveled from island to island 3 days (we fished one travel day), spent one day touring Andros, and made three ports of call. We burned approximately 700 gallons of diesel. We consumed 18 cases of beer, numerous bottles of wine, vodka and rum, several gallons of Looper's Love Potion, 3 cases of water (not sure who drank all the water), ate 12 pounds of deli meat for lunch, cooked our catch 3 nights, had our catch cooked one night, we listened to Stevie S's band (minus Stevie) at Big John's, had a drink at the End of the World bar, had Hanky Pankies at Hank's Place twice, chased JB's boats around at Middle Bight on Andros, caught lots of YT Snapper, a few Dolphin up to 30+ pounds and a whopper YF Tuna, over 40 pounds and just about every Barracuda in Bimini. The fish consumed 5 dozen Ballyhoo, 5 pounds of squid, 50 pounds of frozen chum and a couple gallons of Feeding Frenzy "Special Chum", several assorted lures and most of the skirts on a couple Billy baits. We learned a lot about each other (more than we needed to know in some cases) and were all sad when it was over :(

CJM and I are now in the cruising mode for the next week or so. We do hope to work in a little fishing if the wind will ever lay. If not we have "My Little Dinghy" in in the water and will do some exploring. Not to worry about fresh fish, however....we have nearly 30 pounds of fresh fish on the Feeding Frenzy III!!!

Jeannie says the challenge is on for her cuz GP and the rest of the 2nd Leg cruisers. Stay tuned and we will let you know who is leading afterwards. Here's a slideshow of the 1st leg.....enjoy!



CTM

A TALE OF TWO DINGHIES....

We received some bad news yesterday morning from our cruising partners John and Lori. They are anchored about 3 miles north of where we are. The wind came up during the night on Monday, their dinghy broke loose, and disappeared at some point! Not knowing whether it would be nearby or had drifted out to sea they began the search at first light. They found it :) but unfortunately it had sunk :( With the help of three other cruisers anchored nearby they waited until low tide and were able to retrieve it. Around noonish John reported that it was hanging on the back of Nanita :) Unfortunately it is totally deflated and the engine is full of salt water so now the repairs will begin. As of last evening our tentative plan is to head to Staniel Cay alongside them to insure their safe arrival since they no longer have a life boat. We will be in search of a mechanic for them there. We are standing by on the VHF waiting to hear from them this a.m. It is very windy so it will probably be a bumpy ride but the forecast doesn't look to improve much over the next few days so it is six of one or half dozen of the other!

Now for the second dinghy report.....CTM and I put our dinghy in the water with the thoughts we might head up toward John and Lori and see if we could lend a hand. Again, the wind was so strong yesterday we didn't venture too far and it became obvious very soon that we could not travel 3 miles to their location but were able to air out and run the dinghy for the first time :) It is so beautiful here!



CTM kept singing the Allen Ross song, "It's Just A Little Dinghy And It's All Mine." I wasn't sure if he was talking about the dinghy or me. When we cruise I have two sizes of shorts....the "fat" ones and the "REALLY fat" ones. Due to all of the cracked conch I have eaten I am already in the REALLY fat ones so "Little Dinghy" must have meant the boat!!!!! Oh, did I mention there is NO restaurant here???? Only nine residences on the entire island and the marina....THAT'S IT!!! So...we did have a realtively healthy fresh blackened mahi dinner on the boat last evening thanks to Loopers and Kinscherffs....delish!

From 2010_05_11

Catch you on the flip flop!

CJM

"TOES IN THE WATER...ASS IN THE SAND.."

After fresh ahi tuna AGAIN...we took a walk to the beach for the sunset...

From 2010-05-10

You all know from my previous postings that I HATE the beach...so I agreed to do the "toes in the water" thing but when it came to "ass in the sand" I had to JUST SAY NO! Here's our first beautiful sunset at Highborne Cay in the Exumas.

From 2010-05-10

And.....Jeannie Looper, this one's for you!

From 2010-05-10

Catch you on the flip flop!!

CJM

Mahi, Ahi and Billy Bad Ass

Sunday, May 9th is the last day of the first leg of our cruise. We pulled out of Fresh Creek about 9 AM heading for Nassau :( Fresh Creek was quite an experience. Will definitely want to go back there again. The Tuna are said to be really biting next month. We decided to run towards the North Buoy one last time before heading east to Nassau. Just before the buoy we spotted some birds about 3:00 that CJM and I thought looked a whole like they were on Dolphin. For you land lubbers 3:00 on a boat means 90 degrees from the bow of the boat off the starboard side. When birds are on Dolphin they act different than on Tuna. On Dolphin the best way to describe it is the scene in Top Gun near the end when Iceman was in a dogfight with 5 Migs and Maverick was on the way to help. It's usually a small swarm of birds moving fairly slow and fluttering up and down. On Tuna it is most often a large flock of birds moving very fast. These definitely were Dolphin birds. We sprang into action deploying our spread. We chose blue/white and blue/fuscia Billy Baits on 30# spinners on the riggers and a rigged Ballyhoo on 40# conventional on the corner. As soon as we reached the birds, we had a monster hit on the blue/fuscia. Don grabbed the pole. All I can say is he will not need a stress test in his next physical. After a fight that seemed like hours to him and one miss with the gaff by CTM we gaffed and boated a Dolphin over 30 pounds.

From 2010-05-10

After high fives around and beers for all we made a couple passes by the North Buoy and with no hits we decided to reel up and head east toward Nassau. With New Providence on the horizon and almost to a very interesting spot on the charts, a long point jutting out into the ocean that we felt had to hold fish, we saw some more Dolphin birds and "FISH ON!" Dave was up and he made fairly short work of a 20#+ Dolphin. By the way this time Dave had just suggested we change out the blue/white Billy for another blue/fuscia Billy. That is what the fish hit.

From 2010-05-10

There were more high fives and more celebratory beers and we headed on towards Nassau and the shallow water and that interesting shoreline I had had my eye on. We noticed a large boat approaching from the West. It was a large ferry boat. After a little maneuvering to get out of his way we saw more birds not really in any pattern so we trolled by them. Once again the blue/fuscia was called upon and this time the fight was really on. The line peeled off the reel like Dems jumping ship on BHO! Jeannie was up. This fish did not jump but just went deep. Thinking it was probably another pesky Barracuda it was pretty casual around the fishing deck for 15 minutes or so until we saw the fish. HOLY SHIT....it was a Yellowfin Tuna and it was BIG! Jeannie stood her ground with a little last minute assistance from Dave as her hands were about to fall off and it was now up to CTM to gaff it. When the gaff landed in the belly of this monster it was now time to get him in the boat. Without help from either Don or Dave (in all of the excitement I can't remember which one helped) I couldn't have lifted that monster over the side. Sushi on board! A 42# beautiful Yellowfin Tuna. This time there were many high fives and I think maybe 2 beers each until we could relax.

From 2010-05-10

By the way on all three fish CJM did some masterful handling of the boat, keeping the fish always behind the boat and out of the props. The total experience was incredible. It was truly a group effort. What team work!! As you can tell from this post I have a tendency to ramble on sometimes. I rambled on to the Kinscherffs and Loopers about some of our experiences while boating and fishing on the ocean. Leann kept asking if there would be a test at the end that they would have to pass to be able to come back. Well.........they all passed it today!

We enjoyed some yellowfin sushi with soy and wasabi on the boat before everyone headed off to freshen up for our "last supper." We took 7 pounds of the 40 pounds of filets to the famous Poop Deck for a "cook your catch" dinner. Here is the finished product....

From 2010-05-10

CTM

FISH.........a four letter word!

To say the least, our fishing on the first leg of this cruise has been disappointing. To recap a little, we fished 3 days in Bimini and 2 days here in Andros. The first two days in Bimini we trolled the edge to our 2 favorite reef spots. We surely must have caught every Barracuda in Bimini but no Dolphin. It was very rough on the two reef spots and we had a terrible time getting the anchor to hold. Each time we finally got it to hold we had drifted off our spot. We got Freddie to fish with us the third day. He told us the Dolphin had not arrived yet due to the very cold winter they had and recent cooler than normal weather. We decided to troll in 30-50 feet of water for some Grouper. We found a few more Barracuda we had not caught yet and had a couple good strikes thought to be Grouper but once again did not get any in. With Fredddie's keen eye we were able to anchor on a new reef spot and caught lots of fish. Here in Fresh Creek, Andros we hooked up with a young fisherman named Micko for our first day. The plan was to run out very early and check out the "North Buoy". The US Navy have several AUTEC bases here and have several buoys anchored along the coast of Andros for testing submarines. AUTEC stands for Atlantic Underwater Testing and Evaluation Center. The main base is here in Fresh Creek. CJM kept her eye on the sonar as we were fishing looking for a sub to come up under us but never saw one. Back to fishing. These buoys serve as a permanent floating "magical piece of debris" which holds bait fish and larger fish all the time. Unfortunately the Dolphin again are not really here yet. We trolled by the buoy a few times and didn't have any action so we reeled up and backed up near the buoy and started chumming with frozen chum and cut up squid. We finally got a few Dolphin interested. They did not seem hungry as we presented bait after bait to them without much luck. We finally were able to catch 2. One on a piece of squid and the other on a piece of ballyhoo. The Dolphin disappeared so we moved in to the reef for a quick swim and Jeannie and Leann did a little snorkeling. We moved a little farther down the reef and anchored up and fished. We had pretty good action. Caught several Yellowtail Snapper, a Queen Trigger and a Bonita. It was not the wild action we had at Bimini, but plenty of fish to fill our bellies that night. Our second day of fishing here in Andros was shortened a bit by searching for "Fins" but once again we chummed up a few Mahi around the "South Buoy" but could not get any to bite. We trolled the edge a while and caught the last 2 Barracuda in the Bahamas that we hadn't caught so far. Everyone keeps saying the Mahi aren't here yet so we think we will surely find them as we head South towards Georgetown, Exumas. Our luck we will probably pass them as they move North. Oh well that's fishing. By the way while we were fishing the North Buoy we saw JB's fishing boat also trolling around but did not know it was his at the time. CJM said it looked like one of the fisherman had a cowboy hat on, maybe Alan Jackson, but we did not get close enough to check it out..........as it turned out, I guess it could have been Jimmy. Heading to Nassau and will probably fish a little on the way. Will report on any catches later. Happy Mother's Day!

CTM

FINS UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Headed south to fish the south buoy. When we arrived at the buoy guess who's boat was there??????? Jimmy's sportfishing boat "Last Mango!" There was a captain, mate, and one guy fly fishing off of the back of the boat. At first we thought it was Jimmy but the closer we got it looked more like Michael Utley. What do you think?

From 2010-05-09

After trolling around the buoy and backing up to it for some chumming and deep dropping and still no fish we decided to go fishing for Jimmy! We found the "Continental Drifter III" at Middle Bight about 20 miles south of where we are. CTM cruised right by giving us all a close up shot! We hoped Jimmy would see the "Feeding Frenzy III" and invite CJM & CTM (who have now been to 14 concerts) and their friends on board for margaritas :) Can you see him looking out the window????

From 2010-05-09

Here's an interesting link to info on his toys:

http://www.buffettnews.com/resources/boatsplanes/

Heading out today to Nassau where we will say goodbye to Loopers & Kinscherffs :( Will reprovision the boat and head to the Exumas in the morning. By the way....this year CTM didn't have to fix the head for my Mother's Day gift....instead he found Jimmy!!!!! Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms and moms to be! Catch you on the flip flop!

CJM

TWO PIRATES LOOKING FOR JIMMY....

Will post something about our Friday fishing/snorkeling excursions later but we are scurrying around and readying Feeding Frenzy III for a fishing excursion south today. We got wind last night that JB is anchored in his yacht with all of his fishing vessels in tow about 25 miles south of Fresh Creek. So....guess which direction we are going fishing today??????

Will report on any celebritiy sitings later :) Catch you on the flip flop!

CJM

A DAY WITH MARIO ANDRETTI.....

Today (Thursday, May 6) we spent the day touring Andros. O.K.....now most of you know I drive a little fast (I take this after John Henry) but today we rented a van and a "dd" so we could run up to the north end of the island to a settlement called Morgan's Bluff. Holy crap!!!! It became obvious very soon that this guy wanted to be a race car driver when he grew up! We travelled at super sonic speeds on the left side of the road no less. You know how it is when you are in the islands or ride in a taxi in New York or Las Vegas...you NEVER wear a seat belt for some reason. We wouldn't think of getting in our cars at home and not cinch up. Well, I had my seat belt cinched down so tight that I honestly think I lost all of the feeling in my legs at one point! Anyway, our first stop was a "blue hole." Now, this is not to be confused with an "a hole" (what I wanted to call our "dd" before the day was over). These are brackish water holes that are on Andros....more than any other place in the world. Apparently they are sinkholes in the earth that were created during the last Ice Age! What the hell I am thinking...ICE in the Bahamas???? One more thing.....it was like in the middle of fricking nowhere! On the way there George, our dd, told us that there were wild hogs roaming the area near the blue holes. O.K....now let me get this straight.....some kind of weird hole of water with wild hogs roaming the perimeter.....not my cup of tea I am thinking. Once we arrived biting horse flies showed up....they call them doctor flies here because it feels like getting a shot when they bite you (we now call these Dr. Dave flies)! O.K.....now let me get this straight.....some kind of weird hole of water with wild hogs roaming the perimeter and infested with biting Dr. Dave flies....it was time to GO! Headed on up to Morgan's Bluff to look for some long lost cousins. Found none, but had lunch on the beach, went to the liquor store to buy mass quantites of rum (surprise surprise) and then headed south at super sonic speeds back to Fresh Creek. Ended the day with a fish fry on the dock and enjoyed fresh conch salad and drank a gallon of the Looper's famous "Love Potion"....delish I think :) One side note about the "Love Potion" is that Don used the water out of the hose at the marina to mix it up. We asked somebody after we had drank the entire batch if it was safe to drink the water from the hose and they said NO WAY! We were all happy to know that the head was back in working order due to the possibility of all of us now having Bahamiam Revenge! Guess due to the mass quantities of alcohol in the Love Potion that would kill any kind of foreign organism we all are fine...phew...didn't need the head but needed a BIG bottle of Excedrin!!!



Catch you on the flip flop!

CJM

HEADS "UP"....OR IN THIS CASE "DOWN"

Don't know what is up with the head AGAIN but it seems to be down AGAIN! We made three attempts at emptying the holding tank yesterday on our trip from Bimini to Andros to no avail! It is a really bad thing when the head is out of order for us girls.....not so bad for the boys! If you were reading our blog last year you will remember on Mother's Day CTM gave me the best Mother's Day present he could have.....he crawled in the engine compartment and tore the whole thing apart and repaired it. Well, looks like my Mother's Day gift is decided upon once again. Stay tuned for the continuing saga.....

We made the 120+ mile run from Bimini to Andros yesterday. We are in a little settlement called Fresh Creek. It is a pretty cool place....what I like to call the "real" Bahamas! The winds were fairly calm yesterday and we had a good run until the last 20 miles or so after hitting the Tongue of the Ocean. There were a few storms that fired up over the land that didn't affect us but the prevailing southeast wind did whip up on us a little at the end but all in all it was a good run. After we freshened up we headed over to the renowned Hanks to partake in one of his famous "Hanky Pankys." Lot of rum and other unknown ingredients! Delish!!!! We dined on fresh grouper and cracked conch and a good time was had by all.

From 2010-05-06

This morning we are up and are taking the day off from fishing and going to explore the island and look for some fresh conch salad. So....we're off! Catch you on the flip flop!

CJM

TUESDAY FISHING REPORT!!!

The Tuesday fishing report has !!! in it because it was exciting. Freddie showed up at 7:30 and he and CTM looked over the tackle and we made a plan. He/we decided to troll south for grouper. We didn't land any grouper but man oh man Leann with Dave's help landed a Mr. Barry Cuda that was as big as she is!!!

From 2010-05-05

We trolled for about two hours south. It was fairly rough and I had asked Freddie earlier if he could PLEASE take us to a yellowtail spot that was OUT OF THE WIND! I didn't relish the idea of trying to anchor AGAIN in these windy conditions. When I asked him where he had in mind to anchor he kinda sorta pointed to the SAME spot where on Sunday we had tried not one, not two, not three, but FOUR times to anchor:( :( This was NOT what I wanted....oh dread!!!!! Well, maybe it is just the Freddie luck but we actually anchored the FIRST time we tried!! The chum went in and everyone proceeded to get ready to fish. We were there only a few minutes and began to drag the anchor :( Dejavu I tought..... We pulled it up and dropped it a second time and it caught AGAIN! This time we were dug in for the afternoon :) In about 5 minutes after the chum went in the yellowtail showed up! It was like a Chinese fire drill! The kicker was that there was a HUGE amberjack that chased each and every yellowtail catch to the boat so everyone would scream, "REEL FAST...REEL FAST!!!" Thankfully Miss Jeannie hooked that SOB and the fight was on!!! After wrestling him for about 10 minutes he was able to escape but after tangling with Miss Jeannie he was "snake bit" and decided to move on because we didn't see him again :) We boated 50 yellowtail and frogged our sides with fresh yellowtail and the triggerfish from the day before.

From 2010-05-05

Today we move on to either Chub or Andros. CTM and I are mulling over the options this morning. Chub is near the Tongue of the Ocean and the dolphin fishing this time of year is supposed to be phenomenal due to the prevailing southeast winds but Freddie told us yesterday the dolphin should be here by now but have not shown up yet due to the unusually cold winter. So...we'll see!

Will report in tomorrow as to our decision hopefully. I say "hopefully" due to the fact that we are moving to a more remote location and who ever knows about internet capabilities. So....if you don't hear from us in a couple of days we aren't lost in the Bermuda Triangle....we are just in the "real" Bahamas! Catch you on the flip flop!

CJM

MONDAY FISHING REPORT.....

Monday provided a little more action....we went head to head with 6 Mr. Barry Cudas and 2 Triggerfish. CTM thought it sounded like a Tiger Woods scenario.....6 barracudas and 2 queen triggers all in one day (actually they were ocean triggers)!!! So...no fish fry again Monday night. John and Lori ferried over and joined us for dinner and drinks at the Thirsty Turtle. This was the same place we went to the full moon party a couple of years ago with GP, CP, JB, GB, JW, & MW. They/we don't need much of an excuse to celebrate here in Bimini!!!! So after 2 days of ho hum results we are calling in the troops.....meaning our favorite fishing guide, Mr. Freddie Rolle, with be joining us today to show us how it is done once again!!! (By the way, CP, we have cold Coca-Cola in the cooler for Freddie!) This is our last day in Bimini and we move on to either Chub Cay or Andros tomorrow. John and Lori are pulling out today as it will take them longer to get there. So....hopefully will have some fish pics to post after today's trek. Catch you on the flip flop.....

CJM

ONE SKINNY CUDA :(

Trolled down to our favorite grouper/queen trigger spot Sunday. Nothing on the way down :( It was fairly windy again. Our attempt at anchoring failed four times! (We think this was all due to defective zip ties we got at Pontiac Cove so CTM says there may be repercussions...know any good lawyers, Jabet?) Well, if you have been on Feeding Frenzy with "The Captain and Me" while trying to anchor you can imagine how tight my jaw was clenched. I think I might have to see an orthodontist when I return home :) We could see some awesome spots on the GPS and what looked like big grouper but just couldn't get the anchor to hold in the wind. Interestingly enough CTM never yelled one time at Don & Dave who were his sidekicks on the bow of the boat :) Tried anchoring in a more shallow spot and that did work for a short time. Now the kicker is.....we were about half way to the spot when suddently we realized that our chum was in the freezer at the condo :( Of course CTM tried to blame that on EVERYONE on the boat but himself! But...even though CTM was never a boy scout he does live by that motto, especially when fishing, "Be Prepared." Yup....we were prepared to make our own chum right there on the boat. We have been carrying oatmeal, the stinkiest "Always Save" cat food, and a gallon of menhaden oil in the closet now for about a year. So...Don and Dave proceeded to mix the concoction while CTM readied the tackle. Jeannie and Leann decided that Paula Deen didn't have anything on those two boys!!!! It kind of looked like oatmeal cookie batter. My thoughts were if this method of chumming didn't work we could go into the gourmet cat cookie baking business and make a fortune...you know....what we won't do or buy for our pampered pets????? Anyway, my determination was that this chumming would have worked as it looked great in the water, however, since our anchor didn't hold and we were drifting obviously all of the fish that the chum attracted were SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!!! We did end up finding a weed line that was awesome and trolled it for a couple of hours where we finally did catch one skinny little cuda :( Big sigh of relief.....WE DIDN'T GET SKUNKED! So....today is another day and we are up mulling over our options. Think will troll to our favorite "Freddie North" spot to do some yellowtailing. Some of you have been in on that! What fun! Like fishing in a barrel most of the time! It is 85 degrees and not a cloud in the sky so it can't be all bad!!!! Catch you on the flip flop!

CJM

Bimini or Bust.....

We made it to Bimini safely, albeit a bumpy crossing. Winds were more that we would have liked so we ran the intercoastal to Miami and then across. Bimini is only 45 miles from Miami and Captain Morgan's theory is "you can stand anything for 45 miles!" After clearing customs, hosing off the boat, and getting situated we were able to FINALLY sit back and enjoy the feeling of accomplishment of another successful crossing day. We are on South Bimini so we all loaded up on our golf cart and drove down to the ferry and ferried over to North Bimini to look up Sherry for some fresh conch salad and to pound down a few rum drinks. We never found Sherry but Sherry's dad prepared us all a cracked conch appetizer. It was delish! And....we did manage to pound down MORE than a few rum drinks! Our cruising buddies, John and Lori on the Nanita arrived around 8:00 p.m. and were able to join us for a couple of rum drinks as well! We are going to FINALLY get to wet our hooks today! Will have a report later on as to what kind of fresh fish we are dining on! Catch you on the flip flop.....




CJM