A Very Good Fishing Trip – February 4 to 13, 2013

Field Trip followed the shoreline in less than a hundred feet of water while we went out farther where the depths were in excess of 300 feet. A combined race to George Town and fishing derby were underway. Field Trip took the lead in both categories. We were barely out of the cut when they announced their first catch, an 18 inch mackerel. Their speed over ground was also considerably faster than ours. By noon they had announced their third “big one that got away”. It looked like we would be having something other than fish for dinner until we finally landed a 32 inch mahi just before we reached the approach to Elizabeth Harbour. Field Trip were already well anchored by the time we made it in to George Town.

Besides restocking some provisions at the Exuma Market we had a few errands to look after while we were in town. We always return our US cruising permit for cancellation while we are in the Bahamas in order to avoid having it expire when the boat is back in the US. We will obtain a new permit when we return to the US. The rules for renewing state that a permit cannot be renewed within two weeks of expiration and the boat must have been checked in to another country in that time period.

We also wanted to try to activate the internet air card that we had purchased for use in the Bahamas then heard that its success rate was not very good and the support from Batelco left a lot to be desired.

The Batelco employee that helped us with the installation in George Town was knowledgeable and had us up and running quickly after we purchased a SIM card and a $30 pay as you go data card. 

Now we have internet access as long as we are within reach of a cell phone tower. Now that’s progress.

Just when we thought that our engine overheating issues had finally been resolved we had another episode as we crossed the harbour to Kidd Cove to do some shopping. The engine had barely been running long enough to get hot! It turned out that our antifreeze (it seems funny to call it antifreeze in the Bahamas) was too low. We couldn’t figure out where it was disappearing to and stocked up with an extra gallon from NAPA just in case. NAPA is out of town quite a ways but only a short walk if you take the dinghy to the beach at Goat Cay then head north on the Queen’s Highway. If they don’t have their sign up and you reach Darville Lumber you know you have walked at least a mile too far in the heat and will have to retrace your steps.

Painted pods for sale mark the beach access where we left the dinghy.

Even a short stop in George Town warrants a trip to Volleyball Beach where cruisers gather throughout the day for a long list of organized activities or to just hang out and chat.

Mr. Johnson, a local Bahamian historian, gave us a history lesson under the casuarina trees on the beach. It was unscripted and included several personal anecdotes.

Preparations were underway for the Sunday pig roast at the Chat ‘n’ Chill beach bar.

The beach club at the other end of the harbour on Hamburger Beach has had a face lift since last winter and is now known as Big D’s. Musical jam sessions are often hosted here and well attended by cruisers.

It was a good spot for a reunion lunch with cruising friends that we met on our first trip through the Dismal Swamp in 2009.

This will be a short cruising season for us and it was already time to turn around and start making our way north again.

Tom put three hooks in the water as soon as as we had cleared Elizabeth Harbour. It seems that we always catch something on that stretch of Exuma Sound and we hoped to have another productive day.

By 10:45 AM we had caught and landed a 36 inch mahi mahi, more than enough for four meals. We declared it a successful fishing day but kept the lines in the water to see if our good luck would hold.

By 11:45 AM we had two more lines with fish on them. Tom first noticed the rod on the port side bending down towards the water about the same time as he saw a very large fish jump out of the water in the vicinity of the end of the line. We needed to get the other two lines out of the water before everything got tangled up. I quickly wound up the Cuban Yo-Yo line from the starboard side and Tom started to bring in the one in the middle. Tom soon realized that there was a fish on that line as well. In the meantime, the one on the rod was making it well known that he was not happy about having been tricked into chomping down on a bit of wood disguised as a fish, with a large barbed hook attached to it. He was making quite a show of alternately veering off to the left and then the right combined with deep dives and some air borne jumps. We could actually feel the force of his movements on the boat. The hook seemed to be holding fast through all that activity.

How to proceed without risking losing one or both fish?

Best to bring in the smaller of the two first. Hopefully the larger one would keep the hook and tire itself out by the time we were ready for it.

After about 45 minutes of slow and steady winding the line back onto the yo-yo a 4 foot mahi was gaffed, hauled up on the back deck and given a good drink of Smirinoff vodka directly in its gills. The spray bottle of cheap isopropyl alcohol had gone MIA after we used it on fish number 1.

What a crime scene!

Not taking any chances of our next few dinners waking up and deciding to hop back into the water, Tom tossed our catch into the cockpit where I subdued it further with an old bath towel. 

 I think we need a larger cooler.

Then Tom contemplated what to do with the big one. Bit by bit he brought in some line and bit by bit the fish took it back. He still had some fight left in him. The rod and reel were just not substantial enough to handle a fish of that size. First the reel went crazy then the end of the rod broke off. The only option was to hand wrap the line onto a yo-yo.

When the fish was close enough to get a good look we confirmed that we had a big bull (male) mahi on the line. We could also see that the hook was around its jaw which was becoming detached from the body.

When it was up to the back of the boat Tom tried to gaff it only to have the gaff snap and leave him holding the useless wooden handle. The inevitability that the fish was going to die whether we got it on board or not made us more determined not to lose it and have it lost its life in vain. The big question was how to make that happen.

Several of our cruising friends were in the area and had been following the play by play of our antics on the VHF. When we canvassed them for suggestions Corbett on Cookie Monster suggested that we tie a rope around its tail and bring it on board that way. What did we have to lose?

Using a couple of boat hooks we were able to get a rope around the tail and securely tie it to the boat. He would remain there until we were ready for him. Fishing can be strenuous and Tom needed a break.

Fishing, cowboy style.

The remains of the gaff was used to ensure that he stayed on board. Note the lasso also still in place.

The final measurements were 60 inches nose to tail and 12 inches across the his head. Tom estimated the weight to be around 60 pounds.

Tom has gotten very good at filleting since we have been out cruising. Very little is wasted.

We were fortunate to have quite a bit of room in the freezers. After filling them to capacity there was still plenty to share.

We had to slow the boat down to deal with the fish and clean up the mess. Our original destination when leaving George Town had been Black Point. When it became obvious that we could no longer count on a daylight arrival we headed for Little Farmers where we could pick up a mooring ball for the night. There was not enough energy left to look for a secure anchoring spot.