Wednesday, February 9, 2011

More and More Jumentos



From Double Breasted Cay we motored over to Margaret Shoal which is another anchorage and only about a mile away from where we were anchored. First Edition left us to go back to Raccoon Cay where the lobster hunting is better. We spent two days on our own off of Margaret Cay doing lots of kayaking, beach walking and mangrove exploring. We had hoped to find the baby sharks we had seen the other day at low tide in the mangrove and take some pictures but we couldn't find them at high tide. We think that they were either black tip or lemon shark babies and possibly had left for the big ocean. People don't seem to anchor at Margaret because there is more surge but we found it bearable and the worst roll when the tide was changing. Everyone's sense of comfort is different and many people anchor at Hog Cay and seldom move because there is negligible surge there.

From Margaret we headed over to Raccoon Cay for a change and to see a new anchorage. We did some paddling and some snorkelling. The water is so warm (25 C or close to 80 F) and clear that it is great to snorkel even if there is not a lot to see and usually there is something even if it is just sea biscuits on the bottom. I watched a funny worm creature come out of its burrow and clamber up on our fishing reel and try and eat the chicken bait the other day when I was snorkelling by Celebrian. We weren't tending the pole and eventually either the worm or some fishes nibbled off our bait. Our friends on Windswept 4 said that you have to cast and reel in your line but we are lazy fisher people and besides we now need a lesson in doing that. It is a good thing we have friends who are fishermen.

We were joined at Raccon by First Edition and a flotilla of boats that came to help out Becky and Kevin on Mirabelle who had lost their dog. Danny, part border collie, elderly and deaf had run off after some wild goats and been lost. They had been searching for two days already. We joined another dozen or more boats to help search the island. We were both physically and emotionally exhausted after three hours of clambering through thick brush and rock in the heat. Lynn fell on a rock and cut her leg and the inside of her mouth. Gratefully one of their boating friends is a doctor and Bob was able to stitch up her mouth. She will be very sore for the next few days but as she says it could have been worse. Some of the men who are hunters went out in the afternoon to see if they could find any tracks but to no avail. Rob and I both felt so sad as we sailed away from Mirabelle. My heart just ached for Becky as she was so upset about Lynn being hurt and of course not finding her dog. It will be so hard for them to give up searching and leave the island.

We are back in Southside Bay and will have the long trek into town to pick up groceries for both ourselves and First Edition. In addition I hope to get in touch with my mother and post a couple of blog entries.

More Jumentos



My last blog entry was sent from the Duncan Town School where we had joined a group of cruisers for a BBQ to raise money for a school trip. The eleven students from kindergarten to grade nine have never been off the island and the teacher is hoping to taken them to Nassau on the mailboat. The BBQ was a great success and the local ladies provided some very good food. One of the ladies working had grand ma looking after her daughter...take a look at those sandals!


One of the great things about exploring the beaches in the Raggeds is that you never know what you might find. We put Mr. Johnston, our 3 HP outboard on Goldberry and explored Little Ragged Island. We combed the beaches for shells with little luck; however we did find some sea glass on the ocean side. We also came upon a Haitian sail boat wreck up on one of the ocean beaches. It is not unusual for people in Haiti to pay large sums of money to try and escape to The Bahamas in these wooden boats. More often than not they get caught by the Bahamians and get sent back and the boats are abandoned to become ship wrecks.

From Southside Bay we headed north with First Edition to a new cay call Double Breasted. The area is like an archipeligo of islands and there are lots of places to explore. The first day we headed to shore with Lynn and Peter and spent some time sea glass hunting on the ocean side. Lynn is planning on doing a chandelier of sea glass for her new house. The following day we paddled the kayaks and did some exploring on our own. Peter and Lynn went hunting for lobster. Peter had some lessons on spearing lobster from another cruiser and is doing quite well. In fact Lynn has said that she is almost tired of eating lobster...mind you they have been travelling with some other boats that routinely have lobster that they have speared. Unlike Celebrian's crew who have to buy lobster and as of yet are not tired of eating it. Rob would rather spend his time paddling and exploring than hunting and even though I enjoy eating lobster neither Rob nor I have the killer instinct. We spend our time rescuing conch stranded by the tide; although We have wet our fishing pole once and the fish cleaned off our bait without us noticing. We also had an opportunity to buy some crab legs from Raphael this past week and we had a crab fest on First Edition and met Karen and Chris from Synergy.

This was the first time I have had crab legs fresh from the ocean and they were delicious. We cooked up the rest of the legs that we bought and they are in the freezer for future dining. They were huge and Rob had to use channel pliers to crack the shell. We paid two dollars a claw and everyone said that that was an incredible deal.


The following day after our crab fest Chris speared several hog fish and dropped off a couple of fillets for us and they were scrumptious. What we lack in fresh produce we make up for in fresh sea food in the Jumentos.