Great Guana Island - Exumas

AJAYA'S CRUISE
Phil & Nikki Hoskins
Sat 3 Apr 2010 18:49
In position 24:01.62N, 76:21.66W
 
With the wind having died away completely after the front we had waited out at Lee Stocking Island we exited back into the deep blue waters of Exuma Sound to motor 22 miles north to Great Guana Cay. The first excitement of the day came when the fishing line went crazy just after we had exited Adderley Cut and were gaining deeper water. This was quickly followed by the first disappointment of the day when we reeled in a 2' long Barracuda - about as welcome a visitor on our fishing line as a crocodile in a Wildebeest watering hole. Some cruisers eat these fish but as they can be carriers of the poisonous toxin Ciguatera we choose not to, but we did want our favourite lure back which was nestling in a mouth full of sharp teeth - angry teeth at that, so we resorted to a couple of blows on the head to relax him whilst Phil tried to retrieve the valuable lure. It just made him more angry but eventually we managed to separate lure from mouth and tipped the brute back into the sea where we were surprised to see it swimming back into the deep.
 
We returned onto the shallow banks through Farmers Cut and motored past Big Farmers and Little Farmers Cays for a few more miles to an anchorage that we had totally to ourselves for the night. The water being a warm 25 degrees we took the opportunity to get in for a refreshing swim - a rare event these past months as the sea has been too chilly to indulge in any real swimming or snorkelling activities.
 
With a more active low pressure system passing over the Florida/Georgia coast in the next few days we need to be somewhere safe to wait for the accompanying cold front that will affect the whole of the Bahamas over Monday/Tuesday night. It seems that winter is reluctant to leave this area. So we're off to Staniel Cay to get some shelter and also hopefully find a restaurant to celebrate Nikki's forthcoming birthday.