Arriving at Rum Cay
Ambler Isle
V and S
Mon 6 Apr 2009 14:57
April 3, 2009
Rum Cay is only 25 nautical miles from Conception, add a few more for
fishing. And fish we did. We hooked the biggest mahi we ever saw. It
probably was 60-65" long, and very thick. Valt fought it valiantly, but
just as he got ready to gaff it, it made a last ditch effort to escape,
breaking the 80 lb. test line, and swam away with a brand new lure. Luckily we hooked a diffent one and landed him.
The waves had settled down nicely, maybe only 2-3'. We wondered how the
anchorage would be? It seemed to have little protection from the current
winds. If it was too bad, we'd have to go into the Sumter Point Marina.
This would be our first marina stop since we left Panama City, Florida.
As it turned out, we opted for a new anchorage in Flamingo Bay. The bay is
ringed with a coral reef and dotted throughout with more coral heads. As we
entered the 100' wide opening in the reef, Dave aboard catamaran "Miou" came on the VHF
radio said, "Come on in, zigzag thru the heads and you will have at least 10'
all the way to the shore." We thanked him and soon were anchored safely with
coral heads all around us. Most were deep enough that we could drive over
them. Some were not, and even poked menacingly out of the water at low tide. It was
an awesome sight. We launched the dinghy and went to meet him and take him
a portion of mahi. He was a rotund, long haired, bearded sailor. A single
hander, maybe? But when we pulled alongside, a lovely, fine lady,
Susannah, came out of the cabin. Newly retired, she was joining him for
their first cruise together. What a clever woman. She was sprouting seeds
to add vegetables to their menu. I'd never thought of it. She was hungry
for feminine conversation and we chatted like magpies for a while.
Next morning we moved the boat closer to shore to get out of the mild
surge. Then we donned snorkeling gear and slipped into the gin clear water.
We swam around the reef admiring the fish.The second and third days were just as fine. No wind, no waves, in fact we drove around the north side of the island which is usually too rough to go. We looked at the reefs from the dinghy as if we were snorkeling. Very unusual.
We got together with the other 3 boats in the anchorage and shared experiences. Even remote anchorages can be very social.
The beaches here is steep, and the slight surge prevents us from anchoring the dinghy and going ashore. The dinghy is 850 pounds, and cannot be easily moved if it should get beached from the waves.
Reluctantly we weighed anchor and headed for Long Island.