The Great Conch Hunt
Oriole
Sat 2 Feb 2013 22:54
Carlisle Bay Antigua
17:00.57N 61:50.02W
On Monday morning Oriole
sailed out of Falmouth Harbour with her newly expanded crew with the plan to
head east and to windward to Nonsuch Bay, but the sky was as black as the Ace of
Spades. We turned west and headed downwind, heading ultimately for the
little frequented waters inside the reefs of NE Antigua. The Ace of
Spades caught us up and Oriole was enveloped in a procession of vicious
squalls. By the time we had negotiated Cades Reef forming the
Goat's Head Channel the sky had cleared and we had a close reach and then tacked
up to Deep Bay on the NW corner of Antigua. BBQ pork for
dinner and a windy night followed with the wind generator charging the batteries
for all it was worth.
Vice Admiral Katy takes the
helm.
The Boon Channel which leads to the
large area of protected water on the NE extremity of Antigua led directly
to windward but with only a five mile fetch gave us a great sail in clear
sparkling blue/green water. Short tacking up the channel with Harrison at
the helm Oriole went like a greyhound. The only yacht at
anchor in Jumby Bay was Seahawk who had crossed the Atlantic at the
same time as Oriole. Pat and Gavin came aboard for sundowners and
their combined legal heads were consulted for the third time in ten years over
our current minor domestic problem! As usual they were
enormously helpful.
Harrison and Katy's favourite
Caribbean anchorage was next on the itinerary. Oriole had been
there before but such was the enthusiasm of our North Carolina guests that we
saw it in an even brighter light. After a single motor yacht at anchor
left we had the place to ourselves. The clear blue water, the protecting
Cays and the small islands teaming with pelicans adds to the
magic feeling when no other boats or people are in sight.
You can keep the Tobago Cays, this is
paradise.
Harrison and Katy are experienced
conch fishermen and a preliminary skirmish when we found only a few small ones
was followed next day by a dinghy expedition to better waters. Half an hour
later they had found three big ones and enough for our supper. Our
degree course on conch preparation then commenced. Harrison demonstrated
the subtleties of extracting the conch from its shell, cleaning and
skinning. Katy then took over and instructed Chris on her
years culinary experience. The skipper was soon a conch
cleaning expert, Chris mastered the tenderising skills and Katy produced
conch fritters and cracked conch for our evening meal. Readers will
understand that the exact location of this ready source of food must remain
secret.
Harrison strikes the first and vital
blow.
He put in his thumb and pulled out a
plum and said "What a good boy am I".
Chris pounds the cleaned sliced
meat.
By Friday with four hungry mouths to
feed we needed to replenish Oriole's small freezer so we returned to
"civilisation" and the Epicurean supermarket in Jolly Harbour. After an
unusually windless night the day dawned with ominous squally looking clouds and
the wind rose to 20-25 knots promising a quick reach south. As we were
getting underway a yacht which had left earlier returned to anchor and shouted
across that they had lost their wind generator in 45 knots in the area from
where we had come the day before. Our destination was Carlisle Bay a
few miles west of Falmouth where we anchored just in time for lunch, some zzzzs,
a swim and dinner. Chris managed to see some glimpses of the Calcutta Cup
on her iPad so Oriole is a happy ship. The shadows are
lengthening, the evening light is crystal clear and the on deck crew are
out with the binoculars watching a photo shoot with a long legged, slender
but disappointingly well clad model.