Black Point to George Town ...halyard failure and another fish!
AJAYA'S CRUISE
Phil & Nikki Hoskins
Mon 17 Feb 2014 20:02
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Black Point is laundry time as the 'Admiral' rates the
facilities there as the best anywhere we've been to so far. So whilst 'Skip'
played with his engines his dirty clothing was merrily spinning around in one of
the super-duper top loaders ashore. Once the various chores had been completed
it was off to the ocean side beaches for some more sea glass collecting. 'Skip'
took his fishing spear and wet suit - not great for glass collecting but useful
in case he spied anything edible below the waves. After two attempts the spear
elastic broke - it was on it's last legs anyway, and that was that,
but he did find an endless supply of sea glass a few feet from shore
being tumbled in the ocean surf. Easier than plodding along the beach bending
over but still good exercise. You had to be quick though, as you would see a
good piece and whooosh - it was gone in the tumbling surf.
   'Skip' surveys the anchorage from the laundry
dock...whilst cruisers gather to talk about..er..laundry? Nurse sharks frequent
the town dock - suck you to death they will!
We at last managed to catch up with old friends Ralph and
Wendy from Altona who have moved from one hull into two, having purchased a
Lagoon 42. Whilst it is just three feet longer than Ajaya it is huge by
comparison of square area - rather like comparing a British aircraft carrier to
that of the US Navy. We enjoyed a fun cocktail hour looking over their new
acquisition. In fact there were a lot of people we knew there and it was also a
chance to buy some of Mama's home made bread again. A treat we've missed for
over three years.
Weather is always a dominant feature of any visit to Black
Point as the bay is nicely protected from the easterly direction but horribly
exposed to anything from the west. A developing low pressure system
just to the north of the Bahamas meant that we were to be on the receiving end
of some strong west to northwest winds. Time to go. Incidentally, it was here
that we had lost our previous dinghy late at night when it drifted off in the
direction of Andros those three years or so ago. Wonder where it is
now.
We left the anchorage early the following morning just as the
sun was peeking above the horizon and motored out of Dotham Cut into Exuma
Sound. Having finished off the remainder of our Mahi caught on the run down from
the Abaco we were keen to lure another to the boat and refill our small freezer
with fresh fish. Having exited the cut with no problem, the sea state was quite
benign, we set off southwards with the main and genoa set. The 'Admiral' was
below listening to the weather forecast on SSB whilst 'Skip' fiddled with sheet
trim and then started to set a fishing line on the port side. We were
motorsailing at around five knots or so but on returning to the cockpit he
noticed that speed had dropped down a knot which was strange as conditions
hadn't changed. Then we both simultaneously noticed that the
headsail (genoa) was no longer filled with breeze pulling the boat along
but draped all over the foredeck in a heap. We had lost the genoa halyard which
had only just been repaired back in Oriental in the later summer. Now we had a
problem. We need that sail to drive the boat and being at sea with a swell
running it wouldn't be easy to rig anything to directly replace the badly chafed
halyard. All we had was the spinnaker halyard which was offset at the masthead
via a block. After an aborted attempt to set the genoa free flying on the
spinnaker halyard (that is without using the groove in the headstay foil to
run the sail up) we switched tactics to hauling the sail up through the foil
which was labour intensive - why do we need superhuman strength to undertake
what should be a simple task? Eventually the sail luff (the leading edge) was as
tight as we dare tension with such a deviation on the masthead crane. We made
the whole thing off and were finally sailing again. A trip to the masthead
in the boson's chair will be a job to be relished - NOT. The 'Admiral' never did
get the forecast.
After that drama we set four fishing lines trailing
behind the boat with lures of various shapes and sizes. It
wasn't until early afternoon when 'Skip' was down below in the
heads that first one lure was struck followed by the lure on the electric
reel. 'Skip' heard none of the 'Admiral's' cries for help at the time as she was
attempting to reel in the fish that was now swimming way off to starboard.
It was a Mahi. If we didn't already know this then we would have guessed when
the thing leapt out of the water as they do in an effort to spit the hook. That
didn't work for the fish and by now the below crew had joined the foray and was
winding in the line whilst the gaff was made ready.
It's a boy! - no, this wasn't a maternity ward but the
back deck of Ajaya when we discovered that we were about to land the
bull of the species. Our first one ever, easily denoted by the square shape of
it's forehead, whereas the female has a sloping forehead. Why nature decided to
make this handsome fish in this way we have no idea but it makes I.D. very
easy.
  Hauling in the catch..........
getting
nearer.......
It was a biggish fish, not quite the four foot length of our
previous catch but mighty close at forty-three inches and sixteen pounds. We
even invested some of our rum to pour into it's gills which usually kills fish
(lord, what does it do to us we ask) but this was one tough male and even some
well aimed blows with the rubber mallet wouldn't pacify it. It's a messy
business with these larger pelagic fish but it's worth it in the
end.
  Safely in the fish trug after another battle on
deck..........Bull Mahi Mahi, easily identified by a very high square forehead
- male or female - they are excellent
eating
We heard of some five or so other Mahi caught that afternoon
in the Sound by various boats. We were happy with our one which will keep
us in meals for a while longer.
We arrived late afternoon into George Town where some two
hundred yachts were gathering for the annual Cruiser's Regatta, with more
arriving daily. It was going to be busy but our priority was to take
shelter from those westerly winds that were forecast.
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