A Whale of a Tail
Ambler Isle
V and S
Sat 12 Feb 2011 12:24
|
23.47N
76.07.8W
It was time to move again. Only a handful of boats
remained at Farmers Cay. Although we hadn't seen the cave and the ocean
beach this time, we would have to take a rain check. Counting backward
from the start of the next forecast front, we had one great travel day and one
iffy day to get somewhere to shelter from the N-NE blow. The Farmers Cay
Cut was docile today as we steamed out. Dragging lines, we would try again
for the elusive mahi mahi. S/V Polar Pacer was ahead of several
hours. He reported one in the box and one he gaffed and brought aboard,
only to have it flip off the boat. So they were out there and they
were biting. The sea was calm in the Sound today, too. But as
the day wore on, a beam swell began. Changing course a bit, the Amber
Isle settled back down. Nothing was biting. We checked the
lines for weeds. Not even weeds. The VHF continued to report
sightings and catchings. Still nothing here. Suddenly about 200
yards off the port aft a 25' brown and tan WHALE arched out of the water, then
in, then out and in again. This was only the second whale sighting in all
the years we have come to the Bahamas. The first was with Dana and Michael
Farrell in 2008 as we crossed the NE Providence Passage in route to
Nassau. We scanned the disturbed water hoping for another
look. We were rewarded when the magnificent creature again broached the
water and swam off.
At 2:30 pm we reached our destination at Adderley
Cut. This led to a series of small islands. One, Lee Stocking
Island, housed the Caribbean Marine Research Center, a private
institution. We found a spot in a quite little bay and dropped the
anchor. The water was still flat calm here; the wind a mere 4 knots.
Two other boats shared the anchorage. We launched the dinghy and
went to inspect the set on the anchor. The water was so clear we simply
followed the clearly visible chain to the anchor and saw it was buried
deep. No "look bucket" was needed. We rode to the beach
reminiscing about a beach picnic we'd had here in 2007. Darby, our
friends' sheepdog, kept busy trying to herd the swimmers together so he could
keep an eye on us. Much of our trip is memories. Today was the
hottest day so far. As the tide began to come in, the boat gently, slowly
switched directions to face the incoming water. With the moon
only a crescent, the night was pitch black. We looked forward to a nice,
still night. But at 11:30 pm the wind and tidal currents began a lively
game of tug of war with us. Nearly high tide, the current had slacked and
was not able to hold us. So we rocked for three hours til it built up enough
strength. The other boats in the anchorage left at dawn. But we
needed to wait until the tide rose a bit and the sun was higher give better
visibility. We planned take a different route on the shallow
Bank side.
|