The fisherman in the old motor boat waved cheerfully as
he passed. Then he slowed and turned back. I guessed he'd want to
sell us fish. We occasionally buy to support the local
people. But when he pulled up to the Amber Isle, he asked
if he could borrow a monkey wrench. Ramon's air compressor was not
working and he'd just started his work day. Valt brought him aboard, made
the repair, and sent him on his way. As he left he asked if we ate
lobster? Yes, of course. He promised to bring us one. In
thirty minutes he returned with a boat load of fresh conch and a cooler filled
with lobster. He picked out the five biggest lobsters and cleaned
them. Overwhelmed by the gift, we insisted he take a few dollars for his
work. He told us he was from the Dominican Republic, and his lazy Bahamian
neighbors did not like him because he worked too hard. No one would fish
with him. After he left, we lifted the anchor and moved a couple
miles down the island chain to a spot out of the tidal currents. As we
passed the Caribbean Marine Research Center we noted about 8 new mooring balls.
Entering the mooring field, Bobby and Francie,
from Barefootin' hailed us on the VHF. We knew them from
Georgetown. He wondered if we were taking a mooring. No, we had
planned to pass the mooring field and go around the bend to a quiet little
cove. This roused his curiosity. "How much to you draw?," he
asked. "Five feet." He drew 5.5' and said he would follow us.
He'd never passed that way, and wondered if there was enough water. He
followed us for a while. We hoped they'd anchor nearby. But in the
end they turned around and picked up a mooring ball. We never got
below 8' of water, usually more. We ate lunch, did a few
chores. We called David to wish him a Happy Birthday. Next thing we
knew, Ramon was back. He'd caught more lobster and we agreed to buy 5
more. What beauties. After he cleaned them, he sat down and began
cleaning conch. He chatted about his life here, where'd he'd lived before,
mutual acquaintances. It occurred to me that he missed male companionship
and conversation, so I left them to men's talk. He promised to look us up
again. We surveyed our beautiful new surroundings. Time to take a
dinghy ride to explore. First we went over our nearby shore bay. We saw
several huge sting rays swimming. Then more rays. We dubbed it
"Sting Ray City." Continuing south along the shore we entered Children's
Bay, where 2 old steel sailboats and a power boat were anchored. We went
to the first Dutch Maid with Saychelle and Emil from Martha's
Vineyard. The other two boats were unoccupied so we rounded the bay and
found it full of big sea stars. Back north, we went to the mooring field
at the Research Center and stopped to visit Barefooting. Behind
them was moored Quest, the Hatteras with Dan and Judy aboard. Dan
caught a 54" mahi today and was eager to share his story. Back aboard the
Amber Isle we enjoyed the first of our lobster tails.
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