Fishing with an anchor and a stick, or an afternoon with Morgan Freeman
Stream
Darrell Jackson and Sarah Barnes
Sun 23 Mar 2014 12:15
Thursday 20th March 2014
An early start for Jennifer's first passage. A thirty mile romp across to Barbuda. Under full sail, 7/8 knots the whole journey. Most of the way was on a beam reach, although towards the end the wind went around to the south slightly. We safely negotiated the reefs to anchor in Low Bay, which has the most gorgeous white, with a slight hint of pink, eleven mile beach. Ii was clear that both Sarah and Jenni were pleased to arrive as the sea was quite rolly. We had an exciting time launching the dinghy and getting ashore to meet George Jeffries, a local fisherman, guide and Morgan Freeman look-a-like. We had arranged a tour of the lagoon and the frigate bird sanctuary. George told us all about the history of Barbuda and how the Coddrington family had used it to grow food for their slaves on their plantations on Antigua and Barbados. They had the lease for Barbuda from Britain in return for "one fat sheep a year if required". Seems like a good deal.
Although, it was still a slave estate on Barbuda it was different from many of the other islands. The slaves were treated well and were trained in skilled trades. There were no overseers as the threat of being sent to Antigua was enough to keep them in hand and life here was better. The Coddringtons also salvaged the many ships that were wrecked on the reefs that surround the very flat island of Barbuda. The estate was built on the highest point, so they had a good view of the island and the Caribbean coast side. They also had look outs on the Atlantic coast so they could quickly get to the wrecks to salvage the cargoes before they sank. They were kind enough to take the crews to the port so they could continue their journey. The Coddringtons did very well out of this sideline and became very rich.
In the lagoon there is a Canadian buoy that was salvaged by fishermen just off Barbuda. It had broken free and had been carried by the Atlantic currents across to the Spanish coast and then back across the Atlantic down to Barbuda. We then saw where the frigate birds used to roost but had to move after the mangrove was destroyed by the 1960 hurricane, forcing them to relocate to the present colony.
On our way across to the colony George suddenly stopped and looked around. Curious we asked why and he said he was looking for his lobster cages. We looked around and couldn't see any of the usual marker buoys that fishermen use. He asked us to pass the anchor and a stick to him from the bow locker. Baffled, we did as asked, and watched amazed as he threw the anchor out and used it to pull in his lobster cage from just next to the boat. They were small spiny Barbudan lobsters, or crayfish as we would call them. George then gave us a master class in lobster fishing and sustainability. We went to another two areas and collected more lobster from each. Each time we were unable to work out how he could find them as we saw no signs. He was obviously using transits, but when the horizon is almost entirely green mangrove with no relief this was some orientation feet.The bottom of the boat was teeming with small lobsters, the best tasting according to George! He sorted them out, throwing the smallest ones back.
We then arrived at the frigate bird colony, twenty thousand birds in a series of mangrove trees. Some of the male birds still had the bright red throats that they inflate during the mating season. The adults were wheeling around returning from fishing in the Atlantic and Caribbean to feed the young, who were a range of ages; some fluffy newborns to older ones who were beginning to grow their flight feathers.
It was a fantastic day that we will all remember, topped off with George giving us eight lobsters. We have a lovely picture of John transporting them back in the dinghy with a smile from ear to ear. Luckily we have a great cookbook on board so we could look up how to cook them, as this was a first for all of us. Darrell and Jenni did a wonderful job of preparing them and a sumptuous meal was had by all the crew.
Sitting in the cockpit we had a good view of the hotel on the beach: 'The Lighthouse Bay Hotel'. It is all lit up and looks romantic and inviting. However, there does not seem to be any guests. Obviously, this sets Sarah's fertile imagination into overdrive and she presented the crew with several scenarios, mainly involving shady organisations. So it was decided that we would have to explore it, but that would have to wait for another day.