Fishing Season begins...

Although we still have a healthy number of cruisers passing through we are seeing more and more sport-fishing boats coming in from Florida.  The boats are anything from 40 to 80 feet in length and are typically captained. The crew brings them hereabouts to wait for the owners who fly in for a few days of deep sea fishing.  They want Marlin but usually come back with Mahi Mahi (Dolphin) and snapper.  These are Dolphin.

The crew gave these to the marina dock-hands.  This one is Michael.  Great guy and always happy and friendly with a wicked sense of humour.

  We have been given so much fresh fish we are done with it for a while.  Until they start catching Grouper.  Can't resist Grouper!

The marina skyline is slowly filling with Tuna Towers.  That picture was taken when most of them were out fishing.  I spotted a couple up on top enjoying the view and used my 400mm lens..

Some of the fishermen bring their motoryachts and tow a 30 to 40 foot centre console boat to fish from.  Sometimes they don't tie them well.  This one almost took on water at low tide.

One of our new found friends here volunteered to let me have a new black water gauge shipped to his wife's hotel while she was away on business.  I have tried three different gauge technologies which have failed.  This one, thankfully worked just fine.

I mounted three gauges.  One for the black water and two for battery consumption which I will connect later.  The black water transducer bounces a sound pulse down to the water surface and back to the transducer and measures the time taken.  It then converts it to a voltage that can be fed to a standard gauge. Simple and, finally, effective.

Another common indicator of American sport fish operators is the crap they bring and put on the dock.  The guy behind us with the dolphin shown in the picture above brought multiple Yeti coolers, plugged a freezer in, put his spare props on the dock and generally made himself at home.

Sometimes we get an interesting boat or two passing through.  The following pictures of "Statement" are nothing if not interesting.  Whether you like this kind of statement is up to you.  Yes it's reptile patterned vinyl.  And it's called Statement and the boat brand is Statement.

Only three 300HP engines.  Why "only", you say?  Let's try four 300HP engines, also custom painted like Statement's three.

No, it's not a Photoshop..

They are travelling together of course.

Yesterday was a double celebration.  Not only was it my birthday but it also coincided with the start of my first pension.  A tiny one from Philips in the UK for whom I worked just 8 years before shipping out to Canada.  Every little helps.

Wet times

We have seen a lot of cloud and rain the last few days.  It started as late afternoon thunder storms and then the front came through and gave us a lot of much needed rain. It gave us a beautiful dawn sky the other morning though.

It is still cloudy and showery today and will be until Monday.

We set out to Marsh Harbour with our bikes Thursday and were actually on the ferry when the captain advised the bikes could only go one way.  This was to "protect" the interests of bike rental companies in Marsh Harbour.  So we decided to abort the mission and go on Monday, when the Sea of Abaco calms down, using Joe's 19 foot boat and with our bikes.

One of our crew had a bit of an accident yesterday.  She was climbing back on the boat when she slipped on the step and fell into the harbour.  She was able to climb onto one of the cross pieces until I grabbed here and hauled her back on to the dock.  A quick hose down to rinse off the harbour salt water and she began the clean up.

Happily her first swim ended well.  The barracuda was nowhere to be seen.

It's been ten days...

...since my last post and family has started complaining (=Jon).  So here goes with some of the activities going on around this part of the world.

After all the Ocean Reef boats left it has been a bit quiet on the main transient pier.  I have been waiting for a cloudy day to buff the forward deck.  It's looking faded and dull having sat in the sun and salt air.

Our days have been mostly spent reading, dunking in the pool to cool off and taking lunch at a local bar/restaurant.  It's a hard life.  We have also binged on Breaking Bad in the evening.  As of today we are at Season 5 Episode 7 so the end is, unfortunately, in sight.  We started watching it three weeks ago.

It has been windy and warm.  The wind has now been easterly for well over a week but a break is in store for the next few days.  This view of the sky from yesterday shows the wispy high level clouds which indicate some rain or storms approaching.

Those with an eye for detail might notice that the PDQ 44 foot catamaran "Blue" has gone.  It was there when we arrived and no one has been on it until three days ago.  They left yesterday to cruise back to the US but not before I got a guided tour of the boat from owner Christian.  Very impressive space and finish.

We have been giving Spooky a bit more freedom as the marina has thinned out.  She found that our boarding step offered a great shady spot to hang out.

We got some clouds so I was able to get the buffer and Buff Magic out to start shining the deck.  Add some polish and the shine was back!

This trawler would make us a great live-aboard AND be easy to maintain.

In the background you might recognize the 105 foot Hargrave  "Exit Strategy", which came in a couple of days ago with their fun crew.

Another yacht came in.  This time the new 110 foot Horizon "Andrea VI".  Launched last July.

Any idea who is aboard?

Both yachts look cool at night.

So that's the news for now.  Hoping for some rain!

Later.

Update

The boats all came from Ocean Reef Club and there were three more, over 100 feet, that berthed in the Boat harbour at Marsh Harbour and dinghy-ed over because they were too large.  We can take a 125 foot boat here but we only have one 100 amp power connection.

The Ocean Reef Club is in Key Largo and is worth a look for your next domicile - private airport and all!   Click here.


Sip -Sip was loud and friendly with many familiar faces and good conversation.  We ate at the Harbour Edge and watched a beautiful sun set over our companions boats at moorings.

 

Filling out

After thinning out for a few days we had 18 yachts come in en masse from one club today.

But before I get to that, we went over to Marsh harbour with our friends Steve and Barbara  from  "L L Seas".  We did a little shopping and also picked up Joe's 19 ft Laguna center console to give us a more sea-worthy runabout than the dinghy.

We also went snorkeling with Steve and Barbara.  Jo gave it a try but needs to adjust how she is using the snorkel.  I took a selfie for the record.

The water was clearer this time with more fish.

Today, Friday, we had eighteen motor yachts arrive from one cruising club.  We are now pretty much filled.  At least three of the boats were over 80 feet including this new Pacific Mariner 85:

..and an older one:

This 84' Lymon Morse is for sale at $3.3 million.

This 85' Offshore managed to side-swipe Chopin as she docked. It has been quite windy today.

This gorgeous San Juan 48 is tied up behind us.

And this Lazarra was the last to arrive:

Not sure how long they are all staying but the next post will advise.

Tonight we are off to Sip-Sip, a local wine bar and restaurant.