Cat Island - “Wouldn’t swim around here, real sharky”
We caught a southerly wind yesterday and shot across the open waters from the Exuma island chain to one of the eastern-most islands in the Bahamas, Cat Island. It was a 35 nm ride with winds on the beam; stronger than promised with occasional gusts above 30 kt. We reefed both the main and head sail and had a great, feisty trip.
Since the winds were predicted to veer from south through west to north and with no protected anchorages for westerly winds on the island, we decided to stay at Hawk’s Nest Marina for a night or two until the prevailing easterly winds return. This marina is the only option on the island and is part of a charming and rustic small resort with its own Indiana Jones style airplane landing strip. People fly in with their own planes to fish in what’s considered one of the best spots in the Bahamas, or come in by boat like us.
Here we got to do another one of our kamikaze landings. The entrance to the marina is narrow between reefs and rocks - add ocean swell, wind and tide to the cocktail to make it extra fun. Somehow we parked the boat safely; we are still debating if this was the diciest entry to date. I suspect that five years from now, we will shake our heads and be amazed at the things we did and how little we knew. Ah well, nothing beats learning from doing.
In addition to great fishing, Cat Island is also known to be rife with sharks. In fact, as we docked Halley, I asked the dock hand, a local Cat islander, about the area; walks, swim spots, etc. He said emphatically “Wouldn’t swim around here, real sharky”.
And boy, we learned that quickly. Chris saw two large sharks under the boat a few minutes later as he was tidying up the lines. Then late this afternoon, a sport fishing boat came in with its catch and we struck up a conversation with the crew. They invited us to stick around for when the fish carcases were disposed of outside the marina. What a show! The water was immediately boiling with sharks who appeared from seemingly nowhere to feast on the fish remains. Definitely no swimming here.
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