Cat Island, Bahamas

Blossom anchored in New Bight

First some info on where we are as it's our first time here. Cat Island is the 6^th largest island in the Bahamas. It’s about 50 miles long and 4 miles at its widest. It’s known for having the highest point in all of the Bahamas at 206 feet. Located about 300 miles from Florida, it’s a fairly remote island with a population of about 1600 people. There are 3 airstrips, 1 major marina, a dive shop/resort on the south end and a high end resort on the NW end. This is the most remote island we’ve been to (other than the Dry Tortugas). We never saw more than 3 boats in the harbor with us and it’s an enormous harbor, well protected from the N-SE winds.  It appears that the biggest industry on the island is fishing - we were told there was a marlin tournament this week.

The first 3 nights, we anchored in The New Bight, pretty much directly under a BTC tower. The wind blew 20+ knots for over two days and though the boat wasn’t bouncing around much, we all found the wind agitating. Our first day we took the day “off” and chilled out. I actually got to finish a quilting project (almost)! There's only one side left to bind, so I'll show it off in the next blog post.

We had a very strange track on our gps after the first night so Martin dove the anchor again (he and Jim had dived it when we arrived). This is was what the track looked like:

Anchor track

We figured that we had just been swinging on the chain and that we were pulling tight when the winds topped 20 knots but it looked odd with no arc. So Martin dove down to find (1) a barracuda watching over our anchor; and, (2) that we hadn’t even pulled our anchor around yet even though the winds had done a 180.

Anchor

Barracuda

All was well with the world – let the winds howl. And they did… The next day we dinghy’d to shore. The Anchor Buddy worked like a pro and when we returned in the evening there was another dinghy on the beach using one as well.  We found a car rental place in the chart book and decided we’d drive around and explore.

Our first stop was to visit the Hermitage, the home of Father Jerome which sits atop the highest point in the Bahamas. Father Jerome was a priest and architect and helped to rebuild several churches after a devastating hurricane in 1908. It’s striking, small building with gorgeous views. We could see Blossom in the anchorage below.

The climb up

The Hermitage

Me & Mart

Blossom in the background if you squint really hard!

From there we went down to the southern tip of the island and found the dive shop. Our friend Sunshine in Curacao had told us that she had friends here and to say hi if we saw them. We easily found them at the Greenwood Beach Resort where they are managers. They’re a delightful couple and if we were to stay longer we might have gone diving with them. Except – they have a shark dive group there now and they’ll be diving with pelagic white tips, among others. I don’t think I could manage that :/ Anyway… We found that we know many of the same people in the dive community as Pauline and Antoine and we were really pleased to meet them.

Me, Martin, Pauline, Antoine

Antoine and Lee

Martin & Jim

Greenwood Beach Resort

The Resort (Jim found a “hamburger” sea bean), if we’d only had more time!!!!

We drove west to Hawks Nest Marina next where we had lunch. You have to cross a runway to get to the marina!

Pelican on the dock

Our next stop was up north at Fernandez Beach Village just north of the Bight. We stopped in and decided that it was so beautiful that would move Blossom there the next day. Continuing north we came to The Bat Cave. Of course we stopped (I love bats). We only saw two small bats but I did manage a picture. It came at a price though as I smashed my head against the ceiling and was “saved” by my sunglasses, which are now ruined L

The Bat Cave

Flying Bat

We drove as far north as Arthur’s Town and then returned to the car rental and to Blossom. It was an excellent day and we felt like we got a good feel for the island.

On Tuesday the winds were beginning to calm down and we were itching to get to Fernandez Bay. We took off in the morning for the hour trip north. It was so quick and calm that we towed our dinghy for the first time. At this anchorage we had to navigate around some coral heads and got tucked up very close to shore in water about the same depth (9-10 feet). There are fewer waves but a bit more surge. 

Blossom and Fernandez Bay Village

Blossom looks tough with her fish out

A lovely Selene joined us in the afternoon

We went snorkeling around a few of the coral islands sticking up in the bay. The best snorkeling was right in the middle of the bay where there were lots of juvenile fish. There were a lot of butterfly and angelfish. I like to try to identify the fish I see, if you recognize one I couldn't identify or see a mistake, please let me know!

“Lump of Limestone” so the snorkel site is named

Gray Angelfish intermediate

Scrawled Filefish hiding

Queen triggerfish, she was a beauty!

 Jim got a great pic of another Queen Triggerfish

Beautiful Shells

Every snorkel has to have the obligatory barracuda nosing around (we think he followed us to our next snorkel site as well)

In the evening we went into the Fernandez Bay Village. They have a beautiful bar overlooking the bay that is an “honor’s bar”. You drink what you want and fill out a slip, pay before you go. I doubt there are many bars like this in world, it was pretty cool. We started out alone but the bar filled with patrons as well as the owners and their family. There was a musician playing good music and it was a seriously idyllic evening.

“Honors” bar

Martin pouring a drink with Blossom in the background

Martin enjoying a Kalik

Blossom in the sunset

Idyllic except for the monster spider (2^nd only on my fear list to sharks…)

Look at the size of this thing. I think it waved at me when I took this picture

We returned to the boat for dinner (yes, I drove the tender) and I made a weak attempt at a Sweet & Spicy Tofu Soba dish. It was meh, still on that learning curve with my Thai food.

Wednesday was our last day at Cat Island and we wanted to play.  In the morning we dropped the two kayaks and a SUP and headed for the little river that empties into the bay. We wound a beautiful path through mangroves. There were all sorts of small fish including – yes – a shark! Martin says I’m the only person he knows that can find a shark in 1.5 feet of water. Why yes, I can. It was a baby black tip reef shark, about 1.5 feet long. Here are photos from the morning outing. I’ve also named the barracuda, Fern. After seeing her 4 times now it’s obvious she’s a local and very curious about the goings on in her harbor.

Heading inland

The mangroves (Jim's pic)

Turtle

You can barely make out the outline of the little shark with his black tips and his shadow below

Stingray (Jim's pic)

View of Blossom on way back

Jim & Martin

Fern following us back to the boat (you can barely make her out center of the photo)

There was no dinner offered on Wednesday at Fernandez Bay Village so we went in for lunch. It was excellent – fresh wahoo caught off the island. While we haven’t seen the cottages here, one of the guests said they were really nice. We were very impressed with this little resort.

 View from the restaurant beach

I love the artwork :)

Cat Island place mats

Friendly local critters

This afternoon we suited up and went in search of more snorkeling. Unfortunately we couldn’t find any interesting sites so we ended up back at the Lump of Limestone.  I managed to get some good pics of some small fish this time.

All toys deployed

Sergeant Major

Another sergeant major (Jim's pic)

I think this is a Blue Tang and someone took a bite out of his dorsal fin

Butterfly fish

A Red Hind (?)

A grouper, maybe a Tiger Grouper (Jim's pic)

I think these are different kinds of Tube Worms (Jim's pic)

We returned to the boat, put away our toys and started to prep for heading out to Conception tomorrow.  While we were putting things away two planes flew into the bay. Talk about cool!

 Watching it approach

Incoming!

Today was a perfect day, the kind we dream about when we talk about going to the Bahamas. The winds finally calmed down and the water was several shades of turquoise, green & blue. We explored the mangroves by kayak and SUP spotting fun wildlife (turtle, baby shark). We ate fresh wahoo under a palm leaf umbrella for lunch and are looking forward to a barbeque dinner on the aft deck, anchored all alone, with a stunning view of the sunset. Talk about living the dream…

We’ve made the decision to head out to Conception Island tomorrow. None of us have ever been and it’s supposed to be beautiful. It’s an uninhabited island about 5 hours south of here with little in the way of protection. Since the winds are supposed to be more calm for the next few days it seems like we have a perfect opportunity to check it out. There’s another front moving in this weekend so the plan is to return to the Exumas, maybe Georgetown, on Saturday.

Boat Business:

• Davit. Martin & Jim are working with a minor oil leak in the davit. They’ve slowed it but not stopped it yet.

I don’t have a lot to discuss under boat business this time so I thought I’d comment on some things that we’re finding extremely useful as we travel the Bahamas this year.

• Anchor Buddy. What did we do in the Bahamas without this? It works as advertised and is amazing.
• Flopper Stoppers. It’s been windy and a bit rolly. We find the floppers easy to deploy and feel that they dramatically reduce roll.
• Water makers. We have 2 water makers that produce about 35 gallons per hour each. We’re water hogs and like to wash the boat, clothes and ourselves frequently. We’ve been running them underway when we can (they’re loud so it’s nice to do it then) and keeping our tanks topped up with at least 500 gallons. We’re very lucky campers…
• Very large freezer. We’ve provisioned for 2 months having 3 to 4 persons aboard for the bulk of that time. It’s fabulous to have all the meat, bread, hummus and frozen veggies that we could possibly eat. And frozen pizzas, can’t forget the frozen pizzas…
• An over-sized Ultra anchor. We’ve never had a problem yet (knock on wood) with dragging. We set it by bearing down at 1500 rpm and digging it in deep. We sleep well at night, even in blows.
• Canvas. We had cockpit canvas made and we love it. With predominantly easterly winds we’re usually facing west in the late afternoon. The canvas keeps the cockpit cool enough to enjoy the evenings outdoors.
• Electric flyswatter. It sounds odd, I know, but there’s something immensely gratifying when you fry an annoying fly.