Shear Madness

May 11, 2016

For those interested in books, there are reviews of 27 new books, plus some updated recommendations of old favorites.

We are continuing to enjoy our time in the Bahamas. We had to say goodbye to our dear friends Ron and Wendy, who had cruised with us for seven weeks! It’s lonely without them. But we have met up with some fellow Nordhavn’s – old friends Dee and Jerry on Grace of Tides, Martin and Stephanie on Blossom, and new friends Dick and Kathy on Castaway.

Ron and Wendy head to airport

From Staniel Cay we headed east to Half Moon Cay, where the cruise ships come to play by day but leave again in the afternoon. But the north side of the island is deserted and home to beautiful beaches and fabulous diving and spearfishing. From there it was on to Cat Island, where we have met some wonderful new friends. We anchored near Bennett’s Harbour and decided to go to the School Fair in Dumfries and then possibly to Orange Creek for a visit to the local grocery store. All a bit hard with no land transportation, but hitch hiking has worked well for us. This was no exception, as the first vehicle to come along stopped to pick us up. It was Toni in a Can-Am (a serious dune buggy). She was heading to Orange Creek for groceries, then planning to stop by the school fair. So we tagged along. Bradley donned a headset so he could talk – it’s a noisy ride! A couple hours later, we had some new friends. Toni and her husband Gary live part time in Colorado and part time in a house here on Cat Island. Gary offered to take us all to the local caves – another ride in the Can-Am – and Gary was a fabulous tour guide. The cave was incredible and only infrequently visited.

Entering the cave

We attended a beach party put on by the local restaurant/bar Yardies where we enjoyed great food, played football with some kids on the beach and learned to play dominoes. A visit to Da Smoke Pot with more friends we met on the beach allowed us to enjoy some Rake ‘n Scrape (local music). Our friend Edwin, a caretaker for a local resort, traded us some coconuts for fish.

Learning to play dominoes

Speaking of which, the fishing has been great! On the way from Half Moon to Cat Island, we got a strike on one of our lines. It was my turn to bring the fish in and Austin was bringing in the second line to get it out of the way when he also got a strike! So we both had big fish on the line – his a 28 pound mahi and mine an 18-pounder. Spearfishing has also been good, netting some nice grouper and snapper.