Norman's Cay

We stayed in Allen's Cay waiting for good weather to go out into the sound and do some fishing. It was a nice stay. We met more new people, snorkeled a number of different reefs and visited the iguanas on the beach everyday.

Today, though, was all about fishing. We heard over the radio that some folks were getting strikes north of Highborn Cay. The winds calmed down through the night which made the Exuma Sound lay down nicely. In the morning it was calm seas, a gentle breeze out of the ESE, and bright sunshine: perfect for fishing. It was so calm, and coming up on high tide, that we took the Allen's Cay Cut, we would not take it under any other conditions. As we hit deeper water and rounded the north point of Highborn Cay we got a double hook-up. Unfortunately, while landing the first fish the second fish worked its way off the hook. When I went to gaff the mahi, there were several swimming around down below. I have never seen so many mahi in one place. Our hands were full navigating and butchering and storing fish. Myron was still studying how to butcher out the fish collar when we got another hook up. This second fish was a good fight. It seemed to take forever bring in, and then it would run out again. Myron gave me a couple of turns at reeling it in (and having it pull the line back out). After at least 10 minutes the fish finally surfaced and then we knew what we caught. It was one of the largest mahi we have ever landed - probably four feet. I know people catch larger, but it was a record for us. Now our fish lockers are full and we are ready to head into the Exuma Park area, where fishing is prohibited. We have enough to share if we choose, and we gave a few good pieces away today to Fred, a fellow single-handing on a Nordic Tug, 'North Star.' He told us about some neat places to go, good tips, well worth some fillets!

After the fishing, we came in Norman's Cut and anchored off of Norman's Cay. This cay was formerly controlled by a drug lord (Carlos Lehder). He was depicted in the movie 'Blow.' There is a DC-3 airplane that crash landed in the water here some time back. We snorkeled that airplane shortly after putting our anchor down. We also walked Norman's Cay and saw the runway and the clubhouse. Then I blew out my tire tread sandals and we had to cruise on back home (does not quite work with Jimmy's song...)

It has been a big day. We just finished a fish dinner, cleaned up and watched a beautiful sunset. We can share pictures when we have internet. In the meantime, Myron will get this out over the ham radio and I may be asleep before he is finished.

Love to all,
Dena

Posted via Ham radio.
{GMST}24|35.359|N|076|48.793|W|Anchored|Norman's Cay{GEND}