We spend the evening of the 22nd anchored off Highborne Cay. We found a small reef just south of Highborne, and during an evening dive, after the Conch Salad incident, we observed an octopus slinking along the reef. The creature was amazing to watch. It appendages writhing below its body often appeared as a single mass until one tentacle would extend outward to grasp a nearby coral. Silently the octopus moved along the reef. Anne and I both floated above the creature for nearly 30 minutes - this sighting was amazing.
Back on C'est la Vie we decided our anchorage on the south end of Highborne had too much surge. This lingering swell from the Exuma Sound made C'est la Vie roll side to side. We decided to make a sunset move over to the west side of Highborne. This proved to be a wise decision.
Have I mentioned that we are having problems with the starter battery again? When we attempted to start the motor at Allen's Cays we were greeted not by the hum of 34 horse power, but the click of a dead starter battery... bummer.
We decided on the evening of the 22nd that traveling to Nassau would be our best bet for making the necessary repairs to the starter battery & electrical system.
In the morning, as we prepared for our days run to Nassau, approximately 40 miles to our NNW, I decided to drop a hook in the water. We used the scraps of the conch for bait as we lie at anchor. The reel, which had remained silent for hours the previous day, sang out as a large fish struggled against the drag. Whatever hit the bait is was large. I went to the rod to adjust the drag and begin the fight. Anne circled around the boat looking for the fish. Oh no - shark. Yep, now we have hooked a shark. How the heck are we going to get the hook out of those jaws? The shark darted under C'est la Vie and then back out. After a few minutes of fighting the shark vanished under the boat. The line was still taught, but we could no longer see the fish. After a couple more minutes of attempting to free the line from under the boat, I was convinced the shark had wrapped the prop or tiller, cut the line, and moved on. I now would need to free the line. Dive in? Hmm - perhaps I should do a bit of recon first. I jumped in the dinghy and lapped C'est la Vie's hull looking for the line or the shark. No luck. One lap complete I was again considering diving under to free the line. A dark colored bullet shot out from the boat and under the dinghy. I instinctively fell backwards into the dinghy. Regaining my footing, I climbed aboard C'est la Vie to continue our efforts to land the shark. Our fight was to be short lived. A few minutes later the shark parted our wire leader. Now decorated with a wire leader, two hooks, and a weight the shark continued to circle C'est la Vie. During this time Anne captured the image above.
After our exciting morning the downwind motor sail to Nassau was hot and uneventful. We are now tied up to the docks at Yacht Haven Marina. Tomorrow we plan to reprovision our stores and find the necessary hardware to repair the electrical system.