December 16th, 2009 Big Majors Spot, Exumas
I cooked a good breakfast and worked on our new anchor snubber, (which had detached from the chain) before talking to Steve and setting a time to go hunting. We left when the sun got high enough to give us some underwater visibility and headed to the southern end of Staniel Cay. After searching for 30 minutes or so we decided to snorkel an area on the east side of a small rocky island...
The coral there was amazing. It was by far the best place we've snorkeled here in three years. The diversity of the coral was amazing. There were three types that I've seen nowhere else. There were fish as well. Most of the larger snappers stayed safely under their rocks... but I did shoot a few Big Eyes, which our book says are good to eat. I had two easy shots at a Grouper and missed them both. Steve saw lots of fish as well but didn't end up shooting anything.
After about 3 hours of swimming, we quit the spot and since it was slack tide, searched some of the cuts for good places to hunt. We checked out a few spots but none were as neat as the one we'd just left.
Finally we anchored off another hunk of exposed rock and got in the water. There was an area around the rock extending out about 20 meters that looked good, lots of coral and small fish, but then it dropped off into water that was way too deep to snorkel.
Steve shot a big Triggerfish right away and we continued to check out the area for another 30 minutes or so before I heard him take another shot. (Under water, you can hear the spear hit rock and always know when people around you are shooting...especially if they miss.) I looked up to see him taking aim again at a smallish grouper. They were both heading my way so I got ready for the killing shot. It darted past too quickly and although I hit him, the spear didn't stick. He hid under a small rock but Steve had a good shot and took it. That's when I saw the Shark. It was swimming straight at us quickly....and was only about 10 meters away. I tapped Steve with my spear and he turned to find an aggressive Shark about 5 feet in front of his face. He jerked the spear out of the Grouper and fended the Shark off with his spear poking it two or three times as it swam by an arm's length away and turned quickly. Luckily the dinghy was nearby and I retreated...wondering if I was going to make it will all my appendages. Steve followed me but stayed in the water watching. By now there was also a big Barracuda close by that also was looking for a free meal and while Steve was watching him... the Shark came at him again. Steve was in the dinghy in a flash. We hauled in our anchor...and left the area and quit for the day.
Steve has been a diver most of his life and is used to seeing sharks in the water, but this was the first time that he has had to fend off an aggressive fish.
After cleaning fish, I read for a while and then made a dish to pass.... pickle roll-ups, before heading to the small beach next "Pig Beach" where Nancy had called for a Sunset Party. It was well attended and we met some new people but ended up eating too much to cook our fish for supper.

December 15th, 2009 Big Majors Spot, Exumas
We worked on boat jobs in the morning. Kathy cleaned while I sprayed the dodger and bimini with 303 fabric protectant and worked on making a new anchor snubber. Later Steve and I went hunting at some of the outer rock islands and saw lots of nice fish. Unfortunately they were a little too quick for us and we returned with only one... a nice triggerfish.
We read for the remainder of the afternoon. For dinner I sauted some scallops in olive oil, butter, and white wine which we tossed over some linguini. Hard pressed for a vegstable, I fried some cabbage and onion which actually went along fine with the pasta.
There is some bad weather on the horizon for the first time this year. A front is in the process of pushing off the east coast and Florida heading our way. It looks like Friday night and Saturday will be the worst for us here in the central Exumas with winds at 30 and squalls to 50 knots. As the front approaches the winds will be from the south but will clock through the SW, W and NW as the front passes.
Cruisers are scrambling to find protection. Here at Big Majors we have protection from all directions except for a 50 degree area from the southwest to the west. We are not too concerned about the wind because the holding here is excellent. The waves are the problem.

December 14th, 2009 Black Point, Big Majors Spot, Exumas
We woke up to a steady rain which lasted until mid-morning. Most of our rain comes in the form of short bursts in squalls so this was a little different. It was still warm, but looked like a grey drizzly December Day with temps still in the 80's.
By 11 a.m. the sun was out and it was hot...Steve and I had talked about going fishing, but decided to put it off for a day and go into town this afternoon instead. So at about 2 we dinghied in to the Yacht Club to check email and make a run to the store.
We returned later to hang out in the cockpit until dark.