Black Point, Great Guana Cay
08 March 2015
I have moved up the Exuma Chain now and am currently in Black Point on Great Guana Cay. The picture was taken from one of the rugged, rocky bluffs overlooking Exuma Sound.
The winds have been very uniformly easterly - with even a touch of south to them - which makes moves to the northwest very easy. I took advantage of this to sail up through the bouncy waters of Exuma Sound, entered at Galliot Cut and am now able to progress "on the banks" on my slow, meandering path. The protected waters, if a bit shallow at times, make this whole "sailing" thing incredibly easy and very pleasant.
I have an embarrassing confession to make.
I do not fish.
It is not that I don't like fish. I do. I like it just fine when it shows up on my plate nicely cooked. It is just that all the hunter/gatherer stuff that happens up to that point is not of interest to me - and never, in my life, has been.
It seems ridiculous that I don't fish. I spend the majority of my life floating just above a vast source of excellent protein and do not partake - except when other cruisers have made it possible to get the reward without the effort. Perhaps it is the difficulty of dealing with a large, strong fish (all too often a barracuda in these waters) while simultaneously sailing the boat that dissuades me. Perhaps it is the blood, guts and slime that inevitably accompanies the catching and cleaning process. Perhaps I am just wimpy.
I recently found that there is an alternative that does work for me.
Soon after my arrival in Black Point the other day, as I was rowing into the dinghy dock to find a cold beer and wifi, I rowed past something floating in the water which, not resembling anything I am used to seeing floating in the water, caught my attention. I rowed back and pulled a Carolina branded, bone-in picnic ham, fully sealed in plastic packaging out of the water. The packaging was not damaged and was not distended. Clearly it had been very recently dropped in the water - probably off the town dock less than 100 yards away. With no hope of actually returning it to the owner, I rowed back to KR, opened the package and satisfied myself that this ham was perfect in all regards.
The meat was soon carved from the bone and the bone cooking in the pressure cooker to make a wonderfully rich and tasty broth. Sliced ham was the main course for dinner that night and a featured element of my Ham and Eggs breakfast the next morning (two mornings actually) and the broth, the remaining meat and some previously cooked black beans were simmering on the stove and becoming a very tasty ham and bean soup. This will feed me for days!
Finally! Protein rich bounty from the sea - which did not require clubbing, cleaning and/or filleting of a large fish! I hope to catch many more of these in the future. This is my idea of fishing!
(Author's Note: In the future any references to this or similar bounty harvested from the sea will, in a weak (and probably ultimately doomed) attempt to bolster my hunter/gatherer credentials, be referred to as "Fresh Caught Smoked Pigfish".)
Best to all.