Jack Johnson sung about 3 being a magic number. Since leaving Hatchet Bay 3 has indeed been a magic number on Ruffian. We’ve said goodbye to 3 fine catamarans (and a powerboat), got through a cut at high water with just 3 feet under us, hooked and lost 3 fish and arrived at the 3rd largest barrier reef system in the world.

The first of the obstacles that lay between Ruffian and the Abacos was the aptly named Current Cut. Most cuts from the banks in the Bahamas to the open ocean are labelled with the words ‘Strong Current’. The difference with Current Cut is that it is labelled with ‘Very Strong Current’.

In company with ‘Goldcrest’, a Contest 48, we sailed towards the cut, hoping that our calculations and research would make the transit as uneventful as a WI tea party. Goldcrest’s cunning plan was to use us just like a pilot, follow our breadcrumbs and if we hit tide, or the rocks, then they could simply sail around us. They thought the plan had no flaws but we weren’t such fans.

We negotiated the shallows and popped out into ‘deep’ water just as the tide was turning. Our timing couldn’t have been more impeccable and neither could our pilotage as both we and ‘Goldcrest’ sailed out into the blue waters of the open ocean.

In celebration of making it through the cut and into the safe anchorage at Royal Harbour we invited the crew of ‘Goldcrest’ over for sundowners. There was however a bit of a catch to this invite. Ruffian has now been a dry boat for weeks as our St Martin wine and beer supply had been exhausted, so they could only come if they were armed with drink for all. We thought the plan had no flaws, but they could see though our blatant attempt to obtain alcohol, but were pleased to play along.

Dawn saw Ruffian slipping out of Royal Harbour and getting a head start on ‘Goldcrest’ in anticipation of our sail across to the Abaco’s. As soon as ‘Goldcrest’ slipped out our headstart was obliterated as they bravely cut between islands and with her longer waterline length we were never to close the gap on them.

The main activity of the day wasn’t the 50 mile sail to the Abaco’s, it was instead the pursuit of fish in this prolific piece of water. We sailed along the wall where the depth plunges from 12 meters to depths so deep they have hardly been explored and zing, the rod smoked as the reef ran. Out of the water jumped a huge blue fish and as quickly as he came he was gone lure and all.

Not feeling disheartened at the loss of faithful Mr Pinky (sorry ‘Serafina’) we quickly deploy faithful Mr Blue ‘The Camouflage Lure’. Again the reel smoked as another big bad boy was on the hook. Iain took control of the Rod and Fiona took control of Ruffian, after only a few minutes the load just disappeared and we feared Mr Blue was another victim of the deep. We reeled in the line and there on the end of it like an injured soldier was our old friend. He had battle scars but would, with a little Ruffian fettling, live to fish another day.

Now knowing that the sea was alive with fish we deployed our secret weapon, Mr Purple, but we were now a long way from the wall and the day was drawing on. Our hopes of bagging dinner were quickly fading. Mr Blue performed the valiant task of slowing us down for a few hours and then again the rod bent to nearly breaking point, reel fizzed alive and we had a fight on our hands.

We watched in horror as the line on the reel was getting less and less and the fight was not coming out of the fish. Would we now lose everything? The clutch on the reel wasn’t strong enough to hold the monster that was on the end of the line and so we helped it by donning gloves and taking the load off. Now we’d slowed the fish we just had the herculean task of pulling in 300 meters of line and landing the monster of the deep. For 40 long minutes we battled, with one us sweating the line and the other working the rod and slowly pulling the creature in.

Suddenly we saw a huge flash of green and yellow. We’d hooked the biggest bull Mahi Mahi we’d ever seen and there was still fight in him. As we inched this 5ft behemoth towards to back of Ruffian he knew his moments on this earth were numbered and he became more and more frantic. With Fiona now in control of the Rod Iain went to lift the fine specimen of fish on board. We’d be having Mahi Mahi for lunch and dinner, would be feeding whole anchorage and could dine out on landing this beast for years to come.

It was not to be. With one last thrash, the Mahi Mahi broke the line and we watched in horror as he disappeared back into the depths from where he came from. Forever he’ll be known as the one that got away and we didn’t even get a photo to prove we’d ever even had this battle of herculean proportions.

Rachael the autopilot now took the strain as it was too much to ask our aching arm muscles to hand steer. The miles now quickly clicked by in the most idyllic fast sailing conditions and after getting through the 3rd largest barrier reef in the world we anchored next to ‘Goldcrest’ full of stories but with a still empty fridge.

We’ve now graduated to going through cuts marked ‘Very Strong Current’.


Lazily reaching along to Royal Island. Thanks to ‘Goldcrest’.


An early morning off to the Abacos.


Just the most glamorous sailing. It doesn’t get any better than this.


The faithful Mr Blue. A few tentacles short of a full tail.