Berry Islands

We had a break in the weather and left Bimini to head over to Bullock Harbor in the Berry Islands. Unfortunately, this is a 14 hour trip, meaning we’d either have to leave in the dark or arrive in the dark. I really didn’t want to do an over night passage again. Given the start and endpoint I thought it best to leave in light and arrive in the dark. I’ve been to Bullock Harbor before, have bread crumb trails on the GPS, and it’s an open anchorage. We also had a buddy boat going with us just in case we ran into any issues.

The ride over was uneventful and we arrived at 8PM. Between the breadcrumb trail, AIS, and radar, we were able to get anchored in the dark. A good enough job that I didn’t have to move in the morning. Once we arrived, a strong blow came in from the east bringing clouds and rain. So much so that I had to run the generator and shut StarLink off at night to keep a charge on our batteries.

The rain was more of a light drizzle. More annoying than effective. We were hoping for a good down pour to wash the salt off the boat but it never came.

While in town, I was able to find a replacement pump for the water maker. I was happy because that meant when the weather broke, we could head towards Eleuthera instead of Nassau. Unfortunately, while I was plumbing the pump in, I over tightened it and broke one of the plastic/nylon fittings. I was only hand tightening it, no wrenches involved. I suspect it might have been on the shelf of a while and had deteriorated over time. Who knows.

Yes, I was upset, but got over it. So, off to Nassau we go. Reservations have been made at our marina of choice. Since Nassau has the best grocery store we’ve found in the Bahamas, we’re making a list of items to pick up.

Once the weather broke, we decided to divide the trip to Nassau into 2 days. While it was possible for us to do it in 1 day, we decided it best to make it 2, stopping at the south end of the Berry Island chain before we cross over.

While making our way to Nassau, we tried something new: salt water fishing. I brought 2 rods that I’d used for Salmon on Lake Michigan. I loaded it up with 50lbs line and ordered a bunch of salt water lures from Cabela’s specifically for Mahi Mahi. We also picked up a gaffe while we were in Key West to bring the fish in.

While we were in shallower water, less than 100 foot, we were doing great. Catching Mackerel and Blue runners. Nothing I really wanted to eat and kept hoping for a Mahi, Grouper, or Hog Fish. The rods and reels I had brought were working out great. The first day we must have caught 10 fish. We would have caught more, but on one of the lures, the hook broke. We kept getting hits and they kept getting off. I wasn’t until we put it away for the evening that we noticed the hook was missing.

The next day, we left the Berry’s for New Providence, crossing the deep ocean, about 10,000 feet of water. I suspected we’d run into larger fish and I was right. The first fish hit and started peeling out line. In less than a minute, I started running out of line on the reel and locked it down. The 50 pound line snapped at the knot. But I didn’t lose the line. About 10 minutes later, the exact same thing happened of the other reel.

I was chatting with my friend who comes down here every winter and he said he uses 150lbs line on the rod and reel and 300lbs line on the hand line. He sent a picture of his setup and I realized I’m under equipped — big time. The conclusion we came to is that we’re only going to fish in the shallower water and leave the lines in when we’re out in the Big Water.

We eventually made it to Nassau and we decided to anchor out before heading into the marina. I like to build in a extra day just in case something comes up. But I had forgotten how God awful it is anchoring around here. Constant wakes from tour boats, jet skiers using the boats in the anchorage as an obstacle course, and big sport fishing boats throwing Tsunamis’ for wakes.

We’ll hit the marina tomorrow and on Thursday we’ll start our shopping runs. Besides the water pump, it’s also time for another oil change for the big engine.

More to come.