Tuesday February 22, 2011

Jerry and I were up at the crack of dawn. We jumped in the dingy and headed to the Hope Town Marina for showers. We also used their WiFi network to Skype with our wives. With clean bodies we motored over to the Elbow Cay Light House and climbed to the top. The view of Hope Town from the top of the 100 foot light house is spectacular. We took several photos. It is much easier to climb down the light house steps than it is to climb up.

We then motored “Old Joe” across the harbor and purchased ice and a case of Kalik. The beer is really tasty, but it is also expensive. It cost almost $50 for a case of beer.

With full provisions, we dropped the mooring ball at noon and motored out of Hope Town Harbor. Our destination was Man-O-War Cay.

While on the way to Man-O-War, I dropped the fishing line into the water and dragged the lure behind the boat. At about 2PM Jerry said that the banjo reel was spinning a little. I checked it and sure enough we had caught a fish. It was a Mutton Snapper that weighed about 8 pounds. We pulled the fish out of the water and gave it a shot of rum. The shot of rum quickly kills the fish and keeps it from flopping around in the cockpit of the boat.

We took several photos of the trophy and then looked the fish up in our cruising guide. Snapper is good eating.

At 3:00pm we dropped the sails and motored into the harbor at Man-O-War. We turned and headed to the south end of the little harbor and Jerry set the anchor. We were anchored in about 10 feet of water.

Once the anchor was secure and holding, we had a Kalik and I sharpened the fillet knife in preparation of cleaning the Mutton Snapper. I filleted the fish. We put the fillets into a plastic bag and stored them in the ice box.

It was time for a dingy ride into the settlement. It takes about 30 to 45 minutes to see everything there is to see. We checked out he Aubury sail maker. They no longer make sails, they make bags, purses. Ditty bags, suit cases out of heavy sail type material. Our next stop was Sally’s Sea Side Boutique. Sally is an older lady in her late seventies. She has beautiful material from Andros (one of the islands in the Bahamas). This was the place, I decided was the best spot to purchase Bahamas souvenirs for Sandy and Patricia.

It was late in the day and I did not have enough cash with me to purchase everything I wanted. I told Sally that I would return in the morning to finish my shopping.

We jumped into the dingy and headed back to WaterMark anchored in the harbor.

We had another Kalik, then Jerry and I prepared the fish. I washed the fish, Jerry cut up some onions and made a salad. I sauted. the onions and then cooked the snapper in butter. The fish was wonderful. The fish was sweet and very tasty.. I did a pretty good job filleting the fish as there were not many bones to contend with while eating the meal.