April 26, 2008.

We were faced with the decision of whether we should go north to the Abacos or head west to the Berry Island group. Our original plan called for a trip through the Abacos on our way home to the states. We talked to several experienced cruisers and the split was about fifty-fifty to do the Abacos or to skip them.

We were still on the fence until we talked to our friend Gary who was “very” partial to skipping the Abacos all together. He just felt after having been down the Exuma chain to the Ragged Islands we would be disappointed in the crowds we might run into. He even called it “East Florida”.

Conversely, the Berries are pretty desolate in spite of their location. There’s not much deep water, very few facilities and the number of inviting anchorages is limited, so most people avoid them. We’ve decided that we would really enjoy a few more days of isolation before we get back to the states, so we’re heading to the Berries.

We had a run of 50 miles to get from Royal Island to Devils Cay in the Berries. The wind was supposed to be 9 to 12 knots from the north-north east. The direction was correct but the winds strength was a little higher at about 16 knots. So we ended up with a fabulous sail while dodging several squalls in route. Previously, the wind had been strong from the northwest for several days and the seas were fairly large. We were also crossing the Northwest Provincial Channel which is thousands of feet deep and has a north bound current like the Gulf Stream. So we had big seas, a northbound current which was opposed by the wind, so it was a little rough. It was nothing we or the boat couldn’t handle but we were exhausted from holding on all day.

When we got to the cut at Devils Cay it proved to be a little scary. We had the tide ebbing against us with a substantial breeze driving us towards the shore. The charts and GPS showed the same thing but looking at it from offshore it was very disorienting. There are several small cays in 2 parallel rows, in some places you can see the gaps, then in other places 2 islands will overlap and appear as one and you can’t see the gap that you feel ought to be there. We hate that.

There are a number of reefs running outside along the shore so you either do it right the first time or you’ll wish like hell you had. When the chart said we were in the right place we committed ourselves to entering and it was quite a while before it became apparent that in fact, we had chosen the right gap to enter. Once inside you have to make a ninety degree turn to starboard and after 200 yards another hard turn, but this time to port. We hunted around a bit and finally dropped our anchor in 12 feet of water.

That was a couple of days ago. We’ve been comfortably anchored here and can’t believe our good fortune. The Berries rock. Once again we have beaches to ourselves, hell we have islands to ourselves. That fifty-fifty decision definitely went our way.

Christy has been doing a lot of shelling during our trip to the Bahamas. The quality, number and size of the shells here rival anything we’ve previously seen.

Yesterday we took the dinghy down to the lee of the next cay to do a little spear fishing. We anchored the dink at about the midpoint of the cay. We swam south and after a while we spotted and speared a decent sized grouper. It was about a quarter mile swim back to the dink with our fish, once there we plopped the fish into a bucket and swam north leaving the dinghy where it was.

Christy was lagging behind as she was doing a little underwater shelling while I hunted ahead of her. I turned a corner and saw a huge Barracuda passing in front of me about 40 feet away. Barracuda are very sinister looking but seem to be opportunists, often taking fish struggling on an anglers hook. We see them all the time while we’re in the water. They usually don’t seem to pay us any mind and we pay attention as they swim past and watch them until they fade from view.

This one was different though. I saw him first but as soon as he saw me he did a quick 90 degree turn and charged straight at me at warp speed. I barely had time to shit myself. He stopped 8 feet away and repeatedly opened and closed his jaws, exposing a mouthful of razor sharp teeth. I raised my spear out of the water and smacked it down on the surface in order to scare him away. He turned and bolted 20 feet away, turned on a dime and sped right back gnashing his teeth. We did this little dance several times as I backpedaled the way I came. In the meantime Christy had caught up with me and we both withdrew from this obviously agitated Barracuda.

Once away from the Barracuda we started hunting again. Christy spotted what turned out to a huge grouper. When we got closer it became apparent that there were 2 large grouper hovering over a small cave in the bottom. They immediately turned rabbit and dove into their hole. It became obvious that we still had a good chance at taking one of them though. They kept coming just to the entrance of the cave to peek out to see if we were still there. It seemed as if a face shot would surely present itself.

Christy didn’t want me to shoot one of them and then have to swim several hundred yards trailing blood to the dinghy while that agitated Barracuda was still in the neighborhood. She said that she’d swim back to the dinghy while I waited and once she brought the dink close by I could take the shot. Excellent plan.

So now I was floating just out of the vision of the 2 grouper hiding in their cave. While I was waiting I saw that there was also a pair of very poisonous lion fish in the hole as well. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a movement in the haze. It was too big to be the Barracuda so I had a moment of relief until I realized that it was a bigass shark. He was probably drawn in by the blood of the grouper I took a half hour ago. He was acting mondo active as he darted here and there hunting for whatever was bleeding. He came way too close to me a few times, as he circled around me.

Then the stars just all lined up for me. I slapped the water with my spear driving the shark away just as Christy pulled up in the dinghy and the smaller of the 2 grouper stuck his face out of his hole. I quickly shot him in the face, pinning him to the sea floor just inside his cave. I left him pinned to the bottom while I nimbly jumped from the water to the safety of the dinghy.

Christy then told me that she had to swim all the way back to the dinghy while looking behind her as the Barracuda escorted her all the way. I saw her Barracuda and raised her a bigass shark. While she kept watch for the shark I jumped in, ripped the grouper from his hole, horsed him into the dink at the end of my spear and jumped back into the dinghy. The other day we were like ninjas and today I was like a superhero, Scaredshitlessman, able to leap into tall dinghies in a single bound.

Soon the shark was back and he brought a slightly smaller buddy, so then there were 2 sharks circling the dinghy looking for dinner. Christy said that the bigger of the sharks “doesn’t look that big” so she decided to put on her mask and hang upside down from the dinghy to get a better peek.

Fine with me, I already saw him. She ducked her head under, came right back up and said “holy crap, that’s like a Great White”. While it wasn’t a Great White, it was a pretty intimidating shark. We spent several minutes with her hanging upside down; watching as the sharks actively swam around us.

As a result of yesterday’s excellent fishing we decided to spend today shelling and it’s safer. First we headed south to the ocean side of Devils’ Cay which yielded a ton of beautiful shells. Christy was heard giggling out loud several times. After a quick lunch back at the boat we headed north to Hoffman Cay to hit the ocean side beach there as well. It’s hard to believe that these 2 beaches are only 2 miles apart. This beach was essentially picked clean, yet there wasn’t a footprint to be found. We walked for a couple of hours and only found a few collectable shells. Christy was a little disappointed but all in all, it’s still been a banner day.

On our way home we were pretty hot from having spent all day walking the beaches and since we had our snorkeling gear in the dink we decided to jump in. We saw a little of this and a little of that but nothing spectacular so after we were refreshed we climbed back into the dink and headed home.

Since our boat is anchored close to the cut we decided to drift dive the cut. Christy decided that she didn’t really want to get back in but she offered to follow me in the dinghy as I drifted through the cut. Once in the water I realized that the tide had changed and was now flowing out rather than in, towards the boat. Swimming as hard as I could, I couldn’t make anything but nominal headway. I had Christy drop me a line and had her tow me in towards the big boat. Being towed 30 feet behind the dinghy like that is an awesome experience, especially in deep, clear water. The water was twenty feet deep and visibility was excellent, probably 80 feet.




I was just thinking to myself that I was beginning to feel like a 200 pound fishing lure when I spied a big grouper gliding along the bottom. I released the line and dove down only a half second too late as the grouper dove into his hole. While I was ascending to the surface I saw another large grouper and more importantly I saw what had to be his cave. So instead of diving at him, I went for the entrance to his cave. We arrived at the same time and I was just able to spear him as he dove for the safety of his lair. This time while on the way up I was looking around and realized that there were several more large grouper hanging all about. Grouper City. Once at the surface, Christy was right there with the dink, so it was back to the boat with some fresh fish for dinner.