After two weeks at Black Point Settlement, we made the difficult decision to turn around and start heading back towards Florida. We had been running our generator for several hours per day to keep our batteries charged and wanted to add additional batteries and solar panels, so we weren’t dependent on diesel fuel. I was also struggling to work remotely with inconsistent cellular internet access, so we planned to add Starlink as well.
We left the Exumas on January 11th and sailed north for 24 hours to Chub Cay at the bottom of the Berry Islands. Chub Cay is home to a large resort and marina and well known for its world class fishing. Upon arrival we anchored right in front of the resort. The water was so clear and calm that you could see through 20 feet of water right to the bottom, as if there was no water at all.
After spending a day at anchor, we noticed that high winds were forecast so we decided to splurge and spend a few days in the well-protected marina, which included access to the resort.
We enjoyed the infinity pool and restaurant for a couple days and then hunkered down for the storm, which brought gusts of nearly 50 knots.
Once the storm passed, we left the marina and motored to the edge of the Tongue of the Ocean, a large, underwater basin thousands of feet deep that sits just offshore of Chub Cay. It took just a few minutes to find the fish – a huge school of mahi mahi. They were so thick that we could have gaffed them right from the back of the boat.
It was complete chaos for the next 20 minutes. The boys were reeling in fish after fish while I ran around unhooking them. There were mahi flopping all over the cockpit. I had a treble hook stuck in my leg. There was blood everywhere (both fish and human). The fishing ended abruptly when Ashley emerged from the galley yelling “This is my home, not a fishing charter!”
After a motoring back to Chub Cay we dropped anchor, and Isaiah and I spent the next 5 hours scrubbing down the boat and cleaning fish. We never counted them, but we ended up with over 70 pounds of mahi fillets. It was an unforgettable trip.
😂😂 I can hear Ashley yelling now
Brandon did fail to mention that I was the one who vaccum sealed all the filleted fish for hours after… not that i’m keeping score or anything 😂