On Monday morning we all visited mermaid reef. It was popular place to be. Several large catamarans surrounded the area, a few small crafts were tied up to the moorings, a group arrived on paddle boards, and tour guides pointed out tropical fish in the water to tourists as they drifted through the area on small boats. Luckily there are plenty of fish to go around in this reef.
Greg brought some bread and the fish swarmed around him as he tossed pieces in the water. It is quite an experience to have all of these colorful fish swarm around you, but I find it a little disconcerting. I prefer to view the fish doing their normal fish thing.
We spent a couple of hours in the water before heading back to take showers, and buy rum, ice and other necessities for the rest of our journey, before we set sail again in the early afternoon.
Our destination was Tilloo Cay, where we would anchor out and snorkel another reef. The sail down to the cay was pleasant and would have been uneventful except that our winch for the main halyard and mainsheet decided to stop turning. This wasn’t a showstopper and it could somewhat easily be worked around, but it added one more item to our list of things to be fixed.
Tilloo Cay is an exceptionally beautiful place to anchor out. We dropped the hook shortly before dinnertime at the north end of the island above Tavern Cay and several other small dots of land. To the northwest we could see Lubbers Quarters and to the northeast, Tilloo Cut. Debbie went straight into the water to check out the reef. Greg followed, then Karen. I stayed aboard enjoying being clean and not salty for the 4th time in four days.
For dinner we marinated and grilled some tilapia and vegetables, then stuffed the fish and veggies in to homemade pita bread. We ate our sandwiches on the deck with grilled french fries as the sun set below Lubbers Quarters.
Before we turned in Greg broke out the uke, but everyone was pretty worn out and we all said our good nights after only a few tunes.
It was nice to be on the hook again. I love a hot shower, but it doesn’t compare to the experience of being anchored off the coast of some cay or island in crystal clear water, swinging ever so gently with a cool breeze blowing through the boat. Of course, I think Blue Wing likes it too, free of the restraints of a marina, like the fish in an untouched reef, she is alive in her natural habitat, doing her normal sailboat thing.
I tried to keep track of the fish we spotted at Mermaid Reef and Tilloo Cay. I’ve had a couple month’s practice identifying fish from my guide, but at these spots there is still an overwhelming variety. We saw lobsters, cowfish, sergeant majors, butterfly fish, blue tang, pinfish, Nassau Grouper, bar jacks, bluehead wrass, big-eyed squirrel fish, stingrays, several types of angelfish, parrot fish, grunts and snappers, and a toadfish we couldn’t quite identify. At Mermaid Reef I heard a kid ask where the mermaids were. (I was wondering myself.)
Oh, back in Tilloo on June 9th I saw a golden tail moray eel. I’ve been wanting to see a moray for at least 40 years.