It’s said among sailors to always make your plans in pencil for as soon as you’ve got it figured out, your liable to change it, if the weather doesn’t change it for you first. We had planned a longer stay in Crooked Island before heading on to Great Inagua, our staging spot to make it through the windward channel for Cuba’s south coast. But it was through chats with S/V Mars, dismay over the hurricane damage to French Wells, forecasts for the winds, and looking at our timeline that we decided to make a new plan.
The day after chasing the flamingos around the Crooked Islands we picked up anchor and headed west for the southern tip of Long Island. It was the only part of this still very long island that we hadn’t seen and it made for a perfect stopping point before sailing onto the Jumentos and Ragged Islands. Our destination and new launching point down to Cuba.
It was a dead downwind sail and we flew our Jib poled out to one side and our mainsail prevented out on the other side. This open
book look is called wing and wing and while it was effective, it did require careful steering and produced a lot of roll. Making for a less than comfortable but uneventful passage.
The south side of Long Island was one big beach, we nestled up as close as we could get with Mars right alongside. We’d timed the sail arriving just before sunset, and with the anchorage completely open to the west it made for a serene spot to watch the orange globe race down to water’s edge, even treating us to a green flash with the last of it’s light!
The next morning, Alyssa, usually the later riser was up and ready. The dingy fully loaded and pumped up, (“Love me tender” had sprung a couple air leaks) Alyssa was keen to get to that beach! We spent the morning walking as far as we could, well out of sight of Heritage and still the beach went on. The sun got higher and people showed up, long island not being a completely remote spot. We carried on until the high sun chased us back to the boat around lunchtime. After lunch it was now my turn to rush around getting gear ready, Olivier was coming over with his dive gear and I quickly had rounded up my gear and tossed on my HECS wetsuit.
On our way in, we spotted a nice barrier reef on the south side and that’s where we headed to, jumping in at a shallow spot looking for lobster. Fun diving on a beautiful reef and for the first time in the Bahamas I spotted a bunch of Hogfish. Hogfish is a crazy looking fish that populates the Bahamas but I hadn’t been in an area with a large population yet. They’re prized for their fantastic taste and frankly, for the ease of spearing them, they’re a rather dumb fish relying on camouflage more than trying to escape. On this shallow reef there were so many I hesitated to pick one out and instead enjoyed looking for lobsters, even finding another slipper lobster hiding under a ledge, weird creatures but so tasty!
WHAM!! I’m knocked on my side.
I’m shocked by the slam into my hip and legs… the small 4-5 reef shark swims out in front of me. The cheeky bugger has my full attention now after sneaking up on me, he circles, arching his back and showing his aggression. He dashes back in but I’ve got my pole spear ready this time giving him a taste of his own medicine, pushing the pole at his nose and backing him off a little. Doesn’t slow down or go away though, he is still circling, flying around now with a flick of its powerful tail. I steal a glance at the dingy… it’s still a ways away and Olivier is in the water now. Quickly looking back into the water, I keep my eye on the bronze, muscular shark. He’s still being very aggressive moving with purpose, showing no fear even though I’m a match for it in size. Continuing to circle, I keep it in front of me as it feigns dashing in again and again, wary of my pole spear but still speeding around with abandon.
I flinch first and decide it’s not worth fighting the good fight on this occasion and hand over the hogfish. The shark wastes no time swooping in to bite down on the fish, happy with his meal the shark disappears into the blue distance. All this happens in a blink of an eye and I’m shocked at how blindsided I was by the initial attack.
I can tell this isn’t the sharks first time pulling this move and I hate to contribute to this behavior. Sharks aren’t normally this aggressive but are quick learners. After years of seeing spearos get fish and give them up at the first sign of aggression they learn that this is an easy meal. It leads to a more dangerous situation for both shark and humans but being without a nearby dive buddy and so remote from medical help, this wasn’t the day to change the sharks behavior at risk of a bite. There is also the chance that some other outside factors such as mating season contributed to the sharks behavior, it’s hard to know with these wild, impressive creatures so I decided discretion was the better part of valor. I counted my good graces for making it through the brush intact and headed over to the dingy.
We changed spots to a deep ledge where the diving was still spectacular. I see a beautiful green sea turtle and some more sharks… much more relaxed this time thankfully! I keep diving and see some possible fish but nothing that piques my interest with so many sharks around. On one dive down to 60 ft, I’m exploring under a ledge. Nothing doing though and right before I head up I see on a nearby rock a nearly perfectly camouflaged slipper lobster. I grab the bugger and head to the surface, a pair of Slippers for dinner tonight! Woohoo.
The sun is nearly to the horizon now and so Olivier and I load up into the dingy, he’s added a couple normal lobster to the pair of slipper’s I get so it’s a great day as they usually are in the Bahamas. The sunset on the ride back reaches it’s magical best, I don’t think it’s the near death attack that makes it so but I think this might be the best sunset I’ve seen yet. Seeing Alyssa’s face all smiles in the golden light when I return, she exclaims, “Are you seeing this sunset, it’s amazing!” I can’t help but agree and glad to be sharing it with her. We snap a couple pics of my pair of slipper lobsters before they make a tasty dinner. Alyssa kicks my butt for being so stupid when I tell her about my close call but quickly forgives me. Just another day in Paradise!
Join us next time when a rough night at anchor turns into an impromptu sail, we Island hop down the Jumentos and Ragged Island chains and make it all the way to Cuba!
