Passage to Cat Island

During our passage to Cat Island, we caught a Mahi while trolling. Fresh fish for dinner!

We caught a perfect weather window following a front, rounding Eleuthera Point and sailing east to Cat Island, a voyage of about 40 nautical miles.

Along the way Brenda was trolling a green and yellow lure and caught a beautiful Mahi. Perfect! Enough for two dinners. There's nothing better than fresh fish.

Sailing conditions were perfect for flying Big Blue, our Code 0.

Cat Island is off the beaten path for sailors, which is exactly why we chose to go there. We anchored Pandion at Orange Creek, along a mile-long white sand beach.

Snorkeling the shallow reef nearby, we spotted a juvenile hawksbill sea turtle that seemed as interested in us, as we were in him. Later we launched our kayaks and spent time exploring the beaches and tide pools of north Cat Island. Very cool place.

Exploring the deserted beach near Orange Creek on Cat Island. 

Brenda checking out the cool tide pools on Cat Island. 

Tide pools can yield great discoveries if you take the time to slow down and watch what's going on.

Spotted Sea Hare, crawling along in her tide pool.
A new addition for Tristan's Treasures!

Brenda finds a tiny sand dollar. Maybe it's a sand dime. 

After a few days of exploring the area, we took Newt into the local settlement of Orange Creek to get some provisions and check the place out. Very quiet. One local fisherman was cleaning his catch on the sea wall, and helped us out by pointing the way through a tricky tidal creek that had a powerful current.

The sea wall along Orange Creek settlement, with local fishing skiffs moored in the tidal creek. 

We met Margaret, the owner of the local food store, who was born on Nassau and moved to Cat Island to marry her husband. Between the two of them, they have 12 children. Wow! Margaret was very interested to hear about our cruising life, and shared with us that she never learned to swim - but she made sure that all 12 of her kids know how to swim.

Our adventures on Cat Island continued, including a trek to an old stone hermitage built on the highest point in the Bahamas, and a dinghy ride with sharks and spotted eagle rays. More to come in our next posts!