20 March – 22 April FOXY LADY was anchored in Fernandez Bay and The Bight, Cat Island where many like to believe Columbus first found a harbour that could “accommodate all the ships in Christendom.”
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On 20 March we got underway from Conception and ran up to Fernandez Bay, Cat Island. The first several days included visits with friends and a wonderful drive with Ralph and Uschi Ingersoll up to Orange Creek to eat sheep’s tongue souse at the Periwinkle, a new restaurant in The Lot, and visit Nick Cripps and Minette Poitier at their house on the top of the northernmost hill on the island. The hilltop views in Cat Island are spectacular.
Over lunch, Uschi Ingersoll told us about her volunteer program, the Cat Island Relief Association, which assists elderly Cat Islanders. Once every month Uschi and an assistant drive the length of the island to deliver food and loving care to those in need. Uschi’s long range plan is to build a nursing home near Smith’s Bay.
The next day Uschi drove us to the ruins of the Golden Grove Plantation just north of Greenwood. The ruins are on the national register, yet few people seem to know much about them. Last year the government cleared a track road to the ruins which are the largest complex of plantation ruins we have seen. They are surrounded by good farm land and overlook the north shore. Hopefully someone will take a greater interest and preserve these ruins and make a small park where the local students and citizens can learn more about their history.
Main House, Golden Grove Plantation
On the 26th, the wind shifted to the south, so we moved FOXY LADY to Old Bight and anchored just east of the entrance to Joe Sound Creek. On the 27th Mark Keasler joined us with the Ecklund family, guests from Fernandez Bay Village, who were excited to help us tag turtles. With two boats and a couple of strong swimmers we were able to overcome the wind and tag seven green turtles in Joe Sound Creek.
Eco-tourists help with Turtle Research
Saturday morning Barbara left to fly home to Newport for two weeks to visit family and friends and take care of some business. It is hard when the better half of the team is away.
Every Saturday we try to get local students out in the boat, so that afternoon Mark and I picked up the Moss brothers who are always ready and ran down to Joe Sound Creek for another seven green turtles. It was a big day for the Moss boys who don’t get much time off. They are dedicated students who put in a lot of extra hours on their studies, help their father on construction projects, and help their mother in her shop. Their older brother, Al J, has set a high standard and is now enrolled in a seven year medical school in Cuba, taking all his courses in Spanish.
A couple of days later Mark and I were back in Joe Sound Creek with a group of American high school students. The tide was high and the weather was perfect, so we were able to go way up onto the flats. That was our most productive day with 13 new greens. After that we thought that we had tagged a very high percentage of the turtles, but we would learn there were more turtles than this estimate.
On Thursday morning I ran FOXY LADY back up to New Bight for lunch at the Bluebird Café. There is no more delightful restaurant in the Bahamas. Located on the beach in the center of New Bight, the Bluebird is owned by three lovely sisters – Jenny, Neeker, and Grace – who cook delicious Bahamian food and provide family island hospitality that makes you want to live in Cat Island.
The Hermitage Overlooks New Bight and the Atlantic
After lunch, Mark called and asked if I wanted to join him and Donna on a busman’s holiday into Fernandez Creek. I ran the speed boat up to Fernandez Creek and anchored off Mark’s house. We would take Mark’s bonefish boat which was lighter and handier. When he was gassed up and Donna was ready we cruised up the creek happy to be together in a familiar, beautiful place. It was one of those magical afternoons when the tide is right, and professional friends are free to enjoy the creek without worrying about students and guests. As soon as we started seeing turtles we chased the ones we found without tags. Mark drove, Donna was the lookout, and I jumped the turtles. On the first turtle I was off my game and took three tries (maybe too much lunch at the Bluebird). The next two turtles were easy.
When we reached the south channel out of the creek all the turtles we saw were tagged. So we turned around to head home before the ebb tide would prevent us from making it across a couple of the really shallow spots. We were congratulating ourselves on a perfect day when we saw another small green turtle without tags. We chased it for a while, and then it swam into a hole in the mangroves. Mark couldn’t get his boat in, and the tide was now running out fast. So I told Mark, “Just put the bow up against that mangrove, and I’ll walk in. If I don’t get the turtle right away, we can get out of here.”
The water was about knee deep in the mangroves, and the bottom was mucky, but I saw the turtle and found a mound of sand that was almost at the surface. I stepped up onto the mound, let the turtle move a little closer, and leapt. It was not a pretty dive, but I caught the turtle and struggled back out to the boat. Donna and Mark laughed, “No way you caught that turtle.”
Mark and I took the turtles to the beach in Fernandez Bay to show the guests. Ecotourism is now a major activity at Fernandez Bay Village, as it is throughout the Bahamas, and the visitors are always fascinated to learn about sea turtles. Almost everyone who stays at Fernandez Bay goes for an eco-tour with Mark or paddles a kayak through Fernandez Creek to see the wildlife. Whenever we tag turtles on the beach we also invite the cruisers who are anchored out. We want to stimulate as much interest as possible in these endangered species.
Cruising Children Help Cool the Turtles
Mark Keasler and Eco-tourist
On the beach we taught the guests how to identify a green turtle, explained its feeding habits and locomotion, and discussed the purpose of our surveys and tagging project.
On Friday, Dr. Imogen Hoyle and I drove to Arthur’s Town. Imogen is a Dr. of Oceanography who works at Broadreach creating an experiential ocean program for college students. Mr. Dean, the Principal of Arthur’s Town High School, had asked Imogen to speak to the students about her education and her career as an oceanographer. Mr. Dean wants his students, especially the girls, to learn about a variety of possible careers. In a nation of 700 islands, oceanography is a natural. I came along to give a presentation on fisheries management.
On Saturday I again carried the Moss brothers and their friend, Lance Gilbert, to Joe Sound Creek in a strong southeast breeze. Lance, Shaque, and I took turns swimming after a huge green turtle that we finally caught. Terran and Melik had stood lookout in the bow of the boat and had never lost sight of the turtle. The turtle was 80 pounds and healthy. It was much the largest green turtle we had seen in Joe Sound Creek. (Only a few years ago that turtle would have been on the table before we had had a chance to tag it.) We then caught two smaller turtles in the shallow water before the clouds shut us down.
Moss Brothers, Lance Gilbert, and a Green Sea Turtle
The next week the tide was right for Mark and I to take Tiffany and Ali Ingersoll and their friends into Whale Creek. We also carried the Canadian Ambassador to England and his wife and daughter. We caught every turtle we saw – seven new green turtles. Whale Creek is much smaller than Joe Sound Creek, and I would estimate that there are about 12 green turtles that live in and just outside that creek.
Roger Fox's PROMOCEAN
Easter weekend the Fox family (at least 22 of them) from Salt Pond, Long Island arrived in New Bight. Roger Fox and most of the family came aboard his commercial fishing boat PROMOCEAN, and his brothers ran out with their own smaller cruising boats. What better way for Bahamians to celebrate the holiday? The Fox family picnicked on the beaches, rented cars for an island tour, and attended the Good Friday service that climbed past the stages of the cross up to the Hermitage.
After the Easter egg hunt on Sunday, I took several of the Fox children out to tag turtles. Kris Fox jumped two in Smith’s Bay; and Kris, his sister Leandra, and his cousin Rachel Knowles took turns on an exhausting chase outside the mouth of Bonefish Creek. The turtle finally lost them, but they gave it a good try and were happy to have spent so much time in the water watching the turtle swim.
Foxes with a Flat Friend from Mangrove Bush
April 15th was a good day, because Barbara returned to the boat and brought our friend, Gail Jacobs. The weather forecast predicted strong NE winds on the 17th. We spent Thursday night off Hawks Nest and the next morning ran FOXY LADY to the anchorage in Winding Bay. The reef harbour off Port Howe and Winding Bay are two of the loveliest places in the Bahamas and provide some of the very best diving.
There was too much breeze to chase many turtles, but with our friend, Gail, who was a top collegiate swimmer, we caught two healthy green turtles in Port Howe. When we were done we took the turtles inshore to conduct an impromptu class with several of the Young children and Julius Hunter. Julius recognized me from many years ago when he attended the Port Howe Primary School, and we used to bring turtles to the beach by the school, so the students could help us tag them. It is always nice to be remembered.
Julius Hunter
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On 20 March we got underway from Conception and ran up to Fernandez Bay, Cat Island. The first several days included visits with friends and a wonderful drive with Ralph and Uschi Ingersoll up to Orange Creek to eat sheep’s tongue souse at the Periwinkle, a new restaurant in The Lot, and visit Nick Cripps and Minette Poitier at their house on the top of the northernmost hill on the island. The hilltop views in Cat Island are spectacular.
Over lunch, Uschi Ingersoll told us about her volunteer program, the Cat Island Relief Association, which assists elderly Cat Islanders. Once every month Uschi and an assistant drive the length of the island to deliver food and loving care to those in need. Uschi’s long range plan is to build a nursing home near Smith’s Bay.
The next day Uschi drove us to the ruins of the Golden Grove Plantation just north of Greenwood. The ruins are on the national register, yet few people seem to know much about them. Last year the government cleared a track road to the ruins which are the largest complex of plantation ruins we have seen. They are surrounded by good farm land and overlook the north shore. Hopefully someone will take a greater interest and preserve these ruins and make a small park where the local students and citizens can learn more about their history.
Main House, Golden Grove Plantation
On the 26th, the wind shifted to the south, so we moved FOXY LADY to Old Bight and anchored just east of the entrance to Joe Sound Creek. On the 27th Mark Keasler joined us with the Ecklund family, guests from Fernandez Bay Village, who were excited to help us tag turtles. With two boats and a couple of strong swimmers we were able to overcome the wind and tag seven green turtles in Joe Sound Creek.
Eco-tourists help with Turtle Research
Saturday morning Barbara left to fly home to Newport for two weeks to visit family and friends and take care of some business. It is hard when the better half of the team is away.
Every Saturday we try to get local students out in the boat, so that afternoon Mark and I picked up the Moss brothers who are always ready and ran down to Joe Sound Creek for another seven green turtles. It was a big day for the Moss boys who don’t get much time off. They are dedicated students who put in a lot of extra hours on their studies, help their father on construction projects, and help their mother in her shop. Their older brother, Al J, has set a high standard and is now enrolled in a seven year medical school in Cuba, taking all his courses in Spanish.
A couple of days later Mark and I were back in Joe Sound Creek with a group of American high school students. The tide was high and the weather was perfect, so we were able to go way up onto the flats. That was our most productive day with 13 new greens. After that we thought that we had tagged a very high percentage of the turtles, but we would learn there were more turtles than this estimate.
On Thursday morning I ran FOXY LADY back up to New Bight for lunch at the Bluebird Café. There is no more delightful restaurant in the Bahamas. Located on the beach in the center of New Bight, the Bluebird is owned by three lovely sisters – Jenny, Neeker, and Grace – who cook delicious Bahamian food and provide family island hospitality that makes you want to live in Cat Island.
The Hermitage Overlooks New Bight and the Atlantic
After lunch, Mark called and asked if I wanted to join him and Donna on a busman’s holiday into Fernandez Creek. I ran the speed boat up to Fernandez Creek and anchored off Mark’s house. We would take Mark’s bonefish boat which was lighter and handier. When he was gassed up and Donna was ready we cruised up the creek happy to be together in a familiar, beautiful place. It was one of those magical afternoons when the tide is right, and professional friends are free to enjoy the creek without worrying about students and guests. As soon as we started seeing turtles we chased the ones we found without tags. Mark drove, Donna was the lookout, and I jumped the turtles. On the first turtle I was off my game and took three tries (maybe too much lunch at the Bluebird). The next two turtles were easy.
When we reached the south channel out of the creek all the turtles we saw were tagged. So we turned around to head home before the ebb tide would prevent us from making it across a couple of the really shallow spots. We were congratulating ourselves on a perfect day when we saw another small green turtle without tags. We chased it for a while, and then it swam into a hole in the mangroves. Mark couldn’t get his boat in, and the tide was now running out fast. So I told Mark, “Just put the bow up against that mangrove, and I’ll walk in. If I don’t get the turtle right away, we can get out of here.”
The water was about knee deep in the mangroves, and the bottom was mucky, but I saw the turtle and found a mound of sand that was almost at the surface. I stepped up onto the mound, let the turtle move a little closer, and leapt. It was not a pretty dive, but I caught the turtle and struggled back out to the boat. Donna and Mark laughed, “No way you caught that turtle.”
Mark and I took the turtles to the beach in Fernandez Bay to show the guests. Ecotourism is now a major activity at Fernandez Bay Village, as it is throughout the Bahamas, and the visitors are always fascinated to learn about sea turtles. Almost everyone who stays at Fernandez Bay goes for an eco-tour with Mark or paddles a kayak through Fernandez Creek to see the wildlife. Whenever we tag turtles on the beach we also invite the cruisers who are anchored out. We want to stimulate as much interest as possible in these endangered species.
Cruising Children Help Cool the Turtles
Mark Keasler and Eco-tourist
On the beach we taught the guests how to identify a green turtle, explained its feeding habits and locomotion, and discussed the purpose of our surveys and tagging project.
On Friday, Dr. Imogen Hoyle and I drove to Arthur’s Town. Imogen is a Dr. of Oceanography who works at Broadreach creating an experiential ocean program for college students. Mr. Dean, the Principal of Arthur’s Town High School, had asked Imogen to speak to the students about her education and her career as an oceanographer. Mr. Dean wants his students, especially the girls, to learn about a variety of possible careers. In a nation of 700 islands, oceanography is a natural. I came along to give a presentation on fisheries management.
On Saturday I again carried the Moss brothers and their friend, Lance Gilbert, to Joe Sound Creek in a strong southeast breeze. Lance, Shaque, and I took turns swimming after a huge green turtle that we finally caught. Terran and Melik had stood lookout in the bow of the boat and had never lost sight of the turtle. The turtle was 80 pounds and healthy. It was much the largest green turtle we had seen in Joe Sound Creek. (Only a few years ago that turtle would have been on the table before we had had a chance to tag it.) We then caught two smaller turtles in the shallow water before the clouds shut us down.
Moss Brothers, Lance Gilbert, and a Green Sea Turtle
The next week the tide was right for Mark and I to take Tiffany and Ali Ingersoll and their friends into Whale Creek. We also carried the Canadian Ambassador to England and his wife and daughter. We caught every turtle we saw – seven new green turtles. Whale Creek is much smaller than Joe Sound Creek, and I would estimate that there are about 12 green turtles that live in and just outside that creek.
Roger Fox's PROMOCEAN
Easter weekend the Fox family (at least 22 of them) from Salt Pond, Long Island arrived in New Bight. Roger Fox and most of the family came aboard his commercial fishing boat PROMOCEAN, and his brothers ran out with their own smaller cruising boats. What better way for Bahamians to celebrate the holiday? The Fox family picnicked on the beaches, rented cars for an island tour, and attended the Good Friday service that climbed past the stages of the cross up to the Hermitage.
After the Easter egg hunt on Sunday, I took several of the Fox children out to tag turtles. Kris Fox jumped two in Smith’s Bay; and Kris, his sister Leandra, and his cousin Rachel Knowles took turns on an exhausting chase outside the mouth of Bonefish Creek. The turtle finally lost them, but they gave it a good try and were happy to have spent so much time in the water watching the turtle swim.
Foxes with a Flat Friend from Mangrove Bush
April 15th was a good day, because Barbara returned to the boat and brought our friend, Gail Jacobs. The weather forecast predicted strong NE winds on the 17th. We spent Thursday night off Hawks Nest and the next morning ran FOXY LADY to the anchorage in Winding Bay. The reef harbour off Port Howe and Winding Bay are two of the loveliest places in the Bahamas and provide some of the very best diving.
There was too much breeze to chase many turtles, but with our friend, Gail, who was a top collegiate swimmer, we caught two healthy green turtles in Port Howe. When we were done we took the turtles inshore to conduct an impromptu class with several of the Young children and Julius Hunter. Julius recognized me from many years ago when he attended the Port Howe Primary School, and we used to bring turtles to the beach by the school, so the students could help us tag them. It is always nice to be remembered.
Julius Hunter
Gail Jacobs and her Twin Turtles
By the time we had left Cat Island, we had captured 37 different turtles in Joe Sound Creek, and GERONIMO, the sail training vessel from St. George’s School in Newport, had captured 2 more without tags. Mark Keasler has been bonefishing in Joe Sound Creek for twenty years and swears that until six or seven years ago he would only see “one-one” in a full day on the flats. Until even more recently there were no green turtles in Fernandez Creek. There is no doubt that the turtle populations in the southern part of Cat Island are increasing. If the local men obey the new regulations against the taking of sea turtles, the future could be very bright indeed. If green turtles can feed in these creeks until they have grown to 50 cm or more, they will migrate out at a size that greatly reduces predation from sharks and gives them an excellent chance of reaching sexual maturity and increasing the greater Caribbean population of green turtles.
Now we are again in Conception, riding out a week of NE 20-25 knot winds, and we are alone in the anchorage with the tropic birds, laughing gulls, and osprey. We even have three boxfish mascots that hang out under our stern.
By the time we had left Cat Island, we had captured 37 different turtles in Joe Sound Creek, and GERONIMO, the sail training vessel from St. George’s School in Newport, had captured 2 more without tags. Mark Keasler has been bonefishing in Joe Sound Creek for twenty years and swears that until six or seven years ago he would only see “one-one” in a full day on the flats. Until even more recently there were no green turtles in Fernandez Creek. There is no doubt that the turtle populations in the southern part of Cat Island are increasing. If the local men obey the new regulations against the taking of sea turtles, the future could be very bright indeed. If green turtles can feed in these creeks until they have grown to 50 cm or more, they will migrate out at a size that greatly reduces predation from sharks and gives them an excellent chance of reaching sexual maturity and increasing the greater Caribbean population of green turtles.
Now we are again in Conception, riding out a week of NE 20-25 knot winds, and we are alone in the anchorage with the tropic birds, laughing gulls, and osprey. We even have three boxfish mascots that hang out under our stern.
Long Tail Tropic Bird Nesting
