Suicidal Lobster!

Wayne showing off the first and only lobster he has ever caught. Picture by Bettie Sue on Teamwork.

3/30/09 Delay in plans. Well the plan was to get up and head out of White Sound this morning. The fresh water pump had been sounding sluggish, well this morning it died. The pump was at least 5 years old so we were not surprised that it died. We carry two spare fresh water pumps, because we need fresh water! The water pump installation itself is not hard but getting to the pump is a challenge. It is located underneath the stove. Wayne took out the old pump and installed the new one, but it took a couple of hours.

Most days we run the generator to make water. Well this morning the generator would not start. Wayne found out the battery was dead, it is not hooked into the main bank of batteries. He rigged a battery charger and was able to get it started. It has been working since then. Another item to add to the summer project list is to connect the diesel generator battery to the main bank bus.

We watched 25 boats leave White Sound that morning. There was a crossing window coming up and lots of people are headed back. After lunch we raised the anchor and went to Powell Cay. On the way to Powell Cay we had at least three dolphin playing tag with the boat. They are so much fun to watch.

After anchoring at Powell we still had enough time to walk the beach. The tide was low so we walked a loop around the south end of the island. We saw lots of sand dollars but I have so many so we did not pick them up. We also saw a ray, lots of baby conch, and horse conch (which are not edible). We picked up two pretty shells a Partridge Turn and our first Atlantic Figsnail. We were pleased to see that the path to cut across the island had been cleared more since we had last visited.

3/31/09 We were happy when the diesel generator started on the first try and we were able to make water. The wind shift was making the anchorage at Powell get rolly so it was time to move. It was a rainy, sometimes foggy trip over to Allans-Pensacola. We had the anchorage to ourselves for about 10 minutes and then our friends, Bill and Bettie Sue, on Teamwork pulled in and anchored. Teamwork hailed us and asked if we would like to go snorkeling after lunch out on the reef on the Atlantic side. They did not have to do any arm twisting to get us to go along.

Teamwork came by to pick us up and we headed out to the reef on the back side of Allans-Pensicola. I wore my shorty wet suit and Wayne had on his full wet suit, the water was wonderful. Bill is a hunter. We saw lots of lobster and Bill convinced Wayne that he should borrow a spear and try his luck. A suicidal lobster jumped on the spear that Wayne was holding. Today was the last day of lobster season so the lobster was determined, it had to jump three times but finally managed to commit suicide on the end of Wayne’s spear. Wayne was very excited to get his first lobster ever! Bettie Sue caught a HUGE trigger fish and gave us two LARGE fillets plus three lobster that Bill caught to go along with Wayne’s lobster. Yummy! I just had fun snorkeling and watching all the fish. The underwater camera battery died after 4 pictures so we did not get many pictures today.

After putting our catch of the day in the fridge and getting some rest, we waited for low tide. Bill and Bettie Sue showed us another beach where there is good sea glass. We found a few nice pieces but had to leave because it was after 7:00 PM and starting to get dark. We will definitely go back to this spot to look for more seaglass when we are in this area again.

4/1/09 You’ve got mail! The winds were changing again so we needed to move from the main anchorage at Allans-Pensacola. Wayne wanted to walk to the beach to see how the Atlantic side anchorage looked. Again we were pleased to see that the path to the beach had been greatly improved since we had last walked on it. We walked the main beach on Allans-Pensacola and then went across the old airstrip to the first of the back bays. The water looked smooth so we decided that we should move to the Atlantic side. As long as we were there we walked the beach. Wayne was excited when he found a message in a bottle! We went back to the boat and after lunch moved over to the Atlantic side of Allans-Pensacola, very near where we had anchored in January. Teamwork also moved to this side of the island. After anchoring we decided to explore the beaches. The first beach we walked had no treasures on it. Teamwork was on another beach so we decided to go talk to them. As I was searching for sea glass Wayne was searching the edge of the woods and he found ANOTHER message in a bottle!!! This was his second one of the day and our third for the season. We had fresh steamed lobster for dinner, a good end to a good day.

4/2/09 Teamwork once again asked if we wanted to go snorkeling after lunch. We rested in the morning. After lunch Teamwork picked us up and we headed over behind Hog Cay. (I don’t think I have mentioned that Teamwork is a 33’ Grady White fishing boat. Bill and Bettie Sue LOVE to fish, they spend their winters in the Bahamas and the rest of the time at their home in Folly Beach, SC. They enjoy going fishing off the coast and walking the beaches looking for sharks teeth.) We had another great snorkeling trip. The lobster knew that the season was over; they were everywhere looking out of their holes and laughing at Wayne and Bill because they knew they were safe. Today the underwater camera was working well. I took 74 pictures and got quite a few good ones. There were lots of kinds of fish and I managed to get a picture of a turtle. We also saw a green moray eel, unfortunately my camera batteries were dead so I did not get his picture. I will post some of the pictures when we get a good internet connection.

4/3/09 Today was windy. We walked a few beaches in the morning but did not find much. We had a lazy afternoon on the boat. Teamwork came by and we exchanged pictures. They have a wonderful underwater camera. I had taken several pictures of Bill. When he is snorkeling, he quite often appears to be standing on his head in the water as he searches the holes and little caves for sea critters. The winds are shifting tomorrow so it will be time raise the anchor and find another protected shore.