Hunters and Gatherers
Hunting Caye
[22:08] [Thursday, March 15, 2007]
Wow!!
We buddied up with Sea Dragon last night on Ranguana over drinks. As soon as we saw her crew -- Captain Rick and his wife, Kathy -- we recognized them from the Rio! It is astounding how different boats look when they've pulled away from a dock; so much more beauty to behold of a vessel on open water.
Rick and Kathy are "chartering" a couple friends, Jeff and Nicky, through the week. This morning they raised the hook to sail for Hunting Caye, near which a sunken wreck against the reef is "snorkable." We followed lazily after we'd had our coffee and managed a fair sail for about an hour before the wind shifted/died.
A few hours of motoring through brilliant blue water finally brought us to Hunting Caye, a palmy island nestled against the reef, occupied by a Belize Coast Guard post. Oh, and a Belizean Fisheries Department: the Sapodilla range is now a marine reserve, extending over a pretty huge area. We can fish, fortunately, but we did pay a park fee of 10 USD/head and were reminded lobster is out of season. sigh.
At any rate, the place is flippin' gorgeous. The water visibility lets us scan below the surface -- from deck -- for a couple yards' radius around the boat. Star fish in abundance rest in the grass, small blotches of red, orange and yellow on an otherwise green-and-white bottom. We had fun swimming around the boat for a while, but the reef -- which we can see breaking from our anchorage right off the caye -- and its hidden ship wreck called us.
Sea Dragon led the way to the small cut in the reef between Hunting and Lime Cayes. We attempted to dink all the way over to the wreck, but the ocean swells somethin' crazy on the far side of the coral! Brady and I crested a swell big enough to obstruct our view, and as our bitty dink rolled down the back of this clear blue hill, he called over to the other dinghy,
"Dudes! Surf's up!"
Laughing, Rick nodded agreement. We decided to anchor the dinks closer to the cut and proceeded to "suit up." Brady put together the spear and handed me the fish stringer. One thing we've started doing more of since this trip became life instead of vacation is feeding ourselves. It is amazing how quickly your funds dwindle when you eat out -- it is, I think, equally amazing how much more fulfilling dinner can be when you have prepared it yourself.
Not to mention when you've caught it! A myriad of fish swam in and around the enormous metal frame -- now rusted and covered in coral -- of the ship wreck. Whole schools of tropical fish scurried to get away from us as we invaded their precious habitat. Red snappers peered from beneath bits of wreckage at us; yellow tails darted between gaps in the ship's frame.
It did not take long for the men to transition from explorers to hunters. Jeff and Brady each speared some little yellow tails within minutes. Trailing a dead fish on a string against my leg made me suddenly very aware of my vulnerability. I swam around for a few more minutes, trying to be a trooper, but I could feel the constant strain of swimming against the tide begin to take its toll. If a predator came upon me, already excited by the smell of blood and the floundering of dying fish ... Then what? **
I handed the dead fish over to Brady and took my time returning to the dink. Kath and Nicky had already decided dead/wounded fish in the water made snorkeling too intense; we ladies drip-dried while our men did their thing.
In the end, Brady caught 4 fish. He and Rick returned to the dinghies last, and we retired to our boats with our catch and an invite to dinner on Sea Dragon.
Which was delicious! Rick cooked up prolly the best snapper we've ever had, and we spent the evening in great company on a truly beautiful boat, which, as Brady put it, has really good energy.
It is always hard to return home from a larger boat and not feel rather cramped. Still, after a full day it was nice to be home, where we could make up the V-berth, turn out the lights and gaze at a sky full of stars right up until we were ready to pass out.
** Captain's Note: I should probably step in and say I would not even be using a stringer to drag our dead fish if I thought there was truly any danger. The predator activity where we snorkel is just about non-existent. The worst we've ever seen are big, ugly 'cudas staring at us from a distance. We never snorkel in poor visibility, either, so even if a shark or other predator too big/mean to just swim away from started comin' for our fish, we would know about it soon enough to ditch the dead meat and run away! I'm always vigilant about my surroundings while in the water, especially when spear fishing.
