What Are We Doing Here? The Ragged Islands…

More on the Jumentos/Ragged Islands--

As previously mentioned, snorkeling allows a vista into a truly unspoiled collection of reefs and coral heads.  The lobster is aggresively fished by Bahamian fishing fleets, which consist of a lead boat, much in the style of Maine lobster boats, strung along with 3 to 5 small dinghys or faster speedboats, which work throughout the fishing grounds for the day returning to the mother boat in the evening.

This Bahamian fishing boat is towing only 1 support boat--note the traps stacked above

Life on the coral is abundant, and mostly healthy.  Most reef fish are not edible, but there is a variety of grouper, snapper and plenty of hogfish to be found here.  We have been quite amazed at the healthy beds of conch (pronounced conk), which are quite over harvested further north.

One morning's snorkeling harvest: conch and hogfish

Cleaning the conch becomes a team effort, with a hammer claw we break a hole in the shell to cut the muscle loose and pull the conch out.  Then cut off the non-meat sections and clean the digestive track. (slippery and often slimy work)  Then with a fish-skin puller, pull the tough pachyderm skin off the meat.  The conch is now ready for eating or cooking, but must be pounded or chopped small. 

In addition to snorkeling, hunting for and preparing our food, we spend time exploring.  There are often trails cut through the brush and maintained and marked by cruisers (or not).  When you come across something like this:

 It is probably not some random work of art created with jetsam and flotsam, but more likely a trail marker.  Some more examples:

A very creepy transition from doll to trail marker

Sometimes, although it usually requires some bush-wacking, you can discover extensive ruins-- the stony remains of the walls and homes built by the slaves of the Loyalists.  

A beautiful day in the water.