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Chief
Outer Banks, NC
I’m Ketch! My wife and I live aboard our 44’ Antares catamaran “Chief” on the Outer Banks of NC (Wanchese) and cruise seasonally. Currently wandering the Bahamas and headed for Rio Dulce soon.
Quick hop from one bight to another. Furled all the sails and just bobbed around for a while making water.
It was bittersweet leaving Guanaja because we enjoyed it so much, but the excellent sailing to Roatan made things sweeter! We flew the screecher on the inside reef to the south end of Guanaja and then launched the spinny for a perfect downwind run to Calabash Bight, Roatan. We scrounged up a king mackerel and a bonito along the way. Kept the bonito and released the mack. We love bonito if eaten within a few hours of catching after a cold brine soak.
4 days of excellent downwind, down-sea, and down-current sailing from Jamaica to Guanaja on our longest passage to date! Day one we had to motor through lightning storms as we sailed along the North Coast of Jamaica. That night the wind built and we were able to fly screecher and main and make good time. On day two the spinnaker went up and didn’t come down until we began our approach to Guanaja! There was too much sargassum for fishing under spinnaker power most of the time, but we managed a couple tiny mahi on the last day. All in all, it couldn’t have been a much better passage. Though, it would have been sweet if our brand new wind instrument didn’t fail on the first day. Definitely rode the edge off what our spinnaker could handle as we guessed wind speeds. Leaving Jamaica was bittersweet. We had an awesome group of people at dock in Port Antonio we hated to part with. We LOVED Jamaica, which we did not anticipate. Making this passage alongside @bri and @Erin was awesome. We arrived within a few hours of one another and we can’t wait to explore Guanaja! We were glad to have friends close by in that lightning storm, especially because they have a taller rig!
Our time in the Bahamas was unforgettable and hopefully only eclipsed by new adventures on the horizon! We met so many wonderful people, caught lots of tasty critters, and visited insanely beautiful places. Leaving is bittersweet. The passage from Inagua to Jamaica was a mix of everything from glass calm motoring, to heavy “sail busting” reaching. We hooked two blue marlin along the way and landed our first little blue aboard Chief! The other one was about 400lbs and shook off, thankfully. We do have some sail repair, however. Sailing into Port Antonio was definitely the highlight seeing the steep mountains. Jamaica is lush and reeks of culture and jungle (in a very good way). We are stoked to explore with @bri @Erin
Breezy and bumpy overnight passage. It was wonderful making the trip with friends! The water here makes the Exumas look murky. I don’t know it could be this clear. Thank you @bri and @Erin for the drone photos!
We left Flamingo Cay this morning to motor south in hopes of mahi or wahoo. We didn’t catch either of those, but we did manage a couple nice king mackerel! Definitely a PB king at 51” and a smaller one about 38”. Very glad we had our harpoon at the ready today. We were also graced by some dolphin, which always lift spirits high! Gorgeous and successful day motoring, but we are both VERY ready to sail again.
Gorgeous motor thru Hog Cut and dreamy shallow expanses in glass calm conditions. We caught about a dozen barracuda and lost 3 spoons, but managed a couple cero mackerel for dinner. Never been so stoked to motor! Drone photos by @bri and @Erin!
If you don’t keep Mahi roe, you are missing out! It’s tasty so many ways, but one of our favorites is scratch made ginger teriyaki marinated and grilled in a foil basket with sesame oil. It is great by itself, in a sandwich, or in rice bowls or sushi!
Garbled swells and rain showers with constant 30° wind shifts. Worth it for the beer store!
Motored and fished in slick calm conditions until hitting the bank. Then we rode the front line into Staniel on a close haul. Great sailing! We did not manage any fish though. Too calm.
Finally figured out how to find and catch stone crabs!! Been trying for about a month and it finally clicked. Ready for a proper mission now.
Floatchella was epic! This passage from Shroud to Andros South Bight was the icing on the cake. Perfect full power spinnaker sailing, dolphins, Mahi, obligatory passage loaf 🥖and new places! We are stoked to stalk some bonefish and tarpon on the fly over the next few days. Andros is wild. Not one other boat on AIS or anywhere in sight.
Motor / spinny sail downwind from Staniel to Shroud. Stayed outside the park boundaries to fish but didn’t have any luck. There was a surprising amount of current running south that I think put the kibosh on fishing and killed our sailing speed. We managed a nice loaf on the way though! 🥖 🧈 Stoked for some diving tomorrow and Floatchella soon!
Dreamy spinny sail from 180° to 100° in calm waters. Only almost collided with one charter cat who somehow “double gibed” in front of us for no apparent reason without AIS or radio.
Intermittent motor / spinnaker sailing from Little Harbor to Egg Island. It was beautiful and the fishing was decent! Had our first sailfish in the baits. Highlight of the day was definitely mahi sushi rolls and a lovely sunset!
Glassy calm motor with a few fish. Stoked for wind tomorrow!
Awesome sail and motor to the Bahamas!
Annoying motor in shifty winds
Great spinnaker sailing and perfect conditions.
Forgot to record from our start in Wanchese. Passed over Brant Island Shoal with 13’ under the boat. Much deeper than charted.
Mostly motor sailing in light breeze. Saw lots of large shrimp showering in the middle of the sound.
