What do you do on Mangrove Cay

Mo and I typically spend the winter months from mid-January through early April on Mangrove Cay.  I typically spend a week during the summer and a week in the end of October or beginning of November on the island taking care of repairs to our home and Van.

When asked by my friends in New Jersey, what we do in the Bahamas, I say, it's something you have to experience to understand.  I can tell you what we do but that doesn't tell the whole story, on a typical day we wake up in the morning to a beautiful sunrise, in the afternoon you walk out the door to our porch facing the sea and look at the beautiful water,  and take in the sights and sounds, you talk to your neighbors about the happenings of the day on the island, at night you sit on the porch looking at the stars that you feel as if you can reach up and touch, you listen to the sounds of the Bahamian music coming from Alice's Place, a small bar and restaurant a short distance away, and I could go on and on.

I will never forget the fall of 1997 Mo and I were on Mangrove Cay, the Hale-Bopp comet was visible in most parts of the US, one night I woke up and as I looked out my bedroom window I could see the Hale-Bopp comet, I felt I could have reached out and touch it.

Mo and I find we have plenty to do each evening, typically we spend about five nights a week either entertaining our many friends on the island or being entertained.  We typically invite our friends to our house for dinner, where as some of our friends invite us out to one of the local restaurants.  When invited for dinner on Mangrove Cay you know without asking that you are expected to arrive between 6:15 PM and 6:30 PM.  We start with cocktails and appetizers, and conversation, then dinner followed by desert and after dinner drinks on the porch under the stars.  Dinner always includes lots of conversation about everything from world politics to conversations about fishing.

Our days are filled with relaxation, making needed repairs to our house or van, shopping at the local shops, visiting friends, and entertaining guests.  Our neighbors Bob Chambers and Klaus are avid fishermen and divers, as a result we hardly ever are in need of fresh fish such as Mai Mai, Hog Fish, Grouper, and Crawfish.   Bob and Klaus are both excellent cooks, Mo and I have enjoyed many a wonderful meal at their homes.

I find myself going up the island at least once a day to visit a local shop for items we need, one of the traditions on Mangrove Cay is hailing, so on my ride up the island I wave to everyone I see, and usually they wave back.  Where ever I stop I spend a few minutes talking to the people I run into, I find it very relaxing.

Tuesday's are a special day on Mangrove Cay, that is the day that the Captain Moxey arrives from Nassau with passengers and freight.  Almost all of the things we need on the island come by freight boat.  The Captain Moxey arrives at the marina in South Andros, the island to our south at about 7:30 AM after leaving Nassau at midnight.  The passengers disembark, then depending on the time of high tide she will unload freight for South Andros or leave for Mangrove Cay to catch the high tide.  She docks in Lisbon Creek, on the southern end of Mangrove Cay to unload freight.  She brings goods for the shops, restaurants, and hotels on the island,  she also bring items people on the island order from the Nassau.  Going to the freight boat is also a social event, everyone has a chance to talk about the goings on on the island while they are waiting for their freight to be unloaded.   If I were to need as an example tires for my van I would call Nassau and order the tires, I would tell the people I ordered the tires from to ship them to me on the Captain Moxey, I would then go to the freight boat when it arrives and wait for my tires to be unloaded, and then pay the fright bill.  The Captain Moxey brings the majority of the freight we receive on the island, however we also have a second freight boat the Lady Katrina that arrives with freight for Mangrove Cay on Fridays.

Ask  any bone fisherman and he will tell you Andros Island is the bone fishing capital of the world and Mangrove Cay is the best spot on Andros to catch bonefish.  With easy access to the North Bite, Middle Bite, and South Bite Mangrove Cay is a bone fishing paradise.

Most of my friends fill there days as I do however a number of them spend much of their time fishing and diving.  My neighbor and friend Bob Chambers is an avid fisherman , Bob and his wife Audrey have many of their friends stay with them over the winter months, most of their friends love fishing.  Bob is always very generous with his catch and shares his good fortune with his friends as well as many of the people that live on Mangrove Cay.  Depending on the wind and the seas Bob typically fishes on the reef when the seas are calm or in the South Bight when the seas are rough.  Bob also enjoys diving in the bight for Crawfish and Conch.  

Another of Bob's favorite fishing spots is the shark hole on the west side of Mangrove Cay.  The trip to the west side typically takes about 45 minutes, the boat ride to the west side is like a trip back in time, the west side of the island is uninhabited for the most part.  You can catch a variety of fish, such as Spanish Mackerel, large Tarpon, small Spinner Sharks, Grouper, and Snapper. 

Another neighbor and friend Klaus, is a fantastic diver, Klaus lives in Bermuda from the middle of April until the end on November, he then comes to Mangrove Cay from the beginning of December until the beginning of April.  Klaus dives for fish year round, he can free dive to depths of more then thirty feet, spear a large fish like a Tiger Grouper and wrestle it to the surface and into his boat.  Klaus has speared many large fish and Crawfish, Klaus is a fantastic cook, Mo and I have enjoyed many a meal that Klaus has prepared for us.  After Klaus returns from fishing he cleans the fish in front of his house.  Most days he is visited by either Hoover or Eureka, the local rays to take advantage of scraps of fish left from the cleaning of the fish.