Limited Spring Weeks Available

February 21: We still have some availability in the popular spring months. In addition to occasional shorter openings here and there, we have two rooms available in each of the following Saturday-to-Saturday weeks:

* March 10 to 17
* March 31 to April 7
* April 7 to 14
* May 12 to 19
* June 16 to 23

All enquiries to Peter at delphi.bahamas@gmail.com….

To Infinity and Beyond…

February 21: As a postscript to our earlier news item about space debris found by Sandy on the beach, the chunk of rocket has now been definitively identified as part of a booster discarded not by the European Ariane rocket but by the US Atlas rocket now heading for Mars and launched from Cape Canaveral on November 26. The rocket is carrying Curiosity, a buggy-type vehicle that will roam the planet looking for signs of life (well OK, organic gas) when it lands on Mars next September, all being well. Martians watch out, the Americans are coming…

A Gentle Start

The first six weeks of the new year have seen generally benign weather at Rolling Harbour, with lots of sunshine and temperatures in the 70s farenheit (low 20s celsius). The spring-like temperatures were interrupted by an occasional cool front bringing cloud and strong breezes for a day or two. One or two boats have been out fishing from the Club on most days and catches have been steady rather than spectacular. There have been a couple of blank half days, but most boats have caught a few bonefish and the best bag was 14 fish landed from 25 hook-ups.

Several anglers lost their piscatorial virginity, at least as regards bonefish. Simon Jones (UK), Mike Trethaway (US), Frances Stokes (US Virgin Isles), Tim & Rupert Wace (UK), Melissa & Barrie Emerson (UK) and Bob Hadden (US) all caught their first bones. Among the many other species taken, Geoff Hadden (US) caught an 11-pound Mutton Snapper, Tim Wace had a 22-pound barracuda and James Henchey (UK) a 4-foot shark.

Activity levels are set to increase in the coming weeks as we approach the popular spring months.

Fly me to the moon….

January 28th: Beachcombing at Rolling Harbour produces a great miscellany of shells, corals, beads, fishing floats and the occasional baseball. But a recent find by Sandy had everyone in a panic – a 12-foot chunk of superstructure that looked for all the world like a large piece of aeroplane. Sandy immediately contacted the US National Transportation Safety Board, who initially confirmed a strong resemblance to the tail section of an Airbus A320 passenger jet but wanted to run further investigations of the part numbers. All rather alarming.

But Sandy has just heard again from the NTSB, who now believe it may be part of the Ariane V space rocket, launched from French Guyana. Airbus say it’s not from one of their planes and suggest that it’s probably the nose fairing off an Ariane V booster. Looking at photos and drawings of the booster, this may be right and this would also fit for the eastern exposure of the beach where the part was found. You can see the booster here: http://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/ATV/infokit/english/05_ATVLauncher.pdf

Ariane Space have been contacted and we will let you know what they say. We will also post a pic of the part. In the meantime, Sandy looks a bit, er, spaced out.

Sandy’s Christmas cheer

December 19th: After several weeks of terrific bonefishing and with a lull in proceedings between the departure of the Irish group and the arrival of our Christmas houseparty, Sandy decided to organise a festive outing to the flats for several of the guides (Donnie, Dana, Joe, Ishi and Tony) along with head-chef Gareth and your blogger-in-chief. Two heavily laden skiffs set off in near-perfect weather to wade the outer edges of the Marls, which had seen a constant stream of large shoals of bonefish over the preceding weeks. Expectations were high for the half-day outing.

There was just one small hitch: someone forgot to invite the bonefish. Or the fish wisely decided to avoid such an experienced flotilla. There was not a big shoal of bonefish to be found anywhere, just a few singles and an occasional double or small school. Despite this, much fun was had – everybody hooked fish, with 17 boated and many more lost. And Sandy himself had a perfect long cast to a big cruising permit which was, sadly, not in the party mood and took off in fright.

For Dana, this was a first ever trip out to the Marls. Having guided on Cherokee Sound for more than a year, she is now determined to expand her repertoire and we expect to see much more of her out on the west side in future. It was fitting that she landed the best fish of the day, a five-to-six pounder (although, true-to-form, your blogger broke in a monster and lost four others through elementary errors). Appropriately, Sandy was top rod, closely followed by Donnie and Tony.

Sandy and all the crew extend warmest seasonal greetings to all past guests and wish you all the very best for 2012.