March 8, 2009 - Lynard Cay, Abacos

On the early morning high tide, we departed our marina in Marsh Harbor, which is about midway along the Abacos. The Abacos, a series of cays that stretch more than 160 nautical miles, are the northernmost part of the Bahamas. The outer cays form a chain that protects the islands of Little and Great Abaco from the restless Atlantic Ocean. These cays also define the eastern edge of the temperate, protected and beautiful Sea of Abaco. Our trip of about 28 nautical miles was the perfect powerboat cruise – calm seas and a nice breeze.


We anchored off Lynyard Cay, one of the barrier cays. After getting situated, we jumped in the dinghy to explore. Fellow cruisers had shared with us their secret conch location, and we headed for the Bight of Old Robinson. This was the first time any of us had gone “conching” and we weren’t sure exactly how to go about it. We first tried to spot them through the "lookie" bucket from the dinghy, on the bottom in shallow water, and then tried wading along the shore. At last we found an area with a few.

The conch must have a shell lip of at least ten inches to be legal, and we found three over the course of four hours of wading (compare that with the local conch guy who goes out for 45 minutes and comes back with 50 or so – he’s a pro!). The conch are covered with sea grass, which effectively camouflages them.
They crawl along the bottom by means of a “foot” which they can push out of their shell.

Returning to the boat, we scrubbed the shells clean and froze the conch in the shell. We had heard that the meat can then be removed without damaging the shell. The “pros” use a claw hammer to break into the shells, which is more efficient but leaves a hole in the shell.

While we waited for the conch to firm up in the freezer, dinner was a half turkey on the grill.