Remote Rendezvous

Remote Rendezvous

AS FEATURED IN THE SPRING 04 ISSUE OF SOUTH FLORIDA SPORT FISHING MAGAZINE

by Jan S. Maizler
The Ultimate Mothership Adventure

The captain gently eased off the two throttles of the vessel Outpost. It coasted slowly to a silky stop over the crystal clear waters of the Great Bahama Bank. Gentle wavelets lapped against her shiny white hull. Far aloft of the Outpost, a lone seabird flew a long, lazy circle in the deep blue sky.The angler-passengers, guides, and crew onboard were flushed with excitement and anticipation as they waited for the “drop anchor” signal to be given.

Their fervor was understandable — not far in the distance lay the “Horn” of Andros Island’s fabled West Side. The Outpost got its passengers from Red Bays to the Horn in only three hours, briskly yet comfortably. The group had now arrived at their first delicious destination. The time of the cruise en route was filled with dreams of a bonefish, tarpon, and permit bounty that these virgin waters should yield. Clearly, the visions of explorers!

The five anglers and their two Bahamian guides, Stanford and Percy, had another goal besides fishing these new flats and shallows. This was to learn, document, and possibly map out new West Andros hotspots, a bit like Columbus. The prospect for the entire party was electrifying!The anchor was carefully dropped and more line was played out to ensure a good anchor set.

Head guide Stanford Johnson smiled as he gazed at the green mangrove shoreline.For him, this was a return to the home waters of his youth. Recollections of his deep past filled his head — a childhood in the small settlement of Red Bays, with the West side sea at his feet, and planted vegetable gardens inland to feed his village.As he became a teenager, he learned of a growing need of sponges in the markets of Europe. He knew that there were treasure troves of sponges far to the south, deep into the wild West Side. He set forth, and explored as he went, learning the shorelines as he harvested his sponges.Stanford would venture deep into the creeks to catch snappers and crabs for his meals. If he went deeper into the Andros interior, he would eventually find good, drinkable, “sweet water.”

Practically every shoreline and creek was filled with bonefish, and he learned their habits as he worked.When his boat was filled to the brim with sponges, he would travel far north to his village, where a hot meal of conch and vegetables was inevitably waiting. Then, the sponges would have to be pounded into their smooth, familiar pliability; hard work for anyone.These trips not only forged Stanford’s growth into manhood — they also created West Andros’ premier flats guide!

A friendly tap on his shoulder from Scott Heywood pulled him back into real time. Scott told him that both skiffs were being readied. In went the ice chests filled with food and plenty of water. Each skiff was then loaded with a full complement of fly rods and every conceivable “killer” fly. Each boat was then topped off with three anglers and their guide.Stanford would man the lead skiff. Both four stroke engines fired up quickly and quietly, and off they flew towards the Horn of west Andros to make mothership history.

The next seven days of fishing and exploration brought weather both fair and foul, calm and windy, yet the intricacy of the West Andros shorelines and creeks offered features to make fishing possible in almost any conditions.Under the guidance of Stanford and Percy, Scott and his party caught and released tailing bonefish, mudding bonefish, cruising bonefish; fish both large and small, and in every possible way. As a bonus, a nice permit was caught and released.As the West Andros leg of the mothership journey came to an end that evening, the entire group agreed that the week was a resounding success!

The afterglow and joy of fishing The Horn slowly gave way to the excitement of what their next Bahamian destination would offer.The background and operation of the Bahamian mothership Outpost is quite interesting. Scott Heywood and Brad Wolfe at Angling Destinations (www.anglindestinations.com; 1-800-211-8530) had, and still enjoy tremendous success putting their client-anglers on traveling motherships in Belize and in the faraway, exotic Seychelles. What they needed was a vessel to explore and fish the most remote and least-pressured parts of the Bahamas.

It was a stroke of good fortune that Scott and Brad were contacted by Captain Fred and Penny Wheeler, who had been running the Outpost in the Key West-Marquesas area.What they found with the Outpost was a vessel that exceeded all the necessary requirements for a Bahamas mothership. Long and spacious as a 61 foot Hatteras yacht, she sported two powerful Isuzu “workhorse” engines. Her hull type was of a shoal draft vessel, an absolute necessity for cruising across the shallow Bahamas Banks. Her reverse osmosis water production plant provided lots of fresh water that would easily meet all daily needs. The Outpost’s air conditioning was so efficient that the guests “hollered uncle” as the temperature plummeted to 68 degrees. Full communications systems were onboard for any and all contingencies. In addition, a satellite T.V. entertained all on onboard, as well as keeping everyone informed.The fishing skiffs and other auxiliary vessels that accompany the Outpost met all needs. There are two flats boats outfitted with quiet four stroke engines, trim tabs and modern pushpoles. There is a flat-bottomed Carolina Skiff for snorkellers and scuba divers. Topping off the vessel selection are kayaks for exploratory eco-tours, or just plain fun.Scott also reported to me that the Outpost can take as many as six passenger-anglers, who can look forward not only to the excellent lodgings, but to delicious meals as well.

I asked Scott to elaborate about Angling Destinations’ commitment to motherships. He responded, “we’re sold completely on the mothership concept.” “It provides so many desirable characteristics. The first, of course, is the freedom to establish a base of operations where there are no existing or desirable facilities — often the case in unpressured, virgin waters. The second is that the mothership provides portability that drastically reduces the length of fishing boat runs to and from the fishing grounds.” The third factor he emphasized was the immense control and consistency in food, lodgings, and clients that chartering a mothership affords.

This intimate experience creates significant interaction between guests, guides, and crew, and Angling Destinations either books groups of pre-existing friends or carefully composes a group of individuals they know quite well. This creates friendships and fellowships that far outlast this exciting voyage!The mothership experience not only creates friendship bonds; it also creates family bonding.

The Outpost is perfect for the needs of any average family, because it has the diversity of features that will please every member: “unlimited” fishing for dad, loads of indoor pleasures for mom, and kayaks and snorkeling for the kids. Each family can begin and end their days together at the galley table, and spend time eating great food and sharing their exciting experiences. Come nightfall, the family can go on deck and enjoy intensely starry heavens unmarred by the bright lights of cities. You can be sure the Outpost will be comfortably moored in the lee of an island, yet far from any bugs, or she’ll be underway to a new destination.Scott feels so enthusiastic about using the mothership for enhanced family experiences.

He said, “the main goal of Angling Destinations is for our clients to enjoy themselves and have fun.”Scott went on to relate an extremely moving story that will soon involve the mothership Outpost. He was recently contacted by the sons and daughters of an aging father whose time “was short.” They said to Scott, “we want to give him the dream trip of a lifetime.” Much like a master chef, Scott prepared an experience on the Outpost for this man and his family sure to leave stardust memories.So, the Outpost literally becomes a family’s private traveling hotel or cruise ship, where the dream of a distant Bahamian island is yours for the asking!

The Outpost also has distinct advantages over land-based camps in the Bahamas. The Outpost’s portability can immediately respond and change cruise plans to avoid severe weather, while a land-based lodge must grin and bear it. The Itinerary can also be immediately modified because of any personal urgency or emergency. Compare this to a land-based camp that often must juggle your needs with ten other anglers — you rightfully begin to get the idea that the mothership is ideal for those needing a high level of personal control and personal freedom.

In small measure, I could appreciate their pioneering efforts, having experienced some great fishing in Mexico, Tahiti, Fanning Island, and Belize. Scott and Brad have created the ultimate freedom where anglers transcend themselves. The Outpost provides such a special and unique opportunity for growth and exploration because of the intimacy of the voyage and the frontier virginity of the areas it visits.

The next chartered destination offered a new group of angler-guests another piece of the “Holy Grail” of Bahamas flats fishing — the fabled Marls of Abaco. The Outpost would arrive at its mooring area west of the Marls and north of Moores Island in a few hours. The Outpost’s positioning strategy was designed to fish the least - visited flats — not only would this offer the most productive flats fishing, it would also coordinate angling efforts not to overlap areas reached and fished by the land-based guides.Abaco, so different from Andros, is more like a fertile, magic crescent. The larger outside of the arc to the north, east, and south of the island offered the sapphire deeps that lured so many bluewater anglers in their huge fifty foot vessels.

Yet, it was the inside of Abaco’s crescent on its west side that pulled on the Outposts’ anglers like a fishy magnet. The Marls of Abaco was calling them! The draw for everyone aboard was to explore the almost infinite number of islands and cays that comprise the area. The anglers knew they would be fishing the epicenter of Abaco’s flats nursery that would offer huge quantities of bonefish.Soon, the Outpost would again drop anchor. Then, starry-eyed anglers and their hawk-eyed guides would man the shallow draft skiffs. Trusty engines would fire up quickly. As the guides pushed their throttles forward, they were also pushing their angler-clients towards shallow water habitat that may have never seen a boat or even a person.

It will be a rare and wonderful opportunity to fish truly new and virgin waters. It will be even more wonderful to do this on flats where the encounter with truly brand-new fish is from sighting to cast, battle, and release. There may very well be seas of silvery bonefish tails grazing over sandy flats only a short distance away. You squat down and slowly begin the Walk of all Walks. You have to contain your excitement. You ease forward like a wading bird, striving for not even the slightest pressure wave. After a million heartbeats, you’re in range for a cast. Breathing deep to steady yourself, you make your presentation perfectly. A dozen fish quickly converge on your fly, and tail up all over it. You strip-strike to a hookup that dumps yards of line off your reel in seconds. Tight lines over white sands under blue skies. You’re in Paradise in another day of life for the Outpost!

Jan Maizler