A Hemingway Returns to Bimini – Part II: Of Boats and Bonefish
20 Mar 201211:18 PM
John Hemingway, grandson of the legendary Ernest, is in Bimini this week while on assignment for Showboats International magazine. John, who is being hosted by the Bimini Big Game Club, is sampling the …
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![](mailto:?subject=A Hemingway Returns to Bimini – Part II: Of Boats and Bonefish&body=John Hemingway, grandson of the legendary <a title="About Ernest Hemingway" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway" target="_blank">Ernest</a>, is in <a title="About Bimini" href="http://www.bahamas.com/out-islands/bimini" target="_blank">Bimini</a> this week while on assignment for Showboats International magazine. John, who is being hosted by the <a title="BBGC web site" href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com" target="_blank">Bimini Big Game Club</a>, is sampling the best of Bimini - including many of the pursuits and places that were favorites of his grandfather during his years on the island (1935-1937). John filed the following dispatches after spending the day with Bimini's famed guide and boat builder, Ansil Saunders:
Mr. Saunders is a very interesting man. Apart from having bonefished for over fifty-five years, he was a good friend of <a title="About Dr. Martin Luther King" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_luther_king" target="_blank">Dr. Martin Luther King</a>. King visited Bimini several times in the 1960s and on one of his last visits in 1968, he told his friend Ansil, while the two of them were out fishing, that he knew that he was going to die soon, that his time had come, but also that God must exist, saying "look at the sheer abundance of life you have here, in the air and in the sea. This is proof, if ever proof was needed.
Here Mr. Saunders is seen holding a photograph of himself and the US ambassador to the Bahamas when she gave him a plaque commemorating his friendship with Dr. King.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/ansil12.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1162" title="Bimini's legendary boat builder and fishing guide, Ansil Saunders" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/ansil12.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="412" /></a>
Here I'm standing behind my fishing guide, Mr Ansel Saunders. He built the bonefishing boat we're standing next to, the cost about $30,000, incredible craftsmanship.
<a href="http://guyharveyoutpost.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/ansiljohnboat.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1163" title="John and Ansil pose next to one of Ansil's custom-built boats" src="http://guyharveyoutpost.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/ansiljohnboat.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="412" /></a>
This guy was heavy and towards the end I was bringing in one after the other, and god do they fight (all of them were released afterwards, you don't eat bonefish). What a morning!
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/ansiljohnbonefish.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1164" title="John and Ansil with one of the many bonefish caught in the Bimini flats" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/ansiljohnbonefish.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="412" /></a>
The first bonefish I caught, out of about a dozen, incredible morning, about six pounds, of the eastern coast of South Bimini, Bahamas.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/johnbonefish.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1165" title="John and one of the many bonefish he caught with Ansil on the Bimini flats" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/johnbonefish.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="412" /></a>
Stay tuned for more updates from John's trip to Bimini! https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/a-hemingway-returns-to-bimini-2/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=A Hemingway Returns to Bimini&body=
John Hemingway, grandson of the legendary <a title="About Ernest Hemingway" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway" target="_blank">Ernest</a> (John's dad was Ernest's youngest son), touched down in <a title="About Bimini" href="http://www.bahamas.com/out-islands/bimini" target="_blank">Bimini</a> yesterday via <a title="TOA web site" href="http://www.flytropic.com/" target="_blank">Tropic Ocean Airways</a>' new seaplane service, which is due to takeoff at the end of this month. While on island to research and write an article for <a title="SI web site" href="http://www.showboats.com/" target="_blank">Showboats International</a> magazine, John will be hosted by the <a title="BBGC web site" href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com" target="_blank">Bimini Big Game Club</a>, a favorite haunt of his famous grandfather. John's planned activities for the week include a snorkeling excursion on <a title="About Dive Bimini" href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com/diving.htm" target="_blank">Dive Bimini</a>'s M/V <a title="About Bimini Blue" href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com/our-boat.htm" target="_blank">Bimini Blue</a>, a backcountry fishing trip with guide and boat-builder Ansil Saunders, and a tour of <a title="Sharklab web site" href="http://www6.miami.edu/sharklab/" target="_blank">Doc Gruber's Sharklab</a>. Also on the schedule, a visit to the site of the <a title="About the Compleat Angler" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compleat_Angler_Hotel" target="_blank">Compleat Angler</a>, Papa Hemingway's home away from home during his years in Bimini (the hotel/bar tragically burned to the ground in 2006) .
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/hemingway312.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1154" title="John Hemingway arrives in Bimini" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/hemingway312.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="298" /></a>
Upon touchdown yesterday, John was greeted by BBGC GM Mike Weber. John was asked about his previous trips to Bimini and whether or not he has his grandfather's passion for fishing and boating:
"There have been A LOT in my life. The last one was about 2 years ago, before that in 2005. Most of my visits were in the 60s and 70s. I go fishing whenever I can, mostly saltwater, but I've also fished on lakes and fly-fished. I love sailing, and honestly wish I had a boat. When I was a teenager in Miami I had a Laser and would go sailing just about every day after school. I lived on San Marino Island with my grandfather's brother Leicester Hemingway.
Look for more updates from John's trip later this week!
<a href="http://guyharveyoutpost.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/hemingway2.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1155" title="BBGC GM Mike Weber, right, welcomes John Hemingway back to Bimini." src="http://guyharveyoutpost.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/hemingway2.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="421" /></a> https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/a-hemingway-returns-to-bimini/){kind=link}
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