ANSIL SAUNDERS - World Record BoneFishing Guide, Jan 18, 2013

I didn’t seem to have time to add a blog regarding this particularly memorable experience back in January, while we were still in Bimini. After touring Ashley Saunders’ amazing Dolphin House in Alicetown (see Jan.10, 2013 blog), we learned about Ashley’s brother, Ansil Saunders. The Saunders family is a 5th generation Bimini family; that means they’ve been around since the beginning of Bahamian time.
On Jan 18, we dinked over to Alicetown from South Bimini, joining another cruising couple from catamaran Seas the Day to check out Ansil Saunders’ famous boat building operation. As a member of the 5th generation of this Scottish family of ship builders, Ansil has carved out a spot in history as the builder of a very valuable 16-foot wooden flats fishing boat used most specifically for the sport of bonefishing in the often 5-inch deep waters surrounding Bimini. Along with another one of his brothers, he only builds one boat a year. His boats are made from native horseflesh wood from South Bimini, oak, and mahogany and sell for around $13,000. However, after visiting with Ansil for well over an hour in his shop, he makes it crystal clear that his personal pride and income is actually based on his bonefishing guide prowess, not his skill as a boat builder. In 1971 Ansil was the guide responsible for the catching of the, still-standing today, World Record 16lb bonefish. Today, Ansil’s skill as a bonefishing guide is valued at around $1000 per day. This is obviously a job that we all would like to have.
Following are some pics of Ansil, his brother, and his very unpretentious ship building shop. I wished I had taken more, but we were totally enthralled at being there and getting to talk with him.







Back in 1968 the Reverend Martin Luther King spent time with Ansil out in the solitude of his flats boat writing his Noble Prize acceptance speech. Later, King came back again and wrote his Sanitation Workers Speech while out with Ansil; he was killed two days later. Some of Ansil’s favorite memorabilia include a letter of thanks from Mrs. King, and photos from his meetings with Queen Elizabeth, Margaret Thatcher, the first Prime Minister of the Bahamas Sir Lynden Pindling, Ernest Hemmingway, Joe Namath, and others. He has led a pretty amazing life for a small boat builder living on a tiny island in the Bahamas. It was an honor to meet him.