When we woke in Miami that morning, we thought we were heading for an anchorage to wait for a possible crossing the next day. However, we checked our weather apps and we got a report on the conditions from our friends on C Marie, who were doing an overnight crossing to the Berrys, and decided the conditions were good for us to cross to Bimini, Bahamas. We worked hard and fast to prepare the boat. Our friend, Rafael, arrived around 9:30 AM with our last package from all of our Amazon orders that he and Ashley had generously received for us. With that in hand, we were away in about a half hour.
The cut to the open ocean was wild! It was likely worse because of a couple of huge tug boats that were kicking up a lot of wake in the channel. We were each wondering if we might have to abort but we knew we had to get through the cut either way! Cam was managing at the helm while Heather was trying to secure the boat. Cupboards and drawers were flying open and closed, and the microwave was sliding out of its cubby! Yikes! After Heather swapped her sandals for running shoes and found the Gravol, which is an anti-nausea medication, she got bungie cords and secured all the cupboards and wedged a cutting board in front of the microwave. Everyting held! When we exited the cut, Cam was able to get the boat on plane and things were much smoother! Water in the cuts, or openings to the ocean, is usually rougher because the waves from the wide ocean are pushing through a smallish opening from the protected waterway. Of course, the water wasn't as mixed up in the ocean as it was in the cut, but we stayed on plane to manage the waves, and arrived at the entrance to Bimini just after 2 PM. It was much nicer once we were in the lee of the island. Once docked, Cam got us checked into Immigration and Customs and we were in!
We were exhausted. Heather had to sleep off a bit of the Gravol and then we rinsed the salt off the boat and went for a swim in the pool. We went out for dinner to the Big Game Restaurant and Bar which is at the Big Game Marina. We were both exhausted and could hardly stay awake during dinner. It was a BIG day and we were thrilled that we had finally made it to the Bahamas! Cam had been on a couple of fishing trips to the Bahamas in past years and it was his dream to bring our boat to the Bahamas. Now his dream had become a reality! How exciting!!
We started using our water maker to produce fresh water our first day there. The water in the marina was so clear and our neighbours told us that they were making water. We just made sure that we did it during an incoming tide to ensure that we were starting with fresher water. Otherwise, purchasing water from the marina is $0.75 cents/gal, and that was not potable. We used almost half a tank just cleaning all the salt off of our boat!
On our first morning here, a local fisherman was going around the docks selling lobster tail and stone crab. We went in on a dozen lobster tails with our neighbours, Chris and Kimber from the sailboat beside us, Believe. We seemed to hit it off well with them so that night we ate together on our back deck, sharing rice and salad and enjoying our BBQ lobster tails. We also invited some Loopers who had just arrived to join us for drinks after dinner. They had just completed their loop and were wrapping it up with a sidetrip to the Bahamas.
Our first day in Bimini we biked all over the island. Cam bought some local bread from Nate's Bakery that he said was pretty yummy. We hurried back to the boat so Cam could do an online meeting. Then we inflated the kayaks and paddled out to see the sunset. We pulled in at a beach that had a perfect view and went for a swim. We decided that we should head back before the sun fully set since we didn't have lights on the kayaks. Besides, we were being eaten alive by no-see-ums. No-see-ums are tiny little bugs that you can hardly see and they bite like mosquitos. They can even fit through the holes in your screens. I'm sure they have a more scientific name but everyone calls them "no-see-ums". Once they found us they pretty much swarmed us and we had to paddle fast to get away from them.
The second day, we enjoyed tea and coffee on Believe and made plans for a big dinghy ride to the mangroves to find a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. Unfortunately, we headed out at low tide and we weren't able to get over to the mangroves due to low water but we had a great tour around. After the mangroves, we went on the outside and anchored the dinghies at the beach. Cam and Chris went to buy some beer while Heather and Kimber watched the dinghies. Watching the dinghies turned out to be a tough job as our dinghy kept dragging and Heather and Kimber had to go and reset the anchor twice before the men returned. This is when we learned that we should have at least a few feet of chain on our dinghy anchor to help weigh it down. Then we all enjoyed a great swim before heading back to the marina.
On Friday, after both of us attended to some work, we got on our bikes again, but this time we took them on the ferry to South Bimini. We rode all over the island. It was mostly undeveloped but there were lots of houses with docks at the far end. There really wasn't anything to do on the island. We headed back, stopping at the Fountain of Youth on the way. Apparently, Juan Ponce de León came to Bimini in search of the Fountain of Youth in the early 1500s. It was a bit of a sham, but a good stop to eat our snack. Apparently, he found Bimini and took slaves, but he did not find the Fountain of Youth. We saw a dried up well with a bucket and a sign.
Once we were back on North Bimini, we tried unsuccessfully to get a local SIM card for our phones. We picked up some conch fritters and enjoyed them back on the boat. Then we joined Believe and took our dinghies out to the sand bar to walk around and swim. We saw some stingrays, starfish, and found some conch, which we left for the fishermen. While we were out on the sandbar, we noticed the locals were all anchoring their boats on the sandbar. Cam talked to one of them and he said they brought the boats out there for the storm so they wouldn't bang up against each other in the harbour. There were probably twenty boats anchored, with one boat ferrying the fishermen back to shore. The boats were there all weekend. When we returned to the marina, it was time to secure our boat for the incoming storm.
Saturday the storms blew in as predicted at about 4 AM. Over the course of the day, it rained off and on but the winds blew constantly. We slipped out to the straw market during one of the breaks but we didn't get anything as most of the market was closed. We played Rummikub with Kimber and discussed the weather with Chris. He called it "weather porn" as he was glued to it for long stretches of time, several times a day, just like Heather! Four or five of the sailboats were planning to leave on Sunday. They had studied Predict Wind and discussed it in great depth so the departure was set for 10 AM on Sunday morning. We didn't like the conditions as power boaters so we were holding out for Monday.
The wind continued through the night again. In the morning, the winds were still blowing in the marina. Plans were being orchestrated, but were delayed until 10:30 AM. There was a catamaran across from us and all the men helped out and used the lines to turn the boat in the slip so it was bow out. It was departure time and Believe was leaving first. Heather‘s role was to be on the bow of our boat with the large ball fender in the unlikely event that the boat blew into our boat. Cam and the other men managed Chris's boat from the dock with lines and boat hooks while one of them decided to climb aboard Sea Clef, just in case Heather needed help. Chris's departure looked perfect but when he started going forward, the wind took Believe towards Sea Clef. Heather pulled up the big fender to protect the bow, but the force of the wind on Believe just rolled the fender away, and Believe's stanchion bent into our boat under our anchor. Suddenly, there were three men on our boat, pushing with hands and boat hooks while Chris extricated his stanchion. He managed to get away okay. Our damage was minimal to the bowsprit and not really a concern but Chris's stanchion would need a proper repair. Next, Keith, on a sailboat two slips down from us, reversed from his slip, and he couldn’t even turn. His boat blew sideways back to the retaining wall and was caught on the wall gently with fenders. The Dock Master got out his 20 foot boat and they tied a line to Keith’s bow and towed him out. For the next boat, the Dock Master helped again but this time he tied the line to the stern and pulled the boat out of the slip and then out of the fairway. The catamaran got out easily under its own power since it was already bow out. A large power vessel was also towed out of the next fairway after it blew sideways into the wall too. The dock master was having a blast! The rest of the boats in the marina stayed in radio contact, waiting for word of the sea conditions. Finally, the winds in the marina calmed around 11:30 AM. One more boat left around 2 PM.
We were still hoping for better weather on Tuesday so we spent our day prepping the boat and walking around the town to Big Game marina and then to a VERY small grocery store, that was more like a grocery "hut". We went back to Nate‘s bakery where Cam bought some more Bahamian bread. Nate's Bakery is definitely worth a visit if you are on Bimini. We had to hurry back to the boat from there to beat another dowsing of rain. For dinner, Cam cooked an entire spaghetti and meat sauce meal in the instant pot which was a tip from Believe! That was a different meal for the Instant Pot and and nice meal for a blowy rainy day.
Our plan was to connect with Believe in the Exumas, but sadly that would never happen. They made it there before we even made it to Nassau, and once in the Exuma Island chain, it's relatively easy to move between the islands in protected waters. We soon discovered that it would be very hard to meet up with any of our friends who were travelling by boat, but we would enjoy chance meetings and making new friends.
Click on the photos below to view the images in slideshow mode. Coming up next, we're going to the Berrys!
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