Before I continue, a bit about Bimini taken from Yachtsman’s Guide to the Bahamas. “like many islands set between civilization & remoteness, has for centuries attracted opportunists & eccentrics. The famous & infamous have escaped to Bimini where, they think, no one will be watching. Ernest Hemingway pursued gin & shark-shooting here in the 1930’s & in the late 1960’s Adam Clayton Powell lived in Bimini with his mistress. A fountain of youth, of sorts, is alleged to exist in the woods of S. Bimini …Ponce de Leon did stop at Bimini in his quest for everlasting youth…sampled the waters but they didn’t do the job. The island of N. Bimini is about 7 miles long & is extremely narrow & flat. Most of the island is less than 700 feet in width, & nowhere does it have an elevation greater than 15-20 feet above sea level. The main settlement & sport fishing center is Alice Town”.
7/15 con’t…We wondered when Junkanoo would begin. There was a band playing in the afternoon with a few vendors, but no one else was there ?? We had dinner at the Angler which sits atop the hill overlooking the ocean. And if paradise wasn‘t already perfect, there was a full moon. After dinner, I heard loud music - Wayne was already in bed, so I followed the beat. 
The street was filled with people, locals & tourists & a local band…mostly homemade drums.
The street was filled with people, locals & tourists & a local band…mostly homemade drums. 
They played for well over an hour. No songs we know, but just the beat of the drums, trumpets & cow bells. I loved it, Wayne would have hated it.
Saturday, 7/16 Work day - Replace parts on the Water maker. But then it rained for hours. After it stopped, I walked around ‘town’ but it was so hot & humid & the mosquitoes were carrying me away, I returned to the boat & into the a/c. It was a real ho-hum day but did go to the pool. 
7/17 We left the dock @ 10:30am heading south to Gun Cay. Another perfect day. I caught a nice sized Mackerel on the way down & I didn‘t even have anything out for dinner. We arrived @ 12:30 & there were already a bunch of small boats anchored in Honeymoon Harbor. We all went to the beach - the water was amazing & a perfect temperature-now this is what I’m talkin about! One by one the Rays swam over to check us out & 
to see if we had any food for them. We all rinsed the sand off, took a small break then back in the water again - I can’t get enough! I tried a new recipe for 
the fish using butter, soy, lime & Rum - YUM! Wayne didn’t like it as much as when I lightly bread it with crushed up French fried onion rings.
7/17 We left the dock @ 10:30am heading south to Gun Cay. Another perfect day. I caught a nice sized Mackerel on the way down & I didn‘t even have anything out for dinner. We arrived @ 12:30 & there were already a bunch of small boats anchored in Honeymoon Harbor. We all went to the beach - the water was amazing & a perfect temperature-now this is what I’m talkin about! One by one the Rays swam over to check us out & 
to see if we had any food for them. We all rinsed the sand off, took a small break then back in the water again - I can’t get enough! I tried a new recipe for 
the fish using butter, soy, lime & Rum - YUM! Wayne didn’t like it as much as when I lightly bread it with crushed up French fried onion rings. After having an incredible day with a luscious dinner, we adjourned to the fly bridge with our wine to watch a few storms in the distance. Much to my surprise, I still had TV. Pretty soon the storms sorta joined forces & headed towards us. A mad dash around the boat to secure items, close hatches, put the awnings up & reset the anchor - we had 75 feet of chain out. Thunder, lightening, rain & wind about 20 knots. (felt more like 50) It lasted several hours & finally died down about 11:00pm but Wayne was up & down all night checking our holding because the anchor alarm kept ringing. 7/18 He was up at 6:00am listening to NOAA, checking the weather on the Single Side Band (SSB), the charts & making coffee, of course. (You see, I don’t get up till the coffee’s done) Seemed like a good day to cross the shallow Bahamas Banks - there are 2 legs of the crossing to get to Chub Cay in the Berry Islands; the 1st is 63 miles @ 96 degrees; the 2nd is 13 miles @ 10.7 degrees. We travel between 7 & 8 knots-you do the math - - it’s a long boring day. We left Gun @ 8:00am. It’s actually calm enough that I’m able to write my log down in the forward cabin. The Berry Islands, again quoted from the Yachtsman’s Guide to the Bahamas, “The Berry Islands are a stirrup-shaped chain of cays & islets that lie on the northeastern edge of the Great Bahamas Bank…They are bounded on the north & east by the Northwest Providence Channel & on the south by the Tongue of the Ocean. There are roughly 30 large cays & numerous small ones, among which are several good harbors & anchorages”. Great Stirrup Cay, owned by Norwegian Cruise Lines & Little Stirrup Cay, owned by Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines are located at the north end of the Berries. In 2007, we anchored between the 2 on our way to the Abacos.
As we approach Chub, there was a huge trough with significant lightening. Thankfully, it was well East 
of Chub. Once the anchor was set, about 6ish, we both went into the water - Wayne dove to set the anchor. Again, I had TV & internet; got to see yet another episode of the Bachorlette. 7/19 The air was cooler this morning but the sun already intense. A local fishermen came by & I bought 4 Lobster tails for $10. I know what I’m having for dinner. Sort of a work day; Wayne set out in an attempt to
of Chub. Once the anchor was set, about 6ish, we both went into the water - Wayne dove to set the anchor. Again, I had TV & internet; got to see yet another episode of the Bachorlette. 7/19 The air was cooler this morning but the sun already intense. A local fishermen came by & I bought 4 Lobster tails for $10. I know what I’m having for dinner. Sort of a work day; Wayne set out in an attempt to 
find the reason the bait well gets full of water when we don’t want it full (too much weight); then onward to clean the bottom of the boat. Scupper goes absolutely bonkers when Wayne is on the swim platform donning his gear…These beautiful star fish are everywhere.
No comments:
Post a Comment