Loop Trip Leg 9: Bahamas

Thursday - May 19

Lake Worth Channel Entrance

We crossed the Atlantic to Lake Worth today. There were still 3 footers off port beam and we still had to steer all day but the stabilizers really helped so we didn’t pitch. All in all we had a good crossing. Island Girl wasn’t so lucky as they rolled a lot. We anchored in Lake Worth and called customs for check in. We were tired after 10 hours of steering so retired early. We are sad to be leaving Bahamas as that is a wonderful country, but glad to be back in the states and have communications at our fingertips. The picture for today is the Lake Worth channel entrance looking out towards the Atlantic.

Wednesday - May 18

Another day of layover! The winds have switched to NW and that isn’t good for our crossing to the states. I walked around the nature trails with Avery family while Dave stayed aboard and did some boat work. We swam in the afternoon and had cocktails aboard Hallelujah in the early evening. Food supply is running low, but Amy took ingredients I gave her and came up with a great Mexican appetizer. She is a wonder in the kitchen. This was another great day in the Bahamas. The weather is perfect (except for the winds), the company was great.

Tuesday - May 17

I’ve been helping Patrick with a float plan for taking Island Girl back to Michigan via east coast. He has been lining up crew as Amy and Aspen won’t do that part of the trip. We finished the float plan in the morning. The group – 7 of us, went to North Bimini in the afternoon, rented a golf cart – squeezed everyone on and toured the island. We talked with the Bimini historian – a fascinating man who completed a teaching degree at University of Wisconsin. He taught school in Bimini, build a shell house, and now writes books (I bought two of them). We had a great dinner at the Great Gun Club – a historic resort that Hemmingway used for fishing trips. The first picture is a close up of the shell house. Mr. Sanders build the whole house from items found in the ocean – shells, abandoned ship wreck material and even the sand. The second picture is of us with the golf cart and the third picture is the group in front of the Gateway to the Bahamas welcome center.

Group on Golf Cart in North Bimini

Shell house wall

The group at the Gatewway Center

Monday - May 16

Dave and Patrick listened to weather a long time this a.m. There seemed to be a short 2 hour window in which the wind / waves wouldn’t be to bad. We made a dash for South Bimini – 12 mile run. We were able to get into the marina and tied up just as the winds started building again. We spent the afternoon in the pool – we needed to relax. We met Rick and Susan who pulled in later afternoon. They are friends of Island Girl from Bradenton, FL. The pictures today include Hallelujah and Island Girl at dock in South Biminis Marina, the entrance to the marina with waves building, and an old cement ship that has been sunk to create a reef for snorkeling and diving. You can’t picture what the Atlantic looks like from these as we were behind a barrier reef most of the two hours. We only had about 45 minutes in the Atlantic swells as we turned into the marina.

Cement Ship Reef

Hallalujah at dock in South Bimini Marina

Entrance to South Bimini Marina.

Sunday - May 15

This was to be a long day of 105 miles to Bimini Islands. We started very early with dawn light. The winds were not too bad but there was some wave action as we came out of the Berry channel. Turned towards the Bahamas Banks and hoped that the wind/ waves would be ok to enter the banks. The day started fine, but by noon the winds had picked up to steady 20 knts and gusting over 30 from the S/ SW – not a good direction!. The waves also started picking up which isn’t good when the waters are only 12 feet deep. I read the Bahama marina guide and found that with this wind and waves we couldn’t get into the South Bimini Island Club (our destination). I called Cat Cay and they welcomed us with open arms. We arrived at 5:00. Amy is really sick today! But the marina was very quiet and we walked around as much as we could to keep Amy on land for a while. Aspen was really happy at this marina as there is a private airport next to it and he could watch planes for a while. This is a nice marina – mostly empty because of the cost per foot - $4.00. We happily paid but won’t stay more than one night if possible. The guys went to the bar tonight to watch basetball playoff.

Saturday - May 14

Island Girl passing a cruise ship.

We headed out as we were told the Tongue was ok to travel on. The winds were down this a.m. We found that the waves were still 6 + feet off the starboard side. Thank heavens for stabilizers! We were ok, but Amy and Aspen got sea sick as Island Girl doesn’t have stabilizers. The waves were so high that Island Girl mostly disappeared as she went behind a swell. We saw only the top of the fly bridge. Not a good sign! We headed to the Berry Islands and picked up a mooring ball – didn’t want to pay dockage. The winds continued to blow all night. We had a strong current that held us in one direction. We did get the dinghy down and go exploring as we had most of the afternoon. This was an interesting exercise with winds and current. Don’t ask how I held the dinghy to the boat so that Dave could get in. But we had a nice ride (Patrick and Aspen followed us in their dinghy). We saw sting ray up close and personal – also lots of star fish. The waters are really clear. The picture for today shows that only one cruise ship was docked in Nassau this a.m. The small boat is really Island Girl which is 47 feet long. That shoudl tell how large these cruise ships really are.

Friday - May 13

What can you say – the weather was nasty! The Tongue of the Ocean was running at 9 feet plus! No way for us to leave Nassau. I walked around Nassau with Amy to see some of the local shops. We went to Starbucks in the evening to check internet weather – tomorrow looks like a go. Just noticed that the date says it all - friday the 13th! weather wasn't cooperating.

Thursday - May 12

Interesting flight back to Nassau. When arriving at Ft. Lauderdale air port, I was informed I didn’t have correct papers and couldn’t prove that I would be leaving Bahamas via private boat. For an hour, the airline wouldn’t give me a seat assignment. They had to check with Customs in Nassau. Then after waiting, they gave me a seat, but the plane was over an hour late. Thus, the taxi I had hired wasn’t sure I was even coming. Not a good morning. But I did finally get back to the boat – did laundry and went swimming. We are hoping to leave tomorrow to head back to the states.

Friday / Wednesday - May 6 - 11

Italian Dinner at Atlantis Resort

Dave stayed in Nassau with the boat – we had heard of lots of theft so didn’t want to try and leave the boat. The battery problem was easily fixed on Friday. Barb had an easy trip to Ft. Lauderdale and started working with family health issue. It was a long week for me but Dave got some boat cleaning done and Island Girl arrived on Monday so he had dinner with them and went to Atlantis for a dinner with a group from the marina.

Thursday - May 5

We made the final run into Nassau today. We had to watch carefully going over the Yellow Bank (lots of coral heads) as we weren’t following a lead boats. We returned to Nassau Harbor Club (the marina we were at early in the Bahamas trip. Dave worked with Peter to arrange for an electrician to come aboard. I packed bags for trip back to the states.

Wednesday - May 4

Bahamas construction barge

We head to Shroud Island (returning to our anchorage from a couple of weeks ago). This was a long 40 mile run and we were tense most of the way because of battery problem. The winds and waves were not too bad as we motored north, but the anchorage wasn’t calm as the winds switched and we rocked most of night. We grilled out and went to bed with the sun – saving battery power. The picture is of how working equipment is moved around in the Bahamas. There are no roads so everything goes on a barge and moved between islands.

Tuesday - May 3

Sting Rays off the boat in the marina

Weather isn’t good so we aren’t moving north today. Did reach family via phone and found it was helpful to talk with various family members about aunt and current situation. We have contacted Nassau and there will be an electrician waiting. We had to run engines to try and change batteries – we will have to run with very little electrical support in the next couple of days to save on batteries as the engines don’t do very well on changing them. We had dinner with Island Girl tonight – I made an Italian meal aboard Hallelujah. Everyone ate well. We said goodbye to Island Girl and helped them find a few anchorages going north in the Exumas. They will meet up with us later next week in Nassau.

Monday - May 2

We moved into Sampson Cay Marina this am. We spent the day trying to find problem with inverter – read manuals and tried taking things apart. Dave used internet to try and find information. Patrick tried to help but he doesn’t know electronics that well. No mechanic at this Cay. I spent much of the day making reservations to return to the states and talking with family. The marina is very beautiful but also has lots of sea life so swimming was out. They had a great restaurant also Patrick did dive under our boat to check out zincs and propellers for us. He was one brave soul.

Hallelujah at dock in Sampson Cay Marina

Sampson Cay Marina

Sunday - May 1

Island Girl at anchor in Sampson Cay Bay.

We left relatively early today to move quickly north before the winds became to strong and waves built. We moved north to Sampson Cay and anchored off this island. Island Girl draws less so moved closer into shore but we were out in the waves. Stayed quietly aboard today. Did find that when we started the generator to make dinner we had no power. We found the inverter wasn’t working. Now we have no way to charge the batteries except by the engines but that won’t run the stove.

Saturday - April 30

We got the kayaks down today. Barb and Amy went part way around the island near Black Point. Great Guana Cay is a very long island and much to large to kayak around. The winds were still up and the waves were building on the bank today also. We then taught Aspen how to kayak. He was great and didn’t have any fear or problems. In fact, Dave couldn’t keep up with him so Patrick had to get into the dinghy to follow him. Dave took me into shore so I could again use the internet. Then he returned to the boat – but he didn’t do a good job of tying off the dinghy. I had the hand held radio so I could call him and all of a sudden, other boats were yelling at Dave that the dinghy was floating away. Dave grabbed the flippers and started swimming after the dinghy. It was about a quarter of a mile from the boat. He was able to recover it and then come get me, but he was very tired from such a long swim. We found out later that Patrick tried to get the dinghy, but in starting his dinghy he broke his pull cord. So the afternoon was spent replacing the pull cord on Patrick’s dinghy.

The rest of the group joined us in Black Spot harbor this afternoon and we had a final farewell dinner. Hallelujah and Island Girl are going to be heading back towards Nassau, a couple of boats are going further south and some are heading to the Abacus Islands (upper Bahamas group).

Dinner at Lorraine's - people from Marathon FL

Barb & Amy kayaking

Dave helping Patrick with engine.

Aspen, Patrick & Dave

Friday - April 29

The winds were up on the Atlantic but we had a nice anchorage looking at a wonderful beach. Went to the beach in the afternoon with Island Girl and sat in the water – to shallow to swim. We had to walk the dinghy over a long sandbar to drag it into shore, but as the tide was coming in – we didn’t have to walk it out so far. Amy and I took a long walk around town and found the school, library and electric plant. We also talked with Lorraine (owner of one restaurant who has been very helpful with use of internet for my discussions back to the states). It seems that there are few men on the out islands and in order to find husbands, the women go into the larger towns (Nassau, Georgetown, or March Harbor). Also the Exuma schools don’t educate high school (our US term), so all the older students have to leave home and go into one of the three larger towns for their education. This concept is starting to deplete the Exumas of young people as most do not return after high school but find jobs in the larger cities. Thus, the towns are poor, the men have to find work off the Cays and leave family behind to take care of the home. We saw much basket weaving in this town, and all is sent to Nassau for tourist purchases.

Black Point town

Lorraine's restaurant.

Thursday - April 28

Black Point Beach

On the move today – Island Girl and Hallelujah are heading to Great Guana Cay to the town of Black Point. The other boats are staying in Big Major Spot for a couple of more days. We moved all of 10 miles but the scenery was much different. The small town of Black Spot is also much different. The grocery isn’t as big or nice as Staniel Cay, but there are more restaurants. We went into town to use internet this afternoon only to find that our Aunt has serious health issues. We start to make arrangements to get me back to the states.

Wednesday - April 27

Another evening bond fire – we didn’t eat on the beach for this one (didn’t need the sand in our dinner). We did have cocktails and desserts. The group grew today as more friends arrived at Big major Spot Cay. We also found another beach that actually had tables (made of wood), chickens, goats, and a fire pit. The goal tonight was to see how big the bond fire could be!

Group bondfire - lots of people today.

managed a big fire - but don't sit close as it is hot.

Monday / Tuesday - April 25/26

Mon: Quiet day aboard – rained a lot.

Tues: Big event of today was feeding the pigs! We are anchored off Pig Beach and have been watching the feeding of pigs for days. So I gathered together some garbage over the past couple of days and Dave took me in to feed the pigs. Pigs may not fly, but they sure can swim! They came out to our dinghy and then followed me into shore to get the food I had. We also went into Staniel Cay Yacht Club for cocktails with the DeFever group – met another couple who own a DeFever. The conch fritters and onion rings were great! So much for weight loss – lots of fried foods in the Bahamas.

Swimming pig.

DeFever cocktails were here.

Barb feeding the pigs.

Saturday/Sunday - April 23/24

Easter aboard Island Girl

Sat: No activities today except to pull anchor, go out onto the bank and pump out then return and re-anchor. Winds picked up again today making it hard to get to Staniel Cay and Easter holiday activities.

Sun: We celebrated Easter with Island Girl crew – Patrick, Amy and Aspen Avery. They had a wonderful dinner – grilled pork loin, salads and deserts. We planned the next part of our trip as our two boats would be leaving the group soon.

Friday - April 22

The winds were up today so we stayed aboard and relaxed. Swam off the back of the boat. I actually swam all the way around the boat while Dave watched for our friendly fish! We had a beach party in the evening. Did hotdogs over the fire (ended up with some sand on them but reminded us of our younger days of camping. We also learned a new way to eat dessert – pass the plate. Not the most sanitary but everyone was able to have a bite of all desserts made – I made key lime pie. Thanks to former reading colleagues I am easily able to transport food – note my basket in the picture. There was definitely basket envy among the women of the group. We use this basket all the time even on the boat. Also note the dinghys – we quickly had dinghy envy as three of the five are faster and are able to keep crew drier as they move through the water. We continued to get soaked when waves were higher than a foot – which was most of our stay in this anchorage.

Beach party group

Beach party by fire

Thursday - April 21

The highlight of today was snorkeling Thunderbolt Cave – the cave used in the movie Thunderball. Dave was successful in getting into the cave but the currents were strong and Barb ended up staying outside. Saw some colorful fish but no pictures. We spent the evening aboard September Song for a Mexican Dinner. We are getting used to he Bahamas – wearing less cloths and more swim suits. But there is always hand laundry to do as we don’t have a washer / drier. We are using our water maker to have fresh water for washing which is a luxury. We also have seen some interesting larger fish – not ones we want to swim with!

Sharks under our dinghy

Stingray also

Wednesday - April 20

A daily activity in the Exumas is listening to the weather report at 8:00 a.m. We write down what is quickly reported so that we have an idea of what is happening. You don’t want to be caught in a wind from the wrong direction. We explored Stanial Cay with Pam and Stephen (Tide’s In) this morning. We found that local maps are challenging to follow. Both Stephen and I tried to find beaches but were not very successful. We did find one of the four that were on the map. But it was fun just running around in a golf cart. Spent the afternoon doing some maintenance on the boat – the salt quickly deteriorates stainless – so we are trying to keep it off.

Dave swinging on the beach

Atlantic Coast beach

Atlantic Coast shoreline

Tuesday - April 19

Thunderball cave at high tide

We had to move further south today. Hallelujah left the anchorage first as we wanted to travel slower than the rest of the group – we thought they would catch up to us, but we arrived at Big Major Spot Cay before everyone else. There are many We had to move further south today. Hallelujah left the anchorage first as we wanted to travel slower than the rest of the group – we thought they would catch up to us, but we arrived at Big Major Spot Cay before everyone else. We anchored next to a DeFever 49 (Izzy R) – what a small world it is getting to be. There are many yachts in this area. Even Johnny Depp’s boat was here – the picture is an example of a mega yacht but not his yacht. Staniel Cay is about a 2 mile dinghy ride from our anchorage. Also Thunderball cave – where the James Bond movie was filmed is here. We dinghied to Staniel Cay in the afternoon to get dinghy fuel and bread from the bread lady – you go into her kitchen to buy bread. We also shopped at two grocery stores (the blue store and the pink store). Very different form of shopping! The shoreline here is different from other places as you see in the picture – more coral.

Monday - April 18

We took dinghies today to a different part of Warderick Wells Cay and walked to Boo Boo Hill. This is a boater thing – so forgive us. We took up a plaque with Hallelujah and our year. All boaters passing though this area do this or as some in our group did, they found their former board and added this year to their board. It is sort of the boater log of all that have been here. There are many boards in this pile so you have to look carefully. On this beach there is a skeleton of a 52’ sperm whale that washed ashore in 1995. Joe and Julia from Sea Pearl are standing in front of it. They are great boaters to travel with - lots of fun along with Salty Dog, their third crew member.

Sperm whale that washed ashore

Hallelujah board on Boo Boo Hill

Joe and Julia (Sea Pearl) with whale bones

Sunday - April 17

We are on the move again today – 20 miles to Warderick Wells Cay – the center of the Exuma Sea and Land Park. We will pick up a mooring ball at this Cay. This is a new experience for us as we have never had to use a pole to snag a mooring ball line. Not the easiest thing with our high bow. It took Dave three tries to get the boat close enough and not over the ball in order for me to reach the tether line. Once I had the line we were ok and could then quickly tie off lines. We spent the afternoon on the beach and hiking on one of the trails. Note that we all have umbrellas as the sun is very intense. The trails are all coral – not easy walking and they are mostly hills so we were climbing more than walking. I’m including two pictures – first the sun rise. Yes we were starting early so we could spend the day at the beach. The second picture is one I took from the top of a ridge on the Cay looking down at the dinghies and some of our group enjoying the water. We have to say that the beaches are great in the Exumas – the farther south you go.

Beach time at Wardrick Wells

Sunrise at Shroud Island

Wardrick Well beach - all our dinghys

Saturday - April 16

We moved about 8 miles south to Shroud Cay. This is not really an island but a mangrove area. It would be great for kayaking and there are trails laid out – but the winds are up again and there is some swell in the anchorage. We again explored with the dinghy and took a cut through the mangroves at high tide to the Atlantic side of the Island. We took cocktails with us and had drinks on a great beach – Dave is toasting the Atlantic Ocean with his wine. The other males are playing in the surf. Can you tell we are enjoying the Bahamas? One thing we are finding is that the water has a number of different colors of blue – each Cay is different. Starting today we are in the Exuma Sea and Land Park. The Cays inside the park are protected – you can’t leave anything or take anything -- no shells, no fish, leave no garbage. The sunset tonight was beautiful.

Great place to see lots of sea life - but don't touch it.

Dave toasting the Atlantic Ocean

Sunset over the Bahamas Banks

We are using small boat to get to Atlantic Ocean side of islands

April 15 - Friday

We were able to venture out today and explore small islands around Norman Cay. The picture of the small island is famous – if you see advertisements of the Caribbean, you have probably seen this island. We have one of the smallest dinghies so we are getting used to being wet as we dinghy around. We can’t keep up with the larger dinghies – we started with dinghy envy, but have decided that we can’t put a larger dinghy on our boat so we will go slower and get wet. Other are getting water maker envy – as they have to take sailor showers (try to use as little water as possible). We had a good time exploring – I took my lookie bucket (a pail that we put in clear plastic bottom so you can see through). I look over the side of the dinghy as we move along – we saw lots of corral heads and fish. We even found a plan that crashed – it was a drub plan used for smuggling in drugs. This evening we had cocktails aboard Island Girl – great time talking about the day and where we would be moving tomorrow – cocktail hour is now a sacred event which we have come to enjoy.

Famous Bahama Island

Pam & Stephen (Tides In) with Dave on Island

Sunken Drug Plane

Cocktail Hour aboard Island Girl

April 14 - Thursday

DeFever Group at McDuff''s on Norman Cay

Stayed aboard most of day – rained off and on. The winds were stronger today so exploring via dinghy wasn’t the best, but we did venture out late in the afternoon to see a plane that sank – it was a drug plane used many years ago. We also went ashore in the evening to go to dinner with a group of DeFever people – another couple on a DeFever 49 joined us tonight – they are from Texas. I’m learning how to do laundry by hand. Dave has to ring it out, but we find that by doing a little each day we can keep up with dirty cloths. All of the other boats have washers and dryers. But we are fortunate as we have a water maker that works great – while two of the other boats don’t have water makers so they have to conserve. Water isn’t to bad in cost but you do have to pay per gallon.

April 13 - Wednesday

We traveled into the Exumas today. This is a chain of small islands that run south just east of Nassau. We crossed the Exuma Bank which included maneuvering around lots of corral heads – you don’t want to hit them or you will put holes in your boat. It was a good run to Norman Cay (pronounced Key). We are not used to anchoring in the open – and we were definitely open to all but the east (see picture). We went ashore to walk the beach and go to the restaurant on this Cay. You will note that there are pets traveling with us. September Song has two Labs aboard – but they have a 55 foot DeFever so lots of room. Island Girl has Captain Hook – a cat that never leaves the boat. SeaPearl has Salty Dog a small poodle mix. Thus, we are learning to be around animals. This island has hard sand which isn’t easy to walk on, so Dave and I sat on the beach. The winds started to kick up in the late afternoon so we started to rock again. The sunset tonight was very beautiful (see picture).

Hallelujah at Norman Cay

Beach Time!!!

Sunset at Norman Cay

April 12 - Tuesday

Got emails from friends and family – my birthday but unfortunately I couldn’t open emailed cards. This a.m. I read with Aspen – Island Girl child. Aspen needs special help with reading so I took a turn working with him. He is a very polite, interesting young man and he could do some amazing things, but has difficulty with reading. So I used my professional knowledge and gave Amy and Patrick some help. (Yes I am retired, but always willing to give support to children.) Dave took me to Atlantis in the late a.m. – a huge resort complex that is across the harbor from Nassau on Paradise Island. We walked around their sea aquarium and had lunch at Johnny Rockets. We got to see turtles feeding and what yachts look like – the marina had lots of 100 + yachts (see picture of Dave in front of the marina at Atlantis). I had a nice birthday.

Dave at Atlantis Marina - lots of mega yachts

Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island

Turtle feeding time

Barb and Aspen reading

April 11 - Monday

Nassau Harbor Club pool

Barb and Amy (Island Girl) went exploring – walked 8 miles into town and to the cruise ship area). Dave and I found a few stores that we needed close to the boat, but were then told that the part we needed was downtown. So after lunch I did another 8 mile walk into town. Also found a Hard Rock Café and got a shirt for my birthday – along with a free drink. The weather is hot so we took a swim in the marina pool in the afternoon. We have to walk across the street to a Starbucks to use internet and we have no phone communication back to the states. We are starting to understand Bahamas time (relax, stay cool and don’t worry about when things get done – your in the Bahamas man).

April 10 - Sunday

We were lazy this am. Tides In and September Song left the dock early as they were going to fish while traveling across the Tongue of the Ocean. This is a very deep area of water that runs between the Central Bahamas and the Northern Bahamas. You don’t want to cross this body of water in high winds as the seas will build quickly and steeply. We were blessed with no winds and no waves as we made the 42 mile crossing into Nassau. We crossed safely and entered Nassau harbor to be told that 5 cruise ships were leaving in 15 minutes. The harbor control closes all entrances when these huge (and I mean huge) ships enter or leave port. We were lucky and didn’t have to stand off shore to wait for them to exit port. As we motored into Nassau harbor we saw a mail boat – the main form of island travel for the locals. We would be looking for mail boats as we travel as they bring in fresh food to the out islands each week. We made our way into the harbor to the Nassau Harbor Club Resort and Marina – another nice place. We will spend Monday and Tuesday here so that we can explore a little of Nassau. The marina has a swimming pool and is across from a main shopping mall with the largest grocery on New Providence Island.

Nassau Cruise Ships

Nassau Harbor Club

Bahama Mail Boat

April 9 - Saturday

We thought the start yesterday was early – today was even earlier! We left when it was barely light. We are crossing the Bahamas Bank today – a 105 mile run to the Berry Islands. This was a little scary at first as we are not used to traveling in 12 foot depths, but there was no wind and no waves. We could see the bottom clearly and the water was a turquoise blue - see picture. Our excitement today was that the autopilot went to stupid and had us going in circles. We lost the compass on it so we will be steering until we can return to the states. Thus it was a long day of switching helmsmen. We went to the Berry Island Club Marina which is a typical marina in the Islands. We had a typical Island dinner that was prepared for us by an excellent island chef. The second picture is a bed of conch shells discarded after the conch was removed – some of these were for our dinner. The marina also hired fishermen to catch fish – see them cleaning the catch that was used for our dinner. We had fried conch, lobster, some sort of fish, rice with peas and salad. The dinner was excellent, fresh, and we were served family style so everyone got what they wanted. We were tired so retired early. Also there were biting bugs after dark so you didn’t want to be outside anyway.

Bahama Bank water - you can see bottom

Five DeFevers at Berry Island Club

Conch pile (some for our dinner)

Hallelujah on the Bahama Banks

April 8 - Friday

Today was an early day – we left Biscayne Bay as soon as it was light (before sunup). We are crossing the Atlantic today to the Biminis Islands – a 55 mile run. The picture shows Miami in the background. The morning was spent in rather rough seas – actually Dave might have turned back but we were traveling with a group so he continued forward. The water was spectacular – not sure the picture shows the ink blue of the Atlantic. It was gorgeous! Our new experience today was doing a pump out overboard in the ocean. This is a first for us after 40 years of boating. Not something I really like, but there are no pump out stations in the Bahamas. We stayed at Bimini Sands Resort and Marina – very fancy place. We finished the day with a swim in their pool and dinner at a nearby restaurant. Of course before we could get off the boat, we had to clear customs – the men on the five trawlers were taken to the airport for check-in. I couldn’t even go on the dock so I cleaned some of the deck from the trip across and relaxed. We will return to this marina on our way back to the states. The second picture is looking out of the marina entrance towards the Atlantic Ocean.

Sunset at Bimini Sands Marina - Bimini

Ink Blue Ocean

Looking west at Atlantic Ocean from Biminis

The crews from the 5 boats

April 7 - Thursday

We left fairly early – had enough rocking last night to last us a while. We moved to Biscayne Bay which is just off of South Miami. We were rocked more this afternoon and evening while large charter fishing boats came screaming through the anchorage. We did quiet down over night though so we slept better. The winds are also quieting down. The sunset over Miami was beautiful as you see from the picture. Our excitement today was launching the dinghy and hearing / seeing water starting to fill the dinghy. We quickly pulled the dinghy back up and found a hole in the floor. We found out the next day that we weren’t sinking, but had to patch the inner floor lining. We spent a quiet night watching Miami lights in a relatively quiet location.

Sunset over Miami

Miami from boat

April 6 - Wednesday

We left Marathon – early! We stopped and topped off the fuel tanks (price isn’t cheap, but we must have fuel). We moved northeast to Rodriquez Key which is near Key Largo. We are with a group of boats – two sail boats, three Defevers besides us, and one more trawler. Hallelujah is the smallest of the power boats. Today was an interesting run. Barb spent about 2 hours in the engine room working on the stuffing boxes trying to get a water flow that cools the shafts as they spin. With 100 degree plus heat in the engine room this wasn’t the best job, and all the other women on the boats didn’t want husbands hearing that I was in the engine room doing maintenance – not a woman’s job. But I can crawl into small places and have better balance on knees so I do what has to be done. The winds were up today but the group decided to move so we could get to Miami and have a good crossing. We anchored in not so good weather and rocked most of the night.

Pictures are of Berdines Marina and Restaurant where we spent three months in Marathon, Florida and of our anchorage at Rodriquez Key (note that the boats don’t seem to be near land, just anchored outside of a channel in shallow water).

Berdines Restaurant from Boat

Rodriquez Key - Tides In & SeaPearl