Bimini, and beyond

We were wrestling with the decision about crossing the Gulf Stream from Miami to Bimini. We didn't have a very big window and this is always a big deal, going in BIG water in a SMALL boat with BIG current and wind. We decided the best option was to leave at 0130 and out the Government Cut, a huge inlet that serves commercial shipping and cruise boats. It wasn't a great crosing as the waves were more than we wanted (they are almost always more than we want) but we got in to Bimini Sands Marina at about 0830 and tied up. South Bimini is an interesting little spot with a very well protected marina and just about nothing else. There's a bar that calls itself "Last Chance Duty Free Liquor" just down the road from here and nothing else.

We dinghied over to North Bimini today and have fried conch and conch salad, checked out the scuba diving options and came back. The Bahamanians have an interesting way of doing business that drives people crazy. As an example, this dive place communicates with customers via a VHF radio, a fairly cheap device found on every boat in the area. When we went there their radio didn't work. It was no big deal to the guy who worked there, and apparently not to the owner either, who had a schedule that neither hos worker or we could figure out. Not a big deal, I guess. And the place is just a mess, with every bit of trash, appliances, vehicles that anyone has used just strewn about. Terrific people and scenery though. The water is "kool-aid blue," just like in the pictures. Wow.

Photos include a pelican trying to eat me, our special conch salad place and Sally trying unsuccessfully to communicate with some termites on a nature walk near here. We should also make our gentle readers aware that we will be going to the official "Fountain of Youth" located very near here that Ponce de Leon traveled so far to bathe in. If Sally and I look years younger when we get back, you'll know why.
plan to head east to a shallow spot "on the banks," sort of in the middle of nowhere, where we plan to anchor out and wait for our friends who are traveling all night from Florida. No wifi there, that's for sure. We can join up with them and head to Nassau, and then to off the Exumas. Capt. Jeff