March 18-21, 2010 S Bimini

March 18-21, 2010

We decided to stay at Bimini Sands Resort for a little while longer. The weather looks like it might be decent for a little while so we can afford to stay here longer, and then move to Chub Cay. We’ve been told that there is plenty of availability at Chub Cay.

For a couple of days last week, we were next to a beautiful sport fishing yacht (22 meters)that had just completed a Great Circle trip around the Atlantic Ocean. They told us that they broke three records doing this trip: the longest trip by two people (St. Pierre, Newfoundland to the Azore Islands – 1100+ miles), the only sport fisher to do this trip, and I forgot the other record. They had the places they had been on their radar. Our Great Loop Trip sounded pretty safe compared to their adventures.

We have made some new friends here – Dieter and Maya and their wonderful little Jack Russell terrier, Calypso. Dieter and Maya live in Germany, but spend winters partially in Miami and in the Bahamas. They have been traveling here in their boat for about five years and have seen interesting changes. They have noted changes in typical wildlife – there seems to be less fish in the harbor and less variety. They also said that one year ago the beach was complete sand and these rocks were not visible. The wind and waves have had their impact.

Anyway, Calypso and Porter have become good friends. If we go to the beach alone, Porter is always looking around for Calypso. He gets frustrated when they play because she is so fast and she stays in his face. They run and run and Porter speaks to her often.

We had a beautiful day Saturday. Many of the boats that were staying here moved on. We decided to get the dinghy down and explore. Dieter and Maya led us to the “three sisters” rock formations where typically they have seen sea turtles, sting rays and more, but today there was nothing that we could see. The water was just ripply (is that a real word?) enough to make it difficult to see below the surface. For that reason we also were not able to see the “Bimini Highway” – unusual rock formations on the sea bed that look like a road.

Many of the houses on the outside of N Bimini were in disrepair and some were abandoned. Many did not recover from hurricane, Wilma (2005), and poor economy. As we passed a fellow came out of his home and tossed garbage over the bank - difficult to understand.

Mark and I also toured the channel on the inside of N Bimini. The homes looked better here. We found Sara’s, the restaurant where we had lunch, and also rode around the Bimini Bay Resort area. It is handsome, and impressive.

Now we think we will move on to Chub Cay on Wednesday.