March 24-27,2010

Chub Cay and Lyford Cay

As predicted we had a beautiful day for cruising to Chub Cay. We left Bimini Sands Resort at 7:00 am with the help of Dieter and Maya (and Kalypso) to cast off lines. We will miss our new friends, but have email to stay in contact.

I caught a picture of the wreck of the Sapoma, a cement-hulled ship, that was used for rum-running during the prohibition and then after it sunk as target practice for US Armed Forces. The idea of a floating cement-hulled ship boggles the mind….

Our trip was 85 nautical miles, but for the most part, Mark was able to let “Auto” do the driving. About 60 nm was on the Grand Bahama Bank. The depth of the water ranged from 6 to 18 feet. We could watch the bottom as we cruised.

The last part of the cruise was in the Northwest Providence Channel where the water is much deeper – between 1.0 – 2.5 miles deep. Many sailboats were out enjoying the fantastic day.

We landed at Chub Cay around 5:30 and after spraying the boat down, Mark caught the sunset.

Nice docks and nice service at Chub Cay, but that is about it. The marina is recovering from bankruptcy and facilities and amenities have potential, but are unfinished or non-existent. That is why is was difficult for us to justify the $4.35/ft, 40 cents/gallon water, and 65 cents/kw electricity.

The village is charming, but very small.

We decided to try to leave early and go to Lyford Cay, our destination to pick up Monica and her friend, Jen. It looked like Friday would be an OK cruising day with 2-4 ft waves later in the day. So we waited until 11:00 am to take off. Well, as beautiful as Wednesday was, Friday was terrible. Again we were facing high wind and waves as high as 8-9 feet. Both Mark and I have commented that we are tired of being at the mercy of weather. True, we have no schedule, but we do have limited resources…..

Anyway, we finally got into the lea side of New Providence and the waves were a manageable 2-5 ft. We found ourselves in our slip at Lyford Cay around 5:20 – this was only a 35 nm trip.

But boy, oh boy!!! We are in with the “beautiful people and their yachts”.

Aquarius was across the harbor from us and it was 211 ft long – the longest until this big blue yacht moved in. Aquarius had a family aboard with younger children, and they pulled out more water toys – the waterslide was almost as big as Grateful.

One evening a fishing boat for hire came in with this catch. They estimated that the largest lobster was 8-9 pounds. After cleaning their catch the resident fish and stingray ate well.

We picked up groceries and waited for Monica and Jen. We had decided to cruise to Nassau on Sunday rather than wait until Monday. The waves were in the 2-4 ft range again according to our internet data and it was only going to get worse as a front was blowing in. We were able to acquire a slip in Atlantis for the days Monica and Jen were here. The cost will be less than the last two marinas and there will be lots of choices for all of us to do – even a casino!!!

More later – looking forward to company!

March 22-23, 2010 Farewell Bimini Sands

March 22-23, 2010

We ended our stay at Bimini Sands Resort on March 24th and left for Chub Cay in the Berry Islands. We had a nice trip without any drama - YIPPEE! I'll have more on that in the next entry, but for now we had more fun in Bimini.

For this first section, there are no pictures and as you read, you will understand why.... I also hesitated to add it to the blog, but it was a big deal so it is in here!

March 22, 2010

I will start with saying that we are having a wonderful time in S Bimini. We have had dinner at the Bimini Beach Club at the southern end of the island with Dieter and Maya. The meal was terrific with sushi and local dishes (I had lobster fettuccini – yummmm).

However the big event for today was our walk on the beach this afternoon. Maya and I were letting Calypso and Porter run on the beach as we usually do. They ran off to greet two other people walking on the beach. When we caught up to our dogs, Porter was frantically licking his sandy back right paw. I searched him for burrs because this is something he does, but found nothing.

It didn’t take us long to figure out that he had stepped on a Man-o-War tentacle as he had been running down the beach. Good News – Maya is a retired veterinarian. After licking, Port got up and started retching – it wasn’t a seizure, but just vomit. Maya instructed me to walk Porter in the sea water – partly because the water would help to neutralize and partly to keep him from licking. He was really favoring his leg, but walking along with me. All the way back to the beach access, Maya was telling me what I could do once back to the boat: 1) Urine would be best, 2) Vinegar may also work.

I got back to the boat and rinsed Porter off with the hose. Then I told Mark what had happened and requested his help with the urine thing. He laughed and said he didn’t have any left. I was so disappointed, but took matters into my own hands. With Porter in the tub, I did my thing (paints a picture, doesn’t it?? I know, one you would rather NOT have). I don’t know if I will recover from the look Porter gave me. Anyway, got him rinsed off, and he was much better. I did the vinegar treatment for insurance. (I read later online that vinegar may intensify the toxins rather than help).

At any rate, Porter seems to be OK and was walking well on his back paw by evening.

March 23, 2010

Maya acted as tour director and we rode bicycles to "The Fountain of Youth". Apparently S Bimini had an underground spring that Ponce de Leon claimed to be a fountain of youth. He also claimed one in Florida near St. Augusta, and maybe one in N Bimini (probably several others). Maya explained that Ponce de Leon was searching for a cure for impotence (part of my history lesson that I didn't ever learn). Therefore, the many locations. However, many people claimed to have been healed of their afflictions from the fountain in S Bimini.

The fountain truly is just a hole in the rocks inside the well. Citizens of S Bimini developed the small park around the fountain for visitors to enjoy.

Mark and I also got out and explored the southern part of S Bimini. The houses were lovely and again colorful. The Bimini Beach Club in on the tip of the island. They also have a marina and a lovely facility with pool and a great restaurant. The marina docks are fixed and the path into the marina is better off left to locals because it is shallow in places.

As we were making our way to the tip of the island we noticed a bigger ship just outside the shoals. Then the ship made a 90 degree turn and headed for shore. When we returned from exploring, the ship had beached itself just south of the resort. They were working with trucks, sand and earth movers, but we never did find out what was going on. Obviously, they knew just where to approach the beach to avoid the rocks that are along that beach.

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.

Our stay at S Bimini

March 12-17, 2010

Well, we have been at the Bimini Sands Resort for a week and a day. The pace is peaceful and we fell into it like naturals.

Mostly, we go for walks and read or spend time on the computer. Oh yes, Mark did set up the satellite for TV so we have that now also, although we are back to getting Tampa news. It’s OK, though, because we get the local stations so we can watch our shows.

There has been work going on in the marina and that is also entertaining. The tow boat and barge were replacing an end cement post that had been damaged previously.

And we found out that the ferry that backed out at the last second (previous blog) didn’t quite get away on time. Apparently, it took out one of the lighted markers (green post) at the end of the marina jetty wall.

We had a heavy rain storm and afterwards we heard an alarm and saw what we thought was a spill in the harbor. We think that it rained so hard, that this was runoff from the sand/clay they use around the marina. Also, high wind and waves have conspired to block the marina entrance. Before that could happen, the marina crane spent two days dredging the channel. I am not sure they are winning the battle.

Monday, we went to N Bimini by water taxi. I have to admit that there really was not much to see. N Bimini has two main streets - a high road and a low road. The high road was called the “million dollar view” or the “Queen’s Highway”. The homes were once worth a million dollars over-looking a beautiful beach. Now most were empty. The low road was the main road with some stores – a liquor store, a small grocery store, a few T-shirt stores – and occasionally a pretty cottage.

The main road also had all the marinas. At this time the Bimini Big Game Resort and Marina is closed. But people are saying that it will re-open soon, and we saw people working there. We walked past the Police station, the school, the Alice Town Cemetery, and a prosperous church on the way to the new Bimini Bay Resort and Marina. This place is quite something, and we were told that there was going to be a new infusion of money so the project could move forward.

We stopped at Sara’s to eat. I don’t think local folks actually stop to eat – we were the only ones at the one table on the deck. It seemed that most people ordered and then picked up their food.

Also, another huge event: Mark woke up one morning and announced that he was going to cut his hair. He said it was long for the Florida Keys which was his goal – to have a “tail” for the Keys. Now he was tired of it. I think he’s kind of cute!!

We plan on leaving S Bimini on Saturday for Chub Cay. We think the weather and waves will be favorable. More later.