Day 17 Sun 13-Apr 2014
Bimini
LAT N25 deg 43.57
LON W079 deg 17.85

[photo: Diane, Ed and Cheryl on Slowdown, Lynn and Brian on Midori, and Glen on Footloose]

It rained again in the wee hours of the morning, which was fine as we only had one hatch to close. For better or worse, it started out chilly last night, so we closed all but the hatch above our heads in the v-berth. Finally, I slept through the night, even having gone to bed extra early. That vitamin R (rum) makes you sleepy.

Checking the weather first thing, it still looks good for a Mon morning departure sailing through the night to New Providence. The forecast calls for the winds to build on our nose mid-Tue morning, but who knows when that will really happen. Speaking of checking the weather, I have been happy to have purchased and installed that Wi-Fi booster which allows me to sit in the comfort of the cabin and connect to the Internet.

The boat has full fuel and almost full water, so we are ready and quite eager to go. Brian and Lynn on Midori plan to leave Mon early, so I will help them get off the dock. We hope conditions will allow us to reverse out of the slip and continue reversing in between the shoal and the large sportfish boat to deeper water. We'll make it work somehow.

I spent well over an hour chatting with our marina mates about this and that, while Diane read quietly below. Next, I stopped at the office to settle our bill for 10 days here, which was much more reasonable than most places you could stay. Back aboard, I decided to try to use the computer-based "soft phone" provided by our Voice over Internet phone provider, along with what seems to be a strong Internet connection, to make a voice call to my Mom in NJ and Diane's sister in PA. Both calls went through very well.

As a farewell lunch, the gang of seven (Footloose, Slowdown, Midori, and Diva Di) walked up to the Big Game Club for a nice lunch. Back onboard Diva Di, Diane and I discussed the two meals to be prepared in advance and then she got to work getting all the ingredients out of her hidey holes. I put on some music and set to work making a nice cold chicken, pasta, veggie, and fruit salad, plus a hot chicken, pasta, onion, Kalamata olive, mushroom, tomato, and wine dish. There are no recipes involved; just take what you have and make them tasty. It is much more fun that way.

The whole time I was cooking, the sun was out and I was a bit warm out of the breeze, but once I was done and Diane had cleaned up, the clouds cover increased. We still went to the pool for one last visit and the water felt warmer than usual.

Slowly, others showed up and there were lots of stories and getting to know the new couple at the marina, Dan and Jodie, who appear to be in their early 40s and are taking time off now to enjoy a bit. We got back aboard by 1900 and finished up the chili. Other than a few last minute things, we are ready to shove off.

Our plan has us arriving at New Providence island in the early morning, but there is no telling how tired we will be and whether there will be a blog post Tue morning, so don't be concerned.