Wednesday, December 2nd and Thursday, December 3rd
19 December 2015
Goodbye Marathon (aka “a sunny place for shady people”) & Hello Bimini!
After 3 weeks on this mooring ball, weather guru Chris P says “it’s time”! Winds have diminished more each day, seas on the route are forecast at 2-3 feet with southeast winds 10-15 knots. We’re ready (??) to cross the Gulf Stream… The usual last minute errands (1 final $6 load of laundry, 1 final cruisers net, 1 final Home Depot trip, 1 final stop at Burdine’s for fuel & a few gallons of water before cranking up the water maker once we hit the deep, blue, clean stuff) and we leave the dock at 1:40 pm.
Ummmmm, seas are most definitely in excess 2-3 feet, Chris P, & it’s rough. Stuff sliding & falling below – the kitties’ water bowl spills (Bunny forgot to move it), hand vac falls off the counter & then the canister of kitchen utensils; that was quite a noise! Managed to dose Rita & CK, but medicine hasn’t kicked in yet. There are unhappy humans & felines at the moment, but decision is to keep going rather than turn back. Cap’n Honey is busy troubleshooting our radar during all this – just a loose connection, thank goodness! (Radar is our only source of weather info once out of cell phone range.) We are definitely ready for our 1 margarita now!
Seas have calmed some, at least enough to microwave dinner before it’s completely pitch black. Interesting radio conversation w/cargo ship Ohio who sees us on AIS; we pass between it & a smaller tanker whose captain sounds half asleep - scary! We’re hailed soon afterward by s/v Oopsea; heard us on the radio & is also headed for Bimini, so now there’s someone to talk to every couple of hours: Tom & Cindy from Indianapolis on a 37’ Tartan! Their 1st overnight passage & are headed into North Bimini, so not sure we’ll connect on land. Maybe somewhere further south…
We are swept along in the Gulf Stream at a fast pace, sometimes >10 knots; good for traveling but bad for arrival time. (Too early means too dark for the unfamiliar, shallow Bahamas water.) Shortly after midnight, there’s a squall & wind is behind us in a flash. Took some awesome maneuvering by the captain to adjust sails, but all good! Oopsea turned off their autopilot & tried to make adjustments – a lesson Ted learned on his Gulf crossing NOT to do in the dark. You can get confused, go in circles, & be off course before you know it. Quick radio conversation & all is well with them…
No other significant events; thank goodness no trips, falls, or shiners! We expected 22 hours for this leg, but made it in 17. Arrived about 5:00 (still dark) & located a place to anchor temporarily until the sun was up for our last miles to the marina. A bit rough at anchor, but what a sunrise! Beautiful, clear, blue/green water is all around – the perfect setting for a rejuvenating breakfast.
Our yellow quarantine flag is up, and WE ARE HERE!!
We were told the entrance to Bimini Sands Marina & Resort is quite narrow, and that is absolutely right! Maybe 35’ feet max?? I busied myself tying dock lines to avoid the close up view… The place is practically deserted; only Buck, Angie, Grant & Cash on catamaran Wivus are in the marina with us. There are a few guests in the condos, but not many! There are 2 pools (woo hoo!), a beach, a restaurant on site for breakfast & lunch (peas & rice, & Bimini bread!) and another accessible by shuttle for dinner at the sister resort, Bimini Beach. Even the water in the marina is clear enough to see sand on the bottom & fish everywhere!
Dock master Garrett helps us with lines (soooo nice), brings additional customs/immigration forms, & arranges transportation to the airport for Ted to clear us in. Only the captain is allowed ashore until the passports are stamped, pets are accepted, the 6 month cruising fee paid, fishing license granted, and we can legally replace the quarantine flag with our Bahamas courtesy flag! And it was a breeze, thank goodness; other than the police officer who accompanied Ted back to the boat to confiscate our excess ammunition. Ouch! But, even that was not unpleasant. The young officer was extremely polite & very confident we would enjoy our stay in his country!
We made the decision to be totally honest & declare both the weapons & the ammunition; only later did we hear the horror story of the cruiser who landed in jail in Nassau for furnishing an inaccurate count (an estimate rather than an exact number) of the ammunition he had on board, had his weapons AND ammunition confiscated, plus incurred a $10,000 fine. Gotta wonder why Seven Seas Cruising Association, TMCA, or the various cruisers nets aren’t sharing this information and/or warning people, because we were apparently VERY lucky…
Made our way to the beach for an afternoon swim – had to get in that water, plus trying to stay awake without napping for a while longer! The beach is a bit small but the water makes up for it; exactly what we’ve been waiting all these months to enjoy. Then had a dip in the infinity pool; only 2 other people at the pool & had the beach all to ourselves. Back to the boat for a quick dinner, and we are in bed around 7:00 pm! The overnight passages are over for a while…