Day 41 - Wednesday, 2-20-08 - Alicetown, BahamasNorth Bimini

After a leisurely breakfast, Jean, Sara and Roger struck out south on the King's Highway to the beach at Entrance Point to get a little exercise and look for shells. The Highway is a 12'-16' concrete road with no sidewalks on the east side of North Bimini which runs through their "commercial district." The sand bar at Entrance Point was featured in the photograph of the beached sailboat in an earlier blog. We had learned that a dive boat had dragged the sailboat off the bar and that it was moored in a marina south of us. Roger walked out to see the boat and found that other than a deflated dinghy, the Catalina 42 MKII, Dream Quest, from Annapolis seemed in good shape although we did hear that the boat had a bent rudder post. Roger was not able to talk to the boat's owner, so the cause of the grounding is still a mystery.

It was a bright sunny day which accented the vivid turquoise and blue colors of the water. The group passed the local cemetery located on a small promontory overlooking the water and framed by lovely palm trees. Upon reaching the Point, the group separated, each searching for treasures... beach glass, shells and coral. Roger left the group and decided to follow the Queen's Highway, an even smaller roadway on the west (beach) side of the island. He was rewarded with grand vistas through palm trees and across the beach to the Straits of Florida (Atlantic Ocean). He found a sunset bar (not operating at the time) and learned two important facts- the population of Bimini is 1,717 and that fresh conch salad is the "Viagra of the Bahamas". His next discovery was a chance meeting of Ashley Saunders, a native of the Island, an author of its history and the builder of "Dolphin House." Having only a short time to view the exterior of this 15-year work in progress, Roger promised to return with the Last Dance crew at 1 pm for a complete tour. As agreed, Ashley met the crew and proceeded to take us on a grand tour of the structure which draws its name from the large dolphin mosaics which adorn the exterior and interior walls of the structure which houses living quarters, guest quarters, shop/museum, and a boutique under development. The structure also houses Ashley's collection of books by prize winning authors. While the basic construction was concrete frame with in-fill concrete blocks, the exterior and interior walls were adorned with recycled ceramic tile, coral, and conch shells, and other found materials in an eclectic but pleasing pattern. Limerock from South Bimini was used for the low walls, planters and entrance way. One of his guests termed her quarters as a "smorgasbord for the eyes". As it turned out, Ashley was a teacher and had received a BS degree from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, having been provided a full scholarship by the British to prepare him to teach. He had been instrumental in bringing curriculum reform to the Island. Needless to say, it was an enjoyable and informative visit to the Dolphin House.

After returning to the boat to pick up the dirty laundry, the crew minus Gerry, walked north on the King's Highway to the Laundromat where Roger left the girls and proceeded to visit Ainsley Saunders, Ashley's brother, and the only boat builder on the Island. Ainsley was also a gracious host and showed Roger the 18' wooden bone fishing boats he custom builds for customers at $35,000! The hulls are designed to float in extremely shallow water (mostly a flat bottom) and still operate safely and comfortably in choppy water (a slight V-bottom). Ainsly proudly showed Roger his Coretta King autographed book and an article in the Southern Distinction Magazine about his boats and said that he had meet the Queen of England, President Nixon and other dignitaries. On his return to the Laundry to pick up the girls, Roger passed a herd of foraging goats (one of Sara's favorite animals) and a house with a boat alongside, both painted the same shade of lime green. The crew returned to the Big Game Marina for a dinner of baby back ribs, went back to the boat and planned to rise at 530 am the following morning to prepare for the crossing across the Grand Bahamas Bank. (RKS)