Ever since we checked in with customs and immigration, and raised our Bahamas flag, the winds have been blowing, relentless and strong. We pride ourselves on being frugal cruisers by anchoring out most of the time, but these winds forced us into the Bimini marinas for an unprecedented 7 straight nights.

We took advantage of being dockside and enjoyed taking walks, doing laundry and restocking our provisions at the local grocery stores, and popping into a couple of local bars.We’re actually pretty easily entertained, especially when there’s rum involved.

 

This blog is made possible by ability to  communicate by WIFI/cellular calling,  and we have put our phones on airplane mode. The most highly recommended cellular -WIFI provider, for cost and reliability, is “My Island WIFI”.    We called to sign up for this service about 6 weeks prior to leaving the states.  We were told we were 50+ on the waiting list to receive our hotspot unit, and the only way to move up would be when someone else turned their unit back in. Each week I would call to check the status and each week, we slowly inched up the line # 42, # 35, #27…

Finally, the day before crossing over from Florida, we got the exciting news that we had reached the top of the list & a unit was available for us.  Unfortunately we would not be able to delay leaving any longer to have the unit overnighted to us, because the wind and waves wait for no one! No problem. The company addressed a package to
“Robin Bessent : Bimini “
and said they’d get it to us…

They sent me a picture of the package, a flight number and arrival time, and said to go to the airport to pick it up on Thursday ( the day after our arrival)  They also told me, don’t be too early because there might not be anyone there to give me the package, and don’t be too late because someone might steal it. Simple right? No man, you is in the Bahamas man !

On Thursday morning, the boys stayed boat side to try to put things right after our tempestuous crossing. I walked about a mile down the main road to the end of the island. Next I boarded the ferry ($3/pp) with the locals going to work.  Once across the canal, I climbed into a van with 8 other folks and Bahamian gospel music playing on the radio ($5/pp) for the drive to Bimini Airport. I had arrived a bit early, so I passed the time talking with a precious family from the UK, who were heading home on the next incoming flight. Once their flight arrived, we all lined up to speak with the agent. When it was my turn, I told the agent my name and showed her the picture I had of the package I was expecting. She said due to the Freeport origination of my package, I was in the wrong line. She said this incoming plane was coming from Nassau. I asked her where the Freeport line was, and she said there wasn’t a Freeport line because it was delayed and no one was there to talk to me. She said it would all be there at some point. About 45 minutes later, a young man opened up another counter across the room. Immediately a que formed. I got in it, and was 4th in line. When I got to the front I told the young man my name, and that I was there to pick up a package. He reached over and grabbed a package that had obviously been sitting on the counter all night long. No ID or signature required. He just said “Here you go.“
I then retraced my steps in reverse to the van, ferry and walk home. Mission accomplished all on Bahama time !

Bimini is a little group of islands, North and South. The people are very friendly and welcoming.  I’d describe the area as a bit worn out,  and I wouldn’t really consider it a vacation destination, but merely a convenient stopover to further islands. On the far north part of the north island, there is a “supposed” 5 Star Hilton, complete with cruise ship dock, casino, restaurants, bars , swimming pools, and hot tubs.  From all the recent reviews, and local word on the street, the area is pretty much a ghost town.The pools and restaurants are mostly closed, and basic maintenance is not being carried out.  So often we’ve seen similar situations happen throughout the Bahamas. A developer comes along, invests lots of money expecting huge numbers of clients to come pay exorbitant prices, but it is just not sustainable, and the places fall into ruin.  I can only imagine the current Corona Virus scare will not help them much.

 

On Tuesday, we decided to leave the marina and anchor just a few miles away, so that Wednesday we’d be ready to head out early for our long trek to our anchorage across the banks, near the Berry Islands.  We dropped anchor before 11:00 AM, so I set back planning to have a day of relaxation.
Very soon after that we looked through the binoculars and spotted a small boat in the shallows with one man at the tiller and another in the water. We immediately switched from relaxation mode to exciting adventure gear! We put RE inside Southern Trawl (happy with his peanut butter bone) dropped  the dinghy, and headed off to pay a visit to these local fishermen.

We lucked out as they were very friendly and loaded with conch & lobster.  Our $20 bought us 6 conch & 3 lobster. They even cracked & cleaned them for us. This they can do in about 2 minutes what would have taken us an hour or more ! After returning to the boat, Chef Tom made us some “fresh from the ocean” conch salad for lunch.

For dinner he grilled the lobster, basting it in butter, garlic, lime & lemon juice. I threw together a key lime pie for desert. (Meringue ok but not quite up to standard since I had to hand whip the eggs whites )

When it comes to seafood, there’s nothing better than absolute same day fresh ! After dinner we sat out on the aft deck (back porch) to enjoy listening to soft lapping Of the waves on the boat, and a bit of star gazing. We went to bed that night with full bellies feeling  that we had experienced our first true island cruising day.  

We’re underway making our crossing from near the Berries toRose Island, just past Nassau. Hopefully tomorrow we can shout, “We done reach the Exumas!”

Just so you understand just how stressful cruising can be. Here’s a picture of me multitasking.  I’m insuring that the dog is calm and secure, activity fishing for Mahi, keeping an eye out for approaching vessels who may need to pass, all the while working on my cross stitch.  Notice the color difference of yesterday’s bright wintergreen water and today’s rich indigo of deep ocean depths .