Glorious weather, Day Two!

Seas don't get any calmer than this!

Once again, beautiful weather!! We felt absolutely decadent in enjoying it, since we’ve had nothing but wind, wind and more wind this past winter and spring. Here we had good weather two days in a row! Ron and I dove in the morning at Moray Alley, where we immediately noticed lion fish everywhere. There were three on the coral head right at the mooring line anchor, and several others tucked in the reef throughout the dive. (One was just HUGE...boy, did I wish I was snorkeling with a spear!) We also saw a big green moray eel, swimming amongst the coral formations just as we were on the mooring line, starting our ascent at the end of the dive. Why is it we always see totally cool creatures when we’re out of no-decompression dive time?? It never fails!

A big cargo boat pulling into Bimini Sands...

and here we thought the entry was tight for us!

In the  afternoon, Ron talked all the guys into going out in Tingum and  trying our hand at fishing once again. Karen and I went along, although I took a book and read while we let the guys play with the baitfish and rods. Being fishing neophytes, we’re always learning and after today, we learned what NOT to do. We fished all afternoon to no avail...and learned that when the seas are clear and calm, trolling is a bust! When we returned, there was a big fishing boat at the dock near the cleaning station, processing a cooler full of big fish from groupers to hogfish. Clearly, we should have been bottom fishing, but what did we know? Not enough!! 

Amore, Concrete Idea and Equinox all in a row

at Bimini Sands Marina

Gorgeous weather at last!!

Ron and I enjoyed the utterly gorgeous weather which has finally arrived!! No winds (amazing!) and calm seas -- almost mirror smooth -- it was wonderful. We dove early in the morning on the Bimini Trader again, and although we didn’t see any hammerheads or other sharks, but it still was a lovely dive, relaxing and beautiful. After we returned to the marina, Ron took everyone from Concrete Idea and Amore over to snorkel on the SS Sapona while I remained aboard Equinox to tackle some long-overdue correspondence, phone calls and e-mail. Now that we have internet access, I’m trying to get hotel arrangements in place for Ally’s graduation next month; it feels odd to be a visitor in our old home town now that we don’t have a slip or a place of our own in Maryland any more! I managed to get a lot accomplished, so with a light heart, I was delighted to hear how much everyone enjoyed snorkeling when they all returned. 

It was the first time for both Kerry and Karen to see the amazing fish life in Bahamian waters, and they both really enjoyed it. They were really interested in the different fish, so I showed them our Caribbean Reef Fish Identification reference book by Ned DeLoach and Paul Humann, which has photos of adults and juveniles alike of all sorts of reef fish. It's a well-researched book, and it’s really spectacular. We have several other of their beautiful books as well, and I never tire of looking through them after every dive. During a dive, I always make it a point to try to spot a fish that I'm not familiar with,  and then try to identify it by using the DeLoach/Humann books. (Check out www.fishid.com for more information on their books.) 

When everyone had changed out of their swim suits and showered, we took Tingum over to North Bimini to show Karen and Kerry around that island a little, while Dave and Dorie went to get a Bahamian phone card for use while here. We hung out at the bar at Brown’s Marina for a bit, before cruising up to the Bimini Bay Marina and seeing a bit of that resort. While most folks were going to party it up at Brown’s later that night with live music, we made it an early evening, heading back to Bimini Sands for dinner at the Petite Conch before we all crashed out early. Just another day in paradise!

Our motley crew at Brown's Hotel and Marina

Gun Cay

While awaiting the arrival of our friends aboard Concrete Idea and Amore, Ron and I made an early dive at a site off Gun Cay called North Tuna Alley -- gorgeous, with just a little current. Certainly nothing like yesterday! The reefs there have great bushes of black coral, huge sponges and deep ravines and crevices with all sorts of fish life. This is one area where we didn’t see any lionfish, for a very welcome change! And, while we were doing our safety stop on the mooring line, a huge hawksbill turtle swam right up to us before circling away. I love seeing turtles, they are just so serene. 

After the dive, we stopped at the derelict pier on Gun Cay, tied off Tingum and delicately crossed the ramshackle boards of the pier to walk about the cay. We checked out the big red and white light house there, which I think was built in 1863. It still has a functioning light at its top (solar powered) but the rest of it is in disrepair. The door is open, so one can enter and see the dangerously decrepit spiral staircase that winds around the walls of the interior. Besides the light house, there are two derelict 1-story lightkeeper's quarters and an oil house, and the remains of a radio tower, clearly destroyed by a hurricane. The walls of the cottages are incredibly thick, probably a good 2’, although the rest of the house is falling in on itself. Still, it allowed one to readily imagine what it might have been like to be a lighthouse keeper here 140 years ago!

Stock internet photo of Gun Cay 

(I was sorry I didn't have my camera along!)

On our return to the marina, we stopped for a second dive at the The Bimini Barge wreck...this one down at 70’ or so. No sooner had we descended on the mooring line and reached the wreck, when a large hammerhead shark approach us as we reached the wreck!! Very cool!! As is usual with hammerheads, they tend to be somewhat solitary and will often approach divers with a single pass. That is precisely what this one did, and after he checked us out, just swam on past. They are such unusual looking creatures! The locals told us that hammerheads are seen rather frequently here, since they like to feed on the eagle rays that cruise the channels of North Bimini. We’ve only seen a hammerhead once before in all our other dives, so we were delighted.

After the other boats arrived, we  helped them tie up and get settled. While the guys went off to the airport to clear in, Ron and I went out to dive once again in the afternoon, this time off North Bimini at one of the dive moorings. We saw another big hawksbill turtle once again, this time resting in the reef. He stayed there quite a while dozing, which let us observe him closely until he decided he awoke rather grumpily and lumbered off. We also saw a large green moray tucked into a hole, a large southern ray, and I found an old, old Coca-cola bottle from the 1950s, totally intact. Very fun dive indeed! 

We snorkeled on the way back, and tried our hand at using the Hawaiian sling pole spears. I’m not much of a hunter, but Ron snagged a lion-fish, which actually wasn’t hard since they aren’t afraid of anything (having no natural predators) and just sit there. According to National Geographic, the lionfish has an array of up to 18 needle-like dorsal fins that are venomous. A sting from a lionfish is extremely painful to humans and can cause nausea and breathing difficulties, but is rarely fatal, so one needs to take care while catching and cleaning them. Now there is one less on the reefs! We tried to clean our catch later, but our filleting technique leaves a lot to be desired -- while we were successful in getting the spines off without incident, we didn’t have much else left over for fillets! 

Ron cleaning the lionfish. Be aware, although 

the meat is delicious, the spines are venomous.

Not the best day ever...

This was not the best of days, at all. It started out very badly when I noticed one of our folding bikes wasn’t on the finger pier between the boats where we’d left it. I just thought Ron was out for an early morning ride, until he walked into the salon a minute later. When I asked him if he'd moved the bike, he said no...so we realized the bike was missing. Ron jumped in with his dive gear to make sure it hadn’t fallen off the pier into the water, but there was nothing under the pier but fish and they certainly weren’t bicycling about. 

The bikes weren’t visible from the entrance or even from the dockmaster’s office, so it had to have been someone who actually walked by the boat itself enroute to the resort grounds and slips past our berth. It was really disappointing; during our entire time -- nearly 6 months -- in the Bahamas, we have never had an issue with our boat or gear, nor felt security was ever an issue. Needless to say, the staff at Bimini Sands were very upset, as  they’ve never had any issues with theft before, since the island is so small and everyone knows one another. The night guard at the marina stationed by the main entrance never saw anyone leave with it, either. The staff suspected it could have been taken by the boaters who had left earlier that morning, and while we don't want to believe that cruisers would steal from other cruisers, a folding bike made for boaters would have appeal, and all of the boats beyond our slip would certainly have seen the bikes there. In any event, the bike’s only attraction was its bright red parrot horn on the handle bars since the rest of the bike was rusty and rather worse for the wear. Not exactly a prize item as it needed to be replaced soon, but it did dampen our spirits to have it taken. 

Ron and I decided not to dwell on it, so to distract ourselves we cruised south to Gun Cay and Cat Cay to make a dive. We cruised a good ten miles south in Tingum, only to find that there were these unusual, wicked-fast currents flowing, so diving was not an option. Since we couldn’t dive, we went snorkeling around the SS Sapona, a concrete-hulled cargo steamer that ran aground near Bimini during a hurricane in 1926. There wasn’t any current on the banks so it was a relaxing snorkel, and the wreck is filled with fish, from sargeant-majors to grunts and chub, to parrotfish, damselfish and angelfish. The remains of the ship are easily visible for several miles, since the hull wreckage stands so high out of the water on the shallow bank, in about 15 feet of water. It’s both a navigational landmark for boaters as well as a popular  snorkeling site. 

The SS Sapona on the Bimini Banks

For a bit of history, the Sapona was built as part of a fleet of concrete ships authorized by Woodrow Wilson during World War I, because steel was in short supply at that time. Like many others in the fleet, the war was over before the ship was completed, and the Sapona was sold for scrap. Rather than being destroyed, however, it was used for oil storage, and later, as a warehouse for alcohol during the era of  Prohibition. In 1926, the ship ran aground in a hurricane and broke apart. During WWII, the wreck was used for target practice by the U.S. Army Air Force and the U.S. Navy, so little concrete is left on the hull because of the effects of bombing and weathering. 

We tried yet again to dive in the afternoon -- twice! -- but to no avail, as the currents were still ripping along. Oddly, the currents didn’t seem to be tidal in nature, as they continued unabated throughout the day and through the next tide change. Each time we checked, we had the same result: too much current to dive safely. Argh! In fact, rather than diminish as we’d hoped, the current actually seemed to have increased in speed; the last time Ron jumped in the water to check it out, he found he had to grab the swim ladder almost immediately to keep from being swept past the boat. Nope, not divable conditions!

We wound up the day not by having margaritas or celebrating Cinco De Mayo, but instead, by having a great sushi dinner down at the Bimini Sands Beach Resort, thanks to Chef Jeremy. It was a treat indeed, and one we thoroughly enjoyed and needed, especially after such a disappointing day.

Passage Day and Landfall!

A long passage Monday, as we cruised from Nassau to all the way to Bimini, a cruise of 14 hours. We initially thought we’d stop at Chub Cay, at the marina there, but they were going to charge us for both Equinox and the tender too ($3.10/foot apiece for each boat), which wasn’t exactly what we wanted to hear. (Generally, marinas simply charge you for one boat, not for the tender as well!) And, since the anchorage in the small bay there at Chub Cay is known to have swells in southeasterly winds with only fair holding, it didn’t have much appeal either! SO...since we have friends who are trying to cross to Bimini on Tuesday, we thought we’d head there. We opted to push across the Great Bahama bank, get as far as we could with the following seas, and simply anchor at sunset. 

Unfortunately, the winds picked up and were stiffer than expected at the time we needed to anchor (of course!) but we made do. We dropped the hook in the small anchorage on the banks just off North Bimini, unfortunately without much protection from the winds. But it was preferable to bob a bit at anchor than try to enter Bimini in the dark! We’ve done it in the daylight and know how tricky it can be. The shoals there are always on the move, and it’s never a great idea to be making landfall in the dark. SO....we waited! It was a bit of a bumpy night in the winds and chop on the bank, but not too unbearable.

Tuesday we each piloted a boat off the banks as we didn’t want to be towing Tingum, since the winds were still blowing hard. Not to mention, we didn't want to tow through the tight channel into North Bimini. So, Ron piloted Equinox while I was in Tingum, and off we went. Conditions in the Florida Straits were rougher than expected with big 3’-4’ rolling waves coming from the south. I got soaked as soon as I rounded the northern tip of North Bimini,  thanks to a wayward wave. I bounced my way south along the shoreline to the entrance to the Bimini Sands Resort and Marina on South Bimini, where we'll be meeting our friends. I made slip arrangements for our boats while Ron was still underway. 

Landfall!

The entrance coming in from the north can be a bit tricky, as the northernmost channel leading in has a dogleg turn to starboard near shore, before an immediate turn to port to make the final approach into the marina. The jetties at the entrance are actually canted a bit south, so the turn to port is more than just 45 degrees. With the southerly waves rolling in,  the turn to port required a bit of delicate timing, because the waves were coming broadside at the turn and pushing you towards the rocks! Ron had a hairier time of it than I did since Equinox is so much larger and takes a bit more time to respond, but Ron handled it with skill. He did say that the rocks seemed very close!! 

The entrance jetties at Bimini Sands on a calm day --

narrow and rocky!

Once inside and settled in our slip, we felt rather decadent. It's been so long since we were in a marina that simple things like plugging into shore power felt like a real luxury! The resort is very nicely maintained and well-equipped, and we're enjoying it! We explored town on our folding bikes, and pedaled out to the airport to get our Bahamian fishing permits renewed (for some odd reason they were each dated differently than those of our cruising permits), and stopped in at the local grocery store for a few needed items. In the afternoon, we went out to dive on the wreck of the Bimini Trader, an old mail boat that sunk just offshore  South Bimini. Anchoring there is hard, since the bottom is scoured and rocky, with little sand, but we fortunately found a place that allowed for secure holding while we swam about the wreck. Lots of coral growth and fish life abound on the wreck, so it's a good site. We also found a small anchor, fouled in the wreck, along with a 100' length of line. It clearly hadn't been there long, as it looked like new -- the anchor still had a price written on its flukes! We brought it up with us when we made our ascent, since we can use the line for the smaller tender. Fun!

We later discovered that our friends off Concrete Idea and Amore have been delayed due to a generator/battery issue, but they will be joining us in a couple of days. The weather window looks good for them on Thursday. Ron and I shared a quiet dinner at the Bimini Sands Beach Club in the southern part of the island before we came back and made an early night of it. It's been a long day, but a fun one!

Nassau Harbor

Up early and anchors aweigh before 0800 today, as we made our way north from Highborne Cay. Winds were 15 knots or so out of the south, with an easy following sea of 2’-4’ pushing us along. We carefully made our way across the Yellow Bank area with its isolated scattered coral heads before deciding that we’d head to Nassau versus West Bay. With the winds out of the south, we figured that we’d have more protection in Nassau Harbor there than anchoring off West Bay. We weren't keen to try making our way around the western end of the island in the rougher deep open waters. Hopefully the weather will settle enough so that we’ll have a good lee shore to follow in the morning before crossing the Northwest Passage/Tongue of the Ocean to the Berry Islands. 

Entering Nassau Harbor

Coming into the eastern bay of Nassau Harbor, we hailed a couple of marinas on the VHF, out of curiosity to see what the current transient rates were. Having been on the hook for the past 5 weeks at  various bays and coves in the Exumas, we weren't sure we wanted to return to a marina just yet. Prices were more than expected, actually, with Hurricane Hole wanting $4.00/ft and the Atlantis Marina quoting $7.00/ft!! (Rather shocking, considering the rates we were used to in the Chesapeake, and even in other parts of the Bahamas!) But, Nassau is a major port with all the amenities and creature comforts, so the dockage prices reflect that. Vessels entering and leaving the harbor have to contact Nassau Harbor Control as to your intended route and destination, and to receive clearance to enter and exit the busy commercial area. It's not as bad as Norfolk in terms of traffic, but it narrow and congested in spots!

 Some of the working boats in Nassau Harbor

According to the cruising guides, anchoring in the harbor wasn’t highly recommended due to the limited anchorages, poor holding, and the many obstructions within the harbor, so we didn’t know what to expect. Ron knew about the anchorage in front of the British Colonial Hilton, just past the commercial cruise ship piers, so that’s where we headed. To our delight, there was only one other boat there in the anchorage, and we dropped anchor just to its east in an area of sand and grass, where our anchor set well. It’s a much better anchorage than I had feared it would be, but we shall see how the currents affect us tonight!

View from the pilothouse of the commercial pier 

near our tiny anchorage

View of the massive Atlantis complex, as seen from our anchorage

We took Tingum over to the commercial city pier, where we docked along the promenade. Being Sunday, most places of business were shuttered, including restaurants. We wandered a bit, before having a late lunch at (rather embarrassing to admit) Senor Frog’s .... since no other restaurants were open, that was the choice by default! After lunch we walked about town to stretch our legs some more before returning aboard Equinox to relax and watch the cruise ship Majesty of the Seas turn around next to us after leaving her berth, before departing west back to the States. 

No, she's not coming into the pilothouse!

Almost done turning about, preparing to depart

A quiet evening aboard with dinner on the aft deck followed the day's activities, with our protected anchorage most appreciated!

Diving Exuma Wall

Another windy day here in the Bahamas. Why are we not surprised? We’re not surprised because nearly every day these past 5 months, the wind has been blowing, with only a few days where passages and/or diving were comfortable. It’s supposedly due to the effects of El Nino, but the weather has not been what we envisioned for our cruise this past season, to be perfectly honest!! But true to form, the winds continue at 15-20 knots, or more. 

The seas were rather rough in the morning so we weren't keen to be out there and get beat up trying to dive or fish, so we just settled in aboard, reading and relaxing. We're finally back within satellite TV range, so we caught up on recent news too. In some ways, it feels very odd to be so disconnected and far away from things at times. Handling  communication is the hardest, due to the lack of easy internet access, but we've discovered that TV is something you don't really miss that so much.  

There are noticeably fewer boats recently -- seems most cruising snowbirds are heading back north, thus we were one of just three boats remaining in the anchorage. Cozy, but after a few hours of relaxing aboard, we were getting a bit stir crazy! Happily, by the afternoon, things had settled enough that we decided to take Tingum out to try our hand at more fishing. We were pleased to see that out through Highbourne South Cut, the seas were actually calmer than yesterday, with brighter skies. We set some deeper lures since it was so bright out, but it was almost the stand of the tide, so there was little current. Nary a bite, so after an hour or more, deciding that fishing was a bust, we dropped anchor near the northern tip of HIghborne Cay and made a dive. Lovely!!

The profile of the wall that edges along Exuma Sound is really gorgeous and dramatic. The minute we went over the edge at the top, there was a good-sized hawksbill turtle that was cruising along, not at all startled by our arrival. He actually followed us along a bit as we meandered along the reef wall, checking out the coral and sponges that are everywhere there. Once again, both Ron and I noticed that there was some of that algae growth on the corals though, which was concerning. We’ve always associated the algae with shoreline construction, which often causes a lot of sediment in the water that settles on the reef. But since there’s no construction here, it’s a bit odd that the algae is here.

We decided after dinner that we would continue to head north tomorrow, a bittersweet concept, since it signifies “the beginning of the end” of this season’s cruising. We could stay in the Exumas through the month, but with the weather still being recalcitrant, it seems our best bet to just start back, taking our time and enjoying the good weather whenever it comes, wherever we are. We’ll head to New Providence tomorrow, either to West Bay or over to Nassau Harbor, depending on the winds and seas. No schedules, no agendas, just taking it as it comes! It will be lovely to be back in contact with folks again...we’ve missed the internet and the easy communication it provides!