Not so notorious Nassau

To Nassau

We left early with a 3ft chop & 15 – 18 knots of wind which steadily dropped away. The rest of the journey was in calm waters but we were surrounded by thunderstorms with some heavy rain & saw a water spout. The 11 hour trip over the Great Bahama Bank was about 70 miles & we were in water of less than 15 feet for most of the way with a clear view to the bottom which was disconcerting initially – seeing the rocks below until you became used to it. A few miles later we crossed the Tongue of the Ocean where the depth dropped to over 1069ft in under a mile. Some areas are deep as 5000 – 6000 ft. This runs almost north south between the large island of Andros & the smaller chains. It is a hugely favoured game fishing area.

After 89 nm we tied up at a closed (but being renovated) marina (Berry Island Club marina) with no facilities but they took our money & we enjoyed a quiet, calm & flat water night at Fraser's Hog Cay.

We had beautiful water for the last part of our crossing to Nassau. Brent trolled some lures & caught a black fin tuna. We arrived in Nassau harbour at midday which is dominated by cruise ships – only 2 this day but we could see docking for 5 – also many 100ft +cruising yachts, fishing boats, mail boats & freight boats. We refuelled at Hurricane Hole marina with some of the cheapest fuel in the Bahamas ($3.21) & then crossed over to our marina at Nassau Harbour Club Marina. This was reasonably priced @ $1.75 per foot & good facilities including a pool although everything looked a bit run down & in need of maintenance as many of them do.

There was a great shopping centre right across the road including Solomon's Fresh Market where things were pricey but you could get all that you wanted. We were able to get a sim card for our second phone that will also act as a hot spot for the computer – so we are not out of touch & more importantly we can check on weather forecasts for cruising in the Bahamas.

We walked down to the central bustling area of the fish markets & straw markets called Potter's Cay. This is a hive of activity as boats sell their catches of fish & conch to restaurants & the public. Many little shack eateries & groups of men playing dominoes line the walk way. Here all boats arrive with cargo for delivery or shipment & lines of a variety of trucks & vans queue to await pick up. We had lunch down here at Twin Brothers Seafood & Steak House one of the more salubrious eating places among the more dodgy looking affairs. Apparently it has been on Top Chef, a CBS programme & The New York Times. It wasn't fancy just very Bahamian & I tried my 3^rd conch dish – a conch salad. I still can't seem to get a taste of the conch – I think it just takes the flavour of what ever it's cooked in & it's very rubbery unless cracked (beaten to tenderise it). A great morning spent rubbing shoulders with the locals. We dined on Brent's black fin tuna that night.

Next day the wind was still blustery so we decided to stay another day as the following day promises to be perfect (heard that before !) for our next leg to the Exumas. We cycled to Atlantis across the Paradise bridge to Paradise Island, which is huge elaborate peach coloured Disney looking castle with a Las Vegas look. There are lofty hotel towers, a huge water park, casino, glitzy shops, over 40 restaurants/bars/lounges and an aquarium. The grounds are all beautifully planted with a waterscape as part of the grounds, a beach & small canals for snorkelling – all man made. The next part of our trip will be in great contrast to this day. To Nassau

Across the Great Bahama Bank to Nassau

Some guys are in a hurry, this
80ft + boat had to be doing at
least 25 Knots, using more fuel
in one day than I would use in
3 months.

We could see the bottom for 60 miles, 12 to 20 ft.

If you are a game fisher, look at this, 20ft
into 2000ft in less than a mile.

Our Buddy boat, Haley's Comet, Sea Ray 4788

Sunset at the Berry Islands

Clear water 10ft at our slip

Nassau, cruise ships

The quite amazing Supermarket across the road from
our Marina at Nassau.

Great Laundry at our Marina

The Pool with our boats behind.

Watching the Men play Dominos

Customs boat on a call out.

We wandered around the Wharves,
it was organised chaos, took lots of photos ,
but this one took the prize, used mattresses
on their way to Haiti.

Being Cheeky at lunch. took time
to see where the locals worked
and dined. 

The local fishing fleet, walked around
watched all the unloading.

The Stalls at Potters Quay, being renovated.

The opposite, Marina at the Casino, Way out of our League.

Great sight though.

In the Foyer of Atlantis Casino

More over the top decoration.



The fish in the huge Aquarian were worth seeing.

Crazy Days in Bimini.

Dawn with her two burly friends.
We know Dawn is Vertically challenged
but these guys were both at least 6ft 3.

Kim livening up the party With a
Rum Pickle back

Well we had been shore bound for
10 days so we were letting off
a bit of steam at the local Bali hut.
Kim and Louie off Trillion.

Our companions for the next leg,
Brent and Debbie off Hayley's Comet

The grounds at the Game Club.

The inside of the Dolphin house,
Ashley started this in 1993,
a continuing work of love.

A lot of time and work.

View from the top floor

Nice workplace outlook, on 3 rd floor

Work in progress

The Straw market, where the hard working ladies
sell  imported and home made goods.

Last days, on our way.

Bumming around in Bimini

We have spent the last 4 days at Bimini awaiting the good weather window due on Saturday. But we have managed to fill the days; - our marina had a 'Pot Luck' dinner in which all 8 boats (6 yachts & 2 cruisers) participated, we cycled to grocery & hardware stores, IT shops to hunt up a hot spot (to no avail) & down to the entrance to see the very narrow 'dinghy channel', the police arrived to take statements re the stolen gun & riggers knife & the following day returned both items. The Police were very friendly and very efficient, worried about any bad press due to the thefts. Later in the day 2 representatives of the Tourist board came to the Marina to apologise for what happened. Me thinks amateur burglar is in a mess of trouble.

We shared a sumptuous meal including perfectly cooked mahimahi (by Brent) with our friends Brent, Deb, Lewis & Kim one evening, coffee & fresh sweet guava buns one morning on our boat and 'Trillium rum punch cocktails' (created by Kim) before eating at 'Sharkies'.We have regularly bought bread at the 'Taste of Heaven' bakery that bakes fresh bread & buns every day – delicious. We also visited 'The Dolphin House' - a project begun in 1993 by Ashley Saunders - brother of the boat builder. It is his monument to dolphins after swimming with them many times. He is very environmentally conscious and uses rubbish washed up on the beach & tiles etc. from building sites & any useful pieces from the tip in his construction. The house is all hand made of concrete – strong enough to have survived 5 hurricanes & a tornado. It has conch shells, glass bottles, broken ceramics, porcelain, mirrors, driftwood & anything that he can mix in artistically. We had a busy morning helping 4-5 yachts leave or arrive in the very strong winds – this is a whole mornings entertainment in itself.

We plan to head to Chub Cay tomorrow with “Hayley's Comet” . This is about an 11 hour trip we will anchor out before we begin our southern exploration of the Exumas -a southern chain of islands in the Bahamas.

Due to not having a hot spot ( for E/mail )for our computer we will have to rely on what we can find at a Marina, so we could be out of touch for a week at a time.

Interesting times in Bimini

Stalled in Bimini

We have been here because of the very strong winds for over a week & it will be a few more days yet before we can move to a suitable anchorage. We have about 70 miles to go to the next cay & then need to find a place out of the winds. After 2 attempts Colin succeeded in repairing the puncture in my bike tyre. He finally found a good hardware store that sold a repair kit after having no luck in finding an inner tube. First he tried our boozey lady close by but she responded to Col's cheery greeting of “How are you this fine day” with “Pissed Off!” - “sick of talking to people” & she stalked away. Next day he sent me to try the female approach. She was sober (I think) & helpful explaining that she only had boat stuff but gave me directions of where I could go to possibly find something which we did.

We had drinks at a bar close to the boat – and won't do that again -$22.82 for 2 drinks! A glass of wine $11 & a local beer $8 plus tax, plus gratuity – a rip off.

A large motor yacht 110ft with 6 crew tied up at the end of the dock for 3 nights. It was entertaining – he actually had to have a 90 footer moved by the dockmaster because he had a prior booking – move your $2 million boat to make way for my $4 million one. The people never actually landed a foot on the island & appeared to be a sugar daddy & his 2 'nieces', who sat in the jacuzzi most nights & another 2 men and 1 woman ( not sitting in the jacuzzi).

We cycled down to two other boaters in 2 other separate marinas whom we had met in Marathon. Brent & Debbie on 'Hayley's Comet' & Lewis & Kim on 'Trillium'. We had lunch at a small shack on the beach where we sampled the local & famous shell fish 'conch'. It was battered & had no distinctive taste – I may try one of the other many ways of cooking it. That night was very stormy with winds up to 25 knots. The 4 day Big Game Fishing Contest set for this week has been cancelled.

Next day we all visited 'Trillium' for coffee/brunch at 10am & got back to our boat at 1.00pm to find that the boat next to us 'Evening Star' had been burgled that night. John had gone to bed at 12.30 am & they began to discover their losses late in the morning. They don't lock their boat doors & he just entered via the transom. Pat's purse full of credit cards, John's wallet, & a money clip were gone from the salon table & his watch & Pat's earrings off their bedside tables. Scary – they do have dock surveillance cameras - but could see no strangers. We invited John & Pat over for docktails to offer some release from the hassles of police reports and particularly trying to cancel & replace credit cards. They were both OK just accepting it as bad luck & a c'est la vie attitude.

The following day with Trillium & Hayley's Comet we cycled to visit an island legend – Ansil Saunders. He is regarded as the best bone fisherman guide in the islands and is famous as being the guide for the angler who landed the world record bonefish (16.8kg on 8kg line) which still stands. He is also a traditional wooden boat builder who works out of a small shed and builds about 2-3 per year. Sad that he has no willing apprentices to pass his skills on to. He also told us of the visit of Martin Luther King who came to the island for some solitude in which to write his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize. He came back a second time in 1968 to write another speech for a major peace march gathering and he spoke of a feeling to Ansil that he didn't think he had long to live. Three days after leaving the island he was assassinated. Ansil is deeply religious and recited a 'creation psalm' he had written which he shared with Dr Martin Luther King. To complete the day we had a pot luck dinner on Deb & Brent's boat with Lewis & Kim – meat loaf, corn bread, beans, scalloped potatoes finished off with Key Lime pie - proud to say I made the pie (from packets) & it was tasty.

At 3 am we awoke to shouting & screaming. Colin got up & saw John next door running on the dock with a large boat hook. The burglar had returned & John had found him on the back of his boat & screamed at him. The burglar jumped into the water & swam in circles for a few minutes before heading under the dock & then towards the shore line where the docks meet the rocks. He stumbled & swam along there to reach a place where he could climb out underneath the buildings. Colin & John & I had spotlights on him but he managed to struggle out & was gone. Colin woke up the security guard who called the police. This time he had taken a jewellery box from beside the bed & had it opened up on the back deck table where he sorted through the stuff he wanted. John had not locked the boat again thinking that the burglar would not have the audacity to strike again. There was a flare gun also on the table but John didn't think it was his. Col checked quickly in our kit up stairs but concluded it was not ours. However a day later he decided to keep a flare gun in our cabin & then discovered that it was ours that had been taken. I did an extra check for other missing stuff & found that my Riggers knife was missing. I brought this to use when in the locks to cut lines if something jams. It's a smart, sharp little black knife similar to a rigging knife. The top deck is the open area with a bimini cover & plexiglass surrounds where we drive the boat from. It is above our bedroom area - & to think he was quietly walking around above us while we slept is weird. Not only light fingered but light footed as well. We told the cops on their visit yesterday & they believe they have seen the knife - & I will get it back. We're not short of entertainment in Bimini!

Bimini, an enforced stay

Crystal clear water and an
abundance of fish life, here a
2 ft long Pinfish. They are
very similar to the Garfish
we have at home, only much
bigger.

Million dollar super yachts waiting to berth.

Bimini, known as the Game Fish
Capital of the world. These casts were on
the wall at the Bimini Game Fish Club.
We have friends staying here so
made the most of its great pool.

Large Murals cover many walls.

View from a lunchtime stop

Got together for a pot luck
diner on a very nice
48ft Bayliner.

Visited Anis Saunders, a local legend

Anis hand builds timber
boats, beautiful craftsman ship He is also a world renowned fishing guide. At 85 years looks
65. He was a friend of Dr Martin Luther
King,

Dawn and the Great Man

Lot of money made here during
Prohibition.

Our local bakery, good too.

Ocean beach

At the old sea wall

Down Town.

Dawn with T shirt from Anis.

We have been stuck here due to weather for 7 days
so the 8 boat crews got together for a cook out.

Leaving Florida, Bimini Arrival

Up anchor 6.30am, through Angelfish
Creek at half tide, plenty of water.
We were the last of 7 boats to depart,
although we were first to arrive, see we
are not too slow.

Sunrise over the Florida Straits

Britannia Blue sea in Gulf Stream

The entrance to Bimini North
and Alice town

View from the poop deck

Friends and neighbours  any
excuse for Docktails on
board a vey tidy De Fever 49.

This was one smart Cruiser.