PICS
*BIMINI SANDS MARINA
*JIM WITH ANOTHER MAILBOAT
*JIM AT PONCE’S FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH
*NAN DRINKING FROM FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH BUCKET
*PENELOPE CRUZ
*SHAKIRA
WOW! Does this feel decadent or what?
Bimini Sands Marina is on the island of South Bimini, as opposed to the main island of Bimini where Alicetown is. Alicetown has all the people, buildings, businesses, etc.; South Bimini is relatively unpopulated except for our marina operation and the airport. It’s a quarter-mile dink or ferry ride for vacationing tourists between the two islands. This is as fancy as we get all winter with floating dock slips, water hookups, hot showers, a swimming pool, and a couple of great restaurants . . . and for only $1.10 per foot per night for our little 31-foot Summer Breeze. We could have opted for Nassau’s Atlantis Resort & Casino Marina on Paradise Island earlier, but they get $3.50-$7.00 per foot. Ouch!
We love it here, especially following the two day, plus one night, sail to here from Bullocks on Great Harbor Cay in the Berrys. We left Bullocks on Tuesday morn at 7a.m., sailed 47.6 nautical miles onto the Grand Bahama Bank to Mackie Shoal in the middle of nowhere; anchored and slept until 6a.m. Wednesday morn, then sailed the remaining 38.6 miles to Bimini. The weather was good to us . . . a little bouncy through the night, but it was full moon and beautiful. We slept well, knowing that if we did drag anchor, we wouldn’t hit anything to speak of until Cuba.
We’ve soaked all the saltwater and sand off our bodies, and we revisited Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth while taking a 6-mile hike today, culminating in a local’s lunch spot for a plate of curry chicken’n’rice and minced lobster’n’rice for just $8. The mailboats deliver their goods right here in our marina, so Nan had to get some more mailboat photos . . . she has developed a mailboat fetish this winter. She could do a mailboat-intensive slide show presentation now. It’s 4a.m. as I write this; a mailboat just left us here in the marina waking me up, as it was only twenty feet off of our stern at one point. He was taking advantage of the high tide by departing now. We’ll do the same early Saturday morning, weather depending, when we head back across the Gulf Stream for Fort Lauderdale. It’s terrible to have to leave the Bahamas in March. If you could pick what months you want to be here the most, they’d be April & May. If the Train would move their starting date back, we’d be heading for Eleuthea and the Abacos right now . . . oh, well, maybe in a couple of years.
On our last day at Flo’s, March 8, quess who shows up for lunch? . . . Shakira and Penelope Cruz! We stayed on the boat to give them their space. Flo said they were nice, but didn’t call in advance to let Chester know that they wanted food, so they almost didn’t get fed. Chester requires that you call at least 3 hours in advance so he can clean fish, or get fresh conch, or whatever he needs to do before you arrive. We’ve come to think this is more of a “control” thing or a “lazy” thing in reality. I don’t know how he makes a living; most folks find him extremely rude. One day we heard him refuse to cook for two different families of boaters who arrived not knowing his rules; they were the only people that visited the island that day. He never cooked for anybody that day.
As of now, the weather looks great; we’ll head to Florida tomorrow.
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