THE GREAT RUM TASTING

            Drinking rum and sailing seem to go hand in hand.  Rum has been central to sailing since Admiral Edward Vernon, Ole Grog himself portioned out the daily allotment to his crew.  Rum is produced in nearly every country of the world and there are probably more examples of this heavenly spirit than any other.  So, which does do you sip and which do you swill?

            A small group of sailors at Bimini Blue Water Marina decided to seek an answer to those questions.  Twelve bottles of rum appeared from the holds of boats hailing from all points of the compass—Ole Nassau Dark, Pusser’s, Cruzan Gold, Flor de Caña, Bacardi Select, Zacapa, Goslings Black Seal, Zaya, Ricardo Gold, Ole Nassau Gold, 3 bottles of flavored rum and a really mean bottle of 151 proof.

            We decided to use the Ole Nassau Dark as a benchmark.  All the other rums would be rated up or down according to whether they were better or worse than that one.  It was not a highly regimented process and voting often got lost in the festivities.  At any rate, here they are:

1.       Everyone liked the Ole Nassau Dark (Surprisingly good for a $10/litre bottle)

2.      8 of 13 people thought the Pusser’s was better than the Ole Nassau

3.      Only 3 of 12 thought the Cruzan better

4.      6 of 8 liked the Flor de Caña better

5.      5 of 8 liked the Bacardi

6.      9 of 12 liked the Zacapa

7.      14 of 14 liked the Gosling

8.      14 of 14 liked the Zaya

9.      No one liked the Ricardo (Another Bahamian rum even cheaper than Ole Nassau)

10.  4 of 12 liked the Ole Nassau Gold.

We decided to treat the flavored rums and the 151 as separate classes.

            We then “recalibrated” and tasted the Ole Nassau again and compared the 3 most well liked rums to it.  The clear winner?  Zaya.  Gosling was the runner up and Zacapa next.

            The Zaya, which began as a full bottle was resampled to validate its victory and soon was empty.  The Gosling likewise disappeared in the national drink of the Bermudas, The Dark and Stormy.  We never got around to the flavored rums and a few daring souls tried the 151 (real firewater that begins its burn as soon as you raise the glass to your lips) and some actually liked it.

BIMINI PART DEUX

Bright and early Monday morning, we left Fort Lauderdale and headed south to Miami and Biscayne Bay.  Our good friend Al (s/v Second Wind, s/v Sparrow, s/v Moon Taxi) joined us.  Al Likes being on the water.  He says that he’ll just sit in the bathtub if he can’t get on a boat!  It was a motor-sailing trip in light air and smooth seas.

            After rounding the bend between Dodge Island and the ICW, we passed a truly prodigious conch blower

                               that will sound the horn perpetually.                                                                        We passed under Rickenbacker Causeway leaving Miami behind,

 and entered Biscayne Bay.  The bay is huge and plenty deep, even outside the marked channel. We dropped the hook at No Name Harbor and opted not to take Bruno ashore.

            First light Tuesday found us underway past the south end of Key Biscayne.  In the early morning light, we could make out the stilt houses in the middle of the bay.

 Years ago, fishermen built shacks on stilts.  Occasionally, those shacks got blown away in storms but they just rebuilt them.  Somewhere along the way someone got the idea that it would be cool to build real houses.  The shacks were replaced by somewhat more resplendent shelters.   I don’t know what they do for water and waste, but they certainly don’t have to mow the lawn!

           
We left the stilt houses behind, slipped past Key Biscayne

 and set our course for Bimini.  We were motor-sailing again in smooth seas and light wind slightly off the bow.

 As the day progressed, the wind veered more and more on the nose and the jenny became useless.  

            We encountered quite a bit of traffic for a change, some of it too close for comfort.

            The engine ran perfectly both days.  Is it fixed?  Who knows?  They say that you can have three problems with a diesel engine, fuel, fuel, fuel.  We had the tank cleaned and the fuel polished.  I changed the fuel pump.  All that’s left is hope!

            As soon as we tied up at Blue Water Marina, Al put out the word that he was in the market for lobster—a lot of lobster!  There were quite a few boats in the marina and he invited everyone to a lobster fest.

    We grilled 60 tails!  Definitely a good evening.

            I never tire of walking around Bimini.  The people are friendly and helpful. Good morning!  Good afternoon!  Smiles and eye contact from everyone you meet on the street. 

             Flowers and interesting things to see

      They seem to start 'em young!

  Oh and the pig roast.  At around 11 or 12 oclock we saw it on the spit. 

“It’ll be ready around 3, mon.”  So around 3 we show up and it’s still cooking.  “Maybe another hour, mon” island time!  Finally, around 6 o’clock they took it off the spit cut it up.  Delicious!

Not everything is seriousness, there's plenty of time for silliness!

FORT LA-DI-DAH REDUX

We spent several pleasant days at Bimini.  Life there is always good.  The people are wonderful and there are picturesque houses and views.

 We were docked next to another Pearson 323, Azure Skies,” skippered by Bob Feltman whom I’d met a couple of times in Ft Pierce.  Then, another Pearson 323, “Dragonstar,” docked next to us with Cody Lancaster, Angela Riddlesburger and their cat Gemsi aboard.  This was their first cruise on the boat and they were homeward bound after a month in the Bahamas.

The Pearson rendezvous was broken by the arrival of newly named m/v Butterfly.  One hundred thirty eight feet of extravagance!  Using a video camera carried by a drone helicopter, the skipper piloted the boat to the fuel dock.  There goes the neighborhood!  12 crew and the owner (a thirty five-ish guy) aboard.

  Just purchased a week earlier at the Miami Boat Show, the vessel was listed at 28 million dollars.  She sold for 14 million.  With bargains like that, maybe we should all look for new boats!  Oh, fuel!  In 30 hours she burned 1300 gallons of diesel.  Butterfly pulled away from the dock sans assistance of the helicopter.

This stay at Bimini was filled with walking the beach looking for sea glass.  In all, we probably picked up 15 pounds of the stuff.  Sometimes the walking was interrupted by the surf that washed the sand from beneath one’s feet!  The water was warm and refreshing in the hot sun.

The narrow streets of Bimini are filled with golf carts and motor vehicles

                                                       —and goats. 

There seems to be more motor vehicles now than when I first visited the island 7 or 8 years ago.  The day before leaving, we had a final conch salad at Friendly Joe’s, still the best in the islands; prepared by the maestro himself.

It was time to bid Bimini “adieu.”  Bright and early Sunday morning we set out for an anchorage east of the island on the Great Bahama Bank.  

 Sailing lore says you should not begin a voyage on Sunday (or Friday).  In my mind, we weren’t beginning a voyage, we were continuing one that we had begun back in November.  At any rate, the air was light and the seas smooth, promising an easy trip across the bank.  Even though we were able to raise a sail, we still needed the assist of the “iron genny” (motor) to make good enough time to get to the anchorage at a reasonable hour. 

Within the first hour, we caught two beautiful king mackerals.  The trip was off to a good start.

Four and a half hours into the passage, the motor died.  Nothing to do but turn around and sail back to Bimini.  It is a sailboat after all.  Even with the light air, the new tack provided decent speed and we were happy and sailing.  Within a couple of hours, we began to doubt that we would be able to do anything about the problem at Bimini.

We decided instead to head for Ft Lauderdale, 55 miles away.  Everything was hunky dory.  Actually, it was some of the best sailing of the season in spite of the light air.  We planned to get within a few miles of the inlet and call TowboatUS for a tow.  Twenty miles away from our destination, the bow of the boat was pointed west it was moving north at 4.5 knots!  We were in the middle of the Gulf Stream and the wind was not strong enough to drive the boat.  The inlet was growing more and more distant.  We had to call for the tow right away.  By the time it arrived, we were still twenty miles out and a good 15 miles north of where we wanted.

We told the towboat captain that we wanted to go to Las Olas marina.  I wasn’t sure how he was going to get us into a slip.  He didn’t seem concerned.  He explained the procedure.  He would pull us toward the slip until we had enough speed to make it in.  Then, he would release the tether and we would have to rely on our momentum to steer ourselves into the slip.  Docking can be tricky under the best of circumstances.  This time, I would not be able to use the engine to stop the boat. Yikes!  Wind, current and my "impeccable" piloting skills cooperated and the docking was flawless.  Of course, it helped that our good friends Jim and Ellie (s/v Finnirish) we on hand to catch our lines and to fend us off their boat if necessary.  Whew!  Thirty hours after leaving Bimini (and a mere 13 days after leaving Ft Lauderdale), we were back in Fort La-Di-Dah.

Chance had it that old friends of mine, Mike and Janice (m/v Dual Dreamers) were in town.  We met them for drinks at the Quarterdeck and in the cockpit of Now or Never!. 

  I had met them on the Abacos trip two years ago.  Catching up with each other was terrific.  Seeing them in person is so much better than facebook!

And Bruno made a new friend.