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.