THE GREAT ESCAPE

            After Weeks of waiting we finally got the weather window we needed to escape the “hustle and bustle” of Bimini and sail eastward.  I use “sail” figuratively, the light wind was too close and we motored all day. 

 We left Bimini in dense fog, we could only see a couple of hundred feet ahead and we couldn’t see the channel markers until we were right on them.  Thank goodness for GPS breadcrumbs! 

 We caught a couple of nice jacks on the Bank but didn’t feel like cooking them for supper after we anchored. 

We got up at 3 AM and headed for the Northwest Channel, the Tongue of the Ocean and West Bay on New Providence Island.  By sun-up the wind freshened and we unrolled the jib and made good time.  We anchored at West Bay early and relaxed over a good dinner of jack meunière. 

 E-mail from Irene and Perry (s/v Tekla Bramble) informed us that they were headed for Normans Cay the next day.

            Shortly after leaving the anchorage, we hooked something huge!  At least it felt huge.  Please be a mackerel!  Alas, it was a three foot barracuda with a mouthful of ugly teeth.  Shortly after that, Otto died!  Without an autopilot, we would have to hand steer for the rest of the trip.

            We joined Irene and Perry at Normans and headed for Shroud Cay.  Shroud is one of the most beautiful cays in the chain.  There are several nice beaches but the real attraction is the creeks. 

Shroud is cut by many creeks that meander through huge flats surrounded by low hills.  Motoring up the creeks is reminiscent of scenes from “The African Queen.  Floating along, one feels that he is discovering virgin territory.

            After leaving Shroud, we headed for Warderick Wells, headquarters for the Exuma Land and Sea Park.  The park is well maintained park and has  a beautiful mooring field. 

 There are several trails, hacked out of the low scrub that covers most of the Exuma Cays.  Hiking these trails is very strenuous.  

 Some are quite steep and often pass over sections of weathered bedrock.  Wind and water erosion has pockmarked the surface with holes and razor sharp edges making walking very difficult.  We had planned to hike down to the Loyalist ruins.  These are the remains of houses built by Loyalists who left the newly formed USA after the Revolution.  When you see the pitiful structures and look at the hostile, bleak surroundings, you have to ask yourself, “What were these people thinking?”  At any rate, after hours of walking, we still hadn’t reached the ruins and decided to turn back.  Kathleen said she couldn't go back and sent me for the dinghy while she waited on a beautiful beach.  I walked back, taking as many shortcuts as possible and hoping that I wouldn’t end up being found sprawled on a lonely path, an emaciated corpse! While at the park, we received an e-mail from Al expressing an interest in joining us for a few days.  Certainly as long as he is accompanied by an autopilot!

            Our next landfall was Big Majors Spot at Staniel Cay.  This is a very popular anchorage, mainly because of its proximity to the “Thunderball Grotto,” the underwater grotto where scenes from the James Bond movie, “Thunderball” were filmed.  It is also famous for the wild pigs that swim out to your dinghy in search of scraps of food.  Kathleen and I have both seen plenty of pigs and plenty of photos of the pigs at Big Majors so we had no interest in taking the dinghy to their beach.

            We did need a few groceries and gasoline for the dinghy.  Staniel is the only place for miles where you can buy fuel.  I took the 2 ½ mile dinghy ride into Staniel where I bought a few atrociously expensive groceries.  I bought a bottle of rum for which we paid $9 on Bimini and $24 on Staniel.  After burning most of our remaining gas on the trip in, I learned that Staniel was out of gas!  I have always had a bad taste in my mouth about Staniel and this visit did nothing to change my mind.  We resolved that we would not stop there again.  By this time, it became clear that Al was not going to be able to join us.  However, he did take care of getting us a new auto-pilot.  He put it on a plane from FtLauderdale to Staniel.  They brought it over to us at Blackpoint.  Within two hours we became acquainted with Homer, Homer the helmsman.  He steered for us all the way down to Emerald Bay on Great Exuma where we waited for a window to cross over to Cat Island.

           

CHILLIN' ON BIMINI

           

            OK, we’ve been on Bimini now for two weeks--spear to the dragon’s heart for Gary Hart, island home for Richard Nixon, Bebe Rebozo, Ernest Hemingway and Adam Clayton Powel whose ashes were spread over its waters.  When you look at the island today, you might ask yourself, What was it that drew such illustrious figures to the island?”  Everywhere you look, you see poverty;  you see abandoned buildings and stores and homes.  Empty lots are strewn with trash. 

 The Compleat Angler is gone, burned down in a tragic fire that took the life of its owner.

 Bimini is one of my favorite spots in the Bahamas.  The weather is good this time of year.  The people are open and friendly.  You are greeted everywhere with “Good mornin’”  “Good afternoon.”  I was hugged by a guy who sold some fish to me and said he loved me.  You’d a thought I saved his life!  People seem to want to help.  Rides are offered if you are walking with a heavy load.

            The streets are filled with golf carts and cars.  Traffic jams, while not quite the same as in American Big cities, occur daily on streets that are barely wide enough for one car and one golf cart, forget about pedestrians (who don’t seem to have the right of way).  On the north end of the island, there is Bimini Bay Resort that is called on several times a week by the fast ferry from Miami.  Trolleys carry tourists to Alicetown where they spend a few dollars at the straw market. 

   

Sometimes Crabman provides live entertainment there.  Small groceries and variety stores abound and one wonders how they can manage to stay in business.  Many of them, in fact don’t.  

Although you might wonder when some stores are as diversified as this one--ice, booze, hardware and real estate!  Is that a formula for success?

            All in all, though, Bimini is a magical place.  So magical, that some people decide to get married here.  Our friends on s/v Panacea did just that.  They have been together for quite some time and decided to get married on Bimini.  They brought all the necessary paperwork from Canada and went to the Administrator’s office to get a marriage license.  Then, the administrator himself joined them in marriage with a very impressive civil ceremony. 

Later, at a reception put together by fellow cruisers Larry, Terry and Bill on m/v AFterwards, Irene and Perry on s/v Tekla Bramble they were married in a nautical ceremony on behalf of Neptune himself by Larry. 

            This season has been marked by numerous fronts that have hindered our easterly progress.  The weather has been dominated by strong westerly winds.  You’d think that west winds would be favorable of heading east.  And, indeed they are.  However, most of the islands in the central part of the Bahamas offer no protection from winds from the west and the windows of opportunity have been so short that one cannot be certain of finding a safe anchorage in the time allotted by Mother Nature.  Then, during the best window for heading out, we developed a problem with the bilge pump and had to sacrifice that window in favor of correcting the problem.

            Cruisers are cruisers.  They make the best of whatever comes their way. So, stuck on Bimini, waiting for weather, doing boat projects, 

 what do you do?

Lobster fest!

  

 Rum tastings

 Two so far this year.

Sundowners on the “front porch” overlooking the flats!
Beach combing.  Chillin’ on the “back porch” overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

  

The nature trail on South Bimini.  Plenty to do!

SECOND ANNUAL BIMINI BLUE WATER RUM TASTING

Rum is probably the most widely produced spirit in the world.  It is produced on every continent except Antarctica.  Some of the best rums come from the Caribbean.  Folks from about a dozen boats gathered at Biminni Blue Water Marina to pay homage to this noble brew and to taste some examples.  We had rums from Jamaica (Appleton Estate), Haiti (Barbancourt 3 star), Nicaragua (Flor de Caûa), Barbados (Mt Gay Eclipse and Mt Gay Black Barrel), BVIs (Pussers), Guatemala (Zacapa) and Trinidad (Zaya).  A very nice selection.  Notably and thankfully absent from the selection was Bacardi’s.

Predictably, nearly every rum was considered good, some better than others.  Both Mt Gays garnered much approval.  The first rum tasted, Barbancourt, was well received initially.  It lost out to Appleton which in turn lost to the Eclipse.  Pusser’s received a resounding “No!”  In the end, the choice came down to Zaya and Zacapa.  Both were considered fine sipping rums.  Some felt that Zaya would be best enjoyed as a pre-prandial drink and Zacapa as a post prandial. Both were deemed best of the crop but Zacapa outplaced Zaya by a healthy margin.

Keep posted to the wanderings of s/v “Now or Never” (svnowornever.blogspot.com) for future tastings and other adventures.