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.

GOODBYE WINTER!

Finally, a blog post!  Between parties, Xmas, New Year’s, parties, rum tastings, shopping and sleeping, life has just been too exciting to put thoughts to paper.  We just didn’t know whether we were coming or going

.   Let’s see, we got back to the boat just before Thanksgiving.  Well, sort of back to the boat.  She was sitting on the hard, gunwales 8 feet or so off the ground.  We opted to stay in a motel where we got busted for cooking in the room.  I guess the perfumed aroma of sautéing onions and peppers and eggplant gave us away.  What?  Cooking in the room?  Oh, no, we were just microwaving some things.  The ratatouille was phenomenal.

 Well we moved to new digs—better deal, hundred bucks cheaper, bigger room.  Wait, why is there no hot water in the sink?  Oh, I see, the shut off valve is closed.  Whew!  That was easy.  Eek!  No knob on the hot water in the shower!  Get out the pliers?  Nah, remove the screw from the cold water knob and switch the knob between the hot and cold.  What are problems for if not for solutions?

All this excitement was punctuated by stimulating moments of sanding the bottom of the boat.  Dressed in a hazmat suit, mask over nose and mouth, I scuffed up the old paint in prep for nice new coats of the stuff that keeps the uglies from growing on the bottom.  At last, the bottom covered with nice new anti-fouling the boat was ready to splash.

  Half hour later, we were tied up in Harbortown Marina next to s/v Chardonnay III, our home for the next six weeks.  Time for the traditional celebratory rum at the end of a journey.

3391

Let the parties begin!  There was the boat parade, 

                                                       
                                                             then Xmas, then New Year’s,

                                                                  then the rum tasting,

                                                    then plain ole parties and dinghy rides.

The trip down to Miami was uneventful (the best kind!).  No Name Harbor, on the other hand has been entertaining.  During the first blow, the winds clocked from Se to SW to W to NW to N and built to 20 knots.  We were right up next to the mangroves.  I mean close enough to touch.  And then we began to drag anchor.  Thankfully it was daylight.  So, haul anchor and move.  Drop it 3 times, no go.  Move to another location, 3 more times, during one of which the anchor became entangled with the chain.  Oh, did I mention that the anchorage was very crowded?  Finally, we bite but are just a few feet in front of another boat.  Not bad, but not good either.  Surely this qualified as an event deserving of a celebratory rum! We weren’t alone in dragging.  Several hotshots in their Searays and sleek power boats dragged, too;  in the middle of the night.  Always more exciting that way.  Mañana we move again.  Same deal, several times before we bite.  Then the blow comes through and we drag again.  We barely get hooked when we notice that the trawler next to us is dragging big time; no one aboard.  Several of us neighbors (sailors all) boarded the boat and found another anchor which we deployed by way of a dinghy.  For you Rocna/Manson fans, That’s what the trawler had out.  In all fairness it must be said, .  “Even a Rocna or a Manson won’t hold in 12 feet of water with 30 feet of chain.”

No Name is really a very comfortable place to be.  It’s part of a State Park with walking trails, tropical flowers, birds and a lighthouse.  It’s only a mile from downtown Biscayne Bay and a shopping center.

So, we’re well on our way.  As soon as the weather settles, we’re Bimini bound!

Goodbye winter!

BIMINI, PART C

             

When we returned to Bimini, we figured we’d stay a week or 10 days. As always, plans are written in sand at low tide. Two catamarans arrived with University of Tennessee students on spring break.  What a great group of young men and women.  All very serious sailors, they partied hard but were still ready to go to work when the need arose.

   While friends were able to leave for points east we were waiting for good crossing weather to the west.  As their slips were emptied new boaters arrived and we had another group of people to meet and swap stories with.  We had a great group—Midori, Footloose, Tehani, Panacea, Tekla Bramble. Lagniappe and many more.  

  Social life at Blue Water was in high gear.  Group walks on the beach in the afternoon, sundowners by the pool in the evenings, walking tours of the island, potluck dinners, lobster fests etc. 

 

The first rule of boating--Don't hit anything hard!

 The Great Rum Tasting began as a marina wide event but soon attracted folks from the other marinas, the anchorage and resort at the Big Game Club. 

  A couple of blows kept us and our friends tied to the docks but didn’t put a damper on the fun. 

 One brave soul took to the surf with his kite.

 The folks at the Big Game Club provided “entertainment” every day at 4 or so.  They threw bait to the bull sharks. 

 We could see them up close and personal dockside.  And to think, I spent an hour in the water changing the zinc on the prop shaft!

  Our 10 day stay stretched into three weeks.  If only this could last forever!  Oh, it does.  The scene recreates itself at every cruising destination.  Stuck but not marooned.  Just another lousy day in Paradise!

            “Mornin’ Glory.”  That’s what Kathleen says to me.  Then, we met Glorious (that’s really his name).  “Mornin’ Glorious.”

Mango Daiquiri!  Blend up some frozen mango, fill a glass to overflowing, pour on some rum.

   Deewishus!