Jan 15
Friday afternoon we escaped the gravitational pull of the beautiful Florida Keys and headed out for the Bahamas! Our first leg of the journey would be a short overnight off shore to Key Biscayne, Miami. We carefully timed our arrival for Saturday morning at the inlet…our friends and buddy boat, Rob and Juliet(Sea LaVie) would be departing Miami to join us. Not long after sunrise, we began our crossing to Bimini, our first stop and official check in for our Bahama adventure.
The crossing took around 6hrs. The sky was clear and the seas favorable, mostly. A few hours of the trip were spicey, but definitely not too bad. It was fun having Sea LaVie along with us. We are new friends, only briefly met at our last rendezvous, but nothing solidifies a relationship quite as quickly as the shared stress of figuring out all requirements for international travel, especially with dogs, planning travel, covid testing and sharing information. We literally had not seen them since meeting them in October, and yet by the time we set foot on shore in the Bahamas, it felt as if we’d known them for years.
We landed at Big Game Marina on Bimini. Initially they had us in a slip that was waaay to small, but like Goldilocks, we eventually found one that was “just right”. Once we were tied up, Scott and Rob set about getting us cleared through customs. Upon entering the Bahamas boats need to fly a yellow “quarantine” flag, until cleared. Only the captain is allowed off the both until all the paperwork is processed. All the work filling out forms and documents online through Click2Clear, paid off and they were soon back to the boats. We raised our Bahama visitor flag, walked the dogs and had celebratory adult beverages.
Jan 16/17
The morning greeted us with an odd bit of chill, but perfect for exploring the island. We found a beach and enjoyed our first Kalik (local beer) and fried conch. The white beaches were dotted with outcroppings of rocks pitted from crashing waves. By late afternoon we were treated to a rainstorm. Normally we give Miller Time a de-salting wash down after a cruise, but water is costly here. We were thrilled to have a God sent rinse down. Rain storms are always a welcome excuse for napping.
Big Game Marina, and really all of Bimini, is known for being a great place to base out of for offshore fishing. This might explain the excessive population of rather large Bull sharks that frequent the docks. When anglers return to clean their catches, the scraps are easy meals for the local sharks. The docks display numerous signs reminding everyone why swimming is NOT recommended from the marina. We only stayed a short 3 days waiting for weather. On one of our walks we accidentally made new friends. Two stray dog decided we were “their people” for a two mile walk around town. Bahamian strays are not uncommon. Potcakes are mixed breed dogs that roam freely. They are named for the overcooked portion of rice found at the bottom of a pot used to make a traditional rice and peas. The caked rice was tossed to feed the dogs. They are always of good temperament. When Thing One and Thing Two came up to us we were careful to not encourage them following us…but they determinedly kept pace. Folks were stopping and telling us to be careful having “our dogs” off leash on the busy road. One fella hollered at us that he had chickens in his yard and to not let “our dogs” see them. Sigh…we tried to out maneuver Thing One and Thing Two but to no avail. As we got closer to the marina we began to worry they would follow us to the boat. Thankfully they got distracted by an abandoned boat. Once out of sight we ran like actors from an action movie trying out run/hide from bad guys and were able to shake them.
Not sure if it was due to Covid or that we were there early in their season, but many of the recommended “must see/do” things were closed. Still, a sweet place to stop and take a breath after crossing with easy customs procedures and access to places to acquire ALIV sim cards, needed to have connectivity in the islands.
Jan 18
We took the local ferry over to the South Bimini. The “ferry” is just a large pontoon boat used to shuttle people, gear and even motorcycles across the narrow passage to the next island. We heard the beaches here were amazing, so we packed lunches and headed for adventure…..we failed to ask a lot of questions about distances. Did I mention little Daisy joined us for his jaunt? Daisy is Sea LaVie’s furry first mate. An elderly/petite schnoodle, she was a trooper as we trudged a total of 7 miles this day…but it was worth it. We did some exploring ( A.K.A “got a bit lost”) and enjoyed a picnic lunch on the beautiful beach. At the entrance of the trail to the beach I found a painted rock! I love thinking about who painted it and where they were from? Were they local, or visitors like us? I brought it back to the boat…we plan to place it somewhere unexpected on our journey. This walk/forced fun march of over 7 miles would become the standard to which all our other walks would be measured. Hence forth every walk/bike ride will be met with “____ miles? No problem, we’ve survived the South Bimini Seven Miler”.
Jan 19
As the sun rose we prepared to leave Bimini for a long passage to an anchorage just outside Great Harbor Marina.
The guys were super excited to fish on our way over. We dropped lines and trolled most of the day. Keeping our radios queued to the same channel, they shared plenty of “ones that got away” stories and success stories. Rob caught a huge barracuda. Barracuda are non-discriminating consumers. This means they eat ALL the things, and are a significant risk of having ciguatera, a bad news/food poison like toxin. The risk is greater in larger fish, so Rob’s barracuda was sent back to his home. Scott’s first fish was a smallish mackerel looking thing. We made the mistake of not having a fish identification sheet handy. Not sure what it was, and mindful that the size may have been an issue, we let him go. When I got a snippet of cell connectivity, I quickly searched our fish….not enough bandwidth, but found the image and a single line “rare delicacy” before the connection dropped. When Scott hooked the next one it was much larger and we kept him! NOTE: Charlie has learned a new and VERY helpful skill. When a fish gets on the line in the back of the boat, he hears the whirling/zing of the line feeding out before we do and alerts us by running back there and barking. This is very helpful since we need to quickly slow the boat for reeling and to reduce the chance of it popping off the hook!
My new knitting hobby continues…finally finished my “practice” piece and am now working on a scarf/cowl for my daughter. I am enjoying the relaxing repetition and its easy to do in while underway.
We made it to our anchorage just before sunset. Plenty of room and light for finding a good spot. Once settled, we offloaded the dinghy to get the dogs to shore before nightfall. Once at anchor we were able to get connectivity so I further research our catch. It was a Cero Mackerel. The smaller of the Mackerel family, but highly sought after for sushi. It is known for being less oily than other mackerel, and perfect for sashimi. We would need to freeze it for a few days(to kill bacteria) in order to eat it as sushi, so we opted to cook it.. I learned how to debone the filets of their tiny rib bones. It was surprising how much meat this little guy supplied. We had enough for four large filets. We seasoned some with garlic and butter for grilling AND still had plenty for fish bites fried in coconut oil! YUUUMMMMY. Scott dinghied some over to share with Rob and Juliet. It was a wonderful end to our cruising day.
Jan 20/21
We deployed both our dinghies and began to explore our new home for the next few weeks. Charlie welcomed being able to run on shore again and we had fun checking out all the islands nooks and crannies before heading into the marina. We took a dinghy into the marina for the day to check out our slips and get a good lay of the land…SOOOOOO glad we did! The entrance to Great Harbor Marina is practically hidden until you are right in front of it. Like an eerie scene from an Indiana Jones movie, the passage mystically appears. It is a manmade narrow cut through rock cliffs. Approaching with Miller Time would have been a bit nervy, but once we knew what to expect it was easy enough. Tied up the dinghy in the marina and headed off to find Sugar Beach. Yep, aptly named the beach was along stretch of sugar sand. On our way back to the marina, Quincy”Q” a dock hand at the marina, passed us in the marina’s pick up truck. He stopped and asked if we wanted a ride…YES! Hopped in the back for a quick ride back.
After scouting out the marina, getting into our slip was easy peasy. King and Q are thoughtful, funny and helpful always. Our slip backs into the dock facing the bathhouse. At first one may think this is a bad view or lacking slip…but I have never been more happy to be near the marina bathhouse! Marinas do not have pump outs and water is costly, so being in a slip requires careful stewardship of resources. Easy access to showers, restrooms off the boat makes it easy to save our supplies. (Loving long showers on shore after beach days)
For some odd reason the marina cats like our boat…Charlie is not a fan, but they do not seem to care. He has succeeded we think in finally chasing them off enough that they at least no longer sleep on our flybridge.
Great Harbor was once a favorite hang-out of the Hollywood elite. Bridget Bardot even has a beach named for her. We found the remnants of the fancy club house that hosted the likes of Sammy Davis Jr., Sinatra, Dean Martin and the rest of the Brat Pack. The golf course is no longer operational, but the greens are still mowed and people enjoy playing a few rounds on the unmarked course. The golf course is also a great short cut to the beaches and a perfect place for the dogs to run.
On our morning walks with Charlie we did some Easter egg hunting…Scott figured folks would tend to slice their shorts frequently in certain areas, so we hunted for errant balls abandoned in the thickets lining the course. We found three and later on another day Rob found another. I did a bit of research on golf balls and found that at least one was probably from the 1960s.
Highlights of our time at Great Harbor:
- Grill and chill hosted by the marina. Local restauranter , Collie Mae, brought in BBQ, chonch chowder and fixins. Ordered in the morning then folks gather around the pavilion for pick up and meet and greets
- The guys enjoying fishing around the island (sadly not catching)
- Exploring jungle paths with Juliet to find Bardot beach
- Floating in glass clear water and soaking up sunshine and great conversation with a new friend
- Ice cream bars after a really long bike ride around the island on a hot day
- Daily walks and runs with Scott on trails nearby
- Sunday football viewing on Sea Lavie, complete with chicken wings the guys scored from a local place(Hammerheads) followed by pear crisp(a great second life for soon to be overripe pears)
- Ordering homemade raisin bread/coconut bread at the marina office, which arrive later that day.
- The BEST French toast with afore mentioned bread!
- Trips to the local A&L grocery after the mail truck delivered fresh items
- Meeting Tameco. A local who helps a the marina but has a side hustle making and selling baskets
- Conch salad, fresh fish, and rice from Browns
- Lots and lots of walking
- Game nights with Rob and Juliet (quicky learning playing with New Yorkers is a tad different than playing with our New England/Florida folks HAHA)
- Allllll the long walks and bike rides and great conversations getting to know Rob and Juliet.
Yesterday’s adventure began with some docking excitement!
Rob was once a TV executive director. He has found a new avenue for his creative skillset. While helping another boat buddy(Bob on Liberdade) move his boat through a lock, he gathered video of the process. Bob was using something called Dock Mate. Dock Mate is a cool device that allows a captain to remotely control systems from anywhere on the boat. No longer tethered to the helm, the captain can move about the boat for better views for handling lines, maneuvering, driving or docking the boat from the palm of the hand. Rob put the video together in such a professional way that the company asked him to create more for them. So while on our journey together we get to see him capture, curate and produce more content showing the Dock Mate in use. Juliet, in her excitement after seeing the dock mate in use on Bob’s boat, had said “this is a game changer, even I could dock the boat”….pretty sure she regrets that statement now, because it was such a valuable concept that Rob figured Her docking would make a perfect video for Dock Mate. That is how we found ourselves aboard Sea LaVie yesterday morning preparing to help them leave the dock and come back in to dock with Juliet at the controls. And YES Dock Mate does give the handler great advantages…but it does NOT instantaneously eliminate the anxiety of docking a rather large boat.
Juliet’s stress level was probably proportional to Rob’s enthusiasm. Cameras at the ready, video rolling, GoPro affixed, she handled it like a BOSS. Adding to the endeavor’s pressure, the dock was soon lined with folks watching her dock. Rob was everywhere making sure to capture all the angles and aspects as he and Scott guided her through the process. When at last she had expertly nestled the boat into the slip, “director Rob” announced, “okay, lets do it again”. Though I am certain that was the last thing she wanted to do, Juliet tucked away her anxiety and headed back out for round two. She managed to maintain her calm, control the boat, handle the guys talking her through it, have cameras pointed at her or on her, and Rob asking her questions to help provoke some helpful sound bites for the final product all while looking adorable! As soon as the effort was done, I went back to my boat and made that girl a special adult beverage…yes it was not noon yet, yes it had rum in it, but YES she deserved it! Cant wait to see what the finished product looks like.
“It’ll lay down around the corner.” Scott has said this to me throughout all our boating years. When the sea state is unfavorable, the ride uncomfortable or worrisome, he reminds me that it is temporary. It is often true. The direction and strength of the wind/waves can quickly change as we round a bend and find a more protected seas. The long standing joke is that at times when he says this the “corner” we will eventually round to find relief is often a long way off…miles or even days away! As we left Great Harbor today we had some pretty choppy conditions…we had to head North around the island to head South toward Nassau. I found comfort in his words as he proclaimed, “It’ll lay down around the corner”! This day the “ corner” was not far away and soon we were enjoying our journey.
Today I thought about how much life is like that. How often do we find ourselves in difficult days, striving, discouraged, challenged, heart broken, maybe a bit tossed about. I suppose it is true still, “It’ll lay down around the corner”….it will pass, we will heal, we will grow, we will find joy, we will get back up, we will move onward. Sometimes when I feel like my life is crashing through endless waves, I can hear God say, “It’ll lay down around the corner…trust Me with your journey”.
Overboard! 