Bimini to Warderick Wells to Big Majors Spot

Late Tuesday morning, January 3^rd, we left Bimini headed for West Bay on New Providence Island.  OUR DIAMOND and SEA JULES left at the same time; it was nice to have buddy boats.  We checked in with each other every hour through the night.  This was reassuring and much healthier than my usual habit of rewarding myself with a piece of candy every hour. I find it easier to stay awake if there is anticipation of some sort of treat within the next 60 minutes.

 I am starting to enjoy overnight sails. This one was very pleasant. The sunset was spectacular and we were able to see Venus and Mars in a line below the moon.  The view of the stars was amazing with no light pollution.  There were so many stars visible it was hard to see the constellations.

We spent Wednesday anchored at West Bay.  We did not go ashore as most of the area is privately owned, and we were tired so most of the day involved naps.  Thursday morning we had planned to leave around 7:30 to head for Norman’s Cay, but a squall blew through so we had a second cup of coffee and waited until the weather cleared around 9:00.  We sailed for a few hours until the wind died.  While we were motoring along Bill caught a fish. We rarely fish, and are rarely successful when we do put a line in the water, so this was an exciting experience for us.  I hope that even if we become successful fishermen the excitement does not wear off. Once again we realized how lucky we are when we watched another gorgeous sunset over beautiful water while eating a delicious fish that we had caught.

Friday morning was flat calm.  The water is so clear it looks like the boat is sitting on glass. We could see the anchor very clearly buried in the sand.  It is much easier to check the anchor here than at home! 

Luckily the Exuma Land and Sea Park had a mooring available in the North Mooring Field at Warderick Wells. The wind is supposed to be around 30 knots on Sunday so we will wait out the cold front on a mooring. Warderick Wells is one of our favorite places. The water is clear, the snorkeling is great, and there are nice hikes on the island.

Friday afternoon, after 102 days of traveling, we finally went snorkeling for the first time this trip.  We drifted with the dinghy over coral heads and saw stingrays, Southern rays, a turtle, a mahogany grouper, and a variety of other decorative fish. 

Saturday we hiked up to Boo Boo Hill in the morning. Over the years hundreds, if not thousands, of cruisers have left bits of wood with their boat names written on them in a pile at the top of the hill.  A section of hill has holes eroded in it down to the sea. The sound of wind blowing through the holes sounds like the moaning of ghosts from the crew of a ship that was shipwrecked here a couple of hundred years ago. On stormy days the holes shoot water into the air.

 It was too windy to snorkel comfortably so we relaxed in the afternoon then went to the potluck on shore in the evening. All of the moorings were full because the wind will be very strong for the next several days so there was a big turnout for the party on the beach with plenty of food.

Late Saturday night we had a good view of a dramatic thunderstorm in the distance before the expected cold front hit early Sunday morning. The winds were 25-30 knots with higher gusts all of Sunday.  Monday the winds were still in the 20-25 knot range with gusts over 30.  The crew from the boat next to us tried to go ashore in their dinghy. Their dinghy motor failed next to the small island in the anchorage. Luckily they were able to wash ashore and stay there safely until the park rangers could get to them and tow them back to their boat.

Tuesday the winds were still over 20 knots all day.  We thought about trying to get ashore but realized the dinghy ride would be like going through a car wash in a convertible so we spent another day on the boat working on miscellaneous small boat chores.  Bill practiced splicing and learned how to tie new knots while I was knitting.  Although it is frustrating to be stuck on the boat in a place with such great hiking and snorkeling it is comforting to have the security of being tied to a mooring.  Sitting in a protected harbor looking at the beautiful water and seeing waves on the windward side of the island splash 20 feet in the air is not a bad way to sit out bad weather. 

Rainbows were the high point of Wednesday morning.  The wind was still 20-30 knots all day.  The rain squalls in the morning were intense with the rain blowing sideways.  After each squall we saw fantastic rainbows, so it was worth the bad weather.  In the afternoon we moved to a mooring that was more protected, and closer to shore, so we were able to dinghy in and go for a hike.  The waves crashing on the windward side of the island were sending salt spray hundreds of feet inland.  We could barely see through the salt on our glasses by the time we were done with the hike.

As usual this week the wind was over 20 knots on Thursday.  We went for a short hike in the morning. In order to keep out of the spray we had hoped to hike on the leeward side of the island, however, connecting the trails requires walking on the beach at low tide and it was high tide. 

We are starting to get used to the wind, which is not supposed to stop for several more days, so we decided to go to the Staniel Cay area.  We have plenty of food, but the meal choices are somewhat limited and slightly weird, so the lure of a grocery store was enough to convince me to untie from a mooring. When you start discussing whether a meal of corned beef hash and spaghetti would be edible it is time to go shopping! 

The sail to Staniel Cay was great. We were doing 6.5 to 7 knots with only a reefed jib.  We ended up anchoring at Big Majors Spot next to “pig beach”.   The locals have let pigs loose on the island and it has become a strangely popular tourist attraction.  The pigs have figured out that the cruisers will feed them and hang out on the beach hoping for handouts.

Bimini

At 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday, December 28th we left the anchorage outside of No Name Harbor and finally headed for the Bahamas. We only had about 5 -10 knots of wind, so it was a motor-sail (mostly motor) across the Gulf Stream to Bimini. The seas were mostly calm so it was a nice easy crossing. OUR DIAMOND and SEA JULES left about two hours after we did. It was nice to be in radio contact with friends on the crossing.

The color of the water is amazing. The deep water is a dark blue then as the water becomes shallow it is every shade of light blue.  The flying fish put on a show, unfortunately one very small one misjudged its flight path and landed on deck. 

We did not have reservations for a marina and none of the marinas answered on the radio.  When we came by Brown's Marina for the second time one of the cruisers tied up at the dock yelled to us that there was room and helped us tie up. 

We have spent hours every day walking around the island, which is a very good thing considering how much we have been eating.  Miss Jennifer sells home cooked meals out of her tiny car parked outside the craft market.  Each meal is $10 and there is more than enough food for two people.  The first day we had fry fish, rice and peas, mac and cheese, and plantains. The second day we had barbeque chicken, rice and conch, mac and cheese, and plantains. The third day we had stuffed lobster, rice and conch, mac and cheese, and plantains.  On Sunday we went to the bakery and bought Bimini Coconut Bread. I have no words to describe the deliciousness of this bread.

QUEST, the powerboat in the next slip, has a fast tender and invited us to join them on the sand bar on Saturday afternoon.  They have a black flat haired retriever and a blond flat haired retriever puppy. The dogs had a great time playing in the shallows and rolling in the sand.  On Sunday QUEST again invited us for a boat ride and took us through the maze like channels in the mangroves to the Martin Luther King marker showing where he wrote his I Have A Dream speech.  The water in the channels is crystal clear so we were able to see fish, rays, and turtles. 

Saturday afternoon was spent touring the Dolphin House museum.  The three story building is built entirely of recycled materials that are left over from building sites, found at the dump, or washed up on the beach.  The third floor is under construction. The building is a good example of how often we look but do not see.  In the middle of the floor was a pile of what looked like junk. The builder explained that it was his building material and pointed out the pieces of tile, bottles, and wood that he would incorporate into the designs that cover the building.

New Year's Eve was spent on SEA JULES with OUR DIAMOND enjoying a good meal, good company, and a mostly friendly game of marbles.  When we returned to our marina we stayed up until midnight with a group of cruisers.  This is the first time in years we have stayed up.

Bimini has been a nice place to wait out the cold front and its 20-25 knots of wind.  We are now waiting for the weather to settle down so we can head for the Exumas. .