Hanging out in Ft Lauderdale boat yard

This 85' yacht makes us look small

   We've spent the last week hanging out in a boat yard in Ft Lauderdale on the New River in the area known as Marina Mile.  This is where all the big yachts (& little guys like us) come to have any and all work done on their boats.  We a have few things on our list that need to be done to the boat before we start our cruise home to TN.  Everyday is very interesting here.  Yachts come in, yachts go out; big ones & small ones.  Across from us is the infamous Bradford Boat Yard where the mega-yachts go.  No place to walk to here, so fortunately we have our minivan with us (left with friends while we were in the Bahamas).  Otherwise, we are surrounded by many boat stores, Divers Direct, and lots of yummy restaurants!  The weather is not as hot as it was this summer, so we are enjoying our time in the area.  (Oh yeah - Ft Lauderdale Boat Show is next weekend!  good timing!)

Back in the United States

Blue skies & calm, blue waters - leaving Bimini

   Weather.  As boat cruisers moving from place to place, this a always a very important aspect of our days.  When cruising on the river, or even on parts of the ICW, it is not a big deal.  When crossing large bodies of water (like the Atlantic Ocean), it is a very big deal.  When a really good weather day comes along (temps, sun, waves, wind), you grab it.  As we have been watching the weather carefully since we've been moving around the Bahamas, we decided to grab this gorgeous Saturday to cruise back to the States.  We had really planned to stay in Bimini longer, but couldn't pass up the perfect crossing today.  And it was!  Sunny skies with minimal wind.  The sea for the first 35 miles were practically flat!  In the Gulf Stream, we picked up about 1 foot waves, then they dropped again as we got near Port Everglades inlet.  Of course, when we got close to the inlet, every crazy boat driver was there to greet us again.  Some of these people are very rude, but that is another story.  The 50 mile stretch between Ft Lauderdale/Miami & Bimini is very busy.  We saw boats of all sizes all day.

So, our 2.5 months in the Bahamas has come to an end.  We had a great time, met some really nice people, saw some beautiful (& poor) places, and learned to live a little more conscience of our water & electric usage.  After a full day's travel, we are safely docked down the New River in Ft Lauderdale.

Total miles today:  65nm

Total miles traveled:  1,800 nm

Total cruising days: 28

Barge 

First cruise ship 

Even larger cruise ship! 

Carmival Freedom ship trying to leave Port Everglades with lots of traffic

Dinghy ride around Bimini

Sand bar in Bimini

   The boys & I wanted to check out the little island we've staring at the past couple days.  We knew it was very shallow around it, so decided to take the dinghy and check it out.  As we approached, we saw grassy bottom, then sandy bottom and it got shallow quickly.  We hopped out in mid-calf deep water and pulled the dinghy up on the sand bar.  Not a lot to see, but we walked carefully around.  Saw a pretty conch shell (with live conch inside) & Matthew spotted a small jellyfish.  We got back in the dinghy to attempt to reach to reach the island form the north - too shallow.  So we tried to cruise around from the south, but still too shallow, so we gave up and went back to the dock.  A short trip, but nice.  After we got back in the dinghy and in 4 feet of water, Thomas saw a small shark.

Cruising to the island 

Looking back at the docks

Holly Goodhead docked at Browns Marina

Alice Town, Bimini, Bahamas

Welcome to Alice Town, North Bimini, Bahamas

   Thursday, we decided to take a walk into town to get some lunch and see what North Bimini island has to offer.  There are 2 main streets that seem to run north/south for the length of the island.  We followed a sign to the beach (2 min walk) and found the library (small).  We continued on the path and ended up at Sherry's Grill on the beach.  Looks like a good place for lunch - conch salad (David is addicted!), conch fritters, and fried chicken for the kids.  The winds were very strong (glad we came in the day before!), so the waves on the beach were a little rough.  No swimming today.  We left there and continued our walk north along the beach road.  Then we cut back over to the main road where the stores were.  Small places. Found a grocery store (ok selection).  Some cars here, but most people get around by golf cart!  You can rent them to get around.  Good place to ride bicycles, too.

Bimini Library 

David enjoying beer & conch salad on beach 

Sherry's Grill on the beach 

Found the high school!

Brown's Marina, Bimini, Bahamas

Rainbow on crossing to Bimini

   Yesterday, we cruised to our next, and probably final, island in the Bahamas chain we will visit on this trip.  We left Great Harbour Cay in the Berry Islands at 8:30am and cruised 90 nm west to Bimini Islands (just 45 miles east of Miami).  We had a beautiful day!  The sun was shining and the waves were as predicted - only about 1 foot going basically in the direction we were cruising.  We went through one very brief rain shower, which created the beautiful rainbow in the picture.  We arrived in Bimini just in time to watch the sun set.  The water here is such a pretty color!  so clear!  When we got off the boat to walk down the dock to the marina office, we saw a sting ray swim by.  We saw a star fish at the bottom, then we saw a shark swim by!  This is a cool place!

Total miles today:  90nm

Total miles traveled:  1,735 nm

Total cruising days: 27

Driving around Great Harbour Cay island

Jeep for the day

   Above is our transportation for the day - a small, barely 4 passenger jeep with no radio, no a/c, manual drive, and no shocks or power steering. But this is an adventure!!  So, with very basic map in hand (streets have no names), we started off by first getting gas for the jeep.  It was on empty, so we told the guy to put 10 gal in it - it only took 7.5.  There only one place on the island to get fuel - for your boat or car, same place.  Fuel tank full, we set off for the east side of the island and the road that traverses the entire 7 mile length of the island.  Except for occasional houses on the east side sitting on the beach, there is not much to see.  

We stopped at Sugar Caves beach access and walked down to the beach.  Beautiful!  Since the weather has been very windy lately, the water on the east coast is very choppy and lot of seaweed has washed up on shore, and the waves were crashing heavily over the rocks.  We did enjoy exploring them, though, we could not go in the cave.  From there, we drove out toward the airport (small commuter planes land here) and across the street to Beach Club ocean side restaurant.  There was a wonderful breeze, and we were able to cool off with cold drinks sitting by the ocean (temps are still high 80's here).  After a delicious lunch, we set off to check out the "town" area on the west side of the island.  A couple grocery stores (very small), a couple small restaurants, a school, a couple churches - that's it!  Quaint, quiet island.  

We returned back to the marina (which is also where rented our jeep).  We had been gone 3 hours (including time for lunch and beach), and barely used any of the gas we had put in the car!  A fun adventure.

Fueling up the rental jeep 

A back road we decided to try 

Sand Cave 

Beautiful view from top 

Jill & Thomas looking out over the ocean 

Sand Caves beach 

David looking at ocean on Sand Beach 

Drinks at Beach Club 

A & L grocery store 

David driving jeep

Boys in back of jeep

Great Harbour Cay, Berry Islands, Bahamas!!

Great Harbour Cay Marina welcome

   After 2 months on Grand Bahama Island exploring, eating, swimming, scuba diving, & making new friends, we decided to venture on to explore more islands in the Bahamas.  We had been watching the weather for the past week and Tuesday looked like a really good day (because the next week look too rough on the water).  Unfortunately, a storm front came through during the night which we thought would delay today's departure.  Thankfully by 8:30am, it had past and was barely raining.  So, we said final goodbyes to our wonderful Canadian friends and cruised out into the ocean and into Port Lucaya to fuel up and pump out the head.  The seas had looked a little bumpy, but we thought we would be ok.  So, back out we went into the ocean for our 65 mile journey south to the Berry Islands. The seas were kinda bumpy (we all arrived a little nauseated), 2-4ft waves near Freeport, then 1-2 ft seas the rest of the way.  We have heard that while there is not much to do here in the Berry Islands, but the beaches are beautiful.  We look forward to relaxing here for awhile.

Total miles today:  68nm

Total miles traveled:  1,645 nm

Total cruising days: 26

Entrance to Great Harbour Cay 

Entering marina

Matthew rides 2-wheel bicycle!

Matthew, Thomas & Mom bicycle into Port Lucaya

   Now that we have sent Nana the video showing her this amazing feat, I can post pictures!  A few weeks ago, Thomas taught his brother how to ride a 2-wheel bicycle (no training wheels!) using our friend Donovan's bike.  Only took him 4 days!  Matthew is so excited to be able to join us riding around town.  And, Donovan decided he didn't want the bicycle anymore, so he sold it to Matthew for a very reasonable price.  Now, Matthew has a bicycle to ride on this trip, too.   (we still need 2 bikes for Mom & Dad - where will we put everything?!)

Matthew riding into town 

Matthew riding motorized bike

Field trip: Motorized bicycle tour

Tony teaches us about conch

   Friday, the boys and I went on a tour of the area with CocoNuts motorized bicycle tour.  Matthew was a little short, so while Thomas & I rode motorized bicycles with one guide, Matthew rode in the van with the other guide taking pictures of us.  They took us to one of the beaches where we met Tony who taught us about the conch, how it grows in its shell, and how the locals get them out of their shell for us to eat.  Alfredo also told us about some of the history of the Bahamas - how they got their name (Christopher Columbus called them "baja mar", shallow sea), who the original inhabitants were (Taino Indians from S. America), and where the current natives came from (slaves from various English groups).  From there, we rode further east to Fortuna Beach where we had lunch at Banana Bay restaurant and enjoyed the view of the beautiful beach.  We had a blast!

Taino Beach 

Tony Macaroni's restaurant for conch 

Bahama Bay at Fortuna Beach with Alfredo & Genie

Birthday week

   This week, David & Jill both celebrate their birthdays.  We went to the Flying Fish in Port Lucaya for casual Sunday out on their deck.  It was a beautiful evening and Chef Tim entertained us with his guitar and singing.  On David's birthday, we went scuba diving on a very cool wreck.

Shrimp Cerviche appetizer 

Chef Tim entertaining us 

Sushi Roll 

Banana Tempura with ice cream