Time to Cruise
Crossing into the darkness, leaving the bright neon lights and glow of Miami behind, we motored into a clear calm sea and across the Gulf Stream for the first time. Tanner and I took the 1st watch, late into the night. The most exciting thing that happened was a call from the Norwegian Dawn on the VHF. We had been watching this behemoth glide across the dark sea in the distance when their captain hailed us to make a course adjustment to allow them cross in front of our vessel. The biggest waves that night came from its wake, tossing our 40 foot catamaran back and forth like a ducky in a turbulent bath before we settled back down. It was exciting and Topher slept through the whole thing. Big Daddy woke up to a pale pink dawn with Bimini just minutes away. Tanner and I had been awake on excitement and anticipation, so we sailed us, the Travelers 3, all the way to Bimini. Then we slept.
The docking…I chuckle as I write the words because we probably looked like we needed a little hand. It was 7:00 am and we were sure the dockmaster was going to come out and grab our dock lines, but he did not come out. So, on to plan B. Picture in your mind, me on the last rung of the ladder over the side of our boat, with one leg stretched out as far as I could reach in an attempt to leap onto the dock to catch the lines from Tanner. Meanwhile, Topher was backing our double wide (multihull) into a new dock for the first time ever. Fast forward 10 minutes – a bunch of forward and reverse and yelling orders and we had safely docked while managing to look like the Shriners driving very small cars at the 4th of July parade.
Exploration of North and South Bimini
We walked about ½ a mile in the balmy morning heat over the gravel road to the water taxi taking folks from South Bimini to North Bimini. This was the first time we were wide-eyed and amazed by the crystal-clear bright blue and turquoise water color. The water was stunningly pretty. Golf carts were the main mode of transportation, but we walked down the narrow street past pastel-colored buildings and found ourselves looking at bull sharks in the channel at the Big Game Club that were looking for some handouts from the fishermen cleaning fish on the dock.
There is a dive operator/researcher there and this location is famous for bull sharks. The BBC was filming a live stream for shark week, and they were in the water with these beautiful, misunderstood, but sometimes aggressive sharks. We met the researchers from Neal Watson and were able to book a hammerhead shark feeding dive the next day.
The hammerheads of South Bimini are spectacular. The dive boat left this small port in the morning. After a short ride with eight other brave divers clad in neoprene with giant underwater dive cameras, we anchored close to shore. The first mate prepped the chum as we got ready for our giant stride into the deep blue to experience the majesty of these magnificent hammerheads. There were 20 or more gentle nurse sharks circling the back of the vessel to feast on the chum. “Splash”, the dive assistant was off to the bottom with the chum box and we waited for the hammerheads to be sighted. Finally, with PVC sticks in hand, we were over-weighted and lined up on the bottom behind the feeder waiting for our first look at the giant sharks. There were nurse sharks swarming around the bait box and the diver who did the feeding. He pushed off the nurse sharks gently so he could make room for the hammerheads and then…there came a gray shadow from deep in the distance growing larger by the second and then I could make out its head and huge body. It was coming straight for the bait and we were just feet away. It was thrilling and I was in awe. This was an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime bucket list experience, and I was sharing it with my love just beside me. The sharks were 14 feet long with wide muscular bodies. First just one and then another. We were able to watch them for over an hour. They would circle and eat and swim in front of us and just above our heads. Over and over again we were witness to their behavior and movements. We did have a PVC pipe for protection. We were told that if a shark is coming straight for you to simply bang them in the nose with the end of the pole, and that this rarely happens. I felt safe. This is a research organization and if people died doing it, then it would not be allowed to continue. We basked in the glory of sharks and in the memories we would always have of this hammerhead adventure.
Less exciting than hammerheads, but just as important to our Bimini experience, are bread and sea glass. The Bahamians are known for their bread, which is fresh-baked every day in mouth-watering flavors. We tried guava the first day, hot out of the oven. I was hooked and I don’t eat bread in general. It was almost like cotton candy, only hot bread – just so delicious. I cradled the warm loaf under my arm calling it my baby and parsed out how much I would let my dear family have, while I vowed not to eat any more myself, but it was irresistible. Then there was the guava duff. This bread is made with fresh ripe guava and cream cheese. It would be my first pick on a diet cheat day, warm, sweet and gooey.
On to the seaglass of North Bimini. We walked along the beach past Charles bakery and found a beautiful long white sand beach. Hand in hand we walked until hubs spotted sea glass, then he forgot I was there as he went searching merrily through the surf and found a beautiful bounty of sea glass. I think it is beautiful – both the sea glass and how much joy Topher seems to have searching for the beautiful treasures.
All good things must come to an end?
It was the evening prior to our departure for the Berry Islands and we just needed to top up on fuel before our dawn departure when we heard “Crunch”. It was a calm, beautiful twilight evening in the marina as we were slowly gliding the Cat into the fuel dock. Slow is the way to go, yet our stern end was drifting out a bit and Topher placed the starboard engine in reverse to bring it closer to the fuel dock. Only, I heard it rev, but it did not go closer to the fuel dock, the boat lurched forward. Yes, crunch happened. We lost the reverse shifter cable. It snapped and our new life went revving in forward when we had it in reverse and smashed into some rocks at the Marina. This led us to a fun story about Dookie the Fiberglass Man.
After we are safely tied up at the fuel dock, a gentleman walks over casually with a beer in hand and he says, “I see you have a little problem here. I am Dookie the Fiberglass Man, and I will be back to help you in the morning.” Help us he did by fixing our above the water line crack in the bow with a beautiful fiberglass patch that lasted us the season. What a pro and a godsend, but we still had the problem of the snapped shifter cable, which meant we couldn’t drive the Cat out of the marina.
No access to stuff you need
Here came my first experience with island life. I thought the dock master would realize we needed help getting the part. Visitors problems are definitely not their problems and they would not even call the one store on the north island that might have a replacement cable. So, Tanner and I went looking for the part on our own at Brown’s Marina. We got there and they were not open and nobody knew when they might be open and it was 11:00 on a Wednesday. We went to get back to the dinghy and the dock broke beneath my feet! I fell head first into the water with my now bleeding right leg the last to enter. A person nearby shouted, “Hey lady, you better not stay in the water long. There are sharks in there”. This solidified my faith in god and my guardian angels. I fell with velocity, and had I fallen onto something, it would have punctured me. My leg still hurts today from the puncture on the dock that gave way, but I am alive to tell the story. With no luck at the store, we had to order the part and it came over in four days via a day late ferry from Ft Lauderlade. At least we were at a pretty place while stranded.
The infinity pool at the Bimini Sands Marina overlooks the ocean and is a nice place to convalesce and play water football with your son or anybody else who comes to gather. We spent the next four days meeting the locals, taking long walks, and playing with everyone we could at the beautiful infinity pool. Dusk was a hide-and-seek game with the bugs. The marina said their bug sprayer was broken, so being outside at sunset was at your own risk. We saw some beautiful sunsets covered up in clothes and lemon grass oil, but it was all good.
The part finally came in. To my surprise, customs would not give it to us because the customs agent was too busy. Topher did some sweet talking and after four hours at customs and refusing to leave, he came home with the part. $198.00 of parts cost an additional $250.00 dollars to get into the Bahamas. Robbery… but we could not move without the new cable.
The Journey to the Berry Islands
Our 14 hour journey to the Berry Islands began at dawn with Topher setting two trolling lines into the deep blue sea and catching a lot of fish. That was fun and exciting. Cleaning them, not so much.
In the Berrys, we anchored on the East side of Great Harbor, but the restaurant we went to was closed. We needed ice, and a meal that I did not cook would be a welcome treat. We could either walk or hitch a ride. We walked up to the main road and I put my thumb up in hopes of flag down a truck. The first one stopped and took us to Hammerheads, which had the best conch fritters ever. Tanner devoured a whole fried snapper, served on a plate with the eyeballs and all. It was scrumptious.
Next we were on the go and headed off to Soldier Cay and our first day in the buff. We arrived and anchored at dusk. The next morning we were the only people for miles. We swam to the shore of this uninhabited island and just enjoyed some of the day with no inhibitions. It was wild and fun and tame all at the same time. We found conch and harvested them from the sea. Hubs cracked, cleaned and pounded them and I cooked them up. Yummy, but a lot of work. The next day Tanner made a conch horn with the biggest shell and he has been skillfully blowing it at sunset ever since.
We were then off south to Little Harbor and Flo’s Conch Shack, the only restaurant for miles in this very remote part of the Berry Islands, with only 2 inhabitants plus a dog, chickens and peacocks. In the morning the water was the color of light teal-colored glass. We spent the day on the kayaks and paddle board. It was heavenly natural beauty.
Off to Nassau…
Palm Cay Marina was our first docking at a marina since the crunch and it was crowded. Our bestie Matt Fricke came to visit and delivered some supplies we needed because we learned our lesson with customs and shipping. We had playmates. I love Becky Fricke and the girls. We sailed with them to Allen’s Cay in perfect winds under a sunny sky to see the iguanas. I am talking a lot of iguanas, there were dozens of them, and they all came out to get fed. They wiggled towards us quickly, their dark gray tales swiftly flying back and forth as they came looking for treats. A sea plane landed and motored right up onto the beach, bringing tourists to see the prehistoric looking creatures. As quickly as they came, the pretty yellow sea plane took off using the narrow strip of bright turquoise water as its runway.
Atlantis, the turning point by Tanner Croddy
Atlantis was a turning point in our trip, where we finally seemed to start spending more time enjoying the boat and less time fixing it every day. Atlantis was filled with multi-million dollar yachts from 40 to 200 feet long, 12 to 80 feet wide and 4 to 10 feet deep. However, I am happy with our strong and little Lagoon 400.
After a half-mile walk around the marina up to the casino and to the amazing waterpark, the fun began. First, mom, dad and I grabbed an inner tube that was inflated to our liking and we went down the Rapid River. The Rapid River has nine stops throughout Atlantis and can take you to whereever you want to go. The Rapid River is pushed by artificial currents created by large pumps and angles. Atlantis places a series of curves along the bottom of the Rapid River to create white bubbles and foam at the surface of the water and create the illusion of class one or class two rapids. The first stop of the Rapid River is also the exit. Throughout the stops, they take you to restaurants, bars, pools and slides. There are seven major slides, four of which you go down with inner tubes. The first three inner tube slides are similar, with long curves and drops in turquoise slides. Their names are the Drop, the Falls and the Surge. The fourth, Serpent Slide, is similar for the first half but then you enter a long glass box that goes through an aquarium with nurse sharks, reef sharks and large fish. The other three are almost straight drops down. The first of the other three is in the Abyss. It is straight down and throws you slightly under water. The second one is a race between you and your friend or buddy that is in the light. The third one goes down and then enters the same aquarium as the inner tube through a glass rectangle and then places you out in the sunshine. There are also many other small and large creatures to see. There are tons of fish in the aquariums of all sorts and sizes. Atlantis also has many sting rays and cow nose rays. But the largest of the animals is the great manta ray Cookie.
Separate from the waterpark and the aquarium, there is fun for adults too. Adults can party the night away at clubs with drinks, music and fun. Also, they have a great restaurant selection. My personal favorite is Nobu for its amazing and delicious sushi. However, if there is a cruise ship the resort is quite crowded and the lines are long. Also, you will need reservations for dinner.
One of the best parts about going to Atlantis was taking my aunt Jacqui and cousin Alex there to show it to them and play with them in the water park.
In conclusion, Atlantis is a one-time thing but is really truly amazing for adults as well as children. It is very impressive.
Green and Rose Cays
Green Cay near Nassau had many beautiful turtles in the water. The Island has been set up as a turtle preserve. It was a day to remember swimming with these gentle beings in their own habitat. Rose Cay for snorkeling was also good. We are now anchoring like a boss. That is refreshing because we once looked like a motley crew from the Monte Python Circus.
I want to get to the Exuma chain!
Topher was tired of things breaking and needing to be fixed and was frustrated with the delays in Bimini and in Palm Cay when the starboard side engine decided it would not start on a 4 day Easer holiday break, where they also celebrate Easter Monday. Getting to the shallow clear blue waters of the Exuma Chain was our ultimate goal and Topher was on a mission to see the Cays:
Highborn Cay was first the island has a beautiful U shaped bay where we anchored. I paddle boarded while Tanner learned how to use his drone, he did not tell be there was a large shark off my tail – later the weather turned lighting was everywhere. Tanner said “It is a good thing we are in close proximity to that cell tower in the island, because if lighten strikes it will hit that and not our 70 foot mast” and at 3:00 that is exactly what happened. No more internet or cellular service for days.
Hawksbill Cay had secluded romantic beaches, and it was a great day for kite flying. Topher had a good time flying his 2 line stunt kite in good winds.
Warderick Wells Land and Sea Park welcomed us when 4 large spotted eagle rays showed up at our stern shortly after mooring and some nurse sharks too. One nurse shark came every day we called it puppy, because it let Tanner touch him. We took some great pictures of this friendly shark. Looking forward to some time on land, we hiked boo boo hill and to the blow hole, we hiked across hutia highways, and saw the creatures indigenous to the island. We hiked the lower part of the island from beach on the banks side to beach on Atlantic passing by multiple cenotes in an arid landscape while scrambling over craggy lime stone.
Mega Yachts Galore
Zoom Zoom Zoom was one of them, 165 feet long with a 3 story slide and toys, jets skis, floating docks, trampolines, Seadoo tows to tow those too lazy to kick when snorkeling, hammock chairs, hover motorized surf board – excess… I wondered how much that costs? $170,000 dollars per week plus expenses of food and crew and gas.
Cay is pronounced Key and there are a lot of them, 700 to be exact.
Cambridge Cay and Obrien’s Cay are home to the Aquarium with a terrific reef to snorkel, and Rocky Dundas, a craggy cave you can swim into at low tide, and Rachael’s Bubble bath can be enjoyed at high tide, a place where the Atlantic breaks over the land onto the banks side and creates a giant cool natural cool bubble bath.
More Cays and Why
Staniel Cay for Thunderball Grotto, a great dome cave that you must swim under the water line to get into with fish swimming inside and a hole in the roof that brave souls jump through from about 30 feet into the 10-foot water inside the cave. We anchored near it and swam with our fins into it from the Cat at low tide. The Thunderball Grotto is famous for being in two James Bond movies. We were alone in the cave with no other tourists, and it was fun. Restaurants were few and far between so I had been doing a lot of cooking and then I found the Staniel Cay Yacht Club, with white table cloths and great service and perfectly prepared food. The Yacht club has an informal sports bar too and we enjoyed the Golden State warriors playing in the finals. There are so many things I have taken for granted living in the U.S. Access to watch your favorite team is one. There is no TV on the Cat, internet access is limited to the BTC signal and our ALIV mifi puck. Next to Staniel Cay is an Island called Big Majors famous for its swimming pigs. When boats get close to the beach, the pigs will swim out for treats of carrots and bread.
Laundry Day
Black Point on Great Guana Cay is where to go for the best view while doing laundry. You can also get your hair cut and have fresh made conch or carrot cake between loads. They have 14 machines and we used 10 of them. Doing laundry is another thing I took for granted. On the boat, my standards changed as a necessity and I realized that “clean” comes in categories. We found DeShaMons had good Pizza and conch burgers and good air conditioning and we enjoyed a meal out there after a long day of laundry.
We experienced our first terrible storm while at anchor in the harbor at Black Point with multiple other boats. Our boat was rocking like a bucking bronco and we nearly lost the paddle board. Topher got knocked hard in the face with it at 2:00 in the morning while we were trying to tie it down. The extended squall was not in the forecast. It was a doozy, but our anchor held firm. Just north in Staniel Cay, a yacht clocked the top wind at 90 MPH and the yachts at the marina sustained significant damage.
At Little Farmers Cay, we swam with the harbor turtles. There is CRAZY CURRENT at anchor in the channel and Tanner was in the water body surfing with a rope off the back of our boat. Little Farmers is a small island with a few locals and a small settlement. There were no stores but we were able to get some ice for $10.00 per small bag.
Musha Cay and the two-mile sand bar
A perfectly beautiful island of sand emerges from the crystal clear water of the Bahama banks at low tide. The water color is every shade of green and blue from clear sea foam green to crystalline turquoise blue. Amazing, but if you do not get there at low tide you are out of luck, as it is under the water line.
The Piano
A 20,000 pound steel piano, commissioned by David Copperfield, was placed 14 feet beneath the surface of the water near Rudder Cut Cay. It was fun to anchor nearby and snorkel down to see the mermaid playing the piano on the sea floor.
Great Exuma
Emerald Bay Marina is a slice of modernity with amenities like a laundry, wifi and a 2 story captains clubhouse with AC, flat screen cable TV and a lending library. The Marina is owned by Sandals and we spent an afternoon enjoying their pool. If you are ever in the Northern part of Great Exuma Island you have to eat at Palapas in the Grand Isles resort. Can you believe that out here in this remote place on the planet we found Rodney Strong Cabernet to enjoy with a ribeye? It was perfect and worth every bite and sip.
We made what I hope will be life longs friends here, the Conants, Don and Lisa and there 2 children Cam and Grace. We were fast friends. We fit together like family and played together for the next 3 weeks. We played WII just dance at the club house and even the parents were in on the fun. We watched the Warriors in the finals, we had movie nights and game nights and dinners over and lots of sundowners together. Our last day, we all found a Manatee drinking water dripping from a pipe like a giant baby from a bottle. We all laid on the dock watching this gentle giant.
Carpe Fuel – and Produce
We were at Emerald Bay for 5 days yet it did not occur to us to get fuel when we got there. We needed to get fuel before we left and they were out. So we sailed south to try to find some diesel and they were out as well, so we went back to wait for the fuel barge. Guess what? A Mega Yacht was in line to get fuel and he took 4000 gallons and it took all day to pump, leaving very little for the others in line. The name of the vessel was Unbridled, the gas hog. The marina said they did not have any left but we tipped the dockmaster and he gave us the 60 gallons we needed to head back north later in June. Lesson learned, get fuel anytime you can.
Got Groceries? Exuma Market in Georgetown is easy for provisioning as long as you are there the day the boat comes in to town. If you wait it may be too late. The day before the boat gets there the shelves are bare.
Chat and Chill – Stocking Island has Chat ‘n Chill, a beach bar and restaurant with a nice beach and gift shop. I think my expectations were too high and we had a bad first vibe with a filthy table, dirty floors, and attacking flies, but the second time was a charm. The beer was cold and Ronaldo Rolle made a fresh conch salad that tasted fabulous. We watched as he plucked a conch from the sea and cracked the top open, he harvested the animal and fed the gland to the stingrays that were waiting in the water by his feet. Then he returned to his shack where he chopped it up and added fresh onion, lemon and Bahama goat peppers. It was so good and definitely fresh.
Magical moments were many
Sitting at the helm with my son during our first crossing on the moonless night with a star-filled sky. Feeling nervous excitement and anticipation of adventures to come.
Tanner teaching us the electronics, from the squelch reduction on the VHF to all the Raymarine instruments. Tanner is VP of IT, and he is so good it is impressive.
Docking at the Atlantis Marina for the first time at slip 17, amongst the nautilus shell fountains and mega yachts with the coral colored Reef Towers across the way. What a view.
Scary and excited moments
The main halyard snapped (it is the rope that holds up the sail) while underway on a long blue water crossing from Nassau to Eleuthera. We would not be able to get the sail down without fixing the rope. Luckily, we all kept a level head and worked the problem. We had access to the Internet and Tanner looked up a knot that would transfer load because we needed to remove the load from the halyard to repair it. An icicle hitch was the answer, and so they tied two separate ropes to the halyard with the hitch and secured them to the winches. Topher fixed the main halyard by pulling the cover back up to the place it snapped and whipped it to the core, as the core takes the load in this line. Crisis averted, but it was scary, because if we needed to take the main down due to high winds or storm we could not until it was fixed. We were in a storm, but I steered around it, though I was pretty nervous.
When snorkeling off the wreck of the Sapona near Bimini, the catamaran anchor would not raise and the current threatened to push us toward the wreck. Topher and Tanner pulled it up by hand.
We had a dolphin pod encounter in North Abacos off the coast between Great Sale and Grand Cay. They played with our boat for 10 minutes. I had been watching looking for them all season and finally the day before we leave for Florida, they came out to play.
Does anybody read me?
Off of the Florida coast, we aided in the rescue of 2 men stranded on a 23-foot motor vessel that lost power 34 miles out to sea in 120 feet of water. We helped them contact the coast guard because they were out of range. We diverted our course to get closer to them and stayed in radio contact with them until they knew BoatUS Tow was on their way and the Coast Guard knew their latitude and longitude.
All in all cruising the Bahamas was a beautiful, magic adventure of a lifetime.
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