Pulled up anchor last Saturday morning at 6:50 to beautiful skies and calm seas.

Followed The Lower Place through Angelfish Cut out into the mighty Atlantic. Was a stunning morning.

We had a beautiful crossing with excellent conditions.

~ 7 & 1/2 hours later, arrived Bimini Sands Resort! About a mile out, we put up our quarantine flag. Upon entering a foreign country, you have to fly a quarantine flag during which time the captain of the vessel brings the passports and paperwork for all crew aboard the boat to Customs. Once Customs & Immigration clears the vessel and crew, you can take down the Q-flag and fly the Bahamian courtesy flag. Until then, all crew have to remain on the boat. Mike, being the bomb that he is, hooked us up to power and got the AC cranking prior to taking off while I lazed on the bridge with a cold beer and a book.

Mike had to take a taxi to the Bimini airport armed with a ton of paperwork (they have not even remotely gone paperless here–carbon paper still has customers here). A couple hours later, we were good to go!

Bimini Sands Resort in South Bimini is lovely. They have 2 pools, condos, a little ship store, a restaurant, and a SHIT TON OF NOSEEUMS! The resort has great floating concrete docks that are totally protected by the condos, allowing no breeze and creating the ideal environment for those little bastards to eat me alive.

One of the pools is a beautiful infinity pool with a gorgeous view of the Atlantic.

We knew we were going to be in Bimini for a while waiting for our next weather window. We decided to take off the next morning for Bimini Blue Water Marina in Alice Town, North Bimini where the bugs are reported to be significantly better.

Was really windy and surge’y when we got to Blue Water. JR, the Harbormaster, was masterful assisting us with the lines. We knew right away this would be a better place for us. Mike, of course, baked banana bread for JR and the crew.

While sitting on the upper deck with your book and beer, you will likely see some pretty good sized bull sharks, and beautiful rays. People feed the sharks at the Big Game Club Resort next door to us, so sometimes you’ll see the sharks and rays jumping out of the water. It’s incredible.

There are two main roads in North Bimini: the Queen’s Highway (upper) and the King’s Highway (lower). Our marina is on King’s Highway, along which you can find little bars and restaurants, or houses where they cook food that you can take away. Operating hours aren’t really a thing, so it’s always hit and miss if a place will be open. After we put the boat away, Mike and I went to the Big Game Club for a late lunch and became BFFs with Danny the bartender. Danny makes the best pina colada we’ve ever had. Mike is going to bake him bread.

Tuesday, I took a long walk around the island with Charlie and Robin while Mike washed the boat. We Walked across the street to Queen’s Highway which boasts stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean.

We stopped by Joe’s Conch Shack for a cold Kalik (Bahamian beer) and were amazed at the collection of conch shells they discard for their goods. This place is very popular, and is truly a shack. There is no kitchen. They prepare everything right there in the shack. I don’t believe this place would get a passing grade by the Department of Health in the states, but they do a hell of a business.

Bimini is charming. The people here are friendly and enterprising. I love the no-frills businesses here.

Tuesday, Mike and I went across the street and had a beach day at Radio Beach. The water here is simply stunning. Mike went to CJ’s Deli (another shack) and got lobster and chicken with onions and peppers and seasonings that were amazing. Also brought back a cocktail with fresh coconut milk in the coconut.

The water was amazing and warm! I swam much of the afternoon.

Mike went in once and made it up to his waist. If the water isn’t 85 degrees, he won’t go under. I took a great video of him with really witty narration. He deleted it. <Inserted by Mike–Damned skippy I deleted it…this boy don’t do chilly water>

Wednesday, we took the ferry over to South Bimini where we were picked up by Charlie and Robin who rented a golf cart. Went to the Thirsty Turtle for lunch and a beer while we waited out a little squall. Then, Charlie and Robin took us on a tour of the island. Some beautiful homes.

Stopped at at area that boasted a cool sounding nature walk. We got off the golf cart and started walking into a wooded path, and realized we were getting attacked by mosquitoes! One was biting my leg as Robin was simultaneously spraying me with DEET. We hightailed it out of there.

Also stopped by the Fountain of Youth. Legend has it that explorer Juan Ponce de León learned from the Indians in the 1500’s that Bimini was the site of the Fountain of Youth. According to Indian legend, the spring supposedly restored youth to older persons who bathed in or drank its waters. In 1513, Ponce de Leon set sail for Bimini from Puerto Rico with three ships. He found Bimini but failed to find the fabled Fountain of Youth. He then went on to discover the Gulf Stream and Florida instead. Mike thought the locals likely peed in the well. Irrespective, he touched the water and put some on both of us. Good thing I had my diphtheria shot.

After our golf cart tour, we went back to The Lower Place, which is still berthed at Bimini Sands, for Charlie’s bushwhackers. He makes a damn good drink! As sunset was approaching (and I wanted to get the hell out of the noseeum capital of the world), we decided to all ferry back to North Bimini and go have pizza. Walked a couple miles to Edith’s Pizza which was pretty damn good. Wind was blowing about 20 knots, so we kept cool and didn’t have bugs! Have had a stunning moon the past couple nights.

We’ve befriended a family from Wisconsin cruising with their kids on a catamaran. I love seeing kids experiencing culture outside of the electronic and internet bubble that has become our world in the States. These kids brought us this “poster” they made; I thought it was priceless.

Went to the grocery store this morning as we were told the supply boat was coming in. Well, it had not come in yet, so we’ll be going again later. I did get a loaf of fresh bread from Charlie’s Bakery. Mike is in the galley making fresh zucchini bread.

Weather has been very windy and surgy. It feels like we’re underway while at the dock which is a hoot. We are hoping for a weather window Sunday night/Monday to head to the Berry Islands, about 90 miles east of here.

Check back soon!

M&M aboard Forever Friday