R & R in Bimini

We have been indulging in the sweet life here in the Bahamas. We moved from our dock space after 2 nights to a small anchorage nearby. Saturday night on the dock was a little too crazy for us with the sportsfishermen partying and playing their music. We did score a dozen or so fillets of Wahoo…which we put on the bbq and savoured for our next two dinners (Most delicious fish I have tasted). Our first fresh fish, though not caught by us unfortunately, however, it gave us motivation to try a little harder. Sal bought a ‘yoyo’ from the local fishing store. It’s basically a big spool with line rapped around it. It’s perfect for our boat as we don’t have room for a rod. We have two books of different types of fish as well as a book about how to catch them. So we are all hoping that we are able to catch something soon.

Monday was a calmer day so we left Second Wind in the anchorage and all went on Chautauqua and motored out to Paradise Point. We anchored close to shore, where they have a multibillion dollar island community for those who can afford to live there (which apparently is not thriving). With snorkels, masks and flippers donned we all fit into the dinghy and motored over to the reef. We tied up the dinghy to a mooring ball and jumped in. We snorkeled around the shallow rocks and the sea life around it was so amazing. There was not too many coral but there were fish of all shapes, sizes and colours. It was unbelievable, like watching a tv show on reef fish…but we were actually there!! We even saw a small sea turtle gently paddling along. We were all excited once we got out, and were looking in the fish book trying to name all the fish we saw. That got me hooked, I want more snorkeling!

A cold front blew through Tuesday and my parents couldn’t get their anchor to hold without dragging, so they moved to the docks for the night. All the marinas here are almost all empty. We found out that this is Bimini’s off season, and the prices reflect this. Where now you can stay for 1$ per foot, in the summer months it’s $2.50. We all enjoyed the luxuries that come with staying at a marina, such as showers, easy access to shore, and with this marina, a pool.

We decided to venture out again, this time heading about 13 miles south to South Cat Cay. We hoped to do some more snorkeling and maybe, hopefully catch a fish. We left Wednesday morning and had a great sail down along the islands. We had about 10-15 knots of wind and fairly calm seas. Sal had his yoyo out and he was trawling. Flying fish would jump out of the water as we sped along. We anchored off the uninhabited South Cat Cay and swam in the beautiful turquoise water. We were on the ocean side so there was a swell coming in which was rocking us around a bit. After lunch we moved to the other side of the island where it was almost completely calm except a few ripples. This was how I imagined our trip would be, peaceful and serene. Sal tried to catch us dinner but nothing was biting except once, when he caught the anchor rode. We had a peaceful evening and quiet night… until about 1:30 when the tide changed. The wind had picked up and was opposing the current so we were rolling around a bit (as my dad said it was ‘horrible’, but he likes to get his 12 hrs of zzzs). At 5am the tide changed again and we were once again lying peaceful. Dad called over at 9:30 am and told us that things were going to get nasty, so we had better get back to Bimini sooner rather than later. So we closed up the hatches and had a wild sail back to the harbour. It was nice that the wind was behind us, but the waves were a bit bigger, 4-5 feet so we were rolling around, nothing frightening though. We anchored back in our spots in the anchorage and are currently relaxing, and may possibly catch a nap this afternoon – ahh the hard life J