I AM IN THE BAHAMAS

February 24, 2012  Dateline: North Bimini, Bahamas

I got up early this morning to head across the 60 miles to North Bimini along with MY WAY.  The short trip down the Intercoastal Waterway from Ft Lauderdale to the open ocean was like riding down megayacht yacht row.  The three major marinas, Bahia Mar, Pier 66 and the Hilton had megayachts filling every vacant space along their docks that line the Intercoastal.

Once I got out of Port Everglades, I got on my way.  The run for the 60 miles was choppy as the wind was blowing from the south and helping to push the Gulf Stream along.

When I started to go into the channel to the marina at Bimini my depth alarm began to sound and Rich backed me up to deeper water.  It was nip and tuck for a while as Rich contemplated going back to Ft Lauderdale.  Then I saw a 110 foot yacht KALEEN with a tender that was serving as her pilot boat to lead her in.  MY WAY, who was already in deeper water, came back and became my pilot boat.  She got me over the unmarked shallow spots and into the deep channel.  Life was good again.  The tender for Kaleen had scouted the safe route in and she followed.  The unmarked channel makes getting into the harbour unattractive for most boats and it must hurt business here.  Had Rich turned me around and gone back to the U.S. there would have been an adverse impact on the Bahamian economy, oh well perhaps the government here doesn’t care.

Because the water is so clear the channel which had been dug to the marina looked very much like a highway.  As the picture shows it is straight and has smooth sides which are less than 3 feet deep.  The marina is really nice.  It has concrete pilings and concrete floating docks.  A huge amount of money was spent developing it, but it is nearly empty.  The staff is courteous, there is a shopping mall, but the mall is largely empty, and it has a good restaurant.

Wayne and Rich met the captain of the 100 foot yacht and he gave them a ride to Alicetown, the main city on North Bimini Island, to register with customs and clear immigration.  There is a lot of paper work to be completed and the forms have been photo copied so many times that they are barely legible.  However, all became good when Rich paid the government $300 for a 90 day cruising permit.   

The weather doesn’t look too good so I will likely sit here for a few days before going to Chubb Cay.