Bimini...here we come!

March 26th, the day we had been waiting for over the last few months finally arrived. We woke up at 4am, got out of bed, ate a quick meal and pulled up our anchor and were underway by 5am. It was pitch black out and visibility was difficult. Up in the flybridge with all of the navigation lights (all of the navigation lights EXCEPT for the Chart Plotter, which decided not to work) were super bright and reflecting off of the windshield which also made it very difficult to see and to navigate our way through the channel markers. I was at the helm driving and Rick was guiding me, using the charts we have on our iPad. Miraculously we made it out into the ocean! Onward we go! The wind was on our nose so we could not sail, we were relying only on the engines. As soon as we made it into the Gulf Stream going only 4kts, all of a sudden our speed ramped up to 9kts! This is how we knew were were in the Gulf Stream. Shortly after this exciting moment moving swiftly, one of our engines quit and the boat decided on it’s own, to head back to Florida. What on earth!! We scratched our heads over this one and then cranked the remaining working engine up higher and managed to get the boat back on course. We were moving along at 6kts feeling confident we could continue our journey on just the one engine. Just as soon as these thoughts entered our minds, they quickly left as the other engine failed! Now what?! We were still dealing with wind on our nose and lumpy seas..4-5’ at 4’ apart. This was an uncomfortable ride and worrisome at that. Rick went down to the engine compartment to see what was going on and to see what he could do...but unfortunately, not much for him to do in the rough conditions. Luckily we were finally able to let both sails out, we just had to alter our course more North than we had planned. We figured if we bypass Bimini by just a bit we can just turn the boat around towards Bimini when we could. We trudged along with hardly any wind. During this trip, the engines would occasionally work for about 20 minutes then they would fail and would not restart for hours when we would attempt to start again. Yes..it is a sailboat and we should be able to just sail, but the only reason we kept trying to get the engines to work was to get to our destination quicker and hopefully in the light of day, which we fortunately did! So what should have taken us maybe 9 hours, took us a little over 13 hours. We lucked out and were able to find a spot outside of Bimini along the beach to anchor. What a relief! Safe and sound and a place to work on the engines. The best thing about this voyage between Florida and Bimini was seeing the blue water! The closer we got to Bimini, the colors would turn to an even more brilliant hue of blue. Never have we seen anything like it! Surreal and quite magical!

For the next day and a half we remained at anchor. It was quite windy and very rolley from the swells which made it hard to move around on the boat. Diving into this beautiful blue water was enticing, but once in, we might have drifted out to sea due to the strong current that moved beneath us. Rick worked feverishly to figure out what the problem was. He came to the conclusion that the fuel was dirty and had clogged the fuel lines. So he changed the fuel filters then blew out the fuel lines back to the tank where the pick-up was with the air compressor. The engines both started up after this process! It is only a temporary fix though. We need to get to a place to find the right ‘stuff’ to clean our fuel properly and thoroughly.

Since we had gotten the engines to work, we thought this would be a good time to get inside the Bimini Harbor and get a dock space at the Blue Water Marina which would make it easier to check into customs and immigration which it was! We checked in without any hassle or wait time whatsoever. It did help that I had previously done all of the pertinent paperwork online through Click2Clear! After this process, we stopped for lunch at a Marina next to ours, the Big Game Marina. The menu looked good and I was even able to find something that I could eat. So, Rick ordered a cheeseburger and an ice tea and I ordered a tuna salad and bottled water. All was good….until we got our bill. We have heard that things in the Bahamas were very expensive and today we experienced it first hand. The bill totaled 75.00! Not only are the prices of meals high, but you are charged an automatic 18% gratuity fee and a 10% VAT tax. Oh well…we won’t be making a habit of going out to eat very often. To cheer us up, we decided to take a walk through town leading to the beach. I was dying to touch the sand and get my feet in the water. The experience was all that I had dreamed it would be. Another item to check off the bucket list!

The next day we decided to rent a Golf Cart and tour the island. The price of the Golf Cart was $20.00 for the first hour and $10.00 for every hour thereafter. OR you could rent the cart for a full day and pay $80.00. We went with the full day, thinking there was a lot to see. But from one end of town to the other took us only 30 minutes. But since we had the cart for a full day, we decided to do a few errands..get groceries, get laundry done, etc. When we got to the end of town we kept our eyes open for the Hilton. Our friends, Jack and Brenda had mentioned the great food they had there, their last time in Bimini.

We found the Hilton easily, located in the Resort area of the island which is very upscale, clean, grounds all manicured and well cared for. There was a good sized marina which looks to be brand new with only a few high-end boats docked. There were souvenir shops, water sports shops, deli’s, coffee houses and pricey boutiques surrounding the marina and some new homes and condos being built. After parking our cart to take a look around, I decided to pop into one of the boutiques in search for a simple one piece bathing suit. I walked into this store that made me feel like I had entered a store in Beverly Hills. There were only a few racks inside with swim suits. I saw one that caught my eye. I checked out the price tag, held it in my hand, realizing the price I quickly let go of it as if it were burning my hand!$180.00! I smiled at the clerk as I quickly left the shop.

Next , we stopped inside the Hilton to inquire about lunch, but they only serve brunch and we missed that by an hour. So we jumped back in the cart and kept moving along in search of a restaurant. We found one close-by, The Beach Club 360, which was right on the beach connected to a resort. It was a really cool spot. The food and relaxing atmosphere was really a great treat!

After lunch we got in our golf cart and headed back to the marina. Oh..and did I mention they drive on the opposite side of the road than we do in the U.S? Well this made the ride a little more interesting along with our cart which either drove full throttle or in idle mode. It reminded me of driving with my mother who would press hard on the gas causing your head to be thrown back against the headrest and two seconds later slamming on the breaks thrusting your upper torso towards the dash. But it was fun just the same.

Over the next couple of days we took walks, went swimming at the beach, got a few provisions (very few..not much to offer in the stores with only a limited supply), conversed with some of the other boaters on the dock and just relaxed. It’s been nice but we are ready to see something new. This morning we left the dock and motored 8 miles up shore and anchored out. This will make it easier for us to leave tomorrow morning around 4am from Bimini to get to our next destination, Chub Cay in the Berry Islands. Not much wind is expected, so God-willing our engines will get us there! If all goes well, we should get there in 11-12 hours.

Thank you for following along!