Not-Quite-There and Back Again. A Hobble Back to Bimini.

Friday morning (morning-ish), we left Bimini Sands Marina to mosey down to Nixon's Harbor at the south end of South Bimini.  We had wind and waves from the north, so we would be protected there until the winds shifted to the south.  We figured if it got bumpy on us, we'd get into the marina down there.

We anchored in Nixon's Harbor.  It was a little rolly in there, but no big deal.  The water was gorgeous.  I decided to try some fishing.  I have what's called a Sabiki rig for catching little bait fish, and I thought I'd give it a try.  I caught 2 fish!  They were too cute and colorful to use as bait, so I tossed them back.  We didn't seem to be in an area with a lot of fish, so I didn't want to kill one fish to not catch another.  There will be serious fishing later.

As the afternoon wore on, the wind shifted south.  It got a little wavier in the harbor.  Around 5:00, we decided to head in to the beach club marina.  It was a struggle to maneuver the boat into a slip with the winds and underpowered motor that hates going in reverse.  But we finally managed.  We watched the sunset over the water.  Gorgeous!  The next morning, we were rudely awakened by obnoxiously noisy seagulls and a boat full of biting sand gnats.  They managed to squeeze through our screens, they're so tiny.

We left the marina and headed south toward Gun Cay and Cat Cay.  We saw a few boats at Gun Cay (and the lighthouse).  Then we mosied our way down Cat Cay and eventually anchored just east of South Cat Cay.  It was a great spot!  The water was smooth, no waves at all.  We worked on projects.  We finally got a wind scoop put together.  It needs some finishing, but it works.  We also put up curtain rods in the cabin.  No curtains yet, but they'll get made eventually.  After a scrumptious dinner of crab alfredo (imitation crab, but still tasty), we tried to nap for the night crossing.  We napped and read a little, but were getting a bit anxious to leave.  The weather was so gorgeous, we wanted to be out in it!

So we left around 8:00, after the sun went down, but before it was fully dark.  The wind was out of the south and fairly light.  I didn't want to get to Northwest Channel in the dark, so we were under sail alone, going anywhere from 2.5 - 4 knots.  We were getting our mosey on!  It was lovely.  The stars were out, the breeze was nice, no noises but the wind and the water.  Totally sweet!  Gradually the wind picked up.  And so did the waves, but they were fine for a while.  I went down to get some rest, but it got bumpier, and I couldn't sleep.  I came back out and let Trevor rest for a bit.  The wind eased off a little and the seas calmed again.  Trevor came back out, and the wind picked up again.  But not bad.  So I went down to try to sleep again.  And then it got really bumpy.  We had turned on the engine and taken down the jib because the wind was a little too on the nose for it.  As I was trying to sleep, we were really riding up and down the waves.  I came back out, and it was way bumpy!  We rode on for a little while, then Trevor went to rest again.  We were making about 4 knots into the waves.  But the waves kept getting bigger and bigger.  Finally, I was hit with what felt like a whole bucket of water on the side of my neck.  That was enough.  "Trevor, we have to go back!" I called down.  "Okay!", and he jumped right up.  We had only gone about 18 miles in 6 hours, with the slow start.  And we had another 60 miles to go.  We were already exhausted, and it was 3:00 in the morning.  We turned around and headed back toward Bimini.  This time, the waves were following us, so the ride was much easier and much faster.  We went around the north end of Bimini in the hopes that it would be a little sheltered on that side from the south winds.  Nope.  Just after sunrise, we anchored off the beach north and east of Alicetown.  We were so tired that the rocking and rolling of the boat didn't even keep us awake.


We were up around 9 or 10, after some much needed napping.  We thought about going back down to Cat Cay to anchor for the day, thinking it might be smooth like it was the day before.  Once we started heading south, though, we knew it would take forever to get there.  The waves were big, probably 4-6 feet.  They were rollers, mostly, so were weren't getting the crap beat out of us.  But it was work, and we didn't want to go the 10-ish miles down there.  We decided to head back to the Bimini Sands marina, because we knew that would be sheltered from the waves.  So we got in, tied up, and spent the rest of the day trying to recover.  We were exhausted.

 Have you ever been so tired you just broke down crying for no reason?  Yep, that was me last night.  I couldn't even pick out a can of soup to cook for dinner.  So Trevor, being the awesome dude that he is, cooked dinner and even cleaned up afterward.  We slept pretty hard last night.  I woke up in the middle of the night with crazy itchy legs and feet from those blasted sand flies!  It was torture!  I got up for some Benadryl and smeared some aloe (with blessed lidocaine in it) on my bites.  That worked, and I conked out for the rest of the night.

Naturally, we checked the weather forecasts first thing this morning.  It was calling for strong winds today, easing up tonight through Wednesday evening.  So we took the ferry over to Alice Town.  There's, um, not much there.  I didn't expect a great, bustling metropolis or anything, but it was even less than expected.  But it got us off the boat for a few hours.  And those strong winds?  Nowhere to be found.  It blew for a few hours this morning, and now the air is dead.  The forecasts here seem to be as bad as the northern Gulf of Mexico forecasts.  Uh oh. 

Our current plan is to head out first thing in the morning to attempt the crossing again.  As far as we can tell, the wind should be light for a couple of days.  We'll see.  But we've kicked the idea of leaving in the middle of the night.  We were just too exhausted from the first time around.  If we have to stop and anchor north of the Northwest Channel for a few hours' rest, that's what we'll do.  But I think an 80-mile crossing all at once is just a little much for us right now.  Who knows, though, maybe the weather will be nice enough we can actually take turns driving and get some real rest and power through the night.  Like I said, we'll see.

But we'll get over eventually!  I'm so ready to see the Berry Islands! 

I tried to upload pictures, but I think the internet here is too slow or something. Can't get them to load.  I'll have to try again later.