Bimini

Well, last night we received our first visitors, albeit it was not really planned. Mac McComb and Brian Steffes (Canada Brian) are on a quick boondoggle to Florida and had no real schedule so they stopped by to see us in Ft. Lauderdale. We had Rock Star parking at the New River downtown marina. We were basically parked at the Riverwalk shopping complex which is also about 2 blocks from the downtown party district and quite close to the Las Olas shopping and eating district. We spent a little too much time at the Coyote Ugly bar after spending too much time the Briney Waterfront, which did not make this morning the most pleasant morning.

After the fellow continued on with their journey to the Keys (they think), we headed to Peterson’s fuel barge. It is a great concept as the barge holds 10,000 gallons of diesel fuel and can park in any water 20 feet or less, or just tie up to another boat. We took on about 340 gallons which is a far cry less than the 3000 gallons going into the 100+ boat on the other side of the barge.

We left Port Everglades around 12:00 noon. The seas were around 2-3 feet, which is a lot more than the 5 previous forecasts but a lot less than our previous experience so we took it and ran. We only ran at 18 knots since the boat has been under major stress with the trips we have taken so far. I tightened up every nut, bolt and screw that I could find, and it seemed to keep everything together much better. The seas never laid down so it was a bumpy three hour run to Bimini.

As we started in between South and North Bimini, the water got smoother and the scene became familiar. We saw Sara’s End of the World bar with the worlds best Lobster pizza; the bar that Stevie S. plays live music after the Compleat Angler burned down; the Customs house and finally the Big Game Marina which is where we are staying. We liked this marina last year because of the location. It used to be the place to be here in Bimini until a new resort went up at the very north end of North Bimini. It is really nice with great docks and facilities, but a little “yachty” and as far as you can get from the End of the World (bar that is).

We are now checked into customs and immigration. Yes, Simba is checked in too. Even though this is the big Saturday night, we are laying low trying to recover from last night, and catch up on a lot of little things, like the blog.