North Cat Cay and Bimini

North Cat Cay, Bahamas

(Brad)

There are worse places to be stuck.   We've had over a week of solid strong easterly wind (meaning wind from the east), which is a problem because we need to go EAST.   We stayed at the marina in South Bimini for a few days and when the forecast said "strong winds from the east, indefinitely,"  we decided to avoid further marina cost and take off with our friends (who are on Mariposa) to check out some local anchorages.  The challenge is the relative paucity of local anchorages and the fact that wind protection from the east winds means anchoring to the west of land masses.  Which by the way means you are anchoring in the Atlantic Ocean.   So, we had to poke about finding a balance between wind protection and protection from the Atlantic swells.  After some trial and error we settled here in North Cat Cay, tucked in near a small bight.   

The water is breathtakingly gorgeous.  To anchor one needs to learn how to read the bottom.  Ideally the anchor should drop into sand allowing for it to optimally set.  As we arrive at an anchorage Lynn and I scan the water and head for the turquoise areas indicating sandy patches.  The darker areas mean grass or rock, which is problematic for setting the anchor properly.  Lighter whitish areas are too shallow.  But, these good sandy areas can be tight and yesterday Lynn did a fabulous job getting Baila right up over the sandy patch as I dropped the anchor and she allowed the boat to drift back over the darker grassy area.  

Being able to see the anchor is a new experience for us.  Back home when that anchor dips into the water it is gone, not to be seen again until it breaks the surface on departure.  Just too murky to see anything.  But here, not only do you see the anchor hit the floor but watch it set and note how the chain lays, etc.  It is really interesting to dive down on the anchor and see how it set.  It actually helps us learn how best to anchor in these parts.  

There is a very gentle swell.  Sea turtles swim under the boat. Nurse sharks slumber under the ridge of the grass patch.  Relatively few fish here except for a hilarious remora (the fish that hitchhike on sharks and munch the scraps) that chased our friend around, latching on to her leg and even swimming up into her shorts.  That was our first day here and I suppose he was just part of the welcoming committee.  

Last week in Bimini

(Lynn)

We ventured into North Bimini with our buddy boat friends.  For $2 per person the ferry took us the 100 yards across the harbor to North Bimini. The narrow main road, traveled by small trucks, vans and golf carts, did not have a sidewalk so we shuffled single-file through a rather depressed town.  Our path was littered with bottle caps, broken glass, and spare change - found by Izzy. We ducked into small stores that were choc-full of so many items (like Charlie's Hardware in Swarthmore!),  and groceries that were pretty bare.  Also, we were lugging our laundry along with us because the washer at the marina was broken.  It was a pleasant surprise that for $11, the laundry ladies moved our clothes from the industrial washer to the dryer and folded it all! 

We searched for Stuart's Conch Shack - the local recommendation for fresh conch.  Stuart's is perched over the water with an impressive bulkhead of conch shells and is next to a playground (also littered with bottle caps and broken glass).  While the kids (carefully) played in the playground with their pb&j sandwiches, we enjoyed a fresh (which means raw) conch salad of diced conch, tomatoes, green peppers, garlic salt and lots of lime juice (the kids wanted no part of this at all).  We have been searching for conch since then to replicate Stuart's recipe and try our hand at shell cracking but have only been successful in finding other non-edible snails.  Brad found what was initially thought to be a nice sized conch yesterday- but after texting a picture to our experienced friends (thanks Seattle Sandersons!) we were deflated to find out it was a "horse conch"- close but no cigar.   Our friend Paul is a fan of fried fish so we also sought out conch fritters (breaded and ball-shaped) and fried conch (akin to fried calamari).  Both were delicious.  After walking nearly to the end of the island, and checking out all the "anchorages" and marinas, we decided to take a taxi back to the laundry - very pricey and dangerous! 

(Brad interjecting:  As Lynn mentioned, this taxi van was totally insane.  But, she left out the best part: As we were getting in Lynn saw what she thought was a large dog sitting in the back of the van.  The little place behind that last seat and the two back doors that open up.  Because if there was a dog, that's where it would go.  So Lynn says "Excuse me- is that a big dog in the back?" to which the expressionless nearly mute driver responds, "no, that is a man."  Perhaps this is greatly lost in translation and in writing, but I almost passed out from laughing so hard.   

Lynn again: Thank you again to the Sandersons who suggested we take refuge from the strong winds at Bimini Sands Marina on South Bimini.  The South was definitely more our style.

The kids loved the freedom of being able to hop on and off our boat and Mariposa 1,000 times a day...after-school hours of course.  They loved the Endless pool, the beach, and fishing off the docks and the great nature trail.  We all walked the nature trail together one afternoon, but Izzy and Avery and I walked it again with notebooks and pencil to take notes about the flora and fauna on the island and in the Bahamas.  Did you know that the only mammal that is native to the Bahamas is the Lutia?  Google it! Also the invasive Australian Pines are poisoning the soil and taking over mangrove forests.   Brad here: The Aussies!  Always invading and poisoning!  Fairdinkum they're taking over Swarthmore! 

Ok, some pictures!

Baila's hull.  You can see she's shallow draft, meaning the keel is not deep.  Rather, it's short but has a wing at the bottom flaring out. 

Anna checking out the bottom

These big seastars are all over.  Know how they eat?  They get over whatever they're eating and deliver their stomach out of their mouth (which by the way is also their anus-- imagine that breath).  Their stomach then partially digests the food as it sucks it all back up into its mouth-anus.  Imagine the awkward seastar first date at a fancy undersea restaurant: "oh- I don't want to embarrass you but you have some food stuck by your mouth-anus.  And- I don't know if you noticed but your everted stomach is slipping off your plate onto the table, and I think you just digested the tablecloth." 

Paddle boards are out!   We have inflatable standup paddle boards that store nicely.  I can tell you're having trouble getting the seastar restaurant scene out of your mind- I'm sorry.  

Today when we paddle boarded over to the beach.  At this moment, floating, looking up at the clouds creeping back towards the US, I thought "yep, we're here.  All of the prep, planning and obstacles along the way- and we're finally here!"

Here's that remora that wouldn't leave our friend alone.  It didn't care about anyone else.  Hilarious!  

Can't get cuter than this guy

In response to the caption to the above picture-- yes you can.  This!  She loves snorkeling now

This is the conch shack.  That is one massive pile of conch shells

The pile went on forever

We learned how to extract the conch meat from this very nice man.  The troubling thing is that conch have these two little very pretty human-like eyes peering out of their shell at you as you take the hammer to them.  I guess I prefer shooting deer because they're not STARING at you as you smoke them.  

Conch salad.  Our friend Paul ordered conch fritters, and the pleasant proprietor of the place chuckled and said "you come to the local place- nothing cooked here!"  Candidly we wouldn't have normally ordered cubed up raw bottom-feeding snail meat- but when it was apparent that it was the only selection, our choices narrowed.  That said, I have been dreaming about this ever since.  It was absolutely delicious and other than the explosive diarrhea, vomiting, elevated liver enzymes and yellowing of my eyes it was nothing short of amazing.  No- we're ok!  Seriously, this was delicious.  

We had the place to ourselves today.  No one around.  

We found out that upon arriving to a new country our daughter sifts through sand and sidewalk dirt to find local change.  That's what she does.  

I dropped Lynn off to walk up to a little market on North Cat Cay Island a few days ago.  This is the view from the park where she accessed the island.   The middle boat way out there is Baila

Thanks for reading folks.  We're going to take advantage of a weather window to get East and probably sail out Thursday.   We hope to update soon.  Until then, our best wishes! 

Falks