BIMINI – THE BAHAMAS!!!! Thursday, February 17, 2011

We left Ft. Lauderdale on Wednesday, and went on the outside to Miami, and on to Key Biscayne.  We anchored overnight in a very quiet spot, planning to leave early in the morning and cross over to the Bahamas. 

Leaving Ft. Lauderdale

On the way down, we cruised right through Miami inlet and the harbor.  Wow, Miami is a pretty big place, and has quite a skyline.  Chris took some shots which look like the opening credits to the CSI Miami TV show. 

CSI Miami!!

In the night, we were awakened by what sounded like someone swimming and breathing in the water…!!!!  As I jumped to look out the porthole, I saw in the almost full moonlight dolphins swimming around the boat.  They sounded just like someone snorkeling!!  Gave us a bit of a fright, but once we realized what it was it was kind of neat to get so up close and personal.

Aanchored in Key Biscayne

We made an early start on Thursday.  We got out through the Biscayne Channel, and basically had a straightforward run of about 6 hours across the Gulf Stream.  The sun was out, but we had a lot of chop, so our boat took a lot of spray and is covered with salt.

Leaving Key Biscayne



Leaving the USA!!



We navigated our way through the narrow channel into North Bimini Island.  It was our first attempt at “reading the water” and we figured we did pretty well.  Chris did an amazing docking at the Sea Crest Marina in a pretty high wind.  We landed at about 3:30 pm.  Our first order of business was to clear customs and immigration.  This also went very well, with Chris doing the honors with the local officials.  We got a 90 day pass, which is a bit less than we were hoping for, but will do for now.



We are official!!  Flying the Flag of the Bahamas!!



The full moon was up, so we had to take the picture with the little islands in the background. 

Full Moon over Bimini

We quickly cracked open the bottle of champagne we had been saving for this very moment!  It went down extremely well, and we moseyed into town to check out the dinner offerings.  We found a busy restaurant in one of the adjacent marinas, and had conch burgers and rum!! Welcome to the Islands!!