Finally! The Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria (aka, Casstaway, EWWE2, and Holokai) made the long-awaited Bahamas crossing on Saturday, March 19. We left our staging point, Rodriguez Bay (near Key Largo) a little after 6:30am and arrived at Bimini Cove Marina in South Bimini, Bahamas, around 5:00pm (the Bahamas is on US EDT). With hurried anticipation, all three boats ran with full sails up and engines on, making for a very sporty day on the water for Casstaway. We averaged between 8 and 9 knots with healing anywhere from 15 to 25 degrees, a few times dipping rails in the water. Upon arrival at Bimini Cove (formerly Bimini Sands) Tanya backed into our marina slip smoothly, with the crews of EWWE2 and Holokai, who arrived first and second, respectively, helping Todd with lines. All three boats now cozily tucked in for a week stay due to a) waiting on a weather window for further travel, and b) new management at Bimini requires a week stay or they significantly jack up the nightly rate. So, pay $150 to stay a week, or $300 to stay 4 nights. What are the economics of that? But the new infinity pool at Bimini Cove is beautiful, the Thirsty Turtle just down the road makes amazing pizza, and we are here with great friends.
We made excellent use of our time at Bimini by enjoying Steak Night and Taco Tuesday on EWWE2, a rousing game of Mexican Train dominos, making new friends at the pool, and evenings of chit-chat and sipping. A ferry ride to Alice Town on Monday, March 21 yielded sim cards to increase our WiFi access (Aliv for us), conch fritters at Joe’s, and lunch at Hemingway’s.
Looking forward to Saturday when we begin making our way to the Exumas!
