Bimini Big Game Club, Bahamas
Woke up to a beautiful and peaceful morning near Bimini Big Game Club. We decided to take KORKZcrew for a spin to see a little more of the island, and saw a stingray jump about a foot out of the water - and no, of COURSE I don't have a picture of that! đ I swear I thought for a moment that I was in a Planet Earth documentary. It made me REALLY appreciate how they capture that stunning cinematography because it happened SO fast and unexpectedly, there was absolutely no way I could've captured it. Iâm just going to have to rely on my memory and thatâs a pretty frightening proposition.
On the way back to our anchorage spot, we cruised around a little bay just in time to see that it was actually the "landing strip" for a seaplane. They had giant buoys indicating it was a secure area, so we made our way . . . OUT of the way, and sure enough here came a seaplane heading into port.
This morning Ron called a family meeting đ and we talked about our gameplan for heading south, which is probably on hold for a few days due to unfavorable conditions, but we're hoping to ultimately make it to the Exumas. As I've said before, Skeet is the map MAESTRO, so you ALWAYS want him nearby when you're figuring out the next most sensible stop on your trip, whether by land or sea. I'll give you an example. Years ago our family went to New York City and it was the first time for our kids. We rode the subway all over the place, and Skeet was absolutely mesmerized with the whole system. Little did I know that he had essentially committed it to memory. One day out of the blue, 6 months after coming home from that trip, he said, "Mom, we should've taken the 1 train downtown instead of the local 456 because the 1 is an express and would've gotten us there faster." đł Several more years clicked by, and I gave him an NYC Subway tshirt for his birthday. While he was polite and thanked me for the gift, he pointed out that the map on the shirt was outdated because one line no longer existed and another one had since been added. How am I supposed to keep up with this guy?!? But you can see why he makes me lazy when it comes to traveling. He's just got a map in his head, and it's the biggest gift to humanity, as is his equally gigantic heart.
One HUGE advantage of boating in the Bahamas or anywhere, really, is that you've got a swimming pool just outside your back door any time the spirit moves you to take a dip. This is really the first time we've been swimming since we left Wilmington, and I can assure you that any time the opportunity presents itself in the coming weeks, we'll find Skeet in that water. And Steve too, as long as he has a dinghy to hang out in or a human to hold him. He's a big baby if you haven't figured that out already, but he's pretty darn cute, and I'm pretty darn unbiased. Perfect combo.
Tops on the to-do list today was to go ashore and buy SIM cards for our phones and for the modem on KORKZcrew that will let us connect to the Bahamian cellular network. Internet access has been a big concern since making the original decision to embark on this journey, because all three of us will be working or going to school remotely. Ron did a bunch of research about what other live-aboard families do to insure a decent cell signal depending on your location, and some solutions are prohibitively expensive, while others aren't terribly reliable. We were shooting for something in between, so Ron bought a cellular antenna that's supposed to do a decent job of picking up a signal if one exists nearby, and it works in conjunction with a modem that requires a SIM card. Leave it to Ron to come up with another clever way to set up the modem AND protect it from the elements. He screwed a waterproof box to the ceiling of our flybridge, and wired the antenna to the modem from there. Here's Ron working on the modem and getting it set up with the new SIM card. That's the antenna directly above his head, and the Bahamian flag you have to fly to indicate you've been cleared through Customs. We are crossing fingers and toes for reliable internet. Anyone who'd like to join in the finger/toe crossing movement is most welcome.
For lunch, we decided to go back to shore and check out Sharkie's Bar and Grill at the Bimini Big Game Club Marina. It's another awesome casual spot right on the water. I had DELICIOUS grilled shrimp and corn on the cob, and perhaps one of my first restaurant meals on this trip where I didn't order something FRIED. Maybe I'm finally learning in my old age not to clog my arteries at EVERY meal. Just every other. đđł
Another coolio Ron "invention"is the handlebar he added to our dinghy. It's something marketed for swim platforms, and he thought it would work great for making the always-awkward process of getting onto and off of a floating dinghy from a floating boat a little less . . . awkward. We've had a lot of experience with "awkward" on our charter trips with our good buddies the Reddins over the years, with each of us scoring a 9 on a scale of 1 to 10 in embarrasment while trying to schlepp our stuff AND our bodies into and out of a topsy-turvy 10-foot raft. It is rarely if ever a graceful exchange of weight and random gradoo. We are certain it has nothing to do with our inherent clumsiness or advancing age for that matter. It must just be the nature of the beast. Couldn't possibly be user-error. đ¤ But regardless, it's now a non-issue thanks to Captain-Gilligan's-Island-Professor-Radio-Coconut-Ron.
Another thing worth mentioning is Skeet's hilarious tendency to either mix metaphors or have them unintentionally off by just a word or two. Today he said, "yeah, I guess we'll cross that bridge when we find it."đ
Oh, and take a WILD guess what was for dinner tonight?!?
Mahi mahi for the WIN!!! đ â¤ď¸đĽł
Night night, Bimini!!
