The Dolphin House

Monday, January 23, 2017

Monday, the storms had passed, but the wind was still howling out of the west.  We hiked up to The High Road to view the western shore.  As soon as we crested the hill, we were sandblasted by the grit-filled wind, and greeted with a vista filled with crashing waves as far out as we could see, and palm trees bent back by the 40 knot winds.

Angry Seas

Windswept Palms

The winds weren't forecast to drop for another day, and since it takes around a day after the winds stop for the waves to settle down, it looks like we won't be going anywhere until Wednesday at the earliest.

On this part of the North Bimini, there is a structure called The Dolphin House.  It's claim to fame is that the builder/proprietor, Ashley Saunders, has built it entirely out of "found materials".  Whatever the sea washes up, and scrap salvaged from both new construction and demolition, all go into it with a flair for the creative. 

Dolphin House

Originally built as two stories, it is currently being expanded by adding a third story.  The first contains a gift shop and museum, while the second is a complete two bedroom / two bath apartment.
But the amazing thing is the overwhelming amount of detailed and creative mossaics that adorn every  square inch.  Words just fail me, so I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Detailed Columns

Museum/Shop Entrance

Outside Shower for Removing Beach Sand

Beer Bottle Window

Kitchen/Dining Area

Main Room

Even a Broken Floor Tile Represents an Opportunity
for Creative Expression

Ashley Recounts How He Spent
an Entire Summer Building This Column.
The Chain is From a Sunken Galleon.

License Plates From All Over the Bahamas,
As Well As All 50 US States.

18 foot long 3 Dolphin Mossaic

Mermaid Shrine

More Floor Art

One of Two Bedrooms

A Handfull of Nickels Turns
This Cracked Mirror Into a Piece of Art

There's lots more, but this post is too big already!  You can check Joan's Blog for a completely separate set of pictures.

When we returned to the dock, the lobster man was back, and he had a lot.  After some dickering, Joan and Louise split an order of two dozen lobster tails for $80 plus two Corona's. 

One Dozen Lobster Tails

Six went into the freezer, and the other six went onto the grill for Joan, Bill, and me.  Split and basted with lemon butter, they were delicious!

Lobster Dinner Aboard!

Life is most assuredly good!

Exploring Bimini (3)

Sunday, January 22, 2017

This morning, Bill was ambitious,  and he prepaired us a breakfast of eggs benedict!  Who says boaters have to eat simply?  Not us!  No cold cereal breakfasts on this boat!

Eggs Benedict for Breakfast!

Today, Joanie wanted to go swimming again, so we rented a pair of golf carts between three couples and drove all the way to the far north end of the island, where the big resort and casino are.  They have a beautiful curving sand beach and public access is allowed.

Postcard Perfect Beach

The wave action was a little too strong, and running almost parallel to the shoreline due to the early effects of the coming cold front, so the women didn't go in far.  Instead, they waded and hiked the beach while the menfolk reclined on the beach chairs.

That evening, we walked to the Bimini Big Game Club to get dinner while watching the superbowl playoffs.  Both games were a total blowout, with results going as predicted.  I think this is the first TV we've watched on our trip!  I've found I don't really miss it.

Playoffs at the Bimini Big Game Club

When we left, the wind was really picking up.  Initially out of the South, it was expected to come around to the West before peaking.  Our slip in the marina is partially protected on the South, and very well protected on the West. A quick look at the Weather Channel's radar showed a line of intense storms right behind the front, and headed our way in about 3 or 4 hours.

Back at the boat, the masthead wind sensor was reading 31 knots.  But we had prepared well, doubling all the lines and adding chafe guards where needed, so things were doing fine.  I checked on the lines every hour until around 3am, when the wind clocked fully around to the West.  The land mass of the island now shielded us, and the wind where we were dropped to 15 knots, even though we could still hear it howling through the treetops .  Our neighbor, with a much higher mast recorded a peak windspeed of 50 knots!  But we came through it all unscathed.  Life is good.

Exploring Bimini (2)

Saturday, January 21, 2017

This morning, the lobster man came by.  That's right, the lobster man. Sort of like a milk man, except he brings lobster.  We purchased six spiny lobster tails for $20! they went into the freezer, as we already had dinner plans for this evening.

Marilyn got a dozen of the boaters at Blue Water Marina to go on a brief ferry ride to South Bimini Island, and hike about a half mile to the Thirsty Turtle Bar and Grill for lunch.

Waiting for the ferry at Government dock
for the short ride to South Bimini
just across the inlet.

 

Motley crew of boaters invades South Bimini

The Thirsty Turtle

Lunch took a long time because a lone woman was the waitress, bartender, and cook!  And she had to prepare 13 orders!  Fortunately, there was lots of cold Kalik (A Bahamian Beer) to go 'round while we waited.

After lunch, we hiked further to the Bimini Sands development.  It used to be a resort and marina, but it went private condo, and the owner's association is still figuring out what to do with the resturant, bar, and marina.  Bimini Sands shows up on the charts as "Pink Townhouses" because they are visible from a long way out on the water!

The Resort sign still remains

Hey, who let these guys in?!

Their harbor is well protected from everything except Westerlies.

Once we got back, I prepped the boat for the big cold front that was coming through on Sunday night/Monday morning. Winds were predicted to peak as high as 60 knots from the West! I folded and wrapped the bimini top, put extra ties around the mainsail cover, and put up cross-bracing straps on the solar panel frame.

That evening there was a pot-luck cookout at the marina for all the boaters.  We grilled fresh wahoo fillets than had been given to us earlier by one of the powerboaters who had caught more than he had room for in his coolers.  It was delicious!  Life is good.

Joanie Checks on the Wahoo

Exploring Bimini

Friday, January 20, 2017

Our friends from Oleta River Park Marilyn & Vic on s/v Whisper, and Jim and Louise on s/v Salacia, had arrived arrived at Blue Water Marina late on the previous day, but they had reservations.

s/v Whisper

s/v Salacia

It turned out that a lot of boats were pulling in to Blue Water for the next few days to wait out the Monday passage of the next cold front, which was shaping up to be a major one.  Almost all of the slips were full.

We took several hikes up and down "The King's Road" (also known as "The Low Road"), North to Bailey Town and all the way back South to the inlet.

Creative Bahamians Use Whatever they Have at Hand, Like Conch Shells!

Inlet Between North and South Bimini

A Rusted Out Wreck on the SouthWest Tip of North Bimini

A short trip across the width of the narrow island brought us to 'The Queen's Road" (Also known as "The High Road") and CJ's Conch Shack for a delicious lunch.

CJ's Conch Shack

Ths shack itself isn't much, but the beach out back is to die for.

Gorgeous Beach on the West shore of North Bimini

And the food is great. Joanie ordered the Conch Fritters, but I paid homage to Jimmy Buffet and ordered a cheesburger!

Cheeseburger In Paradise!

Yum!

Joan, Louise, and Marilyn went in swimming.  The men refrained.  Of course, Joan was the first one in.

"Come on in! The water's fine!"

An enterprising young man was selling coconut rum drinks made from and in an actual coconut before your eyes.

The crystal clear blue waters really are amazing.  Back at our boat, when the surface is calm,  you can see everything right down to the 8 foot deep bottom.  It provided endless entertainment, watching small rays, conchs, crabs, squid, and countless tiny fish.  Because of the nearby fish cleaning station, a number of large predators made regular daily appearances, looking for a free meal.

A large Barricuda

A 6 foot Bull Shark, Directly Under Us

That evening Marilyn, social whirlwind that she is, organized a meet-and-greet of all the boat owners for sundowners and snacks under the picnic area.  Because we ended up staying here for 6 days to avoid the cold front, we got to know some of these folks pretty well.  One couple, in the boat next to us,  is even from Annapolis!  Small world.

After the the party, we were too tired to prepare a dinner, so we hiked up to the Bimini Big Game Club and had another wonderful meal on their deck overlooking the harbor.  I had the cracked conch, Joan had a seafood medly over linguini, and Bill had mussels.  We're really getting spoiled by all the fresh seafood.  Life is good.

Dinner at Bimini Big Game Club