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.