A lot has happened since the last post. We enjoyed our time in Key Largo, complete with the Looper viewing party for the Super Bowl. Amy and I went for one more dive with our own gear. Then, we crossed from Key Largo to Bimini in some pretty big waves and heavy winds from the wrong direction. We then crossed to Chub Cay on our way to the Exumas. Not sure when we will continue, as the winds and weather are once again not cooperating with our plans to move east.

We enjoyed a great gathering with fellow loopers for the Super Bowl with warm weather, great snack food, and a projection TV with speakers! And, it was a great game as well.

On Monday 2/12/24 we went for a morning dive at two different reefs off Key Largo. Amy and I are really enjoying diving so far!

Then came Tuesday morning, crossing day! The conditions were as good as we have seen for a week or so for crossing the Gulf Stream and getting over to the Bahamas. We left Key Largo at 8:30am to take advantage of high tide for getting out of the Largo Channel. It can be a little shallow with the new moon and low tide. The conditions called for 1-2′ waves and winds out of the southeast then turning to the northwest. Well, that did not happen. The winds went northeast, the worst possible for crossing the Gulf Stream, and blew up to 25 knots and the waves got as big as 6′. This made for a long and very wavy trip across. I will give my brother Skip credit on this one. I have been consulting with him for wind and wave predictions, and he hit this one pretty well. He was a little off on the wave height but got the winds correct. When we got approximately 30 miles west of Bimini we caught up with friends of ours and they got some great pictures and videos of us approaching. It was rough! If you want to see the video of the boat running in these waves, send me a text and I will send it to you.

We arrived in Bimini just after noon and then headed straight to Customs and then on to immigration.

My view for most of the ride!

Coming through the narrow cut into North Bimini.

These are the harbors as you arrive in Bimini. We stayed at Blue Water Marina.

No problems checking in for Amy, me, and Memphis. The Bahamas are tough on bringing dogs and other pets in. It was then time once again to wash the salt off the boat. We really do miss fresh water for that reason alone!

They once again put us in a slip that was fun getting into. Notice the width to the post. I had to bend the boat around the narrow opening to get into the slip. Fortunately the finger pier was only 30′ long and the post was out 45′. By the way, there are just a few sharks around the area. These are bull sharks swimming around the harbor by the boat!

Then time to enjoy the warm sun, sandy beaches, and some rum punch. What a great afternoon and even better sunset at Radio Beach.

For those of you who miss Memphis more than Amy and I, you will be pleased to know she is doing well. She enjoyed a good run and swim at Radio Beach just before sunset.

She has such a tough life! But she still hates the taste of the salt water!

We spent one more day enjoying and exploring Bimini. There is not much to see on this small island, but it was very nice and the weather could not have been better. We did also enjoy a great lunch at the Bimini Big Game Club, a Mahi Ruben. It just melted in your mouth.

We also made a deal on the docks with some locals for lobster tails. We purchased 12 tails for $60! That was a great dinner with our traveling friends the first night!

Thursday 2/15/2024 brought our next window to travel east toward the Exuma’s.

Leaving Bimini. What a difference two days makes! This is the same narrow cut with calm seas.

We ran another 100 miles east to Chub Cay. We arrived here after a 5-hour run in 1-2′ waves for most of the trip. We ran across the Great Bahama Bank. This was 60+ miles of running across a large vast open area with depth that was only 9-12′ all the way across. We are trying to get used to shallow water all the time. This is just getting us ready for the Exuma’s.

We arrived at Chub Cay just after 1pm. This was a little longer run, but very worth it. We are staying at the Chub Cay Club and Marina. This is a private island resort and marina.

If it were only that simple traveling by boat! (I guess it really is)

We planned to stay only one night and continue east. Then once again, the winds decided to change our plans. We decided to stay one additional night and travel Saturday for better conditions. As I am writing this post, we have decided to stay here until Thursday for a better weather window to cross and to be safe from the storms that are hitting the area Sunday night into Wednesday morning. We are well protected here and will have time to explore the area by dinghy and relax at the pool between storms.

I will post more after some time here at Chub Key. It is small, relaxing, and beautiful. The facility has a great restaurant and even better pool and pool bar.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and stay warm and safe!