More Bimini

Today was a wonderful day!  We awoke to the sound of rain on the cabintop, which made it oh so easy to sleep in an extra couple of minutes - what a blessing!  Breakfast was up at the Petite Conch at the Bimini Sands marina, and then we slipped the lines and we were off to explore Gun Cay and North Cat Cay, about 10 miles away, over the Great Bahama Bank.  The water was absolutely beautiful - that gorgeous turquoise that you dream of seeing in the Bahamas and the Carribean!  The wind was blowing 20 kts, but was in our nose, so no sailing - we motored, but did put the jib up to help speed us along a little bit.  When we arrived at Gun Cay, there was not a good anchorage, due to the huge amount of sea grass that almost completely covers that little cove, so we motored around both Gun Cay and Cat Cay.  We saw a hawksbill turtle - that was such a neat thing - he poked his head out, looked at us, poked his head back in, floated around a bit, and then poked his head back out, looked at us, and then down he dove. 

We checked out the beach in front of the marina condos on our way back in, because both Jim and I wanted to swim, but once we saw the nurse sharks swimming in the shallows (I had nightmares of JAWS.....Betsi being eaten by a shark!!), and the huge manta ray, just swimming back and forth through the shallows, we changed out minds, and opted instead for some R & R by the pool.  Speaking of manta rays - on our way to dinner, swimming between our pier and the rocks was a mamma manta ray and her little baby!  What a blessing - that was such a gift for me to be able to see that!

Tomorrow morning will find us leaving Bimini behind and heading back to the USA.  Jim will be up early - leaving before sunrise to cross the stream and head for the Los Olas City Marina at Fort Lauderdale.  We will be meeting some good friends for dinner Sunday night, and take care of some last minute cleaning and packing and then we will hit the friendly skies and fly home to Virginia.  Two Sheets will be in Fort Lauderdale for a couple of weeks and then Jim and his crew will bring her up to Virginia. 

So for now, fair winds and following seas until next we meet!