Blog 8 Bimini Days Continue

Blog 8

Bimini Days Continue

“Sheep on the Ocean”

Quoting Peter of Now Or Never

Tristan caught the high speed ferry/gambling ship to Miami last Friday after having been forced to delay a couple of days due to windy conditions. His departure left Susan and I ‘alone at last’. What began as a two week holiday took him from Ft Pierce to Ft Lauderdale and on to Bimini – where for several weeks he explored every beach, inlet and mangrove swamp of both the north and south islands. He even partied with the locals!

Since his departure Susan and I have been filling our days with dinghy exploration and visiting aboard other boats for games like ‘the dice game’ and drinks. The windy conditions have kept us close to the dock. Storm-stayed guests from the 2 day excursions out of Miami have been coming to our end of the island – probably to get away from the winds.

During ‘sundowners’, a few evenings ago, the captain of a small gamefishing charter boat offered to hold a gamefishing clinic the next morning – as the weather was expected to keep him in harbour. A few of us expressed enthusiasm and by the time the class had convened at 10 a.m. – George of Dancing With Fish III was looking at 5 students (and their fishing tackle) with a number of lookers-on. As a result of his tutelage, we are all hoping to bag a Wahoo or a MahiMahi sometime soon. I was the only person with a spinning rod – the same medium/heavy grade rod and reel that has delivered a few striped bass at the falls back in SJ and a few couple of sized trout at Ennadai Lake.

When George took a look at my rig he suggested going to 30 lb test with at least 30 feet of 80 pound line at the outer end and this to be connected to a 1/8” stainless steel cable leader a few feet long. I was upgraded to a large ball-bearing swivel. Luckily I had one in my tackle box, even though I had never used it.  George says it is probably the right size for a big Blue-fin Tuna. George indicated that the Bomber 17A magnum long A lure was probably going to work pretty well for Wahoo – although he rarely used anything other than a plain cedar plug OR a medium/large ‘dolphin’ plug – with a baited hook in trail.

We learned how to swage a short length of aircraft cable to hang from the fish-hook for the baithook which trails close behind the hook. I will have to hold off on the swaged cable until I return to the States and get the tools and materials together. We got hands-on training in setting the appropriate drag for a medium wahoo  (approximately 12 pounds) and also got a review of the Spider knot, the Bristol knot and the Bimini knot for connecting monofilament to other mono line and to the swivels.

A few of our number (all cruising sailors) have actually caught MahiMahi and Wahoo but have mainly been unsuccessful in getting them aboard. A notable exception is Claude  (of Pantheon ) who, with his yellow Labrador Retriever named Rosie, has a pretty good setup for getting the fish alongside. The dog plays an essential role in warning of a strike so that Claude, a single-hander, can make necessary autopilot adjustments before playing the fish into submission. However Claude told us that he has lost some fish at the landing phase.

George's solution is a good sharp gaff – safely wielded. We received strong warnings about the warm-blooded fish such as Yellowfin Tuna and Dolphins.  Apparently they have abundant reserves of fight which often rekindles AFTER landing aboard. George told us that a 30 pound Dolphin once nearly succeeded in pulling him (by the gaff) off the platform at the back of his boat. This would have been a particularly bad time to get pulled overboard as he was alone on board and both engines were in forward gear. As for his Yellowfin Tuna example...it almost beat the cockpit to pieces before it foundered.

This last scenario is one which cruisers often discuss, since on many of the cruising sailboats one party is the actual mariner and the other – if left alone to execute a rescue – would be hard-pressed to take such actions as the situation called for to perform a rescue. Most cruisers are very reliant on their jacklines and safety harnesses to keep everyone aboard.

Way back when I was learning to sail, Marty Rhinehart and Chris Branch had us performing approaches and pickups of a ‘target’ – I think it was an old  kapok life jacket. Everyone got to do it before we moved on to racing in the little Cadet class sloops. As a result of the ‘rescue’ scenario that we have been discussing, I plan to make that exercise part of our agenda after we get ‘off the dock’. Sailor Sue has started to develop some boat handling skill with the inflatable and the outboard so that she has a base to work from when we start to practice the manoeuver while under sail.

We spent a longish day trouble-shooting Stettler’s 8kW generator set yesterday. Brian spent several thousands of dollars having it overhauled in Fort Pierce last month – including having the starter ‘rebuilt’ and with NEW brushes. Our conclusion after dismantling the starter and replacing the 12 volt breaker protecting the starter was that the starter received only a fresh coat of paint – and that the breaker was damaged by the mechanic who was doing the overhaul.

Today (Saturday) Victor and I were attempting to free a seized bearing in his Lewmar anchor windlass – when another, more urgent issue came up. Two fellow sailors were caught in their berths at the Bimini Big Game docks. One had been blown sideways across the dock end whilst trying to go to a less active (read windblown) tie-up. What would have been handled quite efficiently by four people with one acknowledged leader was instead handled by four people and at least four observers, all shouting helpful and conflicting advice.  We got her done....but it was not ‘elegant’.

The other boat was simply trying to swing around – rather than to reverse from their dock. A little coordination and there they were –gone. They motored up the east channel to one of the secure anchorages near the Resort World Complex.

Another boat, a Viking Sport Fisher Model, was not so fortunate. The boat was under the care and control of the Customs service, having been impounded as a result of ‘offences’. It was more like ‘careless control’ actually. The boat was tied in dock with it’s stern into the wind and waves. She was ‘pooped’ repeatedly and sank in her tie-up.

We feel pretty secure here at Bimini Blue Water Marina and Stettler likewise at Seacrest Marina. The boats at Brown’s, which is the very first marina a boat will encounter upon entering the channel to North Bimini, seem to be knocked around by tide and winds, especially a south wind.  The same problem is normal at Bimini Big Game Marina and also in North winds too. All of the marinas in North Bimini are  protected during the west winds. The rub is that entry to the channel is a most serious adventure in a west wind. One boat reportedly ‘made it’ into the channel only after rolling on her beam-ends in the surf. There is no room for sloppy navigation and boat handling when entering this channel! WE are still wondering how they managed to claw free of the shore under their own power – while being pounded in the surf.

The ‘new’ marina at Resort World, three miles to our north, has great protection in most winds – but they have a two scale price structure which is meant to maximize their take on weekends – when the mega-yachts flock in from Miami and Ft Lauderdale. They are competitive enough on weekdays, when they would otherwise be completely empty – aside from a few ‘owned’ condo berths.

And while we wait for better weather – we plan and plan. I am beginning to envy those 40 plus footers who feel no need to hang back in 25 knot (or higher) winds. The ‘racer’ in me says: “25 knots is fine”. The 63 year old voice in my ear says: “25 knots is fine –but only for so long”. And guess what the very same voice also projects the end of the leg, when I am trying to anchor or tie-up in 25 knots of snotty wind? It says something in my ear like: “...bag that!”

So we plan. After a while we have planned all possible alternatives based on possible wind forecasts and a very flexible list of destinations. At that point we start looking at planning for destinations we will likely not be visiting this year.

My appreciation for modern boats such as the Beneteau and Juneau is growing. I am reasonably certain that Hunter and Bavaria would also fit the bill – although I have not yet had the pleasure of sailing recent models of these. Today’s visit (rescue operation) to the ‘cruising yacht of the year’ from a few decades ago has me abraded on forehead, foot and hand – mainly the result of cluttered design of the standing rigging. Please do not misunderstand me, because I am sure the rigging is sturdy and fit for the service imposed by cruising sailors. There should be a reasonable limit to how much the rigging should take away from working space – and that craft definitely crossed the line. There was nowhere to turn where one would not bounce off a wire, step into a chainplate or trip on running rigging. Naturally this constriction is magnified after such normal accoutrements as a barbeque, life ring with throw-line, wind-turbine or radar mast are in place around the cockpit.  Thank God he didn’t have solar panels!

And from the ‘wildlife’ department: Name that Bug! Brenda from Tango captured this in Staniel Cay.

Some Bahamian Bug

One new arrival here recently is a Pacific Seacraft 35 which has just arrived from Maine.  Merlin is being sailed by a couple of young guys who have taken a year off before they commence degree work at a new college/university in Limestone ME.

And then the weather got better...and we saw Claude and his yellow lab. Rosie depart for Port Canaveral on Pantheon, Chris and Sherry depart for Miami on Tango and Mark and Irene jump off for the Exumas in their un-named Hunter 25. That was only this morning.  Tomorrow morning we wave goodbye to Peter and Kathlene on Now Or Never – who will probably be in the Exumas before us, and George who will be leaving on Dances With Fish III for San Salvador island seeking the world record Wahoo.

Basically that leaves Stettler, Whisper and Panacea – all three boats committed to a one month stay before our departures to the Exumas - and Luke and Andrew on Merlin, also due to sail to the Exumas.

 Claude, maybe you should have hung-in here just a little longer. Luke and Andrew finally cracked Area 59, Claude’s big objective while he was here. To accomplish this feat, they kept going back to the shark lab on South Bimini. It was not long before they had the whole place mapped out. It turns out that there are 24 young researchers working at the shark lab. They provide their labour for free – according to what the guys were told. They live – four to a room – in a small bunkhouse – and “YES” Claude- 19 of them are female.