WINDY West End

When we arrived at West End, the weather forecast to move into the Abacos wasn't too favorable for the following days, so we've been hunkered down at Old Bahama Bay Marina (a very protected basin) with a bunch of other boats.

Virginia Dare in slip C-29

There is a nice resort here, too

Our mast is the shorter (farther away) mast of those two

Fully protected basin

Yesterday's winds were sustained at 30 kts (34 mph) and gusting to 45 kts (52 mph).  The wind whipped up and brought rain while we had friends over for drinks yesterday afternoon.  Thankfully, David, Jim, and I were able to adjust the dock lines for the increasing wind and changing tide.

Wind speed

Short video - rain coming in sideways

There's a nice laundry facility here.  I found this giant moth on the wall by the washing machine.  Its wingspan was about 6"!

Extra large moth in the laundry room

A lady comes around the docks every other day selling Bahamian bread.  David bought white and cinnamon raisin the first time she stopped by.  It makes great French toast!  Yesterday, he bought ANOTHER loaf from her!!  I have no idea what we're going to do with all this bread.

We even had a small bottle of maple syrup hiding in the cupboard :)

The wind is still howling today (~20-25 kts) so we took a walk out the jetty of the entrance channel.

Looking west toward Florida

There's a helipad out there although we haven't seen any helicopters.

NOAA weather station, West End, Grand Bahama Island

A stout little sailboat anchored in the entry basin

Conch shells everywhere

Bright little crab on a dull gray rock

More conch shells

The resort and beach

There's a little beachside restaurant in the distance.  They make very tasty piña coladas :)  We had lunch there with our new friends Jim and Nancy from Keokuk. They're from Petoskey, Michigan.......small world!

Say piña colada!

West End, the town

We decided we'll stay at Old Bahama Bay Marina until the front moves through, so we got a little work and clean-up done on the boat this morning, then rode our bikes into West End this afternoon.  There wasn't a whole lot happening in West End, but people were very friendly.

Quiet morning at the marina (view from our stern)

Despite being a VERY small town, there are five churches in West End.  The prettiest was St. Mary Magdalene.

I love their mailbox!

Originally built in 1893.  Rebuilt in 1970.

Poochie was here.

Then we found Barry at the old (almost abandoned) Star Hotel, Grand Bahama Island's oldest hotel.  He made a very delicious banana pineapple daiquiri with Bahamian rums.  Tasty and cool on a warm afternoon!

Fresh ingredients

Looking forward to our frozen refreshment!

Bahamian rums

Mix the two together and, voila!

View from Barry's bar

They are looking for interested parties to invest in the rehabilitation of the old hotel.

Bimini to West End

Well, we are finding that weather forecasts usually don't turn out as predicted, no matter who you consult!  Yesterday, we left our marina in Alice Town and motored up and over North Bimini to drop anchor for the night.  This would give us a quick start this morning to cross the Northwest Providence Channel (about 60 nm).

Anchor dropped in 13' of water on the NE side of North Bimini

David checked the anchor to make sure it held strong and wasn't in coral (this area was sand and sea grass, no coral, but we wanted to be sure)

As we prepped dinner, the wind built to 18-22 knots.  We decided not to grill and put the food back in the refrigerator.  "Dinner" was snack food in the cockpit while we watch clouds and wind (no rain).  Being flexible is a key factor for this lifestyle!

Snacks in the cockpit by lantern light

We weighed anchor at 7:45 today as the sun burned the clouds away.  The predicted winds we thought would help us across the channel never arrived.  We had very light winds directly on the nose most of the day.  So, we motored, yet again <sigh>

Very pretty clouds this morning

Flying the Bahamian courtesy flag

Light to non-existent wind today -- lots of blues

West End (Grand Bahama Island) in sight!  Happy to be here and excited to start exploring the Abacos!

First though, we will wait for a weather system to move through.  That'll give us a few days to explore this town (and do a load of laundry).....my very favorite chore!  Seriously!   :)

Alice Town walkabout

David bought lobster tails from fishermen yesterday afternoon

This morning, we walked around Alice Town

Smile more.  Yes, indeed!

Conch shells everywhere

Welcome to Bimini

Cemetery at the south end of the island

Watching boats entering and exiting the channel

Gallant Lady, wrecked in 1997 during Hurricane Mitch

Looking west toward Florida

What's left of The Compleat [sic] Angler across the street from our marina.  Its most famous visitor was Hemingway, but the hotel/casino burned in 2006.

Marathon > Rodriguez Key > Bimini

Quick post while we have internet coverage.  Calm winds had us motoring from Marathon to Rodriguez Key (49 nm) on Thursday and again from Rodriguez to Bimini yesterday (78 nm).  We'll hang out here until Monday morning when we can get SIM cards for our phones.  Then we'll head north to West End on Grand Bahama Island and start our tour of the Abacos from there.  Blog posts may be few and far between for the next couple of weeks.

Wednesday night's final sunset from Marathon, Florida

Leaving Marathon at dawn on Thursday morning we were escorted out by dolphins

Dolphins also welcomed us to Rodriguez Key on Thursday afternoon!

We saw hundreds of Man O Wars (Men O War??) while crossing the Gulf Stream on our way to the Bahamas

Their stinging tentacles can reach 30' underwater

Entering Bimini harbor 2 hours after low tide was stressful enough, then we spotted a grounded sailboat just off our marina :(  When the tide came up a couple hours later, they were free of the sand.  We had met Susan and Al from Equinox in Fernandina Beach, FL in January.  They knew the original owners of Virginia Dare!  Unfortunately, they were gone before we could catch up with them this morning.

Our yellow quarantine flag flew for less than 30 minutes.  David had us signed into customs and immigration in no time flat!

While he was at customs, a woman stopped by the boat offering mahi and lobster dinner.  Nothing like a freshly cooked meal delivered to the boat at sunset!  Seriously, we were practically doing NOTHING all the way here.  You think we would have remembered to thaw something from the freezer!  Also, two lines out yesterday and no fish caught.

Breakfast spot this morning :)