Bimini to the Nassau

Monday morning 2/26 we left Bimini headed to Chubb Cay.  This was a 96 mile trip, great weather and gentle seas.  

Bye Bimini!

 
Nothing but open water all day!

We reached Chubb Cay at 10:30 pm.  Thank goodness for the clear skies and almost full moon.  The water was so clear that we could see the ruffles in the sand and the anchor in just the moonlight!  So beautiful.  Needless to say, Roxie was going to have to wait until morning to take care of business.  

The next morning we dropped the dingy and took a quick ride to a little island.  As we were coming in you could see starfish and conch shells in the water.  There were so many!  Up on the island I found a couple of treasures that came back to the boat!  You know if it weren't for Roxie needing potty breaks we would have missed a lot of these opportunities to see things.  

We left Chubb Cay about 8:30 headed to an anchorage in Nassau.  About 2 hours into the ride we started getting bounced around pretty good.  Around 3 pm we anchored off a little island just east of Nassau called Salt Bay Anchorage.  We had great holding there and hiding from the high winds that were coming, but the swell off the ocean was about 2 foot at times.  Not to mention the excursion boats pass here all day long....fast and throwing wakes!  It was a rocky two days but was beautiful all the same.  

There were two beaches on the island that were close by and we discovered it was inhabited with pigs, peacocks and iguanas.  The pigs paid us no mind....and looked to be well fed!  

Hello Nassau!  

Bye bye Nassau!

Miami to Bimini

Friday 2/23 was Bill's 58th birthday and we were up before dawn leaving No Name Harbor anchorage in the dark.  

Sun coming up!

The ride over to Bimini took us 7 hours and as predicted the winds did pick up as did the waves.  We were happy to see the approach to Bimini's harbor!  It was so beautiful!  We grabbed a slip at Big Game Club Marina for 3 nights.  Oh, and yes.....we went to Resort World Casino to celebrate!  

Coming into Bimini Harbor

Cheers in her slip

While in Bimini we saw so may sea creatures!  

Jack, Tarpon, Sting Rays, Bull Sharks, Nurse Sharks, Starfish, Sea Horses, Man of War Jelly fish, just about everything but dolphins and turtles. 

Shark cruising through the marina.  

Did manage to get a pick of one of the stingrays!

Man of War Jellyfish.

Waves breaking on the beach

Big Game Club Resort and Marina

Roxie really like this marina!

We were on the end of the pier, so had great views of boats coming in and out of the harbor. 

More beach pics!

Two cruise ships visited Bimini while we were there.  

Carnival Liberty

Virgin Cruise Lines

Tomorrow we have a long crossing to the Berry Islands.  

Stock Island to Miami

February 15th we left our home of 4 weeks at Perry Hotel and Marina in Stock Island headed to Marathon, where we plan to stay for the weekend, then working our way east until we get a good weather window to cross over to Bimini. 

We stopped in New Found Harbor again, which is a good halfway mark between Stock Island and Marathon.  We got settled in about 2:30, then headed out to explore the area.   We had dinner at the dog friendly Kiki's Sandbar.  We lucked out because they had a live band.  We ended up staying until after dark.  

The colors of the water is amazing!

Quick dingy ride to Picnic Island.  

This place was probably awesome back in it's prime!!

Dinner a Kiki's

Friday morning we moved on into Marathon where we had a reservation until Sunday, which was extended to Tuesday morning due to weather.  We had dinner with friends from the marina at Burdines Waterfront bar.  Saturday was amazing!  We took the dingy to Sombrero Beach, where we had an great  day with a stop at Dockside on the way back to the boat for happy hour.  We also enjoyed Lazy Day's happy hour a couple of evenings. 😊

The best sunsets so far are in Marathon!

From Marathon we had a 6 1/2 hour ride to Rodriguez Key anchorage where we stopped for the night. 

You never know what you will find when out exploring for a place to get Roxie to land. 

When it comes to finding some place for Roxie to do her thing, some places are better than others......no sand here.....just really sharp rocks!

The next morning we had a 4 hour ride to Caesar Creek anchorage which is part of the Biscayne National Park where we stayed the night.  It was an easy dingy ride to Adams Key where there is a ranger station and park.  Even better, they had a dingy dock!

Next stop was No Name Harbor in Miami. 

Look at that sunrise!

 

We arrived in Miami's No Name Harbor Thursday afternoon 2/22.  The harbor was full so we anchored outside along with at least 20 other boats.  We had the day to get down the dingy and go into the harbor to explore the park.  We planned on leaving the harbor a 4 in the morning to start our trip to Bimini due to the short weather window that was showing winds and waves picking up in the afternoon...so it was early to bed!

That's Miami down the beach!

 

 

Miami

On the hook outside of No Name Harbor. 

 

The park has a restaurant and dingy access!  Yeah Roxie! 

Beautiful sunset....they just keep getting better!