Wed, 05 April, 2017
We arrived in Bimini, The Bahamas, on Wednesday, April 5th, exhausted from the
27-30 hour run, depending on which of the 5 boats you were on. The marina was
kind enough to drop off all of the paperwork we needed, and Renne’ and I
jointly filled it out. Did I say we were
exhausted??!!??!! Scott from Carpe Diem
and I grabbed a taxi to the airport, and stopped first at Customs. There I found out Renne’ and I both had
missed blanks on the forms. The lady
customs agent kept handing the form back to me telling me to fill out those
spaces marked in BLUE! I had to tell her
I was so tired from the crossing I was almost color blind! Well that passed with little more incident,
we both paid our $300 admission fee to The Bahamas, then went to see
Immigration. There I was informed Renne’
had not signed her admit form. But after
pleading with this guy, he told me to just sign it for her as she was my
wife. That worked. We got our passports signed, and found the
taxi back.
Upon my return, I had enough time to get to bed before I
collapsed for three hours of much needed sleep.
Renne’ in the meantime, had taken a nap, and when I awoke, I found
everyone poolside, enjoying early afternoon cocktails. It was at that point, someone pointed out to
us that we still had our “Q” (Quarantine) flag up on the mast. Apparently, one of the dock-hands had
questioned why one of the 5 boats was still under quarantine. With a sly grin, I commented that I had run
the Bahamas Courtesy Flag up the starboard messenger line just before coming to
the pool, and we were now legal.
Back to our boats for dinner, and I think the entire fleet
retired early. Renne’ and I both slept
11 hours that night.
Thursday, 06 April, 2017
Renne’, Val Gross (crew aboard Carpe Diem), and John and
Terry Hagerty (Scimitar) took the ferry from South Bimini over to the docks at
North Bimini. We walked down the narrow
streets, looking at the other marinas.
When we passed the Mary Louise McDonald Government School where Martin
Luther King had previously spoken, and where Renne’ gave her first two
presentations to classes when we were here four years ago, Renne’ rushed off to
see the principal about presenting again.
Weather was preventing us from departing any way. We waited while she inquired, and headed up
the road to BaTelCo to get new sim-cards for our cellphone.
Heading back, we wandered up the side roads to the Western
shore of Bimini, stopped at a local bar for refreshment, then headed back
toward the ferry. We passed the Dolphin
House, owned and built by Ashley Saunders.
He is the “Poet Lauriate” of The Bahamas, and traded his two volumes of
his “History of The Bahamas” for a few of Renne’s children’s books the last time
we were here. He remembered her graciously. He asked if we wanted to tour the facility,
but for $20, and we kindly turned him down and headedback to South Bimini. We all gathered at the Infinity Pool
overlooking the ocean at the marina.
Pretty incredible. I had never
been in one. It was a bit cool with the
breeze blowing, so we left early and headed back to the boat.
Friday, 07 April, 2017
We were due at the school for a noon presentation. We left a bit early (1030) to ensure we would
be at the ferry (15 minute walk), and across the waterway in time to walk the ¾ mile to the
school. Arriving 10 minutes early, the
Principal commented that we were on time!
I have always told Renne’ I would rather be half an hour early than a
minute late for an appointment. I hadn’t
considered he was used to “Bahama’s Time”!
The first presentation was to the 7th-9th
graders. They were a bit rowdy, but
nothing Renne’ couldn’t handle! Second
presentation was to 10-12th graders.
Very well received. Had more
participation. Some of the kids heading for
college.
Back to the boat to
get ready to leave for The Berry Islands tomorrow.
Docktails with the entire group this evening. Butterflied pork chops for us. We leave at 0700 in the morning!
Sorry I wasn’t able to get this out in time to invite y’all
for docktails, but perhaps next time!
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