Life here in Bimini

This was taken in Nixon's Harbour after we rode through the big blow and I was still pretty soaked. During the height of the storm, while I was on the radio, I would have to open the companionway door in order to yell information up to Hans, and the rain would hit me in the face full force. This happened too many times.

What a greedy bunch! These pelicans fought like the dickens over the fish entrails that were being tossed to them. A couple of brothers and their teenage sons came over from Miami to do some fishing (actually, they got caught in the same storm as we did and heard us on the radio!) and today, after a trip 'outside' they came back with a wahoo, a mahi, and some yellow tails.

Here is the wahoo and to get a good look at it's size, double click and you'll see someones foot at the bottom right.

I asked if I could watch the fish get cleaned as it's been years since I've filleted a fish. We took Wilbur with us and he was thrilled when a piece of fish liver got tossed to him. I had no idea that fish had livers!

Today I did a bit of sewing in the cockpit and Hans changed the oil on both engines and changed the fuel filters on the port engine (he'll do the starboard engine after we decide the port side was a success). For the fuel filter change, poor Hans had his notes from our diesel mechanic, his own notes from the diesel course he took in Annapolis, Nigel Calder's book on diesel maintenance, and the manual from Island Packet. After all was said and done I couldn't help but notice that our spare filters are 2 microns and our filters are 30!! WTF? Luckily we shouldn't have to perform this task until we're back in the states.

We took Wilbur for a tour of Bimini and while he received a lot of attention, it was not the same as it was in South Beach. The focus here was pure 'Pit Bull' and I was asked "How much you want for that Pit?" "What kinda Pit is that, he looks like a fight'n dog to me." "Is that a Reddie (red nose)?", and "That dog got all his shots?" All of these comments were delivered with narrowed eyes and calculated nonchalance. Today my baby boy ventured no further than the marina and I sincerely hoped that the interested parties didn't know where we were.

During our little tour we hit the ocean and Wilbur had many zoomie sessions (all the while on his leash) and here he is taking a rest. When Hans spotted two unleashed dogs down aways from us we beat a hasty retreat. I know these dogs eat scraps and garbage from the locals but I wasn't taking any chances that they didn't want to beat up my baby.

The water here is crystal clear and I'd entertained the thoughts of snorkeling and/or letting Wilbur hop in for a swim. But when I found out that the big dark shape we saw gliding around the marina was a Bull Shark I said No Way!! I didn't think a shark would want to venture into such shallow waters but apparently this one feeds on the remains from all the fisherman.

Wilbur may not have been allowed to leave the marina but he had fun eating crab leavings (from the gulls), trying to eat chicken and rib bones (dropped by those damn gulls), and rolling in wonderfully juicy, aromatic droppings from, guess who??? Those stinking gulls!!!

I guarantee you someone cleaned fish on the top of this cooler.

Right after we watched the fish cleaning session a family from Florida arrived on their sailboat. Their girls were adorable and wanted to pet Wilbur (who of course went nuts), and told us all about their dog; they were so nice and I got a huge kick out of them. After the husband set off for customs a man rowed up to the marina with a bunch of Conch for sale. He would only sell a dozen at a time so we asked the newly arrived wife if she wanted to split a batch, and she did. So tomorrow we will be grilling Conch while at anchor as we intend to head on out in the morning.

A very tired piggy pitty after a day of socializing.