I am not sure why they call this White Horse Cliff. I don't see a horse. But it sure is strikingly beautiful. The white limestone stands out around all the blue in the sky and the water. It is near Black Point in the Exumas.
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Caribbean lobster are very different from Maine lobster. The most obvious difference being that the Maine lobster has claws while the Caribbean lobster does not. The claws are the sweetest and best part, imho. It is what Mainers use to make their delicious lobster rolls. To catch a Maine lobster, you put out a baited lobster trap. Then you haul the trap up and oh so carefully remove the lobster and put bands on the claws so you don't get pinched. No one gets in the water 'cause it is just way to um shall we say ch-ch-ch-chilly. Most folks just run to the store and buy a couple for dinner. Not a biggie.
Here, you could buy them from a local fisherman, but that takes the fun out of it. To catch one, you must go swimming. The water is warm enough so that isn't a problem. The hard part is that the lobster like to hide under rocks and ledges. You aren't allowed to use a tank, dive down and walk around to find them. You must swim around looking for a rock or ledge, hold your breath, dive down and look to see if one is hiding. Then you come up for air, dive back down, aim your spear and shoot. Hopefully you got him. If not it is up for more air, hold your breath and dive down to try again. It is not easy to do, trust me. We went out for our first try at Black Point. Pay Dirt!! Don got four lobster!!!! He has been officially nicknamed, Don, da mon!!! We shared two and ate two. We steamed the tails. Ummm! Ummm! Yummy!!! Can't wait to try again on Long Island!! While we were at Warderick Wells, we took some time to do a little cleaning. Salt and sun are a boat's worst enemies. After crossing the Tongue of the Ocean, we had enough salt aboard to to fill a sea salt shaker. No, we didn't really fill the shaker, but we did spend about 5 hours washing the salt off. Check out the back cap rail. We stripped it and redid it while we were in Stuart. It was much easier than I thought.
The depth across the Bahama Banks is shallow. Mostly around 20 feet deep. When you get to the Northwest Channel and The Tongue of the Ocean (Yes, this is a real place.), The change is drastic. It is like falling off a huge underwater cliff in a matter of 50-100 yards. We left Chub Cay, with a depth of 10 feet, and were in 1,000+ feet in about two minutes. Because we left before dark, we had the Furuno on split screen. The right hand side of the screen is our radar, which helps us see the things we can't see in the dark. The left hand side is the depth. It gives you a visual look at the bottom. The first picture shows the dramatic drop off. The second picture shows the deepest reading we got before the depth meter was no longer able to read the depth because it was just too deep. Supposedly this is some of the world's best fishing ground, but we got skunked! No fish for dinner! Guess Brandon will need to come show us how it is done!!!
Timing is essential when arriving in Bimini. You want to arrive at high tide as the entrance is somewhat shallow. High tide was around 9 am the day we arrived. This means you need to leave in the dark. We left Miami around midnight and arrived around sunrise. If you look to the left in the photo below, you can see our first glimpse of the islands. After traveling out of sight of land for most of the night, this was a most welcome sight.
Provisioning a boat with pretty much everything you need for 3 months isn't easy and certainly can't be completed in just one trip to the grocery store. I use a chart created in Word to help me keep track of what I have and what I need to buy. I found it on the internet last year and made a few changes. Sorry I can't give credit where due because I couldn't find it again. I certainly don't get every item on this list. But it does give me a good starting point and makes me think about things I might have forgotten otherwise. We started working on provisioning every early this year. We bought and vacuum sealed most of our meat back in September when we were in Virginia. Then finished up in Florida buying most of the nonperishable items before Christmas and the perishable items after we returned. All that is left is to get a few fresh veggies and we will be ready to go!
Here is one present from Mom and Dad that I can't wait to try out for real! It is an underwater camera and a snorkeling mask. Last year we borrowed a friend's underwater camera to take pictures and loved it. This mask/camera combo means that I will have both hands free while snorkeling or shallow diving. I gave it a try while at my parents house for Christmas. Obviously I need to figure out how to aim the camera when it is attached to my head. This photo has had NO editing. The camera even does video. My Mom was a great sport pretending to swim underwater for the video! Love you Mom! :) Underwater Camera from Debbie Via on Vimeo. This is the Gluggle Jug. Who would have ever thought pouring water would be fun! It actually makes a bubbly gurgly sound when you pour and you can feel the bubbles in your hand. My water intake has definitely increased just because I like playing, I mean pouring. I looked up the Gluggle jug online and found out the have been in the UK for a long time. In fact this one belonged to Lady Di and Prince Charles. I think they look pretty similar. Thanks for the fun Ashley and Aaron! “What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.” Mother Teresa We are following Mother Teresa's advice. We are home loving family.
Without a doubt my favorite bridge on the ICW is Daytona Memorial Bridge. It is a 65 foot bridge which means we can go under the bridge without waiting for it to open. But that isn't why I like it. The wrought iron railings, street lamps and tiled mosaics on the pillars make it as pretty as a postcard! |