AT THE END OF THE DAY

Well, Bahamas Cruise, 2013 is over. Here is a short recap. We left Islamorada, crossed the Gulfstream and arrived in Bimini on April 13th. We had a lingering fuel problem which we cleared up with a blow to the fuel pickup and did not have another engine glitch the rest of the trip. We actually did not have ANY engine or generator or AC problems the entire trip except for that one. I guess all that pre-trip maintenance and double checking paid off. We travelled a total of 1251 nautical miles which equates to nearly 1500 statue miles. We now have 11,985 NM which is about 14,000 regular miles on our boat. We have 1300 hours of running time.

We spent the first couple weeks in Bimini, then left the boat there for a couple weeks and came home to see Lola and Finn Henry. We then travelled to Great Harbour in the Berry Islands, then to Harbour Island and Spanish Wells in Northern Eleuthera. Not as many stops this time. We have now been to about every inhabited island in the Bahamas that has a marina from Bimini to San Salvador except Long Island and Crooked Island. There are several other islands on deeper south in the Bahamas that do not have marinas all the way to the Turks and Caicos. Not sure I will ever make it there. It is on my bucket list though.

We smuggled 30 cases of beer and several bottles of hootch just in case we couldn't find any over there. The liquor was all consumed and then some. We did have to buy an extra 10 or 12 cases of beer to supplement what we brought. I polished off the last few Kaliks the last day while cleaning up the boat. The only medical supplies we needed were a few band aids for a few nicks and scrapes. No surgery this time. We got to see some good entertainment. Jim Morris had a CD release party in Bimini. Stevie S was out of the pen and back playing to packed crowds at Big Johns. We also saw a very good rake and scrape duo at Gregory Town on North Eleuthera. It was not our best fishing trip. It was windy a lot. We spent an entire week at Harbour Island and did not get out once. There were some very interesting fishing spots there we did not get to try. Maybe that's why the beer did not hold out. We did catch some nice fish. We caught a 40-50 pound Grouper, the biggest one we have ever caught. We did not catch a lot of Mahi but the ones we caught were pretty good, up to about 30 pounds. We caught a 40 pound King and some of the biggest Yellowtail Snappers ever. We had a very nice Blue Marlin hooked for a couple minutes as well.

So what's next? We are thinking next year we are not going to make a long trip to the Bahamas. We have been everywhere and I'm not quite ready to make that long, long run to the Turks & Caicos. I would really like to wait another year or two and hope Castro has given up and Cuba becomes US boater friendly. We could then make the return trip along the coast of Cuba. Probably will need an extra pair of "big girl panties" for that trip. I do plan on spending most of April, May and June in Islamorada. Seems like every year we drive away from some of the best Dolphin fishing anywhere to make those runs to the Bahamas and they definitely have the best "Happy Hours". BUT, we have not missed going to the Bahamas at least once a year for the past 8 years. SO, I'm thinking New Year's Eve, 2014 in Bimini and some extraordinary WAHOO fishing. Anyone interested?

CTM