12-23-09 We left Las Olas Marina, Ft. Lauderdale yesterday noon and went down the ICW to North Miami Beach. We dropped anchor with two other boats in Maule Lake just off the ICW. We will make our way to Miami Beach from here to celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day we will sail out Government Inlet and cross to Bimini.

12-26-09 Alice Town, North Bimini, Bahamas. What a ride! Hauled anchor in Miami Beach at 7:00 pm Christmas Day and took Government Cut out of Miami Beach across the Gulf. The Southwest wind was with in the beginning and some chop but the winds soon turned North, Northwest and the chop became an all out falling sea. Anyway, the three boats traveling together made it across to the channel into Alice Town safely. However, one of the boats lost his engine before entering the channel. They tried unsuccessfully to sail in and ended up dropping anchor. During the anchoring process, Cal caught his thumb in the chain. He has been airlifted back to Florida to have reattachment. TowBoatUS towed their boat into the anchorage with the rest of us in Alice Town. We'll hang out here with them until there is a conclusion. We dropped anchors here at 8:00 a.m. Bill cleared us through customs and we are flying the Bahamian courtesy flag! After some rest, tomorrow we get to enjoy this beautiful place.




12-27-09 I'm glad to say Cal underwent surgery and will be flown back to his boat this evening. Timing is everything and the fact that the power boat coming in behind Cal owned an airplane and his pilot was available to pick Cal up and take him back to Florida; then a hand surgeon was on duty at the hospital to perform the reattachment within the critical time period; and finally the pilot will be flying Cal back to the boat tonight. There is no airport on this small island of North Bimini so the seaplane will land here in the channel where we are anchored. We walked the length of the island this morning. All the shops were closed as it is Sunday, but all the churches were in high gear. The islanders are very religious Baptist and we witnessed a revival meeting. Whew, I bet they are tired and need a nap after church! We walked back down the back side of the island which is all sandy beach. We were gone 3 hours, but saw the island. We were back on the boat when a Palm Beach couple here for the week with their dog Amber dinghied over to tell us a fishing boat has just come in to the government pier with fresh fish and they held up a "lobster." So we investigated and found fishermen from Nassau who sell wholesale but didn't find a buyer for all their fish so here they were. Dad "negotiated" two "lobsters" and another variety of snapper for $25.00. Fun talking to them. They are experiencing the high cost of overhead to fish too. We went back to the beach and met some other boaters from Annapolis and got to see our dogs enjoying the water. Skipper wades; Lilly (surfer girl) went in once and after that decided that wasn't her thing (she is a puppy); Sadie wouldn't come out. She was in heaven. After a dinghy race and bumper boat competition with our friends from the Release, we decided to do some touring in the dinghy and educate ourselves on the water depth. First off Polarized lenses and then remembering our reading, we set forth to distinquish the deep water from the deeper water and the coral water and grass water. After this big day we are sitting on the back porch with a drink and enjoying the warmth.