The Berry Islands

     After crossing the Gulf Stream we passed Bimini and kept on going until it was almost dark. Then we did what many people do - we lowered our anchor in 10 ft of water on a shoal in the middle of the Grand Bahama Bank. There was no land to be seen in all directions - just a few other boats doing the same thing. The next morning we continued on to Great Harbour Cay where we anchored outside of town flying our yellow quarantine flag until we could clear customs at the marina the next day.
     Now that we were officially in the Bahamas we headed off to start our exploration of the series of about 30 small cays that make up The Berry Islands. Only a few are inhabited and it is an unspoiled area (with one exception) full of very shoal anchorages, fabulous beaches and great snorkeling. It is off the beaten track and that is why we headed there first without stopping at Bimini. We reached our first anchorage, Petit Cay, after passing by the northern part of the chain which is owned by one of the cruise ship companies. The island had a giant waterslide, tiki bars, jet ski and para sailing operations. The Majesty of the Seas was disgorging thousands of passengers. We quickly sailed by.
     The natural beauty of the rest of these cays is breath taking. We snorkeled on several small reefs, in sheltered bays and by openings to the ocean and saw an amazing variety of fish. I was pleased to see so many young sea turtles, especially in a large shallow lagoon on Hoffman's Cay. We took our dinghy up a long stream through the mangroves feeding the lagoon and herded a nurse shark who lazily swam in front of the boat, inches below the surface. By Soldier Cay we had another large, chocolate brown nurse shark take up residence in the shade under our boat. We found conch and spent an afternoon pounding and pounding, playing tug of war and dealing with copious amounts of horrific slime before we sat down to a dinner of cracked conch.
    We found traveling from cay to cay difficult. On the east side of The Berry Islands the surf was pounding and a boat would have a hard time getting in the shallow, narrow entrances. On the west side it was very, very shallow. We bumped a couple of times following the channel at high tide. We even took the dingy and took soundings, only to end up in water inches below our keel.

The view on our first night on Grand Bahama Bank. We anchored right on the shoal so a Bahamian freighter wouldn't run us over in the dark.


Clearing customs at Great Harbour Cay  



Nico took down the yellow quarantine flag and hoisted the Bahamian courtesy flag now that we were cleared. The yellow flag traditionally indicated Yellow Fever.


The beach at Soldier Cay. There was a little reef between us and the beach that I loved to snorkel around.


Snorkel man



We were in ten feet of crystal clear water.


Soldier Cay was uninhabited and had lovely pink sand.


Hoffman's Cay was also uninhabited but had some ruins and a bay where it was evident that people had been harvesting conch for years.


Phoebe loaned me her scuba shirt from Malaysia which saved my skin but not my hair!


Nico found a starfish and when he brought it up to me the animal squirted out lots of water. After admiring it I placed it back in the water but it floated around a bit until it took in enough water to sink again. It reminded me of the character in Spongebob Squarepants.



 A small trail off the beach led to this huge blue hole in the center of Hoffman's Cay.


A blue hole connects with the ocean through the limestone and has oceanic fish in it. It's very, very deep.



We took the dinghy and explored lots of little cays and areas to fish or snorkel. This is the beach at the uninhabited Big Gauding Cay.


This is looking across at White Cay and the entrance to the ocean.


A natural Bahamian rock garden


We found conch while we were snorkeling. We ate these but then found out that they are being overfished so we will not collect any more. It was fun to have some fresh seafood and try two traditional recipes - conch salad (ceviche) and cracked conch (beaten, fried fritters).


Each shell had its own lovely color.



The hook, eye and some of the creature peeking out.


First, you hammer a rectangular hole on the third spiral down.


Then you just gently tug the animal out. That's happened for our first conch. The other four refused to budge and a terrible war ensued. Nico ended up pounding the shell with a hammer and tugging as hard as he could until the animal finally gave up. They gave off a slime that stuck to everything. I dealt with that, skinned the muscle and then soaked the meat in vinegar. The final step was to pound the meat with a hammer before dipping in batter and frying.


We also tried fishing but only caught this gorgeous triggerfish who was too beautiful to keep.

Crossing the Gulf Stream

     The Gulf Stream is legendary. Think of Winslow Homer's painting, The Gulf Stream. Think of Hemingway. Think of why there are palm trees in Ireland. The Gulf Stream is bigger than all the rivers of the world combined. Little sea turtles hatching in Florida are carried along the East Coast of the United States, over to Europe and then back to their original homes, several years later. However, the distance from Miami to Bimini is only 50 miles, crossing the stream - what's so hard about that?
     As the date for departure to the Bahamas drew near, we started to check in with the National Weather Service each day, If the wind is from the north, you can't go because the current runs against the wind creating high waves. They say to look out to sea and if it looks like elephants marching across the horizon - don't go! If the wind is blowing hard any direction then it will be lumpy. We started to obsess. Day after day the wind was either from the north or too gusty. There are chapters in cruising guides about crossing, there are web sites to join and experts you can pay. It is harder than I thought!
      Finally, a weather window appeared. It was going to blow 10 -15 knots from the SE. That seemed pretty good so we made plans. We left the Crandon Marina in Miami long before dawn and headed out. The west wall of the Gulf Stream is 5 miles off the coast at this point but as soon as we entered it, things got tough. The current rapidly started to take us north so to compensate we had to turn south, against the wind. We were pounding so hard that we were only making 2.5 knots over the bottom and we would not make Bimini at that rate. It was hard but we decided to turn back.
    Several days later a series of calm days were predicted. It's good to wait for one day to let the seas calm down. This time we weren't taking chances. We anchored the boat at the southern tip of Key Biscayne to get even closer and this time we left at 3:30 AM! When dawn appeared we were in the Gulf Stream, gliding along with ideal, calm conditions. The water was an amazing azure blue. As we neared Bimini and the eastern wall of the stream we caught a lovely, 4 pound blackfin tuna on the line that we were trolling. We had sushi for midmorning snack and a fabulous panko fried tuna fillet for lunch. As we neared the edge of the stream the water had a definite edge - blue on one side and turquoise on the other side.

Dawn on the Gulf Stream


As it got lighter the incredible blue revealed itself.



Perfect, calm conditions



Our Blackfin Tuna



and lunch, two hours later.



The line where the water changed from azure blue...



to turquoise!

Miami 2/11/19

     While waiting for a weather window to cross to the Bahamas we decided to go to Miami where Nico's brother lives. I was concerned at first, thinking it would be a chaotic, city anchorage, but it was a delightful visit. We stayed in the city marina on Key Biscayne which overlooked the Miami skyline but was surrounded by parks. Our stay was longer than expected because, on the way in, we discovered our dinghy had sprung a leak and needed to be repaired. Luck would have it that the company that sold the dinghy to the boatyard in Maine was located about 45 minutes away. The repairman picked it up near his house in Miami, repaired it for free (despite initial company rejection that it was a warranty issue), and then brought it back to the city. Nico also had to make a quick trip to Maine for a case. I explored the beaches and the former site of the Miami Zoo which is now taken over by lizards and exotic birds. Philip showed us the marine division of the University of Miami, where he teaches a course, as well as the fish hatchery. We bought fresh fish from a charter boat on several occasions and enjoyed the resident manatees and a visiting salt water crocodile. We also spent a day in the city visiting The Perez Museum of Art and the Frost Science Center. It is a clean, vibrant city with fabulous new skyscrapers. There is a lot of energy here.

The North Miami Beach skyline as we sailed along the coast from Ft. Lauderdale.



Stiltsville, a community built in the shallow waters of Biscayne Bay. Its heyday was during prohibition.



The Miami skyline from our first anchoring spot off Key Biscayne.



Manatee in the marina. One swam by as I was filling the boat's tanks with a water hose. It rolled over and enjoyed my squirting fresh water into its open mouth. Such amazing big animals with their tiny eyes, bristles and algae growing on their backs! I was sad to see so many scars from propellers on their bodies.



The crocodile that hung out for a few days. He slowly swam back and forth by the boat one evening.



An ibis joined me for a picnic at the former Miami Zoo.



A Sandhill Crane



Gigantic iguanas were everywhere. At the marina they would get nervous when you walked by them and would fling themselves into the water.



A pretty nice place to be in February.



Virginia Key, which was walking distance across the bridge from the marina.



My picnic and reading spot on Virginia Key.



Downtown Miami



Perez Art Museum on the waterfront.



The aquarium at the Frost Science Center



The oculus under the main tank.



They had several types of sharks there.



The bottom of the tank.



There was an exhibit at the Portland Museum of Art recently featuring the artist Noguchi that included a model of this sculpture that he made for an exhibit in Venice - but you couldn't touch it. Well, it was moved to Miami and we both could enjoy sliding down!