Left Moss Marine at 0715 after assisting a fellow dock mate ( sailboater) with his bow line - didn't have a mate but his boat's name was "Mermaid Harbor" so...who knows? ... then off with the lines and another sailboat decided to cross our bow in search of fuel ... didn't like the docking arrangements and while maneuvering back into the harbor managed to get their dingy pontoons sandwiched into the nearest piling.  We hovered about until they were safely back on their way.

Again we had several dolphins accompany Dee Light out of the pass and into the Gulf of Mexico ... winds were out of the southeast right on our nose and seas started out with about a 2 foot chop...off Bonita Beach the seas really flattened out nicely and we finished assembling the contents of our "ditch bag" while having a bit of breakfast ... thank you Pat M. for all the wonderful grapefruit you have provided this season! .. we had the last of Pat's grapefruit today ..

Not much boat traffic...except for the crab boats who were tending to their buoys which we managed to avoid with an occasional eye on the horizon.  All in all, it was another beautiful day on the water...entered the channel to Boot Key on a very low tide keeping the green markers to our port to avoid the shoal areas and pulled up to Pancho's Fuel Dock ( 305-743-2281 ) at 1400. 

After washing down Dee Light and cleaning up a bit ourselves, we took a short stroll down to the entrance of the marina to Castaways Restaurant for a great dinner of local grouper and their special honey buns which truly melt in your mouth! 

the only downside for today was that the Weather part of our new Garmin died today ..

At 0700 we left Pancho's Fuel Dock behind us along with the no-see-ums that were parked in the mangroves next to Dee Light .. however, we think we had a couple of hitchhikers along for the ride .. once past Hawk's Channel and into deeper water the ride was beautiful!  Today we encountered lots of recreational fishing boats and the wind was still out of ESE with waves  2-3' with an occasional 4 foot roller which pretty much continued to the other side of the Gulf Stream .. at which time the seas really flattened out to less than a foot all the way into Bimini .. the captain decided that "the weather sea buoys are pretty accurate"   and once again we managed to arrive at low tide but followed a nice Sportfish from Hollywood, FL into the channel without incidence and pulled up to the marina dock at 1340

However the BIG fuel tanker right behind us needed to off load on our assigned dock so we backed into a temporary slip until our slip was vacated by the tanker after a couple of hours.  We used the time to our advantage by filling out our paperwork (which was delivered to the boat by the very friendly and competent staff here at Bimini Bluewater Marina and hoisted the yellow Q flag and the Bahamian courtesy flag that was given to us by P/C Marv McMahon at RPYC. Cleared customs and immigration with cruising permit by 1500.  The marina is quite busy tonight with fishing boats along with several sailboats and cruising boats.

We walked down to the Bimini Big Game Club to have dinner but found the gates locked tight and informed by the locals that it has been closed for close to a year now.  Too bad...so we walked back to the Bluewater Resort and up the hill to their dining room and bar for dinner.  Had a lovely dinner (conch chowder, fresh grouper and key lime pie) with an ocean view of the sunset and then walked back to see the full moon rising over the bay.  A great ending to a great day!      

on April 19th when we were in Fort Myers getting ready for our cruise to the Bahamas we saw the boat Overdraft as it was heading out for the Bahamas .. this morning we saw Overdraft ( Captain Albert Hansen ) at it entered The Atlantis Marina ..later in the morning we stopped by their dock to say hello and chat for several minutes while they were awaiting the arrival of their guests from Atlanta.

...quite a few of the mega yachts were busy today getting ready for their owners/guests as evidenced by the appearance fresh flowers and candles on the aft deck, pillows being fluffed up, sisal baskets and fresh mats by the gangplanks for shoes and a good deal of "spit and polish" being done on the boats.  The crew members are very young, good looking and very friendly and cordial with lots of smiles. It is obvious that life on a mega yacht is a whole lot different than life on Dee Light .. oh well maybe the next time we are at the straw market we can get a sisal basket to put next to our boarding ladder too.

Stopped over at Hurricane Hole Marina  (where all of the construction work of last season is now complete) to inquire about dockage .. were advised that they could accommodate us if we wished to move from Atlantis. The weather was a bit unsettled today with several periods of dark clouds that threatened rain .. but no more than a sprinkle actually fell. We will keep an eye on the approaching front and decide when it is best to leave for Highbourne.  In the meantime, as one of the Landings cruisers commented "it's not such a bad place to be weathered in!" 

We walked across the street for dinner at Anthony's Grill where we had fresh snapper and bread pudding and then enjoyed the evening's activities and atmosphere in the Atlantis marketplace where several local musicians and entertainers were performing...finished the evening with a leisurely stroll back to Dee Light while admiring all the beautiful "sexy" lights on our neighbor's yachts while "peeking" in the windows to see how the other half lives.