In the 14 crossings of the Gulf Stream that I've done, this was the smoothest ever!  Five knots worth of wind out of the West made for a VERY pleasant, 3.5 hour trip to Bimini.  Before taking off  from Ft. Lauderdale I subscribed to BuoyWeather which, I think, is the greatest thing since chunk lobster rolled in rare beef tenderloin dipped in hot garlic butter (Yummmmm!).   Ummm... sorry, back to BuoyWeather.  BuoyWeather lets you select any point on the globe, your "virtual buoy", and get a 7 day forecast for that location.  I like their standard, uncustomized, text/graph format of the 7 day forecast giving wind direction and speeds; wave heights, direction and period.  Very easy to digest and use.   If you're a geek about the weather, they do offer much more; such as, you email them a latitude and longitude and they email you back the 7 day forecast for that point.  Pretty slick but for me an accurate 7 day forecast of winds and waves is all that I need.  Speaking of accuracy, so far they've been right on the money.  That's amazing in an industry that seems to pride itself on being wrong half the time.

I was in Bimini for 2 days before heading for the Berry Islands (using BuoyWeather to maximize my time at my destinations and not getting to my destinations).  While there I strolled the long beach on the western side of the island getting some pictures for this page.  I also stopped in to visit with Sarah at the "End of the World Bar and Grill" also known as the "Sand Bar".   The first night she served me Cracked Conch with slaw and Bahamian peas & rice as well as several Kaliks.   There was a good crowd of people keeping her jumping, since a large charter dive boat stopped at the island for the holiday weekend.  She also introduced me to her former "Hasbend"!  This is not a typo and neither did she mispronounce what she was proudly proclaiming...  too funny...  The second night I went back to lend a hand to a local Bahamian entrepreneur intent on opening her own Internet Cafe.  The beverages of choice that night (I only include this because I know that you find this information important) were Guinness and peach shine, a formidable combination, all around.  Early to bed...

Early to rise... to be on my way to the Berry Islands.  Another beautifully smooth day motoring into 8" quartering seas.  I was planning on stopping at the reefs that border on the Northwest Channel passage to the Tongue of the Ocean but, unfortunately, the sun went behind some clouds and looked as if it would be their for some time so I just continued on.  I figured that it was risky enough to go spearfishing alone in a relatively "wild" and remote reef, bordering really deep waters that contain big predators but with low light, it would make the grey predators too hard to see.  No thanks... I still remember the 15' pregnant hammerhead shark that I had a close encounter with in 2001.  I had to throw that bathing suit away!  Instead, I trolled a line behind the boat trying once again to use the one expensive lure that I bought, on advice from a friend, and have never caught anything with (Joe!).  Same luck today... After I anchored in the lee Frazier Hog Cay, I cut the expensive lure off and attached one of my cheap and very reliable "Jet Rattler" lures with leader already attached.  Tomorrow will tell the tale...

Ha!  Heading up the Berry Islands to a Favorite dive site I caught a large Snapper, a small Barracuda and a Nassau Grouper...  Guess that I needn't say anymore about which lure is better.  Then I went diving, man, am I out of shape (although I have been told that round is a shape...).  I was diving near a cut between Islands so I anchored the boat down current so that If I speared anything it would be easy to get back to the boat.  Don't you know it... your looking for lobster not grouper and all you see is grouper.  My fridge is so full from stocking up in Ft. Laud that I don't have room for grouper, but I could make some room for lobster salad.  Alas, in an hour of diving I only found 1 lobster.  Not much to brag about but he did make a bowl of salad so I can't really complain either.

Not terribly exciting reading, I know, but way more enjoyable for me.  When things happen that make for good reading, then it's usually trouble (the deck, the hammerhead...) for me.  Since being injured or killed isn't on my list of things to try, I'll pray for more "boring" days.   So bare with me, no pun intended, then again... and let me enjoy the cruise.  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving all!

Oops, I'm in Nassau so I'll do a teaser.  After docking, cleaning the boat and doing some minor repairs; I showered and went out to a new restaurant & bar called Jumbey's.  Tonight was Latino night there so the drinks were Mojitos, and the band was Cuban.  I had a conch burger with a Cesar and, of course, a mojito and watched as the dancer/singers tore up the floor while the band played!  Man!  Hot stuff...  I'm back at the boat finishing up this Web page now (who said I was on vacation... actually they all said that I was on vacation... see... I AM working... brutally hard!), and I can hear the Latin music drifting over the water from Jumbey's... ahhh... life is good!

The next update will appear the evening of December 2, 2006