Goodbye Bimini-Hello Chub

We left Bimini on March 18 in the late afternoon to take advantage of slack tide and still be able to see our way through the pass before dark. It was slack enough so it took some fancy boat handling to get us out of the slip.  The crew of Brown's were experienced and did a great job.  We had a truly magnificent departure from Bimini.  A small pod of dolphins escorted us out through the pass and into deep water.  They played  in our bow wake and seemed to have as much fun swimming alongside as we had watching.  The wind was low so it was a motor boat ride but the waves were also low so it made for a comfortable trip around the tip of the island. The sunset seemed to promise a Green Flash with a vivid green arc all around the sun.  Very beautiful but no popping flash as the sun dipped below the horizon. We were well around before full darkness arrived along with the spectacular Milky Way.  We went over the Great Bahama Banks until about midnight when we dropped our anchor to get some sleep.  We both thought it would be just a few hours but awoke with the sun in our eyes at 7 am!  We were in a bit of a hurry since another storm front was due that night.  Luckily, the wind came up and off we went at a steady 7 kts or better.  Underway, I did our laundry in the cockpit.  Not a terrible chore, just time consuming.  We had a 10 hour trip so gave me something to do and we smelled a lot better.  There had been no laundromat in Bimini except one that wanted to do it for us for $16 a load.  I can crank my washer and hang out clothes for a lot less!  We made it to Chub with plenty of light to find some sand and get the hook down before the wind arrived that night.

Sunset on the way to Chubb.  Click on the picture to see the greenish arc.

So much damage all along the coast was sad to see.  The resort on Chub Cay
is still closed with no announced plan to reopen any time soon.

The Bahamas are mostly limestone and coral in composition.  You can see why you
don't want to approach these in the dark or with a strong pushing you onshore.

I'm not sure what these were used for but they didn't fare well from the ravages of Hurricane Matthew.

Texeco Point.  No gas station here so not sure where the name came from.

This flowing water divides Chub from Frazier Hog Cay and splits off into 3 sections.  It was
getting late so we didn't explore too far up.  We did see several rays and a sea turtle so we enjoyed
the outing.

This ingenious gadget lets us gauge how deep the water ahead is so that
we don't run our dingy onto sand, or worse yet, coral.

Sunset on Chub Cay