Fort Lauderdale, FL to Bimini, Bahamas — INDEPENDENCE CHRONICLES

The trip to Bimini (55NM) went smoothly against a bit of a current. We left the dock around 7AM and were pulling into the channel at Bimini close to 2PM. Larry did an amazing job docking at The Big Game Club Marina. He had to deal with a three knot current on his bow while moving sideways and backwards into the slip, all the while dealing with very breezy conditions. The Harbor Master Ron & the guys on the dock were great and knew how to handle these everyday conditions. We spent the next hour checking in with Immigration and then Customs. All went well, as Larry had previously filled out our Travel Health Visas online and taken care of a majority of the paperwork in advance. After a quick wash of the boat we went to the local bar for an obligatory rum drink. Bimini is a sweet little spot with very friendly people that want you to relax and stay on their island. We rented a golf cart and drove the length of the island (5 miles)…oh by the way, they do drive on the opposite side of the road. It was evident that the COVID situation has had a great impact on the island but they are starting to reopen the tourist markets and some of the restaurants. Masks and hand sanitizing is a constant.

The history of Bimini is similar for much of the Bahamas with indigenous persons living on the islands and many enslaved after the New World Discovery in 1492. The first English settled on the islands in 1647. The 1650’s to the 1670’s were known as the “Golden Age of Piracy”. From the late 1600’s into the late 1700’s England and Spain fought over the islands with the British finally taking them 1783. In 1834 The Emancipation Act granted freedom to the enslaved. In 1964 the Bahamas became self governing.

The island of Bimini definitely saw its peak in the 1920’s. With prohibition in the U.S. people came to Bimini to drink and gamble, stay in nice hotels and catch huge fish. Many of the hotels stored the alcohol for transit back to the U.S….Rum-running. Hemingway spent time here in Bimini, writing and fishing as did many other big names of the day.

Raising the Bahamas Courtesy Flag after clearing immigration and customs

Look who we docked next to…Northland…our friends from the Bluffs at Jupiter, FL!

Time for a Rum Cocktail and ‘ruminating’ over days to come

The famous Conch Salad at Stuart’s and the Bahamian beer Kalik

The hotel Hemingway used to stay at, The Complete Angler, was sadly destroyed by fire in 2006

Independence at her siip in the Big Game Club Marina