Bimini, Bahamas

We previously did an update on Bimini (click here to read that section) but we had a little more to share. We wish we were there, we had such a great time and met alot of good people. Plus the water was crystal clear and warm and there were no alligators in it! Here we are on Weech's Dock in Bimini, very peaceful and beautiful. (You can click on any picture to enlarge.)

In 1919 Arthur Pappy Chalks began his seaplane service to Bimini. He flew rum runners and US undercover revenue agents to the Island, he even flew Al Capone. Pappy Chalks would visit Bimini and Nassau to work out liquor deals with Bahamian liquor merchants. Chalks seaplane service stopped after the fatal crash of Chalks Flight 101 on December 19, 2005. Shortly after takeoff from Miami the plan losts its right wing and crashed into Government Cut. The plane was bound for Bimini and all 20 people on board were killed, the majority being Biminites. The NTSB asserted that Chalks failed to identify and properly repair fatigue cracks on the plane, which would have caused the wing to fall off. We were told that they stopped the flights during the investigation and never restarted the service.

Another person to use Chalks to get to Bimini was Thomas Peters. A wealthy farmer and Miami hotel owner, he was fascinated by Bimini and here he built the 3 storey, 100 room Bimini Bay Rod and Gun Club. The hotel included a casino, it was the third largest in the Caribbean. We believe this pool was also part of the hotel. There were beautiful mosaic tile creations of fish, these are the ones we could see.








Another famed hotel was the Compleat Angler, where Ernest Hemingway stayed. He is said to have written a couple of his novels here. As we told you before the hotel burned down recently, so we didn't get to visit it. We did go through the ashes with Jeremy and Cliff from Two Pelicans, we found some tiles and a fish scale weight.

In 1936 Neville Norton Stuart turned a Prohibition-era bar into the Bimini Big Game Fishing Club. This Hotel and Marina seems to be a favorite on the island, the food was excellent. Mike, Jeremy and Cliff even took a dip in their pool after lunch one day, Kim didn't bring here bathing suit :( ........ It had a great atmosphere, lots of pictures and history on the walls, and a whole bunch of boaters and fishermen. This was a quiet day.



Some scenic beach pictures from our tour around the island in the golf cart.








We found this lizard living in the cannon, he was not intimidated by us at all!










Here is another graveyard by the sea and a truck that should probable be buried as well, why was it just left there to rot away??







We were in Bimini during election time. The red party pictured here were very boisterous and the controlling party, they did lose however, to the yellow party. We saw these local girls playing hide and go seek.



The picture on the left is the water taxi that goes to South Bimini and back. It shuttles locals back and forth and brings people from the airport located on South Bimini. The picture on the right is one of the many live aboard dive boats that come to Bimini.

We finally got our weather window to cross the Gulf Stream on Friday, May 11, 2007. We left about 4:15 PM along with Jeremy and Cliff on Two Pelicans and Gene and Edi on Lindsay Christine. It was pretty uneventful as the conditions improved along the way. We arrived in Lake Worth, West Palm Beach at 8:00 AM the next day, back in USA.

We'll update next with our East Coast travels. Cheers for now Mike and Kim on Ka'imi