Berry Islands

On January 10th, we departed North Bimini to cross the Great Bahamas Bank. Knowing that we could not make the crossing in one day and that we would have to anchor out on the Bank overnight, we waited for a good weather window. Fortunately, we found a good window, too good, the wind was less than two knots for most of the day and night. We spent all day motoring in 14 to 15 foot water; most of the time seeing the bottom. There were starfish, sea cucumbers, sponges, and the occasional fish.

That night I laid out 75 foot of chain. The next morning, I picked it up from the same spot it dropped.

If it wasn’t for the awesome emptiness, it would have been boring.

After passing through the Northwest Channel, we entered the Tongue of Ocean and deep water, before turning north to the Berry Islands and The Berry Islands Club. At The Berry Islands Club, we took a mooring ball to wait out yet another frontal passage. Turns out The Berry Islands Club is a little less than advertised. The washer and dryer are broken, the showers are out of order, but they do let you use one of the three hotel rooms, but the water treatment facilities are on the blink so it is a salty shower, no ice, and access to the Internet is $10 per hour. We tried the restaurant where you must make reservation at least two hour in advance and at that time select from the menu, but were very disappointed. This front brought with it some high winds and seas that are expected to last for a few days. So, it does not look like we will be able to leave for Nassau until the 14th or 15th.

We are still sorting out communications. Our Verizon phones work with the Bahamas Telecommunication Company (BTC), but at a rate of $2 per minute on top of our normal fees. To use the Verizon aircard, I would have to get a global plan which is very limited and expensive. Interestingly, a global unlimited data plan for my phone is only an extra $30 a month, so I can still receive emails on my phone and the GPS locator will work when we are within BTC coverage. We looked into getting a cheap GSM phone and BTC SIM car in Bimini, but found the selection very limited. When we can get Internet, we have found Skype to be a very reasonable alternative. So, when we get to Nassau, we are going to check again on getting a GSM phone and SIM card so that phone calls will be about 80 cents a minute. We will also check on a BTC data SIM card for the boat’s cellular router.

The next problem is coverage; we found no BTC coverage here at The Berry Islands Club. After Nassau, we plan on spending quite a bit of time in The Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, a national park and protected area managed by The Bahamas National Trust. We are betting that BTC coverage in the park is rather limited, so Serenity may again be dark.