The Berries Islands

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Sunset

We left Bimini at daybreak in order to cross the Great Bahama Bank and get to our anchorage in Chub Cay by nightfall. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, we caught a couple of fish off Bimini where the island shelf drops off and meets with the deep blue of the Gulf Stream (notoriously known as great fishing ground). We caught the biggest yellow tail snapper we have ever seen and half of a spanish mackerel (the sharks got the other half- a typical problem with fishing in these waters). But none the less, the fishing slowed our progress and we weren’t able to make it to our anchorage by nightfall. So instead we anchored out on the Banks, in the middle of the ocean, with no land in sight. It was quite an experience, we loved it.

The following morning we continued with our sail and landed in the Berry Islands, one of our very favorite spots in the Bahamas. It truly is deserted island paradise; with tons of beautiful beaches to choose from, lots of fun kayaking in the shallow waters, and of course great fishing and lobstering (oh yeah- fresh caught lobster for dinner- doesn’t get better than that). We went back to the blue hole again to cliff dive and feed the two huge Nassau groupers that live there. And we meet a lot of new friends on other boats and had bonfires on the beach. We had a wonderful time there and had a hard time leaving, but we figure there are plenty more deserted island paradises yet to be discovered in the Exumas. So it was onto Nassau.

By the way- check out the video of one of the many glorious sunsets in the Berry Islands! Click on the little movie clip that is in the upper left-hand corner of this blog. Cool new feature- look for more to come.

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Photos

Sunrise Over Bimini
The sunrise as we were setting sail for the Berries- beautiful!

Anchorage
The Rum Runner, anchored out in the Berries.

Conch Salad
Fresh made conch salad in Great Harbour. .Photo courtesy of Anne and John Marrack, our fellow gunk-holer and cruising friends

Grumpy Grouper
This is one of the two nassau groupers that live in the blue hole, they act like pets waiting to be fed. Photo courtesy of Anne and John Marrack, our fellow gunk-holer and cruising friends

Flo's Conch House
The best restaurant in the Berry Islands. Photo courtesy of Anne and John Marrack, our fellow gunk-holer and cruising friends

Bonfire
Bonfire on the beach with friends and family. Photo courtesy of Anne and John Marrack, our fellow gunk-holer and cruising friends