[Rhodes22-list] I'm Back from the Bahamas!!!

[William E. Wickman]

And off he went in a small boat across the Gulf Stream bound for the
Bahamas….never to be seen again.  Actually, a better way to put it would be
“There and Back; A story of long boring passages interrupted by short
periods of abject terror".

Joking aside, it was really a wonderful trip!  I had originally planned to
build up to this ambitious trip of sailing to Bimini and the Berry Islands
in my Rhodes22, but when opportunity knocks you have to answer, or regret
it for the rest of your life.  Looking back, the worst part about the trip
was the fear of the unknown.

The story actually began two years ago when I had just settled into
ownership of my wonderful Rhodes22.  My master plan called for cruising
coastal destinations for a while and eventually venturing away from
American soil to some exotic location like the Bahamas.  Last year I had a
learning experience in the Outer Banks, and spent some time sailing around
the Destin, FL area.  My next steps included going back to the Outer Banks,
and taking a week or two sailing the Florida Keys and possibly out to the
Dry Tortugas.  After those adventures, I would take the leap and plan a
trip to the Bahamas.

Like I said, when opportunity knocks….  Late last summer, my daughter was
accepted into an internship at Dolphin Encounters based out of Nassau,
Bahamas.  The internship would be the first week of June, 2006.  My wife
and other daughter would accompany her for the week.  Thus, an opportunity
opened up for my son and me to do something that my wife would likely not
enjoy (1-2 weeks cruising on the boat in locations that would be totally
remote from any civilization).  My son was graduating from high school and
this would very likely be the last opportunity to have him with me for such
an extended time.  So the plan was hatched to “go for it”.  A friend of
mine was going to go with us but chickened out, so we added a sailing buddy
of my son’s to round out our crew.  Both my son and his friend are good
sailors.  Both competed on the high school sailing team and will go on to
sail in college.  So with able crew, I was committed.

Planning was key to making this trip successful.  I researched all I could
find on the internet; I emailed for advice from anyone I found that had
made the trip; I bought charts and guidebooks and read them twice; and I
spent much time creating my own provisioning checklist.  Everyone I talked
to was very helpful, and I would especially like to thank Chris Geankoplis,
Robert Quinn, and all the others on the Rhodes listserve who provided me
with valuable advice, local knowledge and insights.

If everyone is interested, I would be glad to post some pictures and a trip
log as soon as I get it written.

For now, attached is one of my nicer photos.  It was taken from Flo's Conch
Bar and Restaurant in the Berry Islands.  The harbor has very thin water
and other cruisers were amazed that we were able to get in there (they
anchored out and motored in on their dinghies).  We actually had to heel
the boat and just scraped over the shallows, but is was a very proud moment
for the Rhodes22.

Bill Wickman

(See attached file: View from Flo's.JPG)
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