Boy Scout Troop 1131

Sailing Trip to Bimini, Bahamas

Friday, April 2, 2004 

We met at the American Airline ticket counter, Washington Reagan National Airport before the Sun was fully up; it was just after 6:00 a.m.. Ten scouts and four adults made up the crew. The boys ranged in age from almost 13 to 16 years old. Our youngest crew members were Connor McShea and Tristan Haines. In the middle were Stuart Haight, Randy Froehlich and Greg Byers.  The older scouts included Eric Doordan, James Phillips, Ben Ayivorh, Matt Abbott and Justin Leichter.  Besides Philip Sternberg, the Scoutmaster, the adults included Bob Doordan, Rob Haines, and Jeff McShea. 

The flight to Miami from Washington took a little more than two hours. We had to pick up our rental car and shuttle the group in three trips to Bayside Marina where the Schooner Eagle was moored. The marina is located at the entrance to the Port of Miami, but getting to the rest of the port requires going over a raised causeway, and is some distance from the marina. The Eagle had the last slip along a dock for ten boats. A tall chain link fence and locked gate insure security. The entire marina is called Pier 5, and contains perhaps a hundred private and commercial boats. 

We arrived to find Captain Mike, Michael Painter, busy working to get the Eagle ready for our crew’s arrival. One of his tasks was to repair the PVC ladder that we would use to climb aboard the ship after snorkeling. However, the major task was to purchase the food for our trip and stow it on the ship. Eric, Ben and James, the first group to the ship, went shopping with the captain while the others were arriving. 

The Bayside Marina has several two story buildings that form an arc around the marina. The buildings contain shops and restaurants as well as a food court. In many ways, Bayside reminded us of the Baltimore Inner Harbor. The complex has an outdoor stage and many boats offering charter rides in the bay and beyond. Bayside is near downtown Miami, and near the American Airline Arena, home to the Miami Heat basketball team. 

One of the first tasks for the crew was to elect a Crew Leader. The scouts elected Ben Ayivorh.  He organized the crew into two person teams for cooking, watches, and other chores. Here's how it worked out:

     Saturday ‑ Randy and Greg

     Sunday ‑ Eric and James

     Monday ‑ Justin and Matt

     Tuesday ‑ Connor and Tristan

     Wednesday ‑ Ben and Stuart

     Thursday ‑ Justin and Randy

While in port, the first and last day, everyone pitched in to get the ship ready, and we ate several meals at the food court.

After we finished stowing the food and our personal gear, people were free to roam around. One of the commercial charter boats near the Eagle offered our scouts a free cruise around Biscayne Bay. Most of the scouts went on the cruise as did Mr. Sternberg. We got to see houses and mansions ranging in price from six to 35 million dollars. They belong to rich and famous people who often only live in them for short periods of time each year. One of the islands in the bay is

Fisher Island. It can only be reached by ferry or private boat. President Clinton's family owns a condominium on Fisher Island. Many of the homes belong to wealthy Cuban and Puerto Rican singers and entertainers. 

In the evening, after scouts returned from the cruise around the bay, we pushed off from the slip, and took the Eagle into the bay. Rounding out the crew was our first mate, Stanley Michalik.

Capt Mike gave the crew an introduction to sailing. Going from stern to bow, the Eagle has a mainsail, foresail, staysail, and jib. Each sail needs two or three people on the lines (ropes) to raise or lower. The lines are called halyards or sheets depending on what they attach to. The mainsail and the foresail are gaff rigged which means they have a boom above and below the sail. We sailed to the end of Key Biscayne and anchored for the night.  

Saturday, April 3, 2004 

We spent the day sailing and snorkeling in and around the bay, and got ready for "crossing" the Gulf Stream. 

The Eagle has three cabins aft, for the crew, and one cabin forward for the captain and mate. Each of the crew cabins has a wider "double" bed and a narrower single hinged bed above. The ship was equipped with pillows, sheets and blankets. The three older scouts got one cabin, and the four adults got the other two crew cabins. The ship also has a main dining area, and the cushioned benches around the dining table serve as beds too. These benches will hold four people. Scouts took turns sleeping on the benches or on deck with their sleeping pads. If the weather prevented scouts from sleeping on the deck, the plan was to come below and sleep on the floor. We never had to implement the bad weather sleeping plan.  

Between the dining area and the crew cabins is the galley (kitchen). The galley has a refrigerator with two compartments, a two-burner stove with an oven, a two-basin sink, and some storage cabinets. Our food, cooking pots and other items were stored on shelves behind and under the bench seats in the dining area, and in cabinets. There is not much space for bedding and personal gear; most of the bedding and some of the personal gear were stored in the crew cabins during the day. Our snorkel gear was hung from the life lines on deck. There were also two large storage boxes in the center of the ship where much of the personal gear was stored. 

The other important features on board were the two heads (bathrooms). Marine toilets are temperamental at best. Our toilets were no exception. One of the heads had a sink in it and the other had a shower stall used mostly for storage. There is not enough fresh water aboard to operate showers. Capt Mike had signs that told us not to put anything in the toilets that had not gone through our bodies first. Soiled toilet paper was put in a plastic bag lined trash bins. One of the toilets had a manual pump and the other had an electric pump. We kept a bucket of blue disinfectant to flush the manual toilet. Without the engine running, the electric toilet would often not flush properly.  

There were two large rubber garbage cans on deck. We compacted our dry trash, and put food and wet  trash in sealed plastic zip lock bags. With the exception of the remains from cleaning fish, no trash is thrown overboard. We were able to bring our trash ashore in Bimini, but were prepared to take it back to Miami if necessary.

 Sunday, April 4, 2004 

Capt Mike, woke us early for the "crossing." Bimini is only about 50 miles from Florida. It would take us ten hours to cross the Gulf Stream. Our destination was an anchorage near the wreck of the Sapona. The seas were rolling and the swells were about five feet from crest to trough. Many of us got seasick that first day, but none were seasick for the rest of the trip. The winds were out of the northwest, and we would have preferred them out of the southwest. Our average speed was probably about five knots.  

After a few hours into the sail, Capt Mike took out a special square sail called a brigantine. To hoist this sail, Capt Mike climbed up to the yardarm (a cross beam above the foresail) to secure the lines. Our scouts hoisted the brigantine and another smaller square sail called the queen sail.

We looked like one of Columbus’ ships. With the wind at our back, the sails pushed us toward our destination in the Bahamas. 

Each team took a two-hour watch with one scout at the helm for an hour and his partner as lookout. We headed east using the compass to maintain our bearing. Stanley had a GPS receiver with the coordinates for Bimini, and every so often we altered the course a few degrees. Almost immediately after setting sail, Stanley took out the fishing poles and set them up at the stern of the ship. The first fish we caught were Dolphin Fish. Out came the gaff and we hooked the fish to pull them in, but one managed to wiggle off the gaff hook and get back into the water. Dolphin Fish are brilliantly colored fish, iridescent green on the belly and iridescent blue on top, toward the dorsal fin. The best thing about Dolphin Fish is that they taste great, often called Mahi Mahi in restaurants. Rob Haines did most of the work bringing the fish aboard. The fish had a lot of fight left in them even on deck; the lethal weapon turned out to be a baseball bat to the fish's head. Rob was splattered with blood as was Stanley who later cut up the fish for cooking. We stored the fillets in a zip lock bag in the refrigerator in the galley, and cooked the fish with some onions, salt and pepper. It tasted excellent as only fresh fish does. 

Monday, April 4, 2004 

We spent the day snorkeling, mostly around the wreck of the Sapona, a steel and concrete cargo ship built before WW I. The Sapona proved to be too small to haul cargo efficiently, and wound up anchored as a Speak Easy off Bimini during prohibition. People came aboard the ship to gamble, drink and party. After prohibition, the Sapona deteriorated and wound up as a fighter target during WW II. Now it’s a large, broken hulk that people snorkel around and that fish congregate around. 

The water around Bimini is multicolored. Near to shore, the water has a clear, almost crystalline appearance. Further out, the water is a light pastel blue, and still further out it turns emerald green then the blue color intensifies until it's almost purple in the deep water. We did not actually swim on any coral reefs, but found some soft and hard coral almost everywhere we snorkeled. On our first swim, Rob Haines found a giant star fish about a foot across. Rob and the boys also found many conches, but none was legal size to keep. However, we would get conch shells in Alice Town later. We also saw many large sting rays. 

After lunch, we sailed to some small rocks called Turtle Cays. Capt Mike explained that we should swim around the rocks to other side. Eric, an excellent swimmer, went in the water with James and Ben who are also very good swimmers. They swam over to the rocks and near the far side where we could see them from the deck. The other scouts, along with Bob and Jeff, also went into the water as Eric, James and Ben returned. From the ship we could see the current seem to pick up around the side of the rocks where our scouts now were. The current was actually too strong and we could see several boys were having difficulty swimming back to the boat. Stuart, also a strong swimmer, made it back to the ship and reported that the current was very strong and that some of the boys needed help. 

Eric and James as well as Rob and Capt Mike went into the water and swam out to assist the group. Bob made it back, exhausted. However, with help from our stronger swimmers, everyone got back together. Capt Mike and Rob actually formed a trio with Justin in the middle, and arms linked, as a trimaran, they swam back together. Once deck, Capt Mike explained to the boys that if they ever get caught in a strong current again, the best thing to do was to swim parallel to the current to get out of it. That was enough excitement for the one day. 

Tuesday, April 6, 2004 

Sailed to North Bimini and moored at the Blue Water Marina near the center of Alice Town. The  approach is through the channel between North and South Bimini Islands. The dock is at the heart of the larger island; cargo ships that supply Bimini tie up here as wealthier are only a few hundred inhabitants. North Bimini can’t be more than a couple of miles in length, and it’s probably less than half a mile wide. The two official buildings are painted bright pink. We could see the Customs building from the ship, and later we saw the government building that housed the police station and the post office.  

Capt Mike and Phil went ashore with our passports to clear customs and immigration. It took a bit of time as everything does on the Islands, “Mon.” Back aboard the ship, the boys were given a little information, and were set loose to explore, eat and shop. A short distance from the marina, there’s a small group of shops with tourist items like T-shirts, and shell jewelry. Several places rent golf carts to tourists to travel around the island. There are plenty of cars, although considering the size of Alice Town, I doubt anyone ever makes it out of second gear, or gets past 25 mph. The boys wanted to rent a golf cart and drive around the island, and Phil agreed to do so after lunch. 

We ate at a little restaurant across the street from the golf rental place called Bob Smith’s Cafe. There was a young fellow painting an island mural scene on the window of the cafe. Mrs. Smith was inside the cafe to take our lunch orders. The places had pictures of prize winning fish hanging and weighed at the docks. Some of the pictures had people hanging and being weighed too. There were also articles about Bob Smith, the owner of the restaurant. He’s one of the entrepreneurs in Alice Town. We all had a variety of freshly made sandwiches on the fresh baked, delicious local bread. The cafe also serves breakfast, and we discovered later, the French toast made from the local bread is also excellent. 

We rented the golf cart from an older fellow with lots of missing teeth. The carts cost $20.00 for the first hour and $10.00 for each additional hour. Phil asked if the scouts could drive the cart around the island on their own. The old fellow warned Phil against letting the scouts go alone. So being the responsible adult, Phil found himself riding in the back seat of a golf cart for three hours!  

The first group of scouts included Eric, Ben, James and Randy, and Eric took the wheel first. Remembering to drive on the left like the British, we drove up and down Kings Highway. Phil had suggested to the scouts that they might want to buy some Bahamian stamps and mail postcards to themselves. The government building that housed the Post Office had a parking lot with few cars. The parking lot also had a raised “island” in the center that formed a natural traffic circle in the parking lot. This was just too tempting, and Eric and the other scouts took turns going in circles around the island as fast as they could. It seemed quite harmless as the golf carts couldn’t go very fast, and the boys were enjoying themselves. 

Continuing on after the Post Office, we stopped at an area on the beach where we saw piles of conch shells. The shells were left over after the animals were removed. Everyone wanted a shell to take home. We collected a nice assortment to bring back to the ship. After stopping for conch shells we headed for the far side of the island where the broad sand beaches were. Each scout took turns driving.  

On the way back to get the second group of scouts, the boys wanted to stop at the government parking lot one more time to go in circles. This time, a Bahamian police officer came out and put a quick end to the fun. He motioned for Eric, the unlucky golf cart driver, to follow him into the police station! Phil tried to intervene, at which point the officer told Phil to come along too. However, as Phil tried to talk, the officer shut him up saying “I know what you are going to say. Let me talk to the boy.” 

What followed in the small office was a lecture on personal responsibility, and the officer told Eric that he knew the boys were just having fun on their vacation, but that was no excuse for reckless driving. Eric had to say he understood the officer’s lesson and he would not drive recklessly before the officer let him and Phil leave. We definitely got off easy that time. The whole ordeal took 15 minutes, but must have seemed a lot longer to Eric. 

The second group of golf cart drivers was not waiting for us when we got back to the meeting point. However, Connor and Tristan were there and we let Connor drive the cart a short distance until the second group of scouts arrived. Justin, Greg and Stuart were the new drivers. They drove back to the same places. Justin had a bit of difficulty controlling the cart so his turn had to be cut short. In fact, a passerby asked if he had a license as we seemed to be stalled in the middle of the small roadway! 

One aspect of driving around the island included seeing most of the homes and other buildings. Almost all of the homes had satellite dishes on the roof and air conditioners. The construction is of concrete blocks, and everything is painted bright colors like yellow, orange, pastel blue and green. For such a small community, there were a surprising number of churches. The two largest were the Anglican and the Catholic churches, but there were a Methodist church and many other Protestant churches. When we had stopped for lunch at Bob Smith’s, Phil asked the waitress if she was related to Bob Smith after reading the articles on the wall. She told him that she was his wife. Phil said jokingly that she must be “the power behind the throne.” Her reply was that God was “the power behind the throne.” Phil’s impression was that the community was seriously religious. 

We went back to the ship after golf carting around the island. Some of the boys enjoyed fishing off the pier while others continued roaming around town. The really nice thing about the marina was the shower and bathroom facilities (real porcelain). Across the street from the marina is the Compleat Angler Hotel, famous for having Ernest Hemingway as a guest when he came to Bimini for deep sea fishing trips. Hemingway had room #1; it’s still available for rent. The hotel has a room set aside as a Hemingway museum with photographs, stories and samples of his books. One of Hemingway’s novels set in Bimini is “Islands in the Stream.” 

Wednesday, April 7, 2004 

We spent most of the morning in Bimini. Some people went back to Capt Bob’s for breakfast. Stanley and Phil walked back over to the hotel to get a look at Hemingway’s room as the maid was fixing things up. It’s really a simple place, two double beds, and hardly any furniture. There were only a table and four chairs and a dresser in the room. The room did have a door to the balcony that surrounds the hotel. The view from Hemingway’s room is not so good anymore, but probably was better when he stayed at the hotel. Today, there are buildings blocking the view of the sea from the balcony.  

The hotel lounge has a game for guests. It’s a ring toss. The ring is on a long string and it can be flung to catch on a hook about fifteen feet away. Our guys got quite good at this; James was the champ throwing the ring in all kinds of fancy ways. 

After seeing Hemingway’s room, Phil and Stanley walked around a bit. They purchased some fresh groceries (tomato, onion, celery) to add to our larder aboard the ship. Phil left Stanley to return to the ship with the groceries. On the way back, a black fellow in a motorized wheel chair stopped Phil and asked to be pushed back to the town center. The invalid’s name was Howard, and all along the way people stopped to ask what was going on. Howard explained that he had a dead battery. To passers by, it must have been an unusual sight to see a white guy pushing the wheel chair of a black invalid. Even kids would stop and ask what’s wrong. 

After lunch, we left Bimini and sailed to a snorkel site called “Three Sisters.” We swam to the largest of the three islands and looked for a place to climb onto the craggy land. The surface of the island was coral rock weathered in sharp spikes. Most of us had dive boots, but exposed skin on hands and feet got cut easily. In the water around the island we found lots of black sea urchins, but no one got stung. Limpets covered the surface of the rocks near the water line. The limpets would get a shower every time a wave rolled over them. Limpets are ancient creatures that Rob says are edible. Pealing them off the rock surface would be a challenge.  

From “Three Sisters,” we sailed around Bimini and anchored just offshore from a sparkling white sand beach. Capt Mike lowered the dinghy and about half a dozen scouts jumped in to paddle to shore. It looked like an old time movie with everyone doing something and the boat going in circles. Finally, they got their act together and somehow made it to shore. The boys had sand fights, and buried each other. They spent an hour or so just playing in the water and on the beach. 

We sailed back toward the wreck of the Sapona, and anchored in a little cove where three or four other ships were also anchored. Several of the other ships were catamarans; one belonged to a French family who wanted to know about the weather forecast. For us, the weather had been delightful the entire week. We had temperatures in the low 80's during the day, clear and sunny skies, and at night, temperatures reached down to around 65 degrees under a bright moon. 

Thursday, April 8, 2004  

In the morning we sailed to “Gun Cay,” and spent the morning snorkeling and swimming. After lunch we set sail for Miami. This time, as we crossed the Gulf Stream, the boat pitched instead of rolled as it did on the way out, but no one got seasick. Again, scouts took two hour watches, and sailed west to Miami. We arrived at the Bayside Marina around 1:30 a.m.. 

Friday, April 9, 2004 

Woke late this morning, 8:00 a.m.. Our job was to clean the ship, pack and unload our personal gear onto a covered area on the dock. Phil confirmed our rental car reservation and went to get another full size car, this time from Hertz. Rental cars were hard to get as many were reserved for people spending Easter in Florida. We got a five-passenger Toyota Camry.  

The next job was to clear U.S. Customs. We went over the causeway to where the cruise ships dock, and checked into U.S. Customs in building number 7. The processing went smoothly and did not take us long. We passed the newest and largest cruise ship in the world. It’s a Norwegian Cruise Line ship that looks like a floating city. The ship is probably more than 25 stories high and as long as five city blocks. The windows on the sides are an impressive blue-green glass. Several scouts suggested that our next high adventure trip should be aboard the cruise liner! 

Most of the boys and adults wanted to spend the afternoon at South Beach so Phil ferried them over the causeway in three groups. They had dinner at the News Cafe, and returned by public bus. We parked the rental car in a parking garage at the Bayside Marina. The Miami Heat basketball team was playing a game at the American Airlines Stadium, and parking was tight.

Saturday, April 10, 2004 

Capt Mike helped take part of the group to the airport; Phil took the rest in two trips. We checked in around 8:30 a.m. for a 10:50 a.m. flight home so we had plenty of time to hang around the airport. The flight back was uneventful and went by quickly. We actually landed early, and some of the parents arrived just after we had gotten our luggage.  

This was an excellent trip, and the scouts and leaders will remember it fondly for years to come. Our scouts were all extremely well behaved, worked hard and we were proud to be associated with Troop 1131.