Our last day out brought us back to the Bimini Islands. On this visit we took the launch to Alice Town, the Bahama home of Ernest Hemingway. Alice town has one road, King’s Highway, and the town is only about four blocks long. Kathy, Kelly, and I walked from one end to the other to catch our boat for snorkeling at Turtle Rocks (see map.) Nicole and Mary Claire rented a golf cart (the preferred mode of transport on this small Island) and toured to other parts of the island. Danny stayed on board tending to two of his favorite pastimes: eating and napping.

We found a variety of fish at the reefs of Turtle Rocks, although we had to swim through a jellyfish meteor shower serveral times. We got a couple of light stings that were not too bad. We even enjoyed watching the jelly fish swim. They looked like strange alien space creatures.

The snorkelers all converged on a bar next to the Hemingway Museum where we enjoyed the air conditioning and some afternoon drinks. The kids played swing the hoop on the hook, which was a game involved trying to get a small hoop on a string suspended from the ceiling to catch on a hook on the wall. Safer than darts.

Strokey, the chef, saved the best dinner for our last night out. The Captain offered a formal toast. The teens sang a song for the diners. Strokey made a delicious Caeser’s Salad in front of us and later served (flaming) Fruit Flambe. We all watched a beautiful sunset on the end of our day and the end of our trip as the ship set sail for Miami.

Photos: Bimini – Day 7.

On Day 6 we arrived at Freeport, Grand Bahama, the largest island we would visit. Unlike any other visit, this would be a full day of island touring. Nicole, Danny, Kelly, and I decided to take the Kayak and hiking tour. Kathy and Mary Claire went on the snorkeling tour that featured a giant pontoon boat with rock climbing wall and water slide.

There was very little at the dock, which felt very industrial. It turned out the port is privately owned by a company that also owns much of the island. We had to take taxi vans to town where our tour guides picked us up.

Our tour was three parts: Kayaking through a creek surrounded by Mangroves, then a lunch at a largely deserted park beach, and finally a hike through the park that included a visit to a cave with nursing bats.

The creek emptied out into the ocean which was the end of our kayak trip. Kelly was a very good kayaking companion. Danny and Nicole did ok, although they got caught up a couple of times in the dense Mangroves. We saw a lot of construction where Disney was building the sets for Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3. It looked like a mess, but apparently it was an old U.S. military base that was a mess to begin with, so the set will likely end up being a fun Disney attraction.

From what we could see, the Grand Bahamas were mostly made up of skinny pine forrests. These native pines had air-breathing roots and grew very slowly because there are not a lot of nutrients in the thin soil. The trees depend on fire to “win” against other vegetation. The needles of the pines will spontaneously combust on the floor of the forrest after drying out for a few years. This wipes out other vegetation, but the resins in the pines are fire resistant, popping as the fire comes close and literally “blowing out” the nearby fire. We learned a lot about these trees on what seemed like a very long trip to the park. However, looking at the map of the island, it doesn’t look like we went more than 12 miles.

Lunch at the park beach included a visiting mother Raccoon. Nicole, Danny, Kelly, and I all had a very relaxing swim, and our small group had a lengthy beach almost to ourselves.

Kathy and Mary Claire had a fun snorkeling trip, although Mary Claire only had so much patience for looking around underwater. Kathy could probably snorkel all day if they would allow her.

The evening was relaxing for the older folks as the kids watched “Finding Nemo” on a projected screen mid deck. The food was delicious… as always.

Danny and I both rigged up some duct work to help route air over the beds. Two nights were unusually hot. We think it may have had something to do with running on extra engine power to get to our destinations. Our rooms were just above all the engine rooms. Kathy recommends bringing a travel fan of some kind in the future.

Day 6 Photos: mac17.static.net/winjammer2005/day6/

Day 5 at Egg Island was a lot of fun. We woke up already anchored. Everyone who dared, was allowed to jump ship. Nicole and Kathy chose to remain top side watching, but the rest of us jumped, flipped, or dove. A big barracuda parked himself under the ship and would swim in and out of the sunlight. The waters seemed to only be about 25 feet deep. Kathy threw a mask down, and we took turns looking at him. I dove down to get a closer look. He looked about 5 feet long and had a pretty scary looking mouth.

Later we took a launch over to Egg Island. The snorkeling was good. We swam with schools of larger fish than what we had seen at Gun Cay. Lunch was served on the beach, and there was a beach olympics. I wandered over some rocks on the right side of the beach and found the tide flowing through an inlet to a lagoon. I found a live conk in the inlet.

Seeing the aerial photo now, I wish we had done a little more exploring.

Kelly and Claire took a mini-Scuba class and both learned to breathe under water with a “bubbler.”

We returned to ship in time for the adult scavenger hunt. The adults were split into three teams and put through a series of challenges. One person from each team had to step up into the team circle, and that person would take the challenge. Nicole (Team 3) and Kathy (Team 2) ended up going head to head in a challenge to see who could get their bodies signed with five crew autographs the fastest. Kathy found the captain first, and got him to sign her shoulder. She was able to show it off for the rest of the evening.

After a lot of challenges, it was time for the last one. It was my turn as I stepped into the Team 2 circle with two other guys from Team 1 and Team 3. It was all kind of rushed, so I didn’t even notice the other two guys. We were told each team had seven minutes to dress up their teammate for the Miss Windjammer contest.

I was whisked away to the front of the ship, and suddenly I was being dressed and made up by five or six women. Someone gave me a wig, and when it wouldn’t stay on, I was told to just hold it up with one hand. I had lipstick, toenail polish, and Kathy put two pointy water cups under my top. As we hurried back, I got Maurice, the bar tender, to escort me in, and present the judges with a bottle of Jack Daniels. (Bribery counts, and our team did a lot of bribing.)

I thought I would be able to win for sure until I saw the guy on team 3: Danny!

We were asked a series of questions and then we had a dance competition. Danny had the crowd cracking up with his acrobatics. I couldn’t keep up. (I think I at least beat the Team 1 Miss Windjammer.) Later several women told me that Danny just had that cute factor going for him.

As dinner started to be served, people started changing into their costumes for the evening Costume Party. I decided to just play photographer having dressed up plenty as Miss Windjammer. Kathy and Nicole dressed up as Gypsy Bling and the Pirate Girl. Claire dressed up as a rapper dude. Kelly dressed up as a boy. Danny wore his Action Jackson shirt and turned his hat backwards.

The contest and dancing were a blast. OJ stole the show in his vintage World War II Czech bathing suit, especially when he did a ballroom dance with Pebbles.

Photos: mac.fiveforks.comt/windjammer2005/day5/