Start of a Bahamamian Infatuation
- Capt. Greg Handal
- Jun 5
- 8 min read
If you've followed my blog, my Instagram account @watermusiccharters, or my Facebook page, you know that love traveling the Bahamas by boat. But how did that all start?
Sailing the Bahamas had been a dream of mine since I can remember. However it takes time to sail there from Folly Beach and back, let alone spend the amount of time there that would make the trip worthwhile.
My life was busy, wonderfully so, such that taking that kind of time made sailing to the Bahamas remain a dream. I was a special education teacher when I started my charter business in 1999. I ran my business full time during the summer and during the school year, I ran charters on weekends along with weekday sunset trips. I kept this schedule up until 2021 when I retired from teaching. Retirement began my trips to the Bahamas. Not my retirement. Larry DiCenzo's retirement.
Larry retired in 2013. He was my principal. He was (and is) my buddy (my son, James Elliott, replaced him as best buddy in 2006 when he was born) and he's James Elliott's Godfather. And not just because he's Italian. Larry is a sailor, or was, as he's moved on to powerboats. For his retirement present, we got him a copy of the Explorer Chartbook for the Near Bahamas to help inspire an adventurous retirement.
That chartbook sat on our coffee table a week before we (and by "we", I mean my wife, Judy Lynn) wrapped it up to bring to his retirement party. During the week the chartbook sat on our coffee table, I poured over it, reading it and studying the charts. Well, my wife is observant, and she took note of the interest I had in the chartbook. When father's day rolled around that June, she had gotten a copy for me. It was one of the best gifts I have received. I continued pouring over the charts and reading about the islands. My wheels were turning. I kept looking at the section on the Bimini Islands. I was intrigued with their proximity to the US. They are only 40 nauticle miles off the coast of Miami.
40 nauticle miles! At that time, in addition to sailing charters, I was doing bottom fishing charters on our powerboat a few times a week. Those trips went out 25 nautical miles, so I was regularly doing 50 mile round trips; crossing forty miles to the Bimini did not seem that daunting. I thought to myself, "My powerboat has a trailer for a reason, we're going to do this!" I told Judy Lynn what I was planning and that it was her fault for buying me the Explorer Chartbook! She said she knew I was planning something and she was up to the adventure.
I had some obstacles to overcome, and the internet helped me. There are a number social media groups that are focused on Bimini trips to answer specific questions, but there were none in 2013. At least none of which I was aware. My biggest problems that I needed to overcome centered around trailering and launching Muddy Paws, my 2004 Key West 2020 WA.
First, how was I going to get the boat to South Florida? I had a small 1999 Jeep Wrangler that took Muddy Paws from my house to our local boatlanding and back (3 miles round trip) just fine, but it would not suite a long haul. I called Enterprise and was able to rent a large pickup truck (a brand new Dodge Ram 2500). That problem was solved. Where would I launch and then store my truck and trailer?
My departure point was going to be Miami. I searched and searched and couldn't find a boat ramp with safe, overnight parking. I finally started to call storage facilities and found a guy named Corey who owned one. He said he'd meet me at a boat ramp when we launched and he would store the truck and trailer. He wouldn't take prepayment, he said to just call him when we were ready and he'd be right there. OK. It wasn't very formalized, but at that time I had few choices, so I agreed.
A month after that fateful Father's day, I loaded up the boat with fishing and snorkel gear, safety equipment, spare parts and a cooler packed with sandwich fixings. We hooked it up to the rental truck and took off for South Florida. I wanted an early morning boat departure, so I left James Island the night before and drove I-95 through the night. I stopped at a couple of rest areas to take naps as my wife was not going to try driving a strange truck with our boat connected to it. Our boy was 7 years old, so he was not a candidate for driving, either.
The drive down was tiring but smooth and I easily found the public boat ramp. I launched the boat and gave Corey a call. Well, just like he said, he picked right up and was there to meet me in five minutes in his pickup truck, shirtless and wild-eyed. He looked at my rental truck and said, "Dude! that's my dream truck!!" All I could picture were the parking attendants in Ferris Bueler's Day Off. I couldn't worry about it, we were committed to the trip and at least the truck was a rental.
Judy Lynn stayed with the boat while James Elliott and I followed Corey to his storage facility, driving through seedy neighborhoods until we came to a gate connected to a razor-wire fence. At least the facility looked secure. With internal trepidation, I handed him the keys. We jumped in his truck so he could drive us back to the boat launch. I told him of our plans and that we'd be back in 4 or 5 days depending on the weather. He said just call him when we got back and he'd pick us up. He was outgoing and had a big time telling me about his upcoming trip to the keys for lobster mini-season.
When we got back to the ramp, Judy Lynn was with the boat, talking to some Border Patrol agents who were grilling her of my whereabouts. When I approached, they proceeded to grill me about my plans. As I was leaving the country and not entering it, I failed to see where it was any business of theirs, but I answered them as I had nothing to hide and was itching to get on my way. They left us alone after a few minutes and we cranked the boat, making our way to Haulover Cut to the Atlantic Ocean.
Once on the ocean, we encountered smooth seas and I was able to open the throttle heading east for the Gulfstream and Bimini beyond. As we made our way on the cobalt blue waters of the Gulfstream, I was excited. I also felt mild anxiousness as I left our country with my little family headed for an unfamiliar land. The anxiety was mild and quickly abated two hours later as we spied the casaurina pines that covered South Bimini. The water was a bright blue as it shallowed from a couple thousand feet to fifty feet and shallower.
We followed the GPS heading to the channel markers that lead to the harbor for North Bimini and made our way to the docks of the Bimini Big Game Club. There we cleared into customs and immigration, secured our slip and made our way to our hotel room. We unpacked and went downstairs to have a few hamburgers. They were great, though we were a little taken aback at the $70 tab for three hamburgers...remember that was 2013 dollars. But nobody ever said paradise was cheap. We had packed plenty of sandwich food, but we had planned on eating breakfasts and dinners out. In those days, restaurants were few and many of those were closed when we would try to patronize them. We made do, however, finding a little shack called La La's for breakfast sandwiches and we eventually found places to grab dinners.
The food situation was not impressive, nor was the hotel's airconditioning, for that matter, but we did not come to the Bahamas for land activities, we came for the water. And the water was outstanding.
That first evening, we took the boat out to the front beach and anchored in sugar colored sand. James Elliott and I jumped into water as clear as a swimming pool an swam and swam. The next few days consisted of navigating to Henry Ford's former concrete ship, the Sapona, which had sunk on the great Bahama Banks in a hurricane during prohibition, ending the ship's final duties as a rum runner. Snorkeling the wreck of the Sapona was like being in an aquarium, the multitudes of tropical fish were astounding.
We traveled from there to Honeymoon Harbor on the end of Gun Cay to relax on the beach and swim with enormous stingrays. When we finished Honeymoon Harbor, we went to offshore coral reefs to bottom fish, catching triggerfish, bluerunners, sharks, and snappers until our arms tired. We then headed back to the hotel to clean up, eat and go to sleep in order to wake up and repeat the fun.
We watched the weather closely and ended up going back a day early to avoid anticipated weather. We had another smooth Gulfstream crossing, dodging a few thunderstorms along the way. The trip back seemed a little shorter, as the highrises of Miami began to appear on the horizon about twenty miles out. James Elliott and Judy Lynn were none the wiser as they were fast asleep on beanbags in the cockpit.
I didn't get butterflies in my stomach until we got near the boat landing and I dialed Corey's number. Would he answer? What if he wasn't around, how would we get the truck and trailer? What if, what if, what if... Well, good old Corey answered on the first ring and came right to the boat landing to pick us up! Judy Lynn stayed with the boat while James Elliott climbed in Corey's truck to get our trailer.
As Corey drove, I noticed that we passed his storage facility. I was in the middle of telling him about our trip, but was puzzled and immediately concerned. He drove several more blocks and the neighborhood markedly improved. He drove through the wroughtiron gates of another storage facility. Corey explained that this was also his and he had taken the liberty of moving our trucks and trailer here as it was nicer and safer than the other one. Relieved, I thanked him and paid him and we took off for the boat landing to pick up Judy Lynn and Muddy Paws and head back home.
It was a magical few days and it whetted my appetite for more Bimini adventuring. We learned many things to make the next trip even better. For the next six years we made one to two crossings a year. Some of the major improvements to our trips included renting a house with a dock for the week on South Bimini instead of a hotel room on North Bimini. This enabled us to pack in food and cook (we would also cook fresh fish we caught daily). It also availed us a washing machine, so we didn't have to pack many clothes. South Bimini is rural and quiet and made up mostly of vacation homes, whereas North Bimini is more bustling, though rundown. We much prefer the south island to the north. Another trip improvement was the discovery of Harbourtown Marina in Fort Lauderdale which has overnight parking with security guards. Corey was great and took care of our vehicle and us, but Fort Lauderdale is closer, and the arrangement is much more straightforward and easy.
I doubt I'll ever powerboat to Bimini again, as I now get to fulfill my dreams by sailing Water Music to the Bahamas in the winters. Bimini still holds a special place in my heart. A few years ago I ended a long father/son Bahamas sail in the Bimini Islands. James were both so familiar with the place, it felt a bit like a homecoming, a wonderful way to end a memorable adventure. More on that adventure in future blog posts...
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