Good Fishing and Pretty Beaches at North Rock, Bimini

Friday 2.7.14 Peter wanted to jet up to North Rock to anchor and do a little diving. It was recommended to us to go there, but it wasn’t a real protected anchorage either. The best part of the whole trip up there was hooking two big snapper!!

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Josh reeled in the first one and they let me bring in the second one :) My arms are still like jelly!! It was hysterical for me to be standing on the back of a moving boat trying to fight a fish.

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We also hooked a barracuda, but cut those sharp teeth loose right away.

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Leah brought in the next one but it was another barracuda.

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New fashion statement? :)

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We took a quick trip to beach to let the dogs go potty on land and made it back to the boat as it was getting dark.

Josh and Leah made dinner and it was my turn to shower off. I asked Peter if there was enough water left so he opened up the floor board to check the level on the aft water tank. OH CRAP! The bladder bag was more than half way empty and there was a bunch of water outside the bag but inside the aluminum box that the bladder sits in. At some point the original aluminum/fiberglass tank was cut open and replaced with a bladder. We emptied the bladder to save what was left of the fresh water and transferred it into our 5 gallon jerry jugs. We poured those back into the forward water tank. This is getting added to the list of things to do when we get back to the marina.

We slept good knowing the anchor was holding well. The next thing we know it starts raining. Peter and I jump out of bed and race to close all the port lights, hatches and isinglass up top. It dumped for about 10-15 minutes and then stopped. A few hours later in the middle of the night we repeated the process. During the second scramble Peter noticed the dinghy had come untied!!! OH CRAP again! Luckily he had tied a second line on as a safety line. It was much smaller but held it enough to keep it from floating out to sea.

The next day, Saturday 2.8.14, Peter, Leah and I took the dogs over to the beach to swim and look for shells. The color of the water was amazing!!!

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Betsy was SOO happy to run free on the beach!

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Gunner had to stay on a leash. I tried to let him free but he just wanted to go sniff around in the brush up above the beach. He’s always looking for trouble.

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Gunner sure was a happy boy though. He had so much fun.

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Betsy and Gunner got to swim for a while with their daddy. Betsy decided she was done swimming and started to climb up on top of Gunner! He is like a small horse, but I’m sure he wasn’t too happy to swim with a little monkey on his back ;)

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When we got back to the boat, the guys got our Air Line hookah dive system and put it in the dinghy to head over next to North Rock to check out the sea life. I stayed with the boat and the dogs while Leah went with the guys on picture duty. They ended up having engine trouble with the outboard again and learned a very important lesson: Always bring the ditch bag!! We put a lot of effort into making a complete ditch bag with all the first aid and survival gear we would need in the event of an emergency away from the boat. I’ll be doing a future post on all the items we have in there soon. We put it all in a dry bag and have it sitting in the cockpit, but for some reason, they just didn’t bring it with them this time. We won’t make that mistake again!

Betsy and I looked over at them with the binoculars and noticed they were floating much farther away than I thought they would have gone. (Picture is courtesy of Leah from another day but this is exactly what we were doing this time too). It was a bit too far to tell if they intended to be that far or not. A few minutes later it appeared they were okay.

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Luckily they got the outboard working well enough to get back safely, but they gave up on diving this day. To top it all off, they lost one of our blue floating “Dog Leashes for Beaches” from our sponsor, SoftLines (blog post coming soon). I guess it drifted away and with the engine trouble they didn’t want to go chase after it. At least we got to play with them both atleast one time. They also lost the anchor for the dinghy out there. Time for a lesson on knot tying??? I think so!!!

Stay tuned for the next adventure, or should I say… big problem… on the way back from North Rock :(

9 comments

  1. Kim says:

    Picture perfect guys! Looks like everything is going great for you. Love all the photos, especially the one of betsy hanging on to gunner. Too funny! :) -Kim, s/v LAHO

  2. Annie says:

    I think you have gone and done it….found yourself in a place where the coconuts grow! Congrats. So excited for you guys. Don’t forget to remember that part when you are undergoing the ummm not so great challenges that come with the territory.

  3. Steve and Jude says:

    CONGRATS!!!!!!
    Friends (John and Arline) said they saw you in Great Harbour, recognized the boat. John knows where all the conch and lobster are and loves to dive, good guy to go out with. The bladder leak has to be either the small clear vent line coming out of the inlet to tank or the screw on cap that holds the inlet hose to the bladder. If your in the Berry’s stop at Devil/Hoffman and anchor on the bank side, go into the shown anchorage then turn left or west between the two islands, anchor behind the little island that you go by on the right or north, make sure you anchor on the edge in sand. We were there in 90 mph winds and did good. It is usually much calmer on that side and not rolly. There is a blue hole that is great to the North. Also on your way south stop and anchor at little Whale Cay. Friends Ben and Anya caretake the island. Great shelling at both. Remember this time of the year the water and stormy weather are warmer and less intense in the southern Bahamas.
    Keep enjoying, It’s the best there is there.
    Steve and Jude

    • Steve and Jude, It is SO nice to see you guys following the blog, it’s like you are here with us as we learn our way down the path you’ve already taken in this beautiful boat :) We just had dinner with John and Arline tonight here in our cockpit!
      We checked both of those places on the bladder tank and didn’t find anything wrong. We’ll see if it happens again. And we’ll hopefully check out those places you mentioned. We leave Great Harbour on Sunday for more amazing adventures :) Hope you guys are doing well!! We are definitely in the right place at the right time!

  4. i lucile oxford says:

    It is so fun to read your posts and see the pictures allowing us landlocked people to live vicariously with you all. I miss you Let me know when we can come see you.

    Love your other mom Lucile

  5. Patrick says:

    Peter, Jody, Gunner, and Betsy
    Jody your writing is fantastic you leave the paragraph with a question that needs answering and the next caption never fails. The trials and tribulations you overcome are amazing. The SV Mary Christine family is undoubtably living the adventure

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