I'm back on the boat and staged in Bimini, Bahamas after crossing over from Nassau last week.

The plan is to sit here and wait for a weather window to move on to Florida. For now, the pattern has been consistent—northeast to north winds holding steady, with a few stronger pushes mixed in. A few days ago it built into the 40-knot range.

Despite that, the anchorage has held up well. It’s protected enough that there’s been very little motion—mostly just wind through the rigging and the occasional reminder of what’s happening outside.

Conditions have settled slightly since then, but the overall pattern hasn’t shifted much. Still waiting.

After a few weeks away from the boat, it’s been a straightforward reset—systems checked, everything back online, and back into the rhythm of watching weather again.

For now, it’s just a matter of timing the next move.

📝Harbor Notes

I’m anchored on the east side of North Bimini in what’s commonly referred to as the Bimini North Anchorage.

Access is straightforward but narrow. You come down to the southern end of North Bimini, enter through the channel there, then run back up along the east side through a man-made canal. It’s tight in spots, but manageable, and it eventually opens up into a wider basin near the casino and hotel.

The anchorage itself sits in about 17–18 feet and is well protected, especially from the north. That’s mattered this week.

The first night, we had 25–30 knots come through. I didn’t have enough scope out and ended up dragging about 25–30 feet overnight. Nothing dramatic, but enough to get my attention. The next day I reset with more rode and gave myself room to swing properly. No issues since.

There’s decent access ashore. Several marinas are within reach, and you can get to groceries and basic services without much trouble. The casino is right there if that’s your thing. Not really mine, but it’s hard to miss—and not cheap. Beer was running around $10.

For staging a crossing or waiting on weather, it’s a solid spot. Protected, accessible, and easy enough to work in and out of once you know the approach.

While I was in Austin in March, I had a chance to reconnect with some old friends and play music again with the Dale West band.

I moved next door to Dale in July of 2020 when I first got to Austin. One of the reasons I moved there was to get better—play with musicians who were further along than I was. I got lucky. Dale had been in the Austin scene for years, a working singer-songwriter, and he welcomed me in right away.

At the time, I was pretty limited—mostly banjo, a little guitar. During the tail end of COVID, before things opened back up, we’d spend weekends playing together, spaced out in the yard, just working through songs. Eventually that turned into playing a few local venues. It was the first time I’d ever really been part of a band.

So getting back together with them this March meant a lot.

One of the songs we always came back to was Paradise by John Prine. It’s one of those songs that settles into a group—everyone knows where it goes, and you don’t have to think too much about it.

Mike, our fiddle player, brought along a couple of instruments, including one called a Stroh—basically a fiddle run through a horn, giving it a really distinct, almost brassy edge. Not something you hear every day.

He also handed me an electric violin to play. It wasn’t even plugged in—just acoustic through the body—but it didn’t matter. We weren’t there for the setup. Just the chance to play together again.

We rolled through Paradise like we used to.

Here’s a recording from that afternoon.