The Twilight Zone, and Pics

Chris here.. I felt like I was in a Twilight Zone today. A few days ago I was reading a blog entry about a boat that had their refrigeration fail and lost their entire 50lb meat stash from their freezer. Then we figured out that a lot of the interference on our SSB radio was due to our refrigerator compressor motor so we'll have to turn off the fridge when we need to use the SSB. I mentioned that I didn't like to do that, and when Casey asked why I explained that I am always afraid it won't turn back on again. This afternoon, I noticed the refrigerator and freezer temperature had gone up quite a bit (fridge at 48F and freezer at 39F), and yes - when I checked it - the motor wasn't running. Great! And no manatees this time to share foul language with! We ripped apart the condo, tried to pull apart the unit and just couldn't get it to go. I called up SeaFrost and asked for help (we're calling from the Bahamas and we have 70lbs of meat in the freezer! Help!). Their first question - when you turn the thermostat, does it click? I turned the thermostat and all of a sudden Kristen yelled that the unit was on! The tech support dude had no clue why it went off in the first place, but we both decided that the fact that it was running was a good thing. I can't believe I was just talking about how bad it would be if this happened less than 24 hours before it actually DID happen! Weird...

Anyway... here are a few pics. I know the underwater ones aren't overly thrilling, but we have one of those waterproof Olympus 1030SW digicams and we just had to try it! Hopefully we'll find some water with more life as we progress towards the Exumas.

A picture of paradise, looking towards Miami 55 miles away

Pelican at Bimini Sands

Our neighbors from Averill Park on New Moon. You can see how empty the marina is.

And we thought it was tight for US to get through the channel!

This is pretty much how everything gets to Bimini.

Here's the Sapora, a wrecked rumrunner now turned into a snorkel spot.

Inside the Sapora

Also inside the Sapora

Again, inside the Sapora

On the seafloor next to the Sapora

The water is so clear!

Here's why you need chain on the end of a Danforth anchor. This is our dinghy anchor, and as you can see it's completely unset. The chain holds the shank down low and allows it to set. We don't have any chain, and even with 60ft of rode out in 10 feet of water, it still won't set.

Casey snorkeling.

Kaitlin snorkeling.

This had to be the cutest hermit crab! These guys are all over the island.

As are these guys - all over Florida, all over Bimini, and they just get bigger from here!