Ruth's 1st day in the BIM

wa wa WEE wa!! Respek! I is here in Bimini wit ma main man JacK. And we is right now sittin here by the docks of the bay at da Blue Water Marina!
Today we tidied up the boat a little more, and hung up and layed out everything that got drenched during the big trip over (quite a number of items). We walked around the island a bit, mostly the central part. I think it is about 8 miles long, but it is less than a quarter mile to walk across! After James treated us to lunch at Capt' Bob's Restuarant, Jack and I walked down the one main road on the island (imagine strolling down an alley). We hit the beach on the other side of the island...the water is SO clear! It is the most beautiful light blue/aqua color that is so amazing it's hard to describe! Imagine a Blue-Raz slushie from 7-11...(haha ok, maybe not so hard to describe...)
The islanders ride around in golf carts (or should I say GULF carts, haha) and bikes. We ran into a lot of people on foot too. Almost everyone calls out a "hello" or a "good afternoon" to you. Walking around felt like we were strolling through someone else's neighborhood, which, of course, we WERE....but what I mean is the area wasn't very touristy and it felt slightly awkward to be exploring such a small town, almost like we were invading the native's space. The island has a lot more trash and litter on it then I would have imagined, and a great number of homes and buildings are boarded up or closed down. Besides this, it is beautiful in that every tree, plant, and flower is in bloom. The sun is always shining and the sky is very blue. There are conch shells EVeRyWhERe - on the beach, scattered around the island, and even engrained in the gravel and pavement.
On our walk, we tried the wonderful Bimini bread! It was VERY delicious!!! We got their sweet potato bread, and seriously: food of the gods. Almost melts in your mouth! Mmmm...sweet potato bread....
Everytime I get on or off the boat I see small jelly fish in the water! They are purple-rimmed and transluscent. They don't have tentacles, at least ones long enough that you can see. They pump their way through the water. Pretty! Yay!
I also saw a small, flourescent yellow/black striped fish and a couple of small exotic fish with spots and flourescent blue tails. Oh, and GET THIS: a few minutes ago Jack pointed out to the water and called our attention to this big ray leaping out of the water! It was BIG! It flopped high into the air twice! James commented it was either chasing after something or something was chasing after IT. Ooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Earlier today Jack bought a red snapper off of a fisherman. Talked him down from $30 to 25. It is big!!! We are going to thaw it over night and gut it tomorrow! Coolness.
It seems we will be sticking around this harbor, at least this area, for a couple more days. There is a front moving in Friday, which means big winds. We may find shelter on some other part of the island, who knows?
I can't wait to go back to the beach! On our way in yesterday,we spotted an old shipwreck that had washed up onto the beach. It was old and rusted and looked like a lot of fun to explore! Right across the street, on the other side of the island, looked like a good place to snorkel.
Woah, James just said on his way to his boat he saw an 8 ft shark and a baby shark in the water! Sweeeeet.
Love you all. Love Jack. Love ocean, sun, birds, and fish. Love survivin' a rowdy gulf stream trip to north Bimini!!!