A Look Back at the First Castaway Cruise

I’m not sure what was more beautiful, the Bahamas or the people that took part in the first Castaway Cruise.

We called ourselves that Salty 7 and Captain Mike. I was friends with only one person on the boat prior to this trip, but after I feel as if all six are now great great friends. I guess that’s what happens when you put like-minded salty souls on a beautiful yacht and put them in the middle of some of the bluest water in the Bahamas. That’s what I took away from this first Castaway Cruise.

There’s much about this trip I can tell you. There’s also much about it I can’t. Lets just say that we were pirates and mermaids through and through.

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Captain Mike going over the safety rules.

We boarded Mermaid Tales of Tropical Escape Yacht Charters and left Haulover Marina on north Miami Beach early on a Thursday. The weather…flawless. Captain pointed the bow due east, the destination sat waiting about 48 miles and 5 hours away. Yes, the Castaways were going to explore the quiet eden called Bimini.

Crossing the Gulf Stream was a calm experience and gave the group good time bond. The real fun however started when the deep blue of the Gulf Stream transitioned into the neon blue that surrounds Bimini. Cameras went into rapid fire mode and the smiles on the Castaway’s faces couldn’t be wiped off with a mermaid flap slap.

Our time on Bimini was spent eating conch, watching a children’s Easter Junkanoo parade, off-roading in a golf cart, swimming in electric blue waters, sipping Papa’s Pilar rum at the ruins of Hemingway’s old hang out, dancing at Sherry’s place, and watching the sun dip into the stream. Bimini isn’t a big island, it’s not a fancy island, but there’s just something about it that seduces the soul.

Goombay Smashes at Sherry’s!

After a day of exploring north Bimini, we cast off our lines from the Bimini Big Game Club and motored south to Honeymoon Bay and Gun Cay. We peaked Mermaid Tales into the bay but it was too crowded for a vessel our size. The evening’s anchorage was the east side of Gun Cay and we would pull into Honeymoon on the next morning’s sunrise.

The evening was filled with laughs, dancing, rum, swimming, delicious burgers, and full-moons over full-moons. There Chesney, Buffett and Marley streamed from the speakers as we Castaways became even closer.

Sunday was suppose to bring a weather system south and delay our return trip across the stream. Flights were changed and the Castaways quietly looked forward to another possible day or two in the Bahamas. But as we awoke Sunday morning the skies were clear and seas calm. After a quick snorkel stop at the Sapona shipwreck we would sadly make our way west back to Florida.

We Castaways met as strangers, but left as true friends. As I write this my phone is blowing up with text messages with plans of the Salty 7 meeting up here in Florida and another Castaway Cruise with Captain Mike and Tropical Escape Yacht Charters. I think there’s just something about sharing an experience like this that instantly pulls people together.

I’d like to give a shout out to my new friends…Captain Mike, the uni-bomber, Captain F’ed Up, Momma D, PFD, Shady, and last but not least Sketchy. We are the Salty 7 and we will set to sea together again.

More Castaway Cruises to come ya’ll!

Cheers,
RumShopRyan