What happened to the Sticks?

I also remember the days of Chalks and the complete angler, and when you could walk up the beach of anchor off miles of pristine sands lined with trees... Oh well.

What is frustrating is that it would talks very little effort to make bimini more appealing. Start with a good clean up and few gallons of paint.

There is something about the bahamas... I call them the unfinished island because most projects are never completed. Whether smaller projects or big ones, the odds seem to be against them. Take baha mar... Multimillion development that jsut filed for bankruptcy after delaying its opening for months.

I am really hoping that the Normans Cay project makes it... The runway is done, the marina basin dredged and about to be opened up (as of a month ago). If that fails they would end up destroying one of the exumas prime anchorage.
 
It isn't just Baha Mar, and don't hold your breath on that one. They are suing CCA so this will drag on indefinitely. I look to Nassau becoming a giant h3ll hole as a result. At least it isn't an American developer.

Look. They can't even come to terms on Walkers, Great Exuma died and Sandals bought it pennies on the dollar and they are struggling, Samson Cay died, and who knows what else.

Pascal have you seen any plans on the Norman's project? Where is the access to the marina and where will it be?
 
Sampson was privatized by John Malone. It was great until a few years ago when he purchased it.

Ken
 
We were there while it was open and it was dead. Nothing going on. The snack bar crossed everything off the menu except conch salad that they went out and caught while we waited. Limited facilities. No pool etc.. Compared to Compass/Staniel it just did not work from a boater's point of view.
 
Im glad to have memories of Bimini in years gone by. I will still go to Bimini for a long weekend to Fish but stay on the Boat at night.
Will miss Skinner and his group making great music at the Complete Angler.
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A1Annie Got me this time[:-ashamed]

Whats next, will they put a Hotel and Casino on Great Isacs Light?
 
While I oersonally never really liked it, Samson was pretty popular and a pretty good marina, nicely landscaped, protected. Management was very inefficient and borderline unfriendly though. they had a pool... One of the best natural pool one can have :)

As to normans the entrance to the marina basin will be before the old pier. When we were there a month or two ago, I could clearly see the marina basin (old pond dredged up and enlarged) with just a narrow spit of sand separting from the cut. Trees had already been removed.
 
It certainly would be good to have an alternative to Highborne.
 
Joe,

Peggy (aka) Debbie and I just got back from Bimini via the Superfast yesterday. The sticks are definitely still there although I do not know if they illuminate at night.

Some observations (Blue Plate Special died in 2006, but Peggy and I have continued to visit via other means of transport and have stayed at The Big Game and this time aboard the Superfast--so the observations compare to back in the day when our boat trips ended in 2005).

-Alicetown made us sad, Sherry's beach bar was closed (big 4th of July weekend, trash had not been picked up so she took the day off).

-The little bar across from Sherry's was open, but after we ordered a round of rum drinks he was out of rum!

-The little restaurant where we all agreed the best cracked conch was served has been closed for years (across from Big Game).

-Big Game has been painted an awful yellow color, Dive concession has moved up to RW Bimini and been sold to RW Bimini. Cracked conch was sub-par...price was large, service good.

-Ebby's Bar was closed (maybe because it was Monday after the big 4th weekend).

-Garbage truck was on the roll, but apparently way behind as trash was everywhere.

The bottom line IMHO for the island can be seen in the marinas. Browns, Weeches, Seacrest, Blue Water, Big Game and yes RW Bimini marinas are all largely vacant. The private boaters are not coming in the numbers that we saw back in the 2000-2005 era.

The loss of The Complete, the restaurants that served us well with $10 cracked conch delights, the small shops that have closed due to no customers has taken its toll. Afterall, we boaters + the Blackbeard Sailing vessels were the customers that kept the town afloat.

The little cottages that used to be for rent overlooking Radio Beach were boarded up, old Bimini Mack Office boarded up.

Only positive is that both the Queens and the Kings Highway are freshly paved.

Now..as for going over to the "Dark Side" and taking the "cattle car" as described by Pascal. The ship is a bargain, clean as a whistle, good food(included for those staying on the ship). RW Bimini has a promotional video that features the good ole Bimini, Ansel Saunders, Bonefish Ebbie, Sherry's Beach bar, Big Game Club etc. Shuttles to Alicetown run regularly...problem is that most US, European, S. American et. al tourists are taken aback by what they see in town and head back to the resort pronto.

Yes, the resort is still a construction site, but beaches are great, beachside bar excellent and folks are just as pleasant as they can be.

Snorkling expeditions are run twice a day to the Sapona and Turtle Rocks...that was our treat and nostalgic experience where we got to see the "sticks".

Peggy almost cried as the good memories came back of making that cut with you and others into Bimini!

DaveS

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Dave,
Thanks for the update on the Sticks and GREAT to hear from you.
My last trip to Bimini was 4th of July weekend,about 5 years ago. An old freind was looking for you.
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Dave, Thanks for the run down - very sad. Anyone have pictures?

Thanks. Roy
 
And that is just the garbage they have collected. It doesn't talk to the lack of maintenance or abandonment.
 
I have never seen so much trash and flies while we were there. I was horrible.

Ken
 
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