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Seavette at a strange place-Bimini, Bahamas
Well we finally did it. We had been talking about it for years and finally made it happen, crossed the Gulf Stream and went to Bimini. We left MS on 7-24(Thurs) AM and arrived that night at Dania Beach, Fl and stayed at a motel 6. We got up early the next morn and launched at Harbour Towne Marina. There were several squalls in the Atlantic which made it a little choppy. It was no problem for the old SeaCraft; however my friend that followed us caught hell. He was in a 14ft Boston Whaler with a 70 Johnson. :eek: I had to run on an average 18 MPH just so he could keep up, and even at that speed every wave that he hit his entire boat would go air borne by several feet causing his engine to stay on the rev limiter. When we arrived at Bimini port around 10:30 AM, my friend had lost several items out of his boat along with his console tearing loose and the only thing holding it was just a few screws along the front. Anyway as of now I don't have many pics of the boat and I'm not going to bore you with lots of underwater fishy pics. I will post more boating pics as I get them.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...3-R1-02-1A.jpg http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...3-R1-01-0A.jpg http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...-R1-00-00A.jpg http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...3-R1-03-2A.jpg http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...-R1-21-20A.jpg http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...3-R1-07-6A.jpg http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...-R1-26-25A.jpg |
Re: Seavette at a strange place-Bimini, Bahamas
Nice Shots.
Last time I was there was New Years Eve 1998 one last night before heading home. Made quite a few dives around that area. How about a fuel report on your boat and prices there. |
Re: Seavette at a strange place-Bimini, Bahamas
I have made the crossing in a small Boston Whaler several times. I used a 13' Whaler with a 35 Johnson and 18 gallon under-seat tank, going from Lake Worth Inlet to West End. We always traveled in company of other boats, and we only burned about 3-4 gallons per hour.
I never ran into bad weather going over in the early morning, but we did give in to good sense in bad weather, and have a friend's 36' Tiara Pursuit tow the boat back a couple of times while we rode with him in comfort. :D At the time, my other two boats were a 17' Cruise Boat center consloe with a 55hp Evinrude, (built as strongly as a floating potato chip), and a Slickcraft SS160 with a 140 Mercury. I would NEVER take the Cruise Boat for fear some 2' wave would break it in half. However, the Slickcraft also made the crossing twice, but we had minimal fuel reserves with only an 18 gallon tank and burning 6 to 7 gallons per hour at a 30-35 mph cruise. JFTR, my fastest crossing was as a passenger in a 30' Formula 302 and 45 minutes buoy to buoy. The distance is 54 miles. Equipped with twin 830hp Gale Banks motors and Arneson drives, we ran over 70 mph for most of the way in almost glassy water, and had to slow to about 55-60 on the far side of the Stream because of a cross-chop. That was back in the days when I had delusions of making a name for myself as a throttleman. We did not beat the record which is what we were trying to do. The record, which as far as I know still stands for v-hulls, was set in 1984, and is 40 minutes flat at an average speed of 81 mph, set by Rocky Aoki with Steve Stepp at the throttles in a Gulfwind Marine 30' Velocity with with Mercruiser power. Back in '01 or '02 I heard rumors of a just barely sub-100 mph crossing by a 45' Cougar unlimited cat. I'm getting older, but I still love speed on the water. :D |
Re: Seavette at a strange place-Bimini, Bahamas
Steve
Glad you had a great crossing!!! We need more pics & stories.......... Those storms can be scary. Here's one I could not outrun crossing to Grand Bahama in '97. After 7 miles out of the way, I finally had to maintain headway speed into the storm. The temperature dropped significantly and the winds were howling. It lasted approx 40 minutes :eek: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...back/storm.jpg |
Re: Seavette at a strange place-Bimini, Bahamas
Squalls in the Stream can be scary. I have to admit, I have never run into a squall or storm while crossing in either direction. Just the occasional storm while fishing offshore.
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Re: Seavette at a strange place-Bimini, Bahamas
What kind of fin is that on your outdrive....???
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Re: Seavette at a strange place-Bimini, Bahamas
Steve,
Now that you have done it once and seen how beautiful it is over there, you'll have to do it again! Maybe next time our 21' will be done & we can join you. Glad you had a wonderful and safe trip. |
Re: Seavette at a strange place-Bimini, Bahamas
Love the underwater pics Steve. Is the clan coming to Desoto? Were you able to fix the console before returning?
That could have been an ugly situation. I need to do the crossing. gfs |
Re: Seavette at a strange place-Bimini, Bahamas
Thanks, here are a few more pics. Excuse the blurry ones, there must have been something on the lenses however you can still make it out somewhat.
Damn I'm getting fat; I'm starting to look like a miniature Capt Chuck. :D ;) :D Gas in Bimini as of now is $6.20 gal and Diesel is like $6.79 :eek: We burned 37 gal going over there and I'm guessing about 27 on the way back. The pics at the dock are at the Seacrest. BTW Carla did you all have a good time? Another trip sounds great, hurry up and finish the 21. :D http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...P1010042-2.jpg http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...P1010043-2.jpg http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...P1010044-2.jpg http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...P1010008-2.jpg http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...P1010049-2.jpg http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...P1010067-2.jpg http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...P1010069-2.jpg http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...P1010081-2.jpg |
Re: Seavette at a strange place-Bimini, Bahamas
Man, that's just beautiful. Love them tails on a grill, (with lemon juice, dill and mayonnaise)
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Re: Seavette at a strange place-Bimini, Bahamas
So is that ruins of Atlantis in the background?
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Re: Seavette at a strange place-Bimini, Bahamas
SAPONA is the wreck in pics
The Sapona, which was a ferro-concrete steamer is also known as the Concrete Wreck. She was a 350 foot concrete hulled freighter, designed by Henry Ford and built in 1919 by Liberty Ship Building Co. in Brunswick, Ga. This 2,795 ton vessel was originally christened the Lone Star. She was one of a handful of ships built with steel reinforced concrete. This type of construction was done in an effort to conserve on precious steel during World War I. You can also pick up spent rounds off the ship and sand around her from Target pratice runs. |
Re: Seavette at a strange place-Bimini, Bahamas
Steve-Congrats on an amazing trip. The Seavette looks sweet. Great shots. Gets the blood pumping for that run over.........Still got Carl's autograph on that engine box after all that good use this Summer??
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Re: Seavette at a strange place-Bimini, Bahamas
Thanks, Yes Mr. Moesly's sig is still there. I put a protective covering over it. If you look closely at the pic where you can see the engine box, you can see it just under the cushion flap. I need to get the cushion modified because it almost covers it up.
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Re: Seavette at a strange place-Bimini, Bahamas
Check out how they patched the sail boat.
Was Snookerd over there too [img]/forum/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] |
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Re: Seavette at a strange place-Bimini, Bahamas
That left a mark :D
Danny I have some intermitent electrical gremlins. Primary is fine so far, but I lose guages sometimes , and sometimes the warning lights will pop for a second. Until recently I was relying on a handheld gps, and my Ritchie. Now that I have my new to me Runo combo, I`m getting close to game on. Just got SeaTow. Now all I need is a saltwater shotgun. Happy Halloween |
Re: Seavette at a strange place-Bimini, Bahamas
Hey Sandy, somebody's got to get you Treasure Coast guys off the pot(double meaning)! Shoot, guys from 1000 miles away are taking advantage of your backyard :D :D. You may need me to take that ride with you :D. I am getting fired up to make that trip happen next year. That shotgun is the right thinking. I remember my dad carrying an AK47 on the boat over there :eek:
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Re: Seavette at a strange place-Bimini, Bahamas
Danny you`re welcome to join me anytime. I did my time in the drug rodeo of my youth and then some. I finally learned how to wash my feet and tie a double windsor. ;)
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Re: Seavette at a strange place-Bimini, Bahamas
Amen brother
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Re: Seavette at a strange place-Bimini, Bahamas
Mossberg makes a nice SS version of the model 500 in 12 ga.
I used to live in the Bahamas, so allow me to offer some advice here. DO NOT, repeat, DO NOT take an AK47 into the Bahamas unless you are a member of the Law Enforcement community, or have diplomatic immunity, PERIOD. The maximum penalty for illegal possession of a firearm is Life in prison. You can legally own, license, and keep a .22 or shotgun in the Bahamas, but you cannot keep a high-powered rifle. As a tourist traveling on your own boat, you can legally own and declare and keep a shotgun on your boat while cruising the Bahamas from the USA, as long as you sleep on the boat and never spend the night on shore. If you have a firearm on board, you may also never leave the boat unattended, without someone on it who traveled to the Bahamas on that boat. In actual practice, the RBDF doesn't really care if you have a shotgun, even if you don't declare it, as long as you follow the above rules. If they board you and find it, they will simply put a plastic seal on the action of the gun and tell you to have the seal removed when you clear Bahamian customs to go back to the USA. You are permitted to remove the seal only for self-defense against piracy, which you must promptly report. There are only two places in the Bahamas where you can have a center-fire rifle in your possession: North and South Andros Islands, and then only during a declared and approved hunt for feral hogs. Otherwise, they must be kept in storage at the local police department, as must any licensed handguns. A violation of Bahamian gun possession laws can get you a year in Fox Hill, and then deported, never to return. The prison at Fox Hill was originally constructed in the late 1800's, and so is quite primitive. Not a nice place. And here is the bad part, when you get back to the USA, you will be arrested AGAIN, for failing to declare your weapon with US Customs upon leaving the USA, for which you can get up to 5 years in prison, although the norm is probation with adjudication, never to own a modern firearm again. Stick with the shotgun. (BTW, you can have one shotgun for every person on board) |
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