. . .There are better choices besides Bimini... just sayin' . . . [/QUOTE]
Bimini has the advantage of the shortest crossing from Miami or Ft. Lauderdale at about 45 nm, but West End or Lucaya on Grand Bahama (about 60 and 90 nm from Palm Beach respectively) would have more accommodations for those who can't stay aboard their boats.
Too bad Walkers Cay (100nm from Palm Beach/Lake Worth inlet) is still out of commission (as far as I know), although maybe you could now clear in at nearby Grand Cay, who may also have gas now. Lots of nice reefs nearby, so great diving and fishing. After clearing through West End on my first couple trips to Green Turtle in the late '70's, we started clearing in at Walkers on later trips. We'd spend the night anchored off Grand Cay and then spend the next couple days working our way down the chain of uninhabited islands the next 65 nm to Green Turtle, making for a much more relaxing trip than trying to run all the way to GT via WE in one day! Don't know how it is now, but back then the W.E. customs guy covered both the marina and airport, and you can guess who got priority! Only the skipper can get off the boat till you've cleared customs, so waiting several hours in that well protected marina (=no wind=hot!) is no fun. At Walkers, you knew the customs guy had to be on island somewhere, all you had to do was find him!
Navigation to Walkers from PBI is also a bit easier than to WE, which bears 90 deg or due E. This means you have to head about 95 degrees or so to compensate for Gulf Stream current. Course to Walkers via Memory Rock, which is about 20 nm N of WE, is about 85-87 degrees, so you're getting a lift from Gulf Stream on the way to Walkers instead of fighting it on the way to West End! Memory Rock was a very important waypoint since this was way before GPS! It's about the size and looks like a submarine conning tower, so if your dead reckoning navigation was off by more than about 5 miles, you'd never see it! Although you're never more than 20' from land once you get to the Little Bahama Bank, you're out of sight of land or any landmarks for about 4 of the 5 hour trip to Walkers!
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