A long Bahama trip in a small boat

[CaptLloyd]

Awesome trip Connor!! Please include me for a Seacraft Bahama Fleet Flotilla

On our way north with the big boat this spring, we spent a night at Conception. My boss had never been there before, he was blown away by the beach, and the water colors. He's not much of a swimmer, but I drag him out snorkeling on one of the shallow reefs, and he could not stop talking about it for days.

Many places you mention(not all) I am familiar with, I spent almost 9 years on a live-aboard dive boat cruising the Bahamas from 1988-1996. I know that dishearting feeling of jumping in on a spot that was always so beautiful and teaming with life 20 years ago, only to find it empty now But when you hit the good spots in the Bahamas, it doesn't get any better

Thanks for sharing the stories from your trip, great stuff!

Lloyd

[gofastsandman]

Well, I just swallowed this whole thread in one delicious bite.

As Chuckles would say, Outstanding!!!

It is sad seeing dead reefs. Between the beach re-nourishment and the effluent runoff
here, I just shake my head in sorrow.

Glad to see some of your memories in full health.

What do chattering Dolphin sound like?

I wonder if they would respond to humans with clickers.

I hear Phanfare sp is a user friendly video hosting site with no music copyright police.

I`m hoping to go to Cayman after Christmas. This diving stuff is addictive.

Not to derail, but I am finally going to upgrade my Walmart mask and was at Fl Freedivers
last week. This mask really fit me well and had great suction when removing it. So much so that one of the shop guys said wow that sounded great.

This is a new company with new ideas and coatings. Anyone have thoughts???
Would the mirror be a benefit for hunting???

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SEADIVE-CatE..._qi=RTM1562569
.
Great adventure there Conner.

Cheers,
GFS

[cdavisdb]

Capt Loyd. Its fun to find that somebody who has been there is reading this stuff. Come on over to Terry's at the November gatherng and tell us some tales.

Gofast: orange coating is like shooting glasses, helps contrast, but decreases light transmission. Its good sometimes and not others, depends a lot on water color. Some spearo's swear by mirrored masks, say the fish can't see your eyes move. I've no experience.

Cayman is great. Git rid of that tank and go on to Little Cayman. The freediving is beyond words

Dolphins when they get excited sound like real fast, staccato, loud clicks. Click rate seems to go up with excitement.

Glad you like it.

[Tiny]

Gofastsandman, I have a mirrored omer mask. IMHO there really is no point. The whole idea goes counter to what you want....better vision underwater. Underwater things that inhib that are water color, clarity, silt...when you add to that tint...it just reduces viz. My two cents.

PS Do yourself a favor and take a lighter to the inside of your mask lenses, you'll see the leftover production silicone burn off, this is largely what keeps making masks fog up. After that a little dish washing liquid wash during the trip and you'll never have to worry about fogging up.

[gofastsandman]

Thanks Tiny. My el cheapo us divers mask is constantly leaking even when cranked down.
Tired of clearing water every minnow. No fogging problem.

[cdavisdb]

Tried to upload some videos, but I'm not smart enough. I posted a few on utube, here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClJ...kmXvUQA/videos

[seafari25]

Connor,

I'll parrot what everyone else has said. Great trip! Great Pics! Great vids! Looks like you and your crew had some great weather. I know, with the 25, you almost want some rough weather at times so you can have some fun.

I'm scared crapless of diving as one of my friends died in a diving accident while being taught by an instructor but I sure would love to be camping on the 25 again. I'm extremely jealous! Especially jealous when I saw the galley set up. I think I'm going to have to take the 25 back to Georgian Bay cuz I think I'm also scared crapless of putting the 25 in the salt. lol.

As far as the 383, do you think that would increase you minimum planning speed? I'd be curious. It wouldn't be good if it did.

Tabs... I've never run ours without the tab extensions so I couldn't compare. I wonder if Dave has. I do think you should try to get some extensions. I always say, better to be looking at it, than looking for it. Seriously, maybe I'll take them off one day and see if I can tell a difference.

Roll? I've never noticed. I thought all boats rocked...

I may have travelled across the 6th great lake but your travels makes you the king of the 25s

Regards,
Brandon

[cdavisdb]

Thanks for the compliments. We got very lucky on the weather, but I know what you mean. Just a little rough stuff can be great fun in that boat.

Carl's galley, in combination with a good stove, is a major advantage, if you want to camp and cook. I'm very grateful to have it.

I don't think the 383 would make any difference in low planing speed. Same weight, cg, and the duoprop has great low end torque whatever the engine. The difference would be in cruising speed, not sure what that would do to mpg. Of course, the boat's never needed the low end of the planning range. It will run down around 12 knots if I try, but never needed to slower than about 15 knots, that I can think of, and that is only in very short, ugly chop.

[Blue_Heron]

Connor,
Great trip, and great pics. Keep 'em coming.

Originally Posted by seafari25

Tabs... I've never run ours without the tab extensions so I couldn't compare. I wonder if Dave has...

Brandon,
I ran mine without the tab extensions at first. They were effective enough that if I hadn't already made the extensions, I might not have gone to the trouble. With the tab extensions, they are almost too effective. I installed Bennett's AC 3000 auto tab controller. It worked pretty well before the tab extensions went on. But with the extensions it over-corrects to the point that it's pretty much useless. I'll probably demount it and move it to my 20SF eventually. But the tabs are fun to play with. They have so much authority, I can steer the boat with them. And they have definitely helped the minimum planing speed. I can keep the boat on plane and perfectly level at 13mph.

Dave

[cdavisdb]

They will keep coming, but its going to be a couple of years before the next big trip. Next summer is for my wife and she wants something "non-boat" Can't imagine why. I might get in a short trip.

The year after is up for grabs. Now I just gotta think of something that will top this year.