Bimini Trip - Page 2

Snookerd · #11 05-13-2008, 10:20 PM

Denny-I agree on the Abaco's as you know

I grew up sailing over there in the Summers, going from island to island, spending about 2 weeks at a time. Cruising by power boat should be at least 1 week in the Abacos IMHO. Reelclassic wants a quick run to Bimini. I would still consider West End and Jack Tar-oops, wrong decade

Hopefully this thread will move to The Gatherings Section of CSC in the near future

Fr. Frank · #12 05-13-2008, 11:09 PM

Quote:

to more than a half-dozen trips from Palm Beach to Grand Bahama in a 13' Whaler

My back hurts just reading that.

That boat must have been a floating gas can.

13' Whaler side console with a 35 hp Johnson. 18 gallon underseat fiberglass tank. We'd use about 12 gallons going across. It's only 54 miles from Lake Worth Inlet to West End. Steer a course of 101* to allow for the Gulf Stream current

2 guys, 4 tanks and scuba and fishing gear on the boat. Leave around 5 am, before daylight, while the sea is glassy and run 20-25 mph all the way across. We'd hit Jack Tar about 7:30am or so and refuel (and buy the fishing tackle we forgot). Dive and fish all day. Refuel again at the end of the day. Stay overnight at the Islander Inn (long gone now), and go back in the morning again while it was glassy.

You can only do this with such a small boat in the middle of summer when it's often like glass all the way across in the early morning. Normally it was 3 or 4 boats and about 9-10 people making the trip. The big boat that we always travelled with was a 28' John Allmand. On a couple of occasions, we came back the same day, and just towed the whaler home, cause the seabreeze kicks up the chop late in the day.

Today my back is part titanium, probably due in part because I did stuff like the above.

POST SCRIPT: I agree the best small-boat cruising in the Bahamas is the Abacos down through Eleuthra, and I would add the Berry Islands to that list.

Bushwacker · #13 05-14-2008, 12:12 AM

One rule we always had in all the crossings I made was that every boat in flotilla would be equipped to tow or be towed at a moments notice. Rationale: Murphy's Law predicts that when someone breaks down, it'll be in the middle of a thunderstorm, blowing 40+ kts with rain coming down sideways and visibility about 10', so you want to hook up quickly! Think I've posted a How-To on this before, but here it is for what it's worth:

For the Tow-ee: Get a SS carabiner hook and put it thru your bow/towing eye. Run your anchor line down thru this hook and back up to deck; shackle a big snap hook to end of anchor line and secure to bow cleat. Now your 300' anchor line will provide the nice long tow line with the elasticity you'll need if it gets rough. (You can still use anchor in an emergency if you put a big shackle on another carabiner hook in end of chain and then snap hook thru that. I'd replace snap hook with a shackle for overnight anchorage however!)

For the Tow-er: Rig up 2 stern lines, 20' min length with an eye/thimble/snap hook in one end and an eye spliced in other end. Attach snap hook to towing eye in transom, coil up line and hang on stern cleat. The two lines can then form a bridle . . . To tow, just hook Tow-ee's anchor line snap hook on to the eyes in the end of the Tow-er's stern line and you're in business!

One other tip for trip planning - Statistics show that you'll probably have the least wind in mid-July and not too much rain, once the Bermuda high gets established. June tends to have more rain, and August is getting closer to peak of hurricane season with higher probability of encountering tropical depression, etc. Bimini is a pretty short hop so you don't need much of a weather window, but having an extra day or two in the schedule will give you some flexibility in picking the best weather for the crossing.

Bushwacker · #14 05-14-2008, 12:26 AM

Quote:

. . . Cruising by power boat should be at least 1 week in the Abacos IMHO.

Danny - it should be TWO weeks minimum! Reason: it takes ONE week just to unwind enough to enjoy the pace of life in the Abaco's!

The banking hours posted on outside of bank in downtown New Plymouth will give you a clue: "Thursday, 10-2". (Every Thursday, whether you need it or not!)

Time just doesn't mean much to the folks over there!

Fr. Frank · #15 05-14-2008, 07:32 AM

Quote:

The banking hours posted on outside of bank in downtown New Plymouth will give you a clue: "Thursday, 10-2". (Every Thursday, whether you need it or not!)

Time just doesn't mean much to the folks over there!

And never forget that 10-2 is figured in Island Time, not Chronos time!!