Seavette at a strange place-Bimini, Bahamas

[lost2a6]

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. 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.

[nos3665]

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.

[Fr. Frank]

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.

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.

[Capt Chuck]

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

[Fr. Frank]

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.

[1bayouboy]

What kind of fin is that on your outdrive....???

[65Bowrider]

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.

[gofastsandman]

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

[lost2a6]

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.
Gas in Bimini as of now is $6.20 gal and Diesel is like $6.79 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.

[Fr. Frank]

Man, that's just beautiful. Love them tails on a grill, (with lemon juice, dill and mayonnaise)