2019 Bimini Trip ( Unofficial Thread Until Admin Puts Official One Up)

[blacksapphirez]

I averaged 17mpg and my average fuel price per gallon was $3.00. We travelled a grand total of 2638 miles round trip.
I should also clarify that we were not in a hurry to get to Fla or to get home and mostly took our good old time, meaning between 55 and 75 with most at 60 or 65. We took 3 days to tow down and 3 days to tow back.
We were in vacation mode the moment we left the driveway.

I use gas buddy... I saved 20cents per gallon or more just by going about a mile away from the hwy. diesel prices on the hwy is a ROBBERY.

 

[Sbrown]

I use gas buddy... I saved 20cents per gallon or more just by going about a mile away from the hwy. diesel prices on the hwy is a ROBBERY.

I do the exact same thing and I start doing it when I get to about half a tank, that way I've still got 200 plus miles to find the best price, and even at only half tank if I find fuel close by cheap its still worth filling up.

 

[bronze_10]

I was able to get 16 mpg in my f250 towing on the trip. On the way home we drove straight through so by the end of the tow I am sure the mileage was down because so was my right foot but 16 mpg was about where we sat running 65 to 75... Ish.... And with a 40 gallon tank we did the entire trip from raleigh nc to ft Lauderdale on one fuel stop.

 

[Amar Nanduri]

I was able to get 16 mpg in my f250 towing on the trip. On the way home we drove straight through so by the end of the tow I am sure the mileage was down because so was my right foot but 16 mpg was about where we sat running 65 to 75... Ish.... And with a 40 gallon tank we did the entire trip from raleigh nc to ft Lauderdale on one fuel stop.

What was your weight you were towing ? Mine is around 10,000 pounds and this includes trailer.

 

[Speedling]

I do have flares and a GPS/chartplotter already. My main thing is I don't want to add $2,500 in accessories that I really don't want just for the crossing. That is what I was trying to get across. I am 100% willing to purchase/install anything I NEED. But, I am also willing to take a little more beating on a rough crossing due to no trim tabs. This is the most capable boat I have owned so far, though my Monterey did incredibly well for it's size. I have taken that Monterey places people with 24's were scared to go. So, I am just looking for input on what others with/without these add -ons have experienced.

Hi there!
I just did this trip in my 21' boat!
It was totally doable but we had pretty great weather. The way back it was predicted to be less than 1' but ended up 1.5 up to occasional 2'. My kids thought it waa fun at first but after about 20 minutes my 4 year old was being held because he had salt water in his eyes and my daughter was hiding behind the port side seat with my oldest chillin behind me. It was rougher than we expected. We have seen far worse but the wind blowing it into us was not fun and the duration made things miserable until we were within sight of land and knew we had plenty of fuel so we went slow and plowed.
My phone (s6 active) with navionics was covered in salt.
Trim tabs would have kept us from getting airborn so much even if we got a few more splashes.
Trim tabs are essentially making the boat act like a bigger boat. I wish i had them. So, they are a heck of a lot cheaper than upgrading to a bigger boat!
That being said,i didn't regret taking all my kids. They had a blast!

 

[Speedling]

My costs were similar to @Julian.
My condo costs were more but we had added saturday and sunday.
We were too late for bahia mar so we saved money sleeping in the truck.
There was $100 at harbortown for parking.
We spent a total of almost $300 in fuel at bimini sands. My eco friendly boat arrived with 1/2 tank of fuel and 10 gallons on back.
Driving from chicagoland and making so many stops was bad on fuel. We were right around 12.5 mpg with a 2010 5.4 3v doing a total of 4000 miles and visiting sil in tampa and stopping to visit the ark in kentucky.
5k is about right.
Couldn't eat out as much as we wanted because we would show up late and the resteraunt closed so owner could run to ferry in time

 

[Julian]

I forgot the parking fee of $70 in Ft Lauderdale.

 

[bronze_10]

What was your weight you were towing ? Mine is around 10,000 pounds and this includes trailer.

Mine was more in the 5k range... If we ran 60 mph it went up to close to 18 mpg but that would take too long.

One day. . When I grow up I want a big boy boat like you have!

 

[Bruce]

I forgot the parking fee of $70 in Ft Lauderdale.

Speaking of parking, Harbour Towne raised their rate to $20 a day the day that I returned to the US.

 

[afsigma21]

Well I have read every thread on the Bimini crossings I think, its taken me weeks. LOL

We bought a new boat last summer, '17 212 Ltd S. I am super excited about making the trip in 2019. I am not going to do trim tabs. I think this will be a one time thing for my family so I am going to try to keep costs down on the trip specific upgrades. Right now I plan on:
Dragonfly5
Paper charts/maps but no idea where to get those yet
Spot Gen3
Uniden UM380 Fixed Mount Class D VHF Marine Radio with 4' antenna both with some sort of mount that does not involve any additional holes
POSSIBLY adding a hand held
Kent Type I PFD's with a cheap $5 ebay waterproof flashlight that has strobe setting
Going to fill a dry bag with Walmart stuff, flares, air horn, multi tool, first aid kit. All the basic stuff for a throw bag
Cobra Fins (I wanted those anyway)
Flags (Yellow, Bahama and JB.net)
Handheld easy to use basic compass.
"Handheld Bilge" to go into 12v outlet in case we get water in cabin, not sure how I can accomplish this, but I have a year to figure it out.

Last thing I do before we make the drive is drop off at dealer for oil change, 'tune up' and inspection. I think I will be good as we will have less than 50 hours on the boat by this time next year.

And I think I am calling that done. I am really trying to stay right on the line of what I NEED to have because I don't think we will get to do this twice.


Before my Yamaha I had a 19'2" ASI Imperial open bow, 1984 Model year.... Dad bought new when I was 13 and I bought from him. Ran great until a couple years ago, finally parted with it last year (cried a little). As a teen and young adult I spent a LOT of time on Lake MI out of Milwaukee and Manitowoc and have some of that big water experience in rough water on the 19 footer. No salt water experience but I think Lake MI has some similarities that I can use. We have been boating the heck out of Lake Cumberland in KY for the last 20 years or so. I grew up on a boat, my 19 year old son has never known a time when we did not own a boat and go boating. He is almost as excited to go. The only question is my wife.. I am concerned about her neck/back if its rough. Might be a last minute ferry passenger, but hoping not.

One of the things I am most looking forward to is a "Boat Selfie" picture of me and my crew 5 or so miles out with the Florida skyline way in the background. I have seen a bunch of those and man, I want one!!

All that being said, I think my confidence level is high but not so high as arrogance, to make this trip with 4-5 on board.

I am budgeting $6500 for boat upgrades and the trip. ....and of course I have a spreadsheet tracking every dime lol.

Am I totally missing anything?
I can make it, right?

 

[Julian]

Well I have read every thread on the Bimini crossings I think, its taken me weeks. LOL

We bought a new boat last summer, '17 212 Ltd S. I am super excited about making the trip in 2019. I am not going to do trim tabs. I think this will be a one time thing for my family so I am going to try to keep costs down on the trip specific upgrades. Right now I plan on:
Dragonfly5
Paper charts/maps but no idea where to get those yet
Spot Gen3
Uniden UM380 Fixed Mount Class D VHF Marine Radio with 4' antenna both with some sort of mount that does not involve any additional holes
POSSIBLY adding a hand held
Kent Type I PFD's with a cheap $5 ebay waterproof flashlight that has strobe setting
Going to fill a dry bag with Walmart stuff, flares, air horn, multi tool, first aid kit. All the basic stuff for a throw bag
Cobra Fins (I wanted those anyway)
Flags (Yellow, Bahama and JB.net)
Handheld easy to use basic compass.
"Handheld Bilge" to go into 12v outlet in case we get water in cabin, not sure how I can accomplish this, but I have a year to figure it out.

Last thing I do before we make the drive is drop off at dealer for oil change, 'tune up' and inspection. I think I will be good as we will have less than 50 hours on the boat by this time next year.

And I think I am calling that done. I am really trying to stay right on the line of what I NEED to have because I don't think we will get to do this twice.


Before my Yamaha I had a 19'2" ASI Imperial open bow, 1984 Model year.... Dad bought new when I was 13 and I bought from him. Ran great until a couple years ago, finally parted with it last year (cried a little). As a teen and young adult I spent a LOT of time on Lake MI out of Milwaukee and Manitowoc and have some of that big water experience in rough water on the 19 footer. No salt water experience but I think Lake MI has some similarities that I can use. We have been boating the heck out of Lake Cumberland in KY for the last 20 years or so. I grew up on a boat, my 19 year old son has never known a time when we did not own a boat and go boating. He is almost as excited to go. The only question is my wife.. I am concerned about her neck/back if its rough. Might be a last minute ferry passenger, but hoping not.

One of the things I am most looking forward to is a "Boat Selfie" picture of me and my crew 5 or so miles out with the Florida skyline way in the background. I have seen a bunch of those and man, I want one!!

All that being said, I think my confidence level is high but not so high as arrogance, to make this trip with 4-5 on board.

I am budgeting $6500 for boat upgrades and the trip. ....and of course I have a spreadsheet tracking every dime lol.

Am I totally missing anything?
I can make it, right?

I'd add the handheld VHF to your list for the following reasons:

1. In the unlikely event you do have to ditch your boat you want a radio with you.
2. It is really helpful once you reach bimini to have a radio in your condo, at the pool etc to communicate with the group.

I'd also go with the tallest fixed antenna, the price difference between 4' and 8' isn't much difference. When we went in 2017 I just bought a cheap 8' antenna with a tower mount and zip tied it to the tower vs running it through the tower. This was much quicker and easier. Then we decided we were going back the next year so I upgraded to a quick connect antenna run through the tower.

 

[Speedling]

I got an antenna mount and put it on the back handle with a 6' whip. Worked well.
My biggest problem is hearing over twin mr1 engines

 

[Julian]

I got an antenna mount and put it on the back handle with a 6' whip. Worked well.
My biggest problem is hearing over twin mr1 engines

Ok...that reminds me of more money I spent....add annother $65 for the external speaker I bought and installed

 

[Amar Nanduri]

Ok...that reminds me of more money I spent....add annother $65 for the external speaker I bought and installed

Memory catching up with age Julian

 

[Berrie]

Well I have read every thread on the Bimini crossings I think, its taken me weeks. LOL

We bought a new boat last summer, '17 212 Ltd S. I am super excited about making the trip in 2019. I am not going to do trim tabs. I think this will be a one time thing for my family so I am going to try to keep costs down on the trip specific upgrades. Right now I plan on:
Dragonfly5
Paper charts/maps but no idea where to get those yet
Spot Gen3
Uniden UM380 Fixed Mount Class D VHF Marine Radio with 4' antenna both with some sort of mount that does not involve any additional holes
POSSIBLY adding a hand held
Kent Type I PFD's with a cheap $5 ebay waterproof flashlight that has strobe setting
Going to fill a dry bag with Walmart stuff, flares, air horn, multi tool, first aid kit. All the basic stuff for a throw bag
Cobra Fins (I wanted those anyway)
Flags (Yellow, Bahama and JB.net)
Handheld easy to use basic compass.
"Handheld Bilge" to go into 12v outlet in case we get water in cabin, not sure how I can accomplish this, but I have a year to figure it out.

Last thing I do before we make the drive is drop off at dealer for oil change, 'tune up' and inspection. I think I will be good as we will have less than 50 hours on the boat by this time next year.

And I think I am calling that done. I am really trying to stay right on the line of what I NEED to have because I don't think we will get to do this twice.


Before my Yamaha I had a 19'2" ASI Imperial open bow, 1984 Model year.... Dad bought new when I was 13 and I bought from him. Ran great until a couple years ago, finally parted with it last year (cried a little). As a teen and young adult I spent a LOT of time on Lake MI out of Milwaukee and Manitowoc and have some of that big water experience in rough water on the 19 footer. No salt water experience but I think Lake MI has some similarities that I can use. We have been boating the heck out of Lake Cumberland in KY for the last 20 years or so. I grew up on a boat, my 19 year old son has never known a time when we did not own a boat and go boating. He is almost as excited to go. The only question is my wife.. I am concerned about her neck/back if its rough. Might be a last minute ferry passenger, but hoping not.

One of the things I am most looking forward to is a "Boat Selfie" picture of me and my crew 5 or so miles out with the Florida skyline way in the background. I have seen a bunch of those and man, I want one!!

All that being said, I think my confidence level is high but not so high as arrogance, to make this trip with 4-5 on board.

I am budgeting $6500 for boat upgrades and the trip. ....and of course I have a spreadsheet tracking every dime lol.

Am I totally missing anything?
I can make it, right?

I would rethink the Spot.
I have one and it is a nice toy, but now that I have used it, i would recommend renting an EPIRB and a sat phone, or buying a PLB and renting a sat phone. Many here have a InReach which they swear by, and it has the tracking function, but i was unable to communicate with one of the InReach units this summer.
Also i see it more as an emergency system and i would not want to rely on texting when in distress.

 

[Betik]

@Berrie I kind of agree. The inreach is awesome when it comes to other people knowing where you are and if you need to hit SOS button.
I was hoping to use it as back up navigational device. However, when I forced to do it during the 2017 crossing it "failed". What do I mean by failed....
The screen is way too small for it to maintain course during 3 or 4 feet waves. Naturally, texting on chop is 2xPITA.
I had foreseeing the limitation with the small screen, so I had paired ( through bluetooth) my inreach with an IPAD. downloaded appropriate charts and everything.
It just so happened that during the "storm" the ipad turned DEAD as of like not working. So I assumed that because we took in some much water the it got damaged. Well it turned out that when we were in Bimini the ipad started working again. and it is working to this day. We were at the tip of the Bermuda Triangle, so I do not know...... Real or not, it the Triangle is inside of you. Kind like the Phantom of Opera it makes you act if it exists regardless it is real or not.

Next time my boat is going to Bimini; It is getting 2 VHFs and 2 marine chart-plotters. If the kids are onboard, we are putting PLB on their lifejackets.

 

[Bruce]

but i was unable to communicate with one of the InReach units this summer.

Could you elaborate on this?

 

[Bruce]

It just so happened that during the "storm" the ipad turned DEAD as of like not working. So I assumed that because we took in some much water the it got damaged. Well it turned out that when we were in Bimini the ipad started working again. and it is working to this day. We were at the tip of the Bermuda Triangle, so I do not know...... Real or not, it the Triangle is inside of you. Kind like the Phantom of Opera it makes you act if it exists regardless it is real or not.

We experienced a similar iPhone failure during that crossing. I attribute it to highly charged electrical environment (Zeus having fun).

 

[Berrie]

Could you elaborate on this?

I sent a txt to one of the InReach units (not sure whose it was). Got a report later ( may have been posted on the board, not sure) that he received my message, tried to answer but 3 hrs later the InReach still had that msg in the outbox and had not sent it, even after arrival in Bimini.

 

[Betik]

I sent a txt to one of the InReach units (not sure whose it was). Got a report later ( may have been posted on the board, not sure) that he received my message, tried to answer but 3 hrs later the InReach still had that msg in the outbox and had not sent it, even after arrival in Bimini.

My family was tracking our crossing in 2017 and they said that there were some black out periods where they could get a fix on us ( I think location request). But when I downloaded the tracking back home, it showed logs every 10 minutes as scheduled. My conclusion was that during the heavy clouds the communication had limited data transfer but the device on our hand was still in communication with the satellite. So if we had to activate SOS, the call would have gone through.