Bimini 2015 - July 6th to 11th

[robert843]

Nope over the years I have been randomly stopped and checked by the US Coast Gaurd and the Horry County Police probably 10 times its pretty common occurance down here they just sit in the middle of the Intercoastal Coastal and stop boats to do checks on most busy weekends. Never been asked to provide proof of insurance only the boat registration. We dont not have any insurance requiremnets down here either on boats or water craft. Same as someone else mentioned my Marina requires me to send them an updated decleration page each year as they require me to have insurance to keep my boat there. Thats why I asked wasnt sure Bahia Mar or Bimini Sands may require it but as @Bruce mentioned this week I will print them off and just throw them in. Its like a mad scramble today for me as I have to Work in Columbia all week so today is my last day in Myrtle Beach to get packed and have everything ready to go as we plan to leave as soon as I get back here early Friday afternoon. So I may have a few more questions as I finish all this up thanks.

 

[ArmyChief]

I'm working next week too .... Feel your pain

 

[robert843]

On the Bahamas Customs form the line that says GPS what are they looking for there?

 

[upperdeck]

Brand and model of fixed gps. Not applicable to a portable.

 

[robert843]

Well the ten day forecast finally shows our first day there. Being from the coast I know this means little to nothing as it will change 10 times before we leave and I also know %50 chance of rain is nothing in a coastal area as that our normal forecast yet we most of the time do not see rain and if we do its for a few minutes.

 

[Andy S]

As you know most of the coastal rains occur in the afternoon to evening, that is part of the reason we leave first thing in the morning.

 

[ArmyChief]

I like showers!..oh..wrong forum

 

[Englewoodcowboy]

Well I know you guys have to be getting excited on this trip. Now that I have my new boat and my dad wants to go next year he got serious today and broke out his Penn International 30's and stripped them down for a rebuild along with new line etc. I have designed a bolt on rod holder/antenna bracket to go in place of the wakeboard racks and are getting a friend in FL that builds towers to weld it up for me... Our biggest objective will be fishing when we go so some serious planning is commencing, all we need is the dates for next year.

 

[Andy S]

In my search to find more snorkeling/dive spots I came across a site with some new locations plus many of the popular ones, http://caribya.com/bahamas/diving/. The sites close to Bimini have a latitude starting with 25 and longitude starting with -79.

The two new to me snorkel/dive spots I will be exploring are (both are close to Honeymoon Harbor):
Miami Rita Wreck 25.6041666667 -79.2972166667
U-Boat 25.5761166667 -79.292783333 (I have heard that a U-Boat was around Gun Cay but could never find the GPS coordinates until now)

Edit: I have also just read that there is plane wreck about 100' or so off the east end of the airport runway. Here is a video of the plane wreck take from a sea plane, look at 1:26 mark for the plane, here is the full video

 

[robert843]

How much water is the U Boat in? Is it possible to snorkel of free dive or would tanks be required to enjoy that one?

 

[Andy S]

How much water is the U Boat in? Is it possible to snorkel of free dive or would tanks be required to enjoy that one?

Both are in about 35' of water, I'm going to snorkel over top of them to decide if it is worth diving them.

 

[Bruce]

There is an entry for the U Boat on Navionics. It is slightly North of the coordinates above and in 15 to 18 feet of water. It is the crossed lines with green plus sign icon below.

 

[ArmyChief]

@andy07sx230ho ,

Are you adding all these to the original document?..so I can download..try to input into my chartplotter??

 

[Andy S]

@andy07sx230ho ,

Are you adding all these to the original document?..so I can download..try to input into my chartplotter??

Is this the document you are talking about? If so, I have added the U-Boat, Miami Rita Wreck, and the link to the GPS coordinates.

 

[Bruce]

We have wave and weather forecasts for the 6th!

The near 3 footers on the 5th were concerning me but the forecast is down to 2 footers for our crossing.

 

[kthrash]

@Bruce what app is that coming off of?

 

[Bruce]

@Bruce what app is that coming off of?

SailFlow. I thought I found 10 day forecasts somewhere last year. 7 day is the best I can find this year.

 

[ArmyChief]

Looks like my WindAlert App

 

[ArmyChief]

Is this the document you are talking about? If so, I have added the U-Boat, Miami Rita Wreck, and the link to the GPS coordinates.

Thanks

 

[zedxmike]

WINDFINDER app does 10 day and its very easy to read