Bimini 2015 - July 6th to 11th

[Bruce]

How far out did you guys make it before the boat got swamped?

I was ahead of both boats that were swamped but I believe the first was near the exit of Port Everglades and the second was only about a mile out.

 

[wreckrman2]

Oh that's a heartbreak... the inlet's are ALWAYS rough during tide changes. Some can produce 10 foot waves at times. Always slow and steady and the faster you can get out of the channel the better. Low tide was at about 725am this morning so you guys were fighting the tide out which makes for rough waters.

 

[SoFla David]

Sorry to hear about your adventures today. Most importantly, glad everyone is ok. Everything else can be fixed or replaced.

For you guys who got swamped, if you need anything, I am here in Miami (about 30-40 minutes south of you. If there is anything I can do to help, please let me know. If you guys want to try to work on the boats and try to salvage the motors yourselves or anything else, I volunteer my backyard, tools, garden hose, knowledge, and whatever else you may need.

Likewise, if you need somewhere to keep the boat while you make alternative vacation plans here in Florida, you are welcome to park the boats in my fenced yard.

Feel free to call if you need anything

David
305-542-1014

 

[MrMoose]

Did any 240/230 take any waves over the bow?

I took two waves over the bow about a mile out. Collected some seaweed in the boat. Each time, we had about 6 inches of water at the rear drain for a few minutes. My bilge pump ran for about 45 seconds. I took a third wave over the bow when we stopped at the halfway point, but that was my fault for cutting back the throttles too quickly. I had 4 crates of Gatorade, 6 twelve packs of milk tetrapacks, a couple 24 packs of juice boxes, and 3 five gallon gas cans in my ski locker, so I was bow-heavy.

 

[MrMoose]

My 242 took tons over the bow the first attempt. Realized on the way back my bilge was locked up, and bought a replacement. Still got some when we did finally cross, but nothing crazy.

It was definitely a blessing that we turned back the first time. It would not have been a good situation if you had crossed without a working bilge pump. SOMEONE was looking out for you.

 

[upperdeck]

It's heartbreaking that two boats didn't make it across. I'm thankful to God that no one was injured badly.

No other boats backed out of the second attempt. I did see a lot of shifting of loads to the rear of the boat while at the gas docks.

Someone mentioned the tides in the inlet. I was one of the first boats out, the tides didn't play much part. The wakes of the boats certainly did make it rough in the inlet however. The swamping happened outside of the inlets.

We were in the back of the pack for most of the first half of the crossing. Going was slow in the back and consumed a lot of fuel. The second half I was towards the front and running a bit faster with less fuel consumption. We came into bimini having burned 38 of 50 gallons.

For what it's worth, while I took a little water over the bow, the scupper drained it all and my bilge pump never ran.

Tony and his group really came through. They pulled @kthrash out of the water, with some of his crew jumping in the water to help. He also provided the fuel to assist the thirsty 192. Honored and grateful to have he and his crew along.

 

[soundshark]

As a former jet ski enthusiast I can say they are better at handling insane waves because they have no problem diving under briefly. Unlike an open boat, a waverunner will resurface. On the other hand, you do this in extreme pain and discomfort.

 

[DieselCamel]

about 50 foot before we ran out of gas. not a bad place to run out if its going to happen

 

[ArmyChief]

@ArmyChief Nice to see you made thru ok. Were the waves a problem at any point? (going to take mine out on the bay this weekend)
Was also wondering if the ppl that took on water had the weight moved to the rear (as this would help in keeping the bow higher), or if there is something they can share so someone else can also learn from this.

@Eurocat , waves were only an issue twice. Nice when we had the spare fuel up front between the bow seats (moved them to the back on second attempt) and when stopping for boaters. We had waves break two or three times across bow. This put about 4 inches of water at our self bailer. At that point, I needed to gun engine...get up on plane in 3 ft seas to clear water out.

As for the boat that took on water, I really don't know enough to comment. Just glad they are o.k.

 

[Speedling]

http://www.thebahamasweekly.com/pub...FI_Hotspots_of_The_Bahamas_Listings7413.shtml
Nothing listed on bimini but could prove helpful if you guys dare risk the further journeys!

 

[justason]

I was the AR210 that flooded. As we were taking on some big waves, and the we hit seeweed that clogged jets. We could not maeuver around the waves and the front of the boat went under. After putting in reverse, both engines shut down with hydrolock. Thanks to everyone for radioed in for us; Coast Guard was there super fast. After we got the kids safely off, we watched the 2500 gpm aux blige pump (and main stock pump) work their hearts out, for about 30 minutes as the boat got tossed around. Needless to say everything on boat was floating.

I shouldn't have put a heavy cooler I'm front. Painful less learned. Coast guard was super awesome and BoatUS insurance covered getting back to Harborytown. I'm just getting on shared comptuer as we all lost the tablets, laptops, computers , etc...

I pulled spark plugs at dock, and it was like niagra falls coming out of the motors. We went to Riva motors sports to see if they could help, but it was 4 days before they could even look at things.

Regardless, all kids and family are safe. Hope you guys have a better time.

Hello David,
Glad to hear you are safe as well. Small tidbit if I may: If your boat wont be seen till a few days out, I would recommend giving those cylinders a good cleaning and fogging.

I had water in a few of my cylinders a while back, I found it very difficult to get it all out. What eventually worked for me was placing a vacuum nozzle over the spark plug holes and cycling the engine several times, for each cylinder. Then I verified they were dry by putting a paper towel near the hole (dont suck it in), and cycling the engine again. Once dry I fogged the hell out of each cylinder, cycled again, and again....and again...... Salt water I'm sure will take short time......If its sunny perhaps leaving that engine bay open for the day would be beneficial....Silicone spray everything.

 

[BoaterGuy]

@David Hoff are you sure you sucked in seaweed? It sounds like you might have had your plugs blow out or maybe they werent seated properly? That would explain why you had so much water in your bilge.

 

[DieselCamel]

@David Hoff are you sure you sucked in seaweed? It sounds like you might have had your plugs blow out or maybe they werent seated properly? That would explain why you had so much water in your bilge.

Seaweed was everywhere yesterday. Think most people had to clean out at least once.

 

[Englewoodcowboy]

It looks like some care and planning of loading the boats will have to become a big factor when packing for the trip. I see a lot of old posts with a cooler in the bow (last years trip) which is ok for smooth seas but after this fiasco I would say the cooler and main weight in a tough see will have to be towards the stern to get the bows higher. I noticed on my boat this weekend that it doesnt take much weight forward of the consoles to start getting the bow down and that is a design of our boats as they have a real shallow bow rake of the the keel leaving not a whole lot of hull to displace up front... Im wondering what could be done to save some packing weight on things and one thing we do for camping is freeze about 80% of our drinking water or gatorade etc and use it to keep things cold rather than using ice etc. but how would that be accomplished while in Ft Lauderdale since it could be frozen at home for the trip down but I would rather just do my shopping once in Ft Lauderdale... There has to be a better way to cut some weight which would help for future trips I would think. I could see this whole experience to help update the "Packing for Bimini" thread.

 

[DieselCamel]

Hope this doesn't last long

 

[Zeus2013]

It's strange. I only know everyone from posts and chats. Never met anyone in person, but when my wife and i read the horror you had to deal with, our hearts go out to everyone and very glad everyone is safe.

Please be careful on your journey back...safe travels.

 

[Bruce]

There was tons of sea weed. After the first attempt we limped back in on clogged engines. My port engine overheated after we were in the no wake zone so I continued to the fuel dock on one engine. We had a soccer ball sized clump after we cleaned out the jets. It was getting stuck on the intakes.

I believe we cleaned out the jets three times on the second crossing. Each time I continued to an area of lesser waves before cleaning them out.

We took Gatorade powder to mix with Bimini tap water. That saved a lot of weight.

 

[gunnerson]

WOW guys, I am glad everyone is safe. Have a great time over there and a safe trip back.

 

[Volffas]

There was tons of sea weed. After the first attempt we limped back in on clogged engines. My port engine overheated after we were in the no wake zone so I continued to the fuel dock on one engine. We had a soccer ball sized clump after we cleaned out the jets. It was getting stuck on the intakes.

I believe we cleaned out the jets three times on the second crossing. Each time I continued to an area of lesser waves before cleaning them out.

Between the seaweed, big waves and 2 swamped boats I'm really surprised that you guys pushed on instead of waiting a day or so for things to calm down before crossing.

Edit: I read that again after posting and it sounds like I'm an asshole. I'm not trying to come off that way. I REALLY want to make this trip next year (we were actually planning on going this year until 2 of our crew backed out) but I feel like I would want to wait until crossing conditions are ideal or as close to ideal as possible before attempting the crossing. From the reports so far it sounds like the conditions weren't even close to ideal and the group still pushed on.

 

[Bruce]

Between the seaweed, big waves and 2 swamped boats I'm really surprised that you guys pushed on instead of waiting a day or so for things to calm down before crossing.

We looked at the forecasts but Monday's inaccurate wave forecast was better than the rest of the week. There was a storm in the middle today that would have been worse than what we experienced yesterday.

The water was rough and the sea weed was heavy. The worst was right at Port Everglades. The further we went the better the water was.

I also believe there is a lot to be learned from this experience. We all learned a lot about handling our boats in rough water.

Last year bow loading the boats helped to smooth the bumps of the 1' to 2' waves. That is what we expected from the 1.7' forecast for Monday. When we exited Port Everglades we found much bigger water than we had expected. We moved our ice chests back from the bow before setting out the second time. We made it out further than most on the first attempt and did not get any water in our boat that time. On the second attempt we took small amounts of water over the bow three times. It was enough water to feel it on our toes as it drained out the scupper but never amounted to more than a few inches.