Bimini 2017

[Julian]

Great advice! @captras

To fill in the gaps on part of what happened that added to the confusion, here is a little info:

I went out to assist people who'd run out of gas with my brother. We made the trip over the day before so as to avoid the bad weather on Monday. So we weren't keen on going out, but felt we should to assist those in need. We pretty quickly ran into a boat (turns out it was Drift Away- which I think is the boat in question), and they told use they didn't need gas as someone was coming out with gas for them. We asked repeatedly, "are you sure?" and they said..."YES", so we left them to find another boat further out that was out of gas "Barefoot Island". We end up 27 miles offshore when we finally got to them!

But the video above NAILS the problem that Drift Away had....their radio couldn't reach Bimini. We should have realized that they didn't have a fixed radio but we didn't notice this. Hindsight being 20/20, I should have called into Bimini Sands and 1) confirmed someone was coming out and WHO, and 2) given them the coordinates for Drift Away where we found them. If they'd had a marine radio, they would have been able to call in and say "Julian just left us as someone is coming out...right?" Since they couldn't do that, I assume folks at the Sands figured....Julian went out to get them....we're good. When in actuality, we were way offshore, coordinating with a Coast Guard Helicopter to find and Rescue Barefoot Island.

So great lessons learned:
1) Fixed GPS--and know how to use it quickly. Be able to enter coordinates quickly!
2) Full sized 25watt marine radio with an 8' antenna mounted as high as you can.
3) Extra fuel for contingency purposes. Barefoot Island was cavitating...not clear why, but as a result, they burned through 80 gallons of gas!!!!!! So be ready for shit to happen. Perhaps you loose some intake sealant and begin to cavitate half way out....now what are you going to do? Based on Barefoot Islands use...it might take you 40 gallons to get to Miami or Bimini! So sure.....19 times out of 20 you'll be fine.....but do you want to take that risk?
4) I'm looking into how to have weather Radar. @Murf'n'surf 's got the best idea to get it from XM...this is probably what I'll do...but a radar would be cooler! LOL

There are other ideas I have...but work is calling....

 

[MrMoose]

OMG 27 miles out! @Julian is a hero! Simple as that. @Lakeboy, did you ever figure out what the root cause was?

 

[Julian]

OMG 27 miles out! @Julian is a hero! Simple as that. @Lakeboy, did you ever figure out what the root cause was?

They wouldn't have been so far offshore if they hadn't drifted for nearly 2 hours before we got to them. Current and wind was probably blowing them 5mph in the wrong direction!

 

[Bruce]

Rob and I spoke this afternoon about his video. We have differing opinions about some things but I hope he and Drift Away will join us in 2018.

 

[Betik]

I will respect the uniform on the background of the video and restrain on making any comments on the content.

@Jbalance I am not sure what your experience level is, but if you are today, where I was in November of 2016, here are my comments from my a highly inexperienced point of view.

• Upon arrival at Bimini I was told that we crossed 5 maybe 6 footers and I am pretty sure when I tell my grand-kids about it I will tell that I went through a hurricane
• When I prepared for the 2017 trip, I prepped by reading the Bimini prep thread. Objective information with list of equipment to install.
• I decide to cross ( despite a total of 20 hours of lake boating experience) based one 1 assumption and 1 promise.
  • My group leader is not trying to kill his/her family
  • "Betik, I will not let your family drawn"
• From the moment I made that call, I felt morally obligated to install on my boat everything that was related to safety.
• If I was driftaway, I would have robbed Julian of his fuel cans, so great respect for the act of altruism there.
• I saw with my own eyes the boat that was towing driftaway back to Bimini and it was not a jetboat. Hind: it was owned by a bimini sand person.
• In regard to Bimini Sands, I think they deserve a "thank you" note. They are a Hotel, not Search & Rescue entity. Just as I don't expect Hilton to make sure I don't have a flat tire, I don't expect Bimini Sands to coordinate on my mishaps.
• lakeboy (barefoot island) and I had a long chat at the infinity pool while his daughters were spoiling my 5 year daughter. He was very humble and down to earth about the whole experience. Prior to the trip he was aware that his boat burned fuel and that he was told to bring extra fuel. " I don't know why" he said " i just did not". No crouch what so ever about the situation or anybody.
  • my personal conclusion was he was a father who was trying to make a life dream come true for his family. Unfortunately he planed for best case scenario in order to make this bucket list.
• In regard to disorganization in terms of rescue operations. Please keep in mind here that we are just bunch of amateurs going on vacation. Captains were there with families and some with young kids. If you & your family had just gone through those seas for the very first time in your life, would you want let your spouse turn around and head out to opens seas ? What insane father will head out 27 miles off shore 1 hour after what they went through? Can you imagine telling your kids, dont worry were are safe, but daddy is going out again, you just enjoy the pool.... Why I am going on and on on this point ? the answer is simple.
  • simply there is no other group, I would rather take this trip again. On my Yamaha, Swift Trawler or Oceanis 35. If the Jetboaters will take me I will try to keep up.
  • if you must make the trip to Bimini this is the group to go cross from Florida to Bimini. The return trip is another subject for another day
• in terms of fuel. I am sure one day I will be able to think that crossing is a piece of cake, but on the very first trip on July 10th there were very few things I could process at a given time.
  • Fuel: I burned between 45 to 49 gallons to get there and I was 90-100% tabs deployed. Sticking right behind the leader's wake at the begining of the trip must have killed me. I will know very next time
  • To plane or not to plane? and am I on plane? is the question. There was times where I had not idea if i was on plane or not. Shameful thing to admit, but at times my boat had a complete autonomous mind and take no input from me.
  • If you are planing on fine tuning with the throttle, you better get practice on. it is easier said than done. There is so much info flooding you brain that fine tuning is not something you master on the fly. I chose to rather ram the waves than risk flooding the cockpit. Hence the fiberglass work for my boat.
• Butt bruising is real
• there is definitely a correlation between experience and mishaps. It also seems that newer bots did not do as well as older ones.

 

[Bruce]

OMG 27 miles out! @Julian is a hero! Simple as that. @Lakeboy, did you ever figure out what the root cause was?

I really wanted to pick on @Julian for abandoning us on the Sunday but it turns out he was perfectly placed to be a hero on Monday.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Great advice! @captras

To fill in the gaps on part of what happened that added to the confusion, here is a little info:

I went out to assist people who'd run out of gas with my brother. We made the trip over the day before so as to avoid the bad weather on Monday. So we weren't keen on going out, but felt we should to assist those in need. We pretty quickly ran into a boat (turns out it was Drift Away- which I think is the boat in question), and they told use they didn't need gas as someone was coming out with gas for them. We asked repeatedly, "are you sure?" and they said..."YES", so we left them to find another boat further out that was out of gas "Barefoot Island". We end up 27 miles offshore when we finally got to them!

But the video above NAILS the problem that Drift Away had....their radio couldn't reach Bimini. We should have realized that they didn't have a fixed radio but we didn't notice this. Hindsight being 20/20, I should have called into Bimini Sands and 1) confirmed someone was coming out and WHO, and 2) given them the coordinates for Drift Away where we found them. If they'd had a marine radio, they would have been able to call in and say "Julian just left us as someone is coming out...right?" Since they couldn't do that, I assume folks at the Sands figured....Julian went out to get them....we're good. When in actuality, we were way offshore, coordinating with a Coast Guard Helicopter to find and Rescue Barefoot Island.

So great lessons learned:
1) Fixed GPS--and know how to use it quickly. Be able to enter coordinates quickly!
2) Full sized 25watt marine radio with an 8' antenna mounted as high as you can.
3) Extra fuel for contingency purposes. Barefoot Island was cavitating...not clear why, but as a result, they burned through 80 gallons of gas!!!!!! So be ready for shit to happen. Perhaps you loose some intake sealant and begin to cavitate half way out....now what are you going to do? Based on Barefoot Islands use...it might take you 40 gallons to get to Miami or Bimini! So sure.....19 times out of 20 you'll be fine.....but do you want to take that risk?
4) I'm looking into how to have weather Radar. @Murf'n'surf 's got the best idea to get it from XM...this is probably what I'll do...but a radar would be cooler! LOL

There are other ideas I have...but work is calling....

I've got a receiver you can have for that XM service..... I will just need to locate it.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

@Julian
You would need the antenna and plotter or laptop to run it on.

Here is the website for the provider.
https://www.wxworx.com/water-subscriptions

 

[Bruce]

I've got a receiver you can have for that XM service..... I will just need to locate it.

Is that an XM audio receiver or a XM weather receiver? The weather receivers are around $500 and specific to the plotter.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Is that an XM audio receiver or a XM weather receiver? The weather receivers are around $500 and specific to the plotter.

Its the weather receiver that will link via usb to a computer or capable plotter.

 

[Bruce]

Its the weather receiver that will link via usb to a computer or capable plotter.

I believe last time I researched this an annual subscription was required. Do you know if monthly service is available?

 

[Murf'n'surf]

I believe last time I researched this an annual subscription was required. Do you know if monthly service is available?

Not sure on the monthly but i dont see why the couldn't/wouldn't do 4 moths a year.

 

[Bruce]

Not sure on the monthly but i dont see why the couldn't/wouldn't do 4 moths a year.

Last time I checked you had to subscribe for a year contract. I will check again before Bimini 2018.

 

[Drift Away]

So I've been in meetings all day today but this is a really interesting thread. @Bruce I'm 100% certain Rob meant no disrespect towards you the form or the Sands with his video that I'm sure that's not what he intended to do if that's how you took it.

Secondly no one criticize the sands for quote on quote not coming to get us and we made it very clear that we appreciated Brad coming to get us as well as you.

As far as the equipment goes I had a handheld, an EPRB as well as the gps exactly what I said I was going to bring on the trip.

Thirdly as far as everyone being safe in the group dare I bring up the fact that on the way back to Fort Lauderdale two jet skis were left behind with myself and Rob one of them smacking her face off the front of it with a gigantic whole in her face and the only people who were there were myself and Rob. Shortly thereafter a boat who fell way behind caught up to us. I understand it's everybody's responsibility for their vessel to get there and back safely but let's be careful when we're talking about how everybody makes sure everybody gets there safely.

As myself and Rob have stated in the messages back and forth with you the biggest issue is the miscommunication with whoever said they were coming to get us that's the only issue we have. If the information flow would have been accurate and timely none of this would be happening and you would have saved more space on your server.

I appreciate the form and I enjoyed being part of it and for anyone who is reading this please don't think myself and Rob are some kind of villains who decided not to go with the group. We had this trip booked three months before the dates for the Forum came out. Did not make Financial sense to readjust all of our plans for the trip since everything was already set and paid for.

 

[Julian]

Thirdly as far as everyone being safe in the group dare I bring up the fact that on the way back to Fort Lauderdale two jet skis were left behind with myself and Rob one of them smacking her face off the front of it with a gigantic whole in her face and the only people who were there were myself and Rob. Shortly thereafter a boat who fell way behind caught up to us. I understand it's everybody's responsibility for their vessel to get there and back safely but let's be careful when we're talking about how everybody makes sure everybody gets there safely.

This is new information I'd not heard before. My brother and I left 30-45 minutes behind the group with Betik in it (not sure if that was the last group) and called in when we were 1.5-2 miles offshore to ensure everyone ahead of us made it in ok. With as many boats leaving at a time as we had, it is a difficult task to keep track of everyone and account for them. Another reason why I agree with the need for a full sized fixed radio and 8' antenna. But not easy to put that on a ski! Skiis should probably always have a dedicated companion boat for this reason. Someone willing to track and stick with them in any eventuality.

 

[Julian]

I've got a receiver you can have for that XM service..... I will just need to locate it.

Going to have to look into this more! I thought it was as simple as buying a new GPS that also had XM weather! D'oh!

 

[robert843]

I always get in trouble when I jump in threads like this so all please take with a grain of salt. I think the video is great it highlights the real dangers of the trip and hopefully it does exactly what it should which is discourage those who are unprepared for the trip to hold off until they are prepared with all the proper things needed which is equipment, weather and stamina to complete it. As for blame being cast on anybody or anything for their experience out there in the beginning of the video he says "we shouldn't have been out there we were out of our league" at that point I felt they took full blame for everything the got out there as anything about blame after that meant little at least to me as he admitted in the beginning that they should not have even attempted that trip and should have turned around minutes into so anything after that he already excepted was there fault. I do understand Bruce's frustrations as after some similar experiences in 2015 not as bad as this trip even he lost a lot of experienced captains that no longer wished to go with the group due to others endangering them and the headache involved and I'm sure based on this video and the readings of this trip he is going to loose more this year which makes it difficult to handle this large of a group. YouTube makes it look easy I'm to blame as well as some others on here quoting a friend we post sunshine and rainbow videos of these trips on there and make it look easy but every trip I have been on has been extremely taxing in its own way. I still look at the group that tried for Exuma this year and they were a great example they wound up stuck in Bimini extra days and there were around 7-10 vessels with them and of that group only 2 made it to Exuma and they only spent one day there due to it taking them so many days to get there. These trips are tough and no one wants to turn around once you get going but the true reality is everything that happens on these trips is our own fault as we choose to go no one else's.

 

[Bruce]

What I realized last night is that the current iteration of the video has a lot of what I found objectionable when I first watched it in June removed. Thanks Rob.

 

[wallacerb]

What I realized last night is that the current iteration of the video has a lot of what I found objectionable when I first watched it in June removed. Thanks Rob.

Bruce, i didnt remove anything from the video..its the same as it was from the beginning.

 

[BigAbe75]

I appreciate the form and I enjoyed being part of it

@Drift Away not sure what "it" you're referring to (the trip or the forum), but I hope this isn't implying that you guys are withdrawing from the forum. I have appreciated all of your posts and following along with your and @wallacerb mods and other experiences.

For all of us that keep this trip on our bucket list, I think it's important to see as many perspectives as possible so we can make our own (more or less informed) decisions. Even though the planning thread clearly discusses some of the dangers, it feels a lot different to hear from those that lived it, and speaking in their own words.

Anyway, just wanted to mention how much I've enjoyed the pics, vids, stories and all other commentary regarding the trip. I applaud all who have attempted this adventure and hope to follow along some day.