Bimini 2018

[swatski]

From 2014 to 2016 I used a cheap, perhaps Yamaha original, danforth anchor in Bimini with 5' of 5/16" chain connected to an anchor buddy and 100' of rode attached and 200' of additional rode in a bag.

For 2017 I upgraded to a Fortress FX-7 leaving everything else the same.

I also borrowed a Mantus anchor to anchor a friend's boat in 2017. And I always take a coated river anchor with 5' of 5/16" chain as a stern anchor.

I owned a very nice box anchor for several years. I never took it to Bimini. I would not want to bounce that hunk of steel across the Gulf Stream. I used it once in the years I owned it. I sold it to a friend who returned it to Texas where everything is bigger.

So my experience is this.

1. River anchors are useless in Bimini. They will slow the movement of the stern. They will not hold the boat in place.

2. Cheap Danforths will work in most conditions. It may set on the first attempt. Just drop it, don't throw it.

3. A Fortress FX-7 fits in the anchor locker and will not damage it. It may set on the first attempt. Again, just drop it, don't throw it. In heavy waves our FX-7 held two boats when the well set river anchor would not hold one.

4. A Mantus may fit in the anchor locker. It is heavier and less convenient than a Danforth. It may set faster than a Danforth. In my one experience setting one while standing in the water it worked well.

5. An anchor buddy (elastic anchor line) will reduce the shock on any anchor greatly increasing its ability to hold. Buy one. It is well worth the $40 on the lake or in the ocean. I believe ours is has four summers of use and still works like new.

I have seen all kinds of anchors fail to hold on windy days at the Sapona. More scope may be the key to holding in those windy conditions. The best solutions I have found there are to snag the mooring ball if it is available or tie an achor line to the Sapona. If it is windy and the Sapona is busy it is best to find somewhere else to enjoy your time as many boats will be experimenting with their anchors.

If I buy another anchor for Bimini it would be to replace the stern anchor with a larger Fortress or possibly a Mantus anchor. The additional weight of the Mantus might make it more useful on a lake to hold the stern in place but at several times the cost of the river anchor I am not sure how I would feel about using it that way. A larger Fortress would store flat and be excellent for windy conditions or to help a friend anchor.

Man, these jetboaters.net "Bimini Anchor Debates" are like "Oil threads" on other forums! Love it.

I agree with @Bruce about river anchors (or "mushroom" anchors) - those are useless in Bimini. Unless your are riding an undersized vessel, like for example @latitudeadjuster, than it's probably okay.

I still call mine (affectionately) "river anchor" albeit technically it is a "Navy anchor". At 20lbs w/10ft of chain I don't recall the last time it would fail me.

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[Bruce]

At 20lbs w/10ft of chain

@swatski is more of a man than I.

Actually I rarely ever touch the anchor. @Rana always handles it.

 

[robert843]

I feel a traditional danforth style anchor is the best in Bimini. The Fortress anchors are basically like this as well. Many people think its the soft sand in Bimini that is difficult to hook in but that most of the time isn't the case. A lot of areas in Bimini only have a few inches of sand in the bottom below that is a hard coral bottom. A lot of getting set in Bimini is more about hooking an edge in that hard coral bottom or catching a rock and a danforth style anchor just does that best. This makes it difficult to set box anchors and even mantus anchors in a lot of spots. If you happen to be in a spot with a true soft sand bottom just about all of those will set. The mushroom style won't do much there at all currents and wave action are to strong.

 

[Berrie]

I have had little luck with Danforth or Fortress style anchors.
I now have a 22lbs Delta anchor on the bow, and a 13lbs claw anchor at the stern. I have not had any problems since.

 

[Speedling]

Man, these jetboaters.net "Bimini Anchor Debates" are like "Oil threads" on other forums! Love it.

I agree with @Bruce about river anchors (or "mushroom" anchors) - those are useless in Bimini. Unless your are riding an undersized vessel, like for example @latitudeadjuster, than it's probably okay.

I still call mine (affectionately) "river anchor" albeit technically it is a "Navy anchor". At 20lbs w/10ft of chain I don't recall the last time it would fail me.

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I have a navy anchor 20 lb and in Lake Michigan sand it doesn't set worth a #$%@ so I built an auger that lets me auger in anything less than 5' or so of water and then I tie to that. I will sometimes use that big rock of an anchor to keep the boat from spinning a bit.
I don't know how bimini sand is, like, would an auger work at all? I thought it was all coral kinda stuff?

 

[robert843]

I have a navy anchor 20 lb and in Lake Michigan sand it doesn't set worth a #$%@ so I built an auger that lets me auger in anything less than 5' or so of water and then I tie to that. I will sometimes use that big rock of an anchor to keep the boat from spinning a bit.
I don't know how bimini sand is, like, would an auger work at all? I thought it was all coral kinda stuff?

An auger would set possibly in a sand bottom but once again most of the places you would be setting an anchor there will be a coral rock bed floor with a layer of sand on top where the auger will not get in.

 

[Julian]

I took two anchors with me to bimini....the standard fluke anchor that fits in the anchor locker and my trusty box anchor. Used the box anchor in the sandy areas....then when we went to anchor in deep water I decided to not risk the box anchor as the bottom was rocky/coral.....THANKFULLY made the right decision for once, and that anchor is still in 100' of water off the coast of bimini! It set so well it wouldn't come up! Fortunately is was the cheap anchor I donated!

 

[MrMoose]

I took two anchors with me to bimini....the standard fluke anchor that fits in the anchor locker and my trusty box anchor. Used the box anchor in the sandy areas....then when we went to anchor in deep water I decided to not risk the box anchor as the bottom was rocky/coral.....THANKFULLY made the right decision for once, and that anchor is still in 100' of water off the coast of bimini! It set so well it wouldn't come up! Fortunately is was the cheap anchor I donated!

I've experienced a stuck anchor in the coral while in Bimini... Much to @latitudeadjuster 's amusement.

 

[swatski]

I have a navy anchor 20 lb and in Lake Michigan sand it doesn't set worth a #$%@ so I built an auger that lets me auger in anything less than 5' or so of water and then I tie to that. I will sometimes use that big rock of an anchor to keep the boat from spinning a bit.
I don't know how bimini sand is, like, would an auger work at all? I thought it was all coral kinda stuff?

How much rode do you use? Some say 5 times the depth, some say 8 time the depth. I am usually all over the place. Do you use chain? how big and how long?
I would say - in Bimini I have only anchored over rocks or combination of sand and rocks. Zero issues with the heavy navy anchor.
I don't usually anchor in pure sand but if I did I would just throw the anchor and keep going for a good stretch - to give it enough rode.

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[Speedling]

How much rode do you use? Some say 5 times the depth, some say 8 time the depth. I am usually all over the place. Do you use chain? how big and how long?
I would say - in Bimini I have only anchored over rocks or combination of sand and rocks. Zero issues with the heavy navy anchor.
I don't usually anchor in pure sand but if I did I would just throw the anchor and keep going for a good stretch - to give it enough rode.

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I am usually in about 5-6' of water bow side so back is pretty shallow but depends on wave height there too because i am one of those idiots that goes out in 3' waves. I try to give myself 40-60' of rope out but aometimes it's like 30. The auger is ez mode.

 

[Speedling]

So we going or what? Not even cold here in the Midwest but I want snow to fly so I can get winter over! Christmas... meh... gimmie spring! I got all of last year to make up boating wise! I made it to Shelbyville, but that was essentially it! NOT ENOUGH BOATING!

 

[robert843]

So we going or what?

I think @Bruce said he expected to maybe by the end of the month have dates and discounts set up so hopefully its close if not I would expect to hear news in the next 45 days or so.

 

[Speedling]

I think @Bruce said he expected to maybe by the end of the month have dates and discounts set up so hopefully its close if not I would expect to hear news in the next 45 days or so.

Just excited! No rush on him at all! Still have some bulletproofing i want to do.

 

[Betik]

So we going or what? Not even cold here in the Midwest but I want snow to fly so I can get winter over! Christmas... meh... gimmie spring! I got all of last year to make up boating wise! I made it to Shelbyville, but that was essentially it! NOT ENOUGH BOATING!

I feel your pain. The weather has so nice here during the weekend that if I had not winterized the boat, I would have gone to the lake. However, I was able to get "taste" of boat...... I washed my wife's car with the boat shampoo, so for 20 minutes it smelled like I was preparing the boat for Bimini

 

[Speedling]

I feel your pain. The weather has so nice here during the weekend that if I had not winterized the boat, I would have gone to the lake. However, I was able to get "taste" of boat...... I washed my wife's car with the boat shampoo, so for 20 minutes it smelled like I was preparing the boat for Bimini

I'm just trying to get some of the house projects going/finished so I could be focused on boat stuff first thing come spring. Ordered a new front door (ouch) and having that installed when it comes in just after Christmas. Dug up a huge tree branch that went into what I thought was my septic but thankfully it missed (that makes two times - both times I've taken down trees over 50' tall in my yard) but had to dig a LOT to make sure all was good. Also dug up part of my drain tile around the house to find out it all looks great but I must have a blockage somewhere. Sadly, it's clay so I'm a little leary of putting the jetter in there to free up any blockages, but I think that's next up for me.
I also let a neighbor come and take all the locust tree wood as I just don't want it rotting over winter from sitting in the grass.
Need to clean out garage enough for wife to park her truck in there as well in the next 2 weeks. Gotta get her transmission looked at since she's over 130k miles on a 2010 pulling the boat and camper several times a year.
Also doing a half dozen smaller projects all boat related and hopefully all gets done by bimini!

 

[Valerie]

I feel your pain. The weather has so nice here during the weekend that if I had not winterized the boat, I would have gone to the lake. However, I was able to get "taste" of boat...... I washed my wife's car with the boat shampoo, so for 20 minutes it smelled like I was preparing the boat for Bimini

Your posts always crack me up!

 

[txav8r]

I feel your pain. The weather has so nice here during the weekend that if I had not winterized the boat, I would have gone to the lake. However, I was able to get "taste" of boat...... I washed my wife's car with the boat shampoo, so for 20 minutes it smelled like I was preparing the boat for Bimini

Winterized??? In Texas??? I never winterized that boat! lol

 

[robert843]

Learned something new tonight. Apparently they hold a women's college basketball tournament in Bimini. This year they had Missouri State, Baylor, Penn, Georgia Tech, Tulane, Iowa State, San Diego State and Central Michigan attend. I do not recall seeing any basket ball arena's there I wonder where they played.

https://junkanoojam.com/

 

[Betik]

Learned something new tonight. Apparently they hold a women's college basketball tournament in Bimini. This year they had Missouri State, Baylor, Penn, Georgia Tech, Tulane, Iowa State, San Diego State and Central Michigan attend. I do not recall seeing any basket ball arena's there I wonder where they played.

https://junkanoojam.com/

where else? at the infinity pool.

 

[Betik]

Winterized??? In Texas??? I never winterized that boat! lol

well that is because I have such a rich and accurate vocabulary
I did exactly what you showed me. Tried to remove all the water with a couple sudden RPM increases. Fogged 1 minute per cylinder each engine, changed oil and filter, and filled up the tank to full to make minimize condensation.

It also so happens that my dashboard is all in pieces while I am trying to identify 2 random brown plastic parts that appeared in the cockpit during the Bimini crossing.