Bimini 2018

[Berrie]

I would prefer not being lost Life is too beautiful to be "lost"

Dang i feel lost every time my boss asks me a question...

 

[Amar Nanduri]

If you boat alone - especially off-shore - i would invest in a Fell (wireless marine lanyard) or similar device.
It gives you the freedom to move around and kills your engines if you fall off.
I wouldn't go off-shore alone without it (don't have it now but will in the future).

My friend gave me a better suggestion

"Glue your pant on the seat. When you need to get off the boat take it off "

 

[Water Girl]

Bruce also said to consider a anchor what is not made out of lead. LOL

Also recommend removing anchor from the locker hahaha

 

[Geoffrey bell]

I am thinking of making the trip out for this with a friend from AZ. Does anyone have any more information for the 2018 trip yet.

 

[Amar Nanduri]

I am thinking of making the trip out for this with a friend from AZ. Does anyone have any more information for the 2018 trip yet.

Hi Geoffrey. Excellent news. Did you get a chance to check out all the information and preparations to be made for the Bimini trip ? You will find that information in the forum. As soon as @Bruce finalizes the dates he will inform us here.

 

[Berrie]

Has anybody used the XM Marine weather service with their plotter?
It is installed on my boat but I have never used it (no subscription).
Reading the manual on it, it looks like having your own doppler on board, indicating direction and speed of all storm cells on your screen. Pretty cool!

 

[Rick215HO]

Has anybody used the XM Marine weather service with their plotter?
It is installed on my boat but I have never used it (no subscription).
Reading the manual on it, it looks like having your own doppler on board, indicating direction and speed of all storm cells on your screen. Pretty cool!

Yes - I have it and subscribe it to it. It will give you live weather radar, wether forecast (temp/wind), sea conditions, weather warnings, sea temp, etc. It is worth activating if you ask me. In the winter they let you suspend the account until boating season starts again.

 

[Geoffrey bell]

Amar
I did read through it. I do have a few questions as I boat mostly on lakes. Will a portable vhf radio be good enough to use for the trip over and back? Also can anyone suggest a decent but fairly priced chart plotter as this is not something I will use a whole lot boating in az?

 

[robert843]

Amar
I did read through it. I do have a few questions as I boat mostly on lakes. Will a portable vhf radio be good enough to use for the trip over and back? Also can anyone suggest a decent but fairly priced chart plotter as this is not something I will use a whole lot boating in az?

This one has been debated many times. If I was going alone I would probably want a fixed mount radio for the range. Going with a group typically a handheld would suffice but last year several members had issues with this who ran out of fuel. I carry a Delorme in reach so a hand held works for me as if I'm in a jam I have a way to get my position to the proper people from it. I know on our trip to Abaco this year I had cell phone service the entire trip not sure if that's true about the Bimini trip I have never checked. If your just looking for a cheap small chart plotter for the one trip the Garmin GPSMAP 78SC can be found for $199 and works just fine no need to wire it to your boat, its water proof and has coastal maps including the Bahamas preloaded so no need to buy additional maps and should be easy to sell and ship on ebay later if you don't want to keep it.

https://www.thegpsstore.com/Garmin-GPSMAP-78SC-Marine-Handheld-GPS-P2389.aspx?gclid=CjwKCAiAj53SBRBcEiwAT-3A2HRKuCZI-DbOFNZJpYlI96HGOWdwgufBPCUAGIb-PgomXwu6CI8eNhoC0WAQAvD_BwE

 

[Berrie]

You ca

Amar
I did read through it. I do have a few questions as I boat mostly on lakes. Will a portable vhf radio be good enough to use for the trip over and back? Also can anyone suggest a decent but fairly priced chart plotter as this is not something I will use a whole lot boating in az?

You can also get a chartplotter / fishfinder for around $120.
It is not handheld and needs to be installed, but the display is 50% bigger, and it will also read your depth.
Display size is (at least to me) important; I have a 5" display and even in moderate chop it becomes a challenge reading it. Following the course is OK, but reading any text on it becomes a challenge.

I would not go offshore without a fixed AND a handheld VHF. Prepare for the worst. A handheld has a 5 mile reach, which means you will be unable to reach shore for 80% of your distance. A fixed will reach about 25 miles.

 

[Speedling]

Yes - I have it and subscribe it to it. It will give you live weather radar, wether forecast (temp/wind), sea conditions, weather warnings, sea temp, etc. It is worth activating if you ask me. In the winter they let you suspend the account until boating season starts again.

Has anybody used the XM Marine weather service with their plotter?
It is installed on my boat but I have never used it (no subscription).
Reading the manual on it, it looks like having your own doppler on board, indicating direction and speed of all storm cells on your screen. Pretty cool!

If this is legit i will be buying the xm for my wife's truck and just swap to the boat and buy a plotter for it!
Having doppler would have saved the group a bit of hassle. I think @Julian followed a big boat with doppler to get through the storms. If we had that capability on small boats that would be awesome!

 

[Bruce]

If this is legit i will be buying the xm for my wife's truck and just swap to the boat and buy a plotter for it!
Having doppler would have saved the group a bit of hassle. I think @Julian followed a big boat with doppler to get through the storms. If we had that capability on small boats that would be awesome!

XM Marine weather data is much more expensive than XM radio service. You need a compatible plotter plus a ~$500 receiver plus a similar priced annual service.

It would not have changed anything in 2015 or 2017. We were watching weather radar and checking wave forecasts before departure.

 

[Betik]

Amar
I did read through it. I do have a few questions as I boat mostly on lakes. Will a portable vhf radio be good enough to use for the trip over and back? Also can anyone suggest a decent but fairly priced chart plotter as this is not something I will use a whole lot boating in az?

Please wait until the dates are announced. Find out if you are going with the first group or the second group. If the dates are outside of my lake Powell trip ( which I believe they will be), then use I-20 instead of I-10 on the way to Florida. If you do so, when you pass by Dallas, I will be more than happy to let you use my 7 inch plotter, off shore lifejackets, handheld VHF, & 8 foot antenna. You will just need to buy a decent fixed VHF ( standard horizon 1600/1700 for $150 ) & connect to the antenna. You could have very calm seas and the crossing will be a piece of cake or you could have a 2017 surprise.

• In my opinion going with only a handheld is risky and rude. Risky because most of them will transmit clear enough further than 2 miles. On top of that everyone tends to forget that between the wind, the engine it is really hard to hear what people are saying on the radio. And a handheld ( especially a cheap one) will make it even more difficult? Why I say rude? Because not having the proper equipmnet puts stress on the group leaders. We the newbies/first timers need to make their life easier, not put extra stress that they need to keep an eye on new guy who decided to cross with POS radio.
• I would also stay away from small screen chart-plotters. I had my 7 inch Garmin & 2 back ups on the 2017 crossing. When the time come where I had to navigate, the back ups ( 2inch Inreach explorer & 4 inch waypoint VHF) were unreadable. Being for the first time offshore you will not be able to navigate on a 3 or 4 inch screen.

Anyway when the dates are official, and you decide to go, send me a PM and I will be glad to let use some of my equipment.

PS. I do not mean to sound insulting in anyway, but do not try to go there on a budget. The worse part of it is that if you go on a budget, you will hesitate to return to port when otherwise you would have definitely returned.

 

[Amar Nanduri]

Excellent Words of wisdom from @Betik
Always have multiple backups. Have backups for backups. The only person you can depend and trust on is you. If the crossing gets rough it's every boat for itself as the captains will be too focused trying to keep their boat and crew safe . In 2017 I got lost from the rest of the boats after a storm hit us and I was alone and drifting off course. My garmin was acting funny and I had to reboot it. I luckily had navionics running on 2 other phones (iphone and S8) and was able to course correct after verifying on both.

Bottom line.... don't compromise on the devices you need for the trip and be mentally prepared to abandon everything in the worse case scenario.

 

[Berrie]

Happy New Year!
May the preparations and good times be strong, and the wind and waves be weak!

 

[Berrie]

I heard a rumor that The Sands' convenience store will be fully stocked with liquor and wine starting this February....
No need to go to North Bimini anymore...

 

[Bruce]

I heard a rumor that The Sands' convenience store will be fully stocked with liquor and wine starting this February....
No need to go to North Bimini anymore...

The ship store has undergone major renovation with new operators. I posted pictures of the restocking earlier in this thread.

Hopefully the ship stores alcohol selection will expand. If not Booze and Screws is just up the road on South Bimini. The primary benefit of going to North Bimini is lower prices.

 

[swatski]

Yes - I have it and subscribe it to it. It will give you live weather radar, wether forecast (temp/wind), sea conditions, weather warnings, sea temp, etc. It is worth activating if you ask me. In the winter they let you suspend the account until boating season starts again.

@Rick215HO And you are telling us NOW???!!! LOL.
Please tell me you got it activated AFTER Bimini’17, LOL.

—

 

[Rick215HO]

@Rick215HO And you are telling us NOW???!!! LOL.
Please tell me you got it activated AFTER Bimini’17, LOL.

—

LOL!!!
XM was still showing the 2 ft seas forecast we all had when we left, so the wave forecast wasn't providing anything different all the way to Bimini, with better conditions approaching Bimini.
That being said... I think I now understand what the "Low pressure area" message means and will take it more seriously next time... I suppose severe thunderstorms tend to affect the local wave forecast
I will follow you anywhere my friend.

 

[Speedling]

The ship store has undergone major renovation with new operators. I posted pictures of the restocking earlier in this thread.

Hopefully the ship stores alcohol selection will expand. If not Booze and Screws is just up the road on South Bimini. The primary benefit of going to North Bimini is lower prices.

Wait... what is this for? Some trip this year? Please, give me info! I would love to join you! Ha! It's winter and they still have me working a ton of hours and every time they say i need to work instead of take a long weekend i keep telling them i am adding it onto my trip! They even left to go hunting when i said i was going camping leaving me in charge of the company!