JetBoaters.net Bimini Fling July 10th to 15th 2017

[txav8r]

@Betik , are you guys on the road and how is the Blue Yonder towing? Is your crew holding up ok? Keep me posted!

 

[Betik]

Id like to dive but have no experience or certification. Can that be done with anyone while in bimini ?

Rental gear available?

There is an instructor diving in everyday so in theory it could be done. I am not sure if it worth the trouble for you.
There is place for rentals ( I think it called Nelsons or something like that. Bruce had a link for it) but worse case scenario you can use our set cause I do not see my wife diving multi days anyway.

PS for someone who is driving 3000+ miles there will be a way to get a taste of the underwater world.

 

[Bruce]

My concern is a repeat of 2015 (? I think). When the waves were stacking up on this side.
2' forecast could EASILY be 4' just outside of the PE chanel and in the Gulf Stream...

This is a great concern to me as well. I do not like the 10+ mph wind combined with the 2 footers. Depending on the direction of the wind it could make the 2 footers better or so much worse. I am hoping that conditions improve. If not it will be a serious discussion at the Cap'ns meeting followed by a real test of whether the changes made since 2015 worked.

 

[Betik]

@txav8r we are in Orlando.
The yonder is great but very dirty. All that bottom wax is covered on road sud.
The rear side of the bow post moved about 1/4 of an inch upwards ( will text you pics) but otherwise wvrything is good. Tires are good, I have lubricated the bearings and so far evrything is looking good.

The only issue is that it took us 14 hours from Frisco to Mobile AL, but I got 13.7mpg doing an average of 57mph. I did pick up some speed the second day when we entered florida.

Please keep us on your thoughts, it seems to be working ....

 

[Bruce]

Id like to dive but have no experience or certification. Can that be done with anyone while in bimini ?

Rental gear available?

You can rent gear without certification in Bimini. Safety is the biggest issue. Just after high school I did a lot of diving on the Great Barrier Reef without certification after a buddy dive with a dive master friend. Later @Rana and I dove with instructors on The Reef and deeper in Sardinia. Unfortunately we have never gone for certification.

We have a several highly trained divers in our group. One of them might take you under their wing. Perhaps for payment in run or dinner. Otherwise Neil Watson is always available for dive trips.

 

[DiverB]

im happy to conduct a "discover SCUBA" class for anyone who wants to give it a whirl, but im not going to do a full blow certificate class since it requires book work and it wouldnt be fair to my family if im gone all week teaching.

im one step closer to the trip, getting 4 new tires on the trailer

 

[tim h]

@DiverB
I would go ahead and buy a 5th one to bring with.
Assuming you have a decent looking spare...
If you do have a blow out you will use your spare, but then you won't have a back up spare for your original spare.
If needed you will then only need to have someone swap out the blown tire for your backup spare.
There's a lot of miles tween you and FLL.

 

[Majorsmackdown]

im happy to conduct a "discover SCUBA" class for anyone who wants to give it a whirl, but im not going to do a full blow certificate class since it requires book work and it wouldnt be fair to my family if im gone all week teaching.

im one step closer to the trip, getting 4 new tires on the trailer

For sure, I'd never want anyone taking away from vacation time. I though I heard from friends that wen on vacations before thst they got training in a day or something... but I didn't pay enough attention. Where I'm from the water is cold and murky so I haven't given diving much thought. Snorkeling is all I was thinking about and can keep me fairly well entertained.

I'd love to take advantage of any help anyone's willing to offer.

Thanks guys.

 

[Bruce]

@Majorsmackdown, Neil Watson offers courses and certification. You can see his prices at http://www.biminiscubacenter.com/bimini-scuba-rates

Others may want to look at his equipment rental rates which vary from $15 for a tank to $35 for a full setup.

 

[Bruce]

Also Bimini Undersea offers Snuba which only needs a 15 minute training video.

 

[swatski]

im one step closer to the trip, getting 4 new tires on the trailer

Man, I like your setup!

--

 

[blacksapphirez]

i had mine balanced... yesterday 15mins for all 4. shop was empty and i brought the wheels/tires to them

 

[Alex&Elena]

@Bruce we switched Units, decided to get one with loft, I hope it can handle all of our kids lol.... it's going to be 14J

 

[swatski]

@DiverB
I would go ahead and buy a 5th one to bring with.
Assuming you have a decent looking spare...
If you do have a blow out you will use your spare, but then you won't have a back up spare for your original spare.
If needed you will then only need to have someone swap out the blown tire for your backup spare.
There's a lot of miles tween you and FLL.

Good point. I just swapped all my tires earlier last week and always travel with just one spare wheel. So far I have always been able to find whole trailer wheels to swap in emergencies for cheap in Walmarts. But having the exact spare that you want when you need it could be really nice.

--

 

[Bill D]

In case there is anyone who isn't daydreaming of the islands yet, here is a link to the webcam from Bimini.

https://weather.weatherbug.com/weather-camera/?cam=BSRMA

 

[Rob9550]

In case there is anyone who isn't daydreaming of the islands yet, here is a link to the webcam from Bimini.

https://weather.weatherbug.com/weather-camera/?cam=BSRMA

Hopefully the weather will stay that nice.

 

[justason]

This is a great concern to me as well. I do not like the 10+ mph wind combined with the 2 footers. Depending on the direction of the wind it could make the 2 footers better or so much worse. I am hoping that conditions improve. If not it will be a serious discussion at the Cap'ns meeting followed by a real test of whether the changes made since 2015 worked.

consider the tide as well. it appears it will be coming in, and about 1/2 way at 6AM. It could influence it either way based on wind direction

 

[tim h]

Speaking of tides.
Any one launching with larger boats from Harbortowne should try and AVOID LOW TIDE.

 

[Bruce]

consider the tide as well. it appears it will be coming in, and about 1/2 way at 6AM. It could influence it either way based on wind direction

My perspective is that any tidal movement works against us. The tide will be coming in which is likely better than going out.

There is a slack tide at 10:30 but currently my opinion is that I would prefer to get across before the ocean heats up. If Port Everglades was too rough at daylight the slack tide might be plan b.

@tim h low tide is 15:41 on Saturday and 16:19 on Sunday.

In 2015 we had a much bigger 3+ forecast leading up to the day of crossing that dropped to 1.8' the night before. I believe the waves, wind and tide all worked against us that morning. If we had kept going at 20 mph when we first left port we would have had a much better crossing.

 

[Ramblin Wreck]

I'm 34 and have a similar plan. 3-4 Ibuprofen when I wake up Monday morning and a healthy dose of Rum when we arrive.

haha...You'll be just fine. We had 10mph or so winds blowing northwest with 2 ft projections and 4 second periods pretty much for both our crossing last week to/from West End. IMO, it was the best 2 crossings I've had in the past 3 years. Coming back to West Palm riding with the wind/waves we ran around 30mph pretty much the entire way and had a stretch where we (skis/boat) ran 40mph. It took us just over 2 hours for the near 70 miles crossing.

Bimini will be a fun run