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

Drift Away

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Omg are you kidding me?? Ugh I will never understand that mentality
Glad you made it home safe!
It was a mess. If the water was flat it would have been much better. To many dumb asses drinking to much.
 

chris24

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20170430_135642.jpg My wife and I just got full face snorkeling masks. I wanted to try them out and review them for all my jetboater friends going down to Bimini..
We both give them two thumbs up. Very clear viewing in a wider range of a view. It's very easy to breathe and you don't have to put anything in your mouth. My wife pointed out that they do not fog up. I had a couple days worth of whiskers on my face, and The Mask still sealed well.. The Masks were easy to put on and easy to take off . Two adjustments straps you just pulled and at Tightens right to your face with a very comfortable seal. The brand we bought was "Head".., seemed a little costly at $99 each , but we're very happy with them and worth the price. We bought ours at West Marine..
 

2nazt

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With the full face mask make sure you don't go under water as you can not equalize your ears and cause serious damage. For most people this will be about the 10' range. I know most people don't go that deep but wanna just put it out there incase. Even slight pressure can cause a ruptured ear drum. Just a heads up.

Now that is unlesss you can do no hands equilzation.
 

Bruce

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chris24

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@chris24, full face masks are getting some bad reviews for limiting breathing capacity and possibly being a contributor to some deaths. We have one we bought for Gavin and I have tried it. It works well for him but for my larger lung capacity it limits breathing.

Here is a good article on them https://snorkelclub.blogspot.com/2016/02/full-face-snorkelling-masks-easybreath.html?m=1
Hmmmm... So my review is incomplete , I did not try to dive with the mask and I only tried it in my pool... I will have to try it out in the ocean in a week or two when I take my boat out.... stay tuned and I will be reviewing a new mousetrap I bought at Home Depot..
 

BigJay17

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I may be available depending on my school schedule but this may need a seperate thread. I know we had a group last year so may be able to tag those guys. @Benny Sibbitt @BigJay17 @fairpilot and I think a few others have more knowledge about the area also.
Yea that's no problem. The group always have going to the springs.
 

Betik

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@chris24 I would try some simulations with breaking the seal to let water in the mask. I know that recreational scuba divers have died while using full face masks. People react differently when their mask floods but they can still breath vs both not being able to breath and loosing visibility at the same time. I know scuba and snorkeling are very different but still it does not hurt to simulate flooding.

I don't know about clean air capacity as snorkels in generals are not great at it. If you are going to do anything than leisure splashing a reduced clean air capacity will give you headaches. And those suckers can last for hours.
 

chris24

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@chris24 I would try some simulations with breaking the seal to let water in the mask. I know that recreational scuba divers have died while using full face masks. People react differently when their mask floods but they can still breath vs both not being able to breath and loosing visibility at the same time. I know scuba and snorkeling are very different but still it does not hurt to simulate flooding.

I don't know about clean air capacity as snorkels in generals are not great at it. If you are going to do anything than leisure splashing a reduced clean air capacity will give you headaches. And those suckers can last for hours.
We only tried them for short time just swimming around our pool, and they work great. I'll have to try them for a longer extended period of time. After reading all the mixed reviews online and through my jetboaters friends we will be bringing our regular snorkel gear too..
 

MrMoose

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Regarding the full face snorkel masks, they are only supposed to be used from the surface. No diving, period. I've read lots of reviews on them, and some comments to mention that the airflow is restricted relative to a two-piece kit. If you're casually snorkelling on the surface, I don't think that they can be beat. If you like to dive and grab things from the bottom, it's not the right tool for the job.
Regarding @Bruce's comment about being a contributor to some deaths, contributor, perhaps, but in my younger years when I used to dive down alot while snorkeling, I've had to rip my two-piece kit off in order to properly catch my breath upon reaching the surface, so I honestly think that anybody with common sense will be fine with the full-face system as long as they use it properly. If not, it's just natural selection.
 

Rainmakr

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This looks like an awesome trip! Im looking at getting a jetboat in the near future. Due to storage space and towing capacity, I am looking at the 19 foot boats. Would this size boat be safe to make the trip? Thanks!
 

MrMoose

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This looks like an awesome trip! Im looking at getting a jetboat in the near future. Due to storage space and towing capacity, I am looking at the 19 foot boats. Would this size boat be safe to make the trip? Thanks!
If you have a strong marriage, and want to get a bigger boat, then this is a great family vacation. @swatski did this trip with a 19 footer last year, and his wife loves him so much that she insisted on getting a 24 footer.
 

Rainmakr

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If you have a strong marriage, and want to get a bigger boat, then this is a great family vacation. @swatski did this trip with a 19 footer last year, and his wife loves him so much that she insisted on getting a 24 footer.
That sounds like a win win......great vacation and a new boat!
 

Bruce

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This looks like an awesome trip! Im looking at getting a jetboat in the near future. Due to storage space and towing capacity, I am looking at the 19 foot boats. Would this size boat be safe to make the trip? Thanks!
This was my response to a guy that asked the same question last week

I have seen 190 or 192 cross in 2014, 2015 & 2016. The 190, 192, 195 and FSH all share the same hull with the "keel" (rudder) added for 2016.
Most 190 series boats have done well on the crossing. The 192 series burns too much fuel requiring an additional 25 gallons on top of the 30 gallon tank to be safe. Where the captains and crew were adventurous they did well. In 2015 we had issues with a 190 and 192 in rough water but I believe it had more to do with the crew than the boat. A 190 is going to take a little more of a beating than a 240 but even the captains of 50 plus footers tell me that sometimes you just have to pound waves. I am not worried about the safety of a 190 in any water I would lead them out into. It gets dangerous if people get scared and make bad decisions.

Have a look at OutOnTheReefs videos. He frequently takes his FSH to Bimini on nice days https://m.youtube.com/user/arisay5

The bigger question is should you buy a 190 if you want to go to Bimini. Unless you are constrained on parking space or primarily want to fish I would not. There are plenty of used 23 and 24 foot Yamahas for similar prices. You will find yourself wanting more fuel, more space and more weight capacity. Both 190s that went last year are coming back in 240s this year.
 

GMAN2015

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View attachment 55009 My wife and I just got full face snorkeling masks. I wanted to try them out and review them for all my jetboater friends going down to Bimini..
We both give them two thumbs up. Very clear viewing in a wider range of a view. It's very easy to breathe and you don't have to put anything in your mouth. My wife pointed out that they do not fog up. I had a couple days worth of whiskers on my face, and The Mask still sealed well.. The Masks were easy to put on and easy to take off . Two adjustments straps you just pulled and at Tightens right to your face with a very comfortable seal. The brand we bought was "Head".., seemed a little costly at $99 each , but we're very happy with them and worth the price. We bought ours at West Marine..
Our kids will be sporting them too. Glad someone else took the leap.
 

Betik

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This looks like an awesome trip! Im looking at getting a jetboat in the near future. Due to storage space and towing capacity, I am looking at the 19 foot boats. Would this size boat be safe to make the trip? Thanks!
I was exactly where you were ( in October).
Don't want to store it, a Honda Pilot, 20 foot garage and wanted just enough boat to safely cross to Bimini....

By the end of November
  • I owned a F150 ( traded the 3 month old pilot)
  • I purchased a used ( 26 hours ) sx240 for the price of new sx190
  • I raised my fence to 8.5 feet and expanded the rolling gate by an extra 4 feet.
  • I bought a parkitit360 and was able manage the boat in the backyard. (First attemp to get out it took me over 90 minutes. This morning we went to the lake and the boat was out of the backyard is 7 minutes)
If space is an issue for you, I will be glad to help you manage it. Just be prepared to pay about 8 years worth of storage fees in advance.

Just to answers the obvious questions here. Knowing what I know today would I have changed anything? YES, I would have not bought the pilot. Loosing 6k is 3 months was very very depressing. I had no choice though as somebody told me that he was more worried about me towing on the pilot from Texas to Florida than crossing from Florida to Bimini on a 190.

BTW. You still got over 60 days for Bimini. Plenary of time. Check this out before you say "no" . By mid July Isaac will owe over 60k. LOL
 

Rainmakr

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This was my response to a guy that asked the same question last week

I have seen 190 or 192 cross in 2014, 2015 & 2016. The 190, 192, 195 and FSH all share the same hull with the "keel" (rudder) added for 2016.
Most 190 series boats have done well on the crossing. The 192 series burns too much fuel requiring an additional 25 gallons on top of the 30 gallon tank to be safe. Where the captains and crew were adventurous they did well. In 2015 we had issues with a 190 and 192 in rough water but I believe it had more to do with the crew than the boat. A 190 is going to take a little more of a beating than a 240 but even the captains of 50 plus footers tell me that sometimes you just have to pound waves. I am not worried about the safety of a 190 in any water I would lead them out into. It gets dangerous if people get scared and make bad decisions.

Have a look at OutOnTheReefs videos. He frequently takes his FSH to Bimini on nice days https://m.youtube.com/user/arisay5

The bigger question is should you buy a 190 if you want to go to Bimini. Unless you are constrained on parking space or primarily want to fish I would not. There are plenty of used 23 and 24 foot Yamahas for similar prices. You will find yourself wanting more fuel, more space and more weight capacity. Both 190s that went last year are coming back in 240s this year.
Thanks for the response Bruce!
 

Rainmakr

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I was exactly where you were ( in October).
Don't want to store it, a Honda Pilot, 20 foot garage and wanted just enough boat to safely cross to Bimini....

By the end of November
  • I owned a F150 ( traded the 3 month old pilot)
  • I purchased a used ( 26 hours ) sx240 for the price of new sx190
  • I raised my fence to 8.5 feet and expanded the rolling gate by an extra 4 feet.
  • I bought a parkitit360 and was able manage the boat in the backyard. (First attemp to get out it took me over 90 minutes. This morning we went to the lake and the boat was out of the backyard is 7 minutes)
If space is an issue for you, I will be glad to help you manage it. Just be prepared to pay about 8 years worth of storage fees in advance.

Just to answers the obvious questions here. Knowing what I know today would I have changed anything? YES, I would have not bought the pilot. Loosing 6k is 3 months was very very depressing. I had no choice though as somebody told me that he was more worried about me towing on the pilot from Texas to Florida than crossing from Florida to Bimini on a 190.

BTW. You still got over 60 days for Bimini. Plenary of time. Check this out before you say "no" . By mid July Isaac will owe over 60k. LOL
Sounds like you have the perfect setup now! It would be great to make the trip this year, its just not in the cards.
 
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