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Miami to Bimini June 2017

Seadoo_Bimini_Crosser

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Hey Everyone,

Every year I take jet skis from haulover marina in Miami Fl to the bahama island Bimini. This year I plan on taking a brand new Scarab boat.


Bimini is the westernmost district of the Bahamas, located about 50 miles east of Miami. The island of Bimini is known as the "Deep Sea Fishing Capital of the World." Aside from its major attractions of bone fishing, snorkeling, and deep sea diving, the island holds many historical stories and myths.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, Bimini had been a haunt for privateers and pirates like Blackbeard plundering from the Caribbean Sea along the Gulf Stream and then to Spain. It became a much more peaceful place after the slavery abolition in 1840, as many slaves brought their families to settle on the island. During the 1920s, Bimini became a major storage area for liquor destined to be smuggled into the U.S. by rumrunners. It later became the home for famous author Ernest Hemingway for a few years in the 1930s, during which time he wrote "Islands in the Stream" and "To Have and Have Not."

There are a number of places to visit while staying in Bimini. One of the most well known is Bimini Road. Sometimes called the Bimini Wall, this underwater rock formation is composed of roughly rectangular limestone blocks called beachrock. Although it is generally considered to be a naturally occurring geological feature, many believe that the formation is the remains of the ancient road, wall, or other deliberatley built structure. Some even claim this site to be the remnants of the mythical city of Atlantis.

The Fountain of Youth is believed to be located within the shallow pools of South Bimini. It is known as a legendary spring that supposedly retores the youth of anyone who drinks or bathes in its waters. The Healing Hole is another wonder of the island. This spring of freshwater contains many healing minerals said to be rich in rejuvinating elements and have various healing qualities. Memory Ledge is also located on the island. Local belief states that anyone who lies along the ledge experiences flashbacks through his or her entire life and sometimes even past lives.

Bimini is one of the many gorgeous and relaxing islands of the Bahamas and is definitely recommended for a quiet and relaxing getaway. If you are also seeking a bit of an adventure, there are many things to do and places to visit during your stay in Bimini. From learnig about its historical significance to exploring the myths and uncovering legends, this island is sure to keep anyone who visits entertained. See our Resorts and Specials pages for deals at the luxurious Bimini Bay Resort!


In really good weather the trip can be made under 2 hours.
I'm posting this to see how many Scarab boat owners would like to join us for a vaction of a life time.
 

Bruce

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Welcome Aboard!

Our members have been making annual Bimini Flings for six years. You can read about this years Fling in https://jetboaters.net/threads/jetboaters-net-bimini-fling-june-19-to-25-2016.8074/

You would be the first that I know of to make the crossing in a modern Scarab Jet Boat. I have been wondering how they would handle the crossing. The lack of clean out ports and the sea weed that is often around Haulover would be my biggest concern.

How many skis went with you this year? Were you in the group that arrived I believe on June 23rd?

Are you ordering a 255?
 

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We actually left June 10th this year.

The sea weed is a big reason why we run seadoo skis, I love the closed loop system. Nearly every yamaha ski has over heated while making the trip.

I haven't decided between a 255 or 215 yet.
Interesting, my experience is not that the sea weed gets caught on the shaft or impeller but that it gets caught on the intake grate. The clean out port allows you push or pull it off without having to get under the boat.

On 255 vs 215, 4' of boat should make a huge difference in handling.

What kind of water and crossing time did you have on June 10th? Were you still there when the Whalers arrived?
 

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They whaler group was there.
How many were in your group?

How did you find being there with the Whalers?

We try to avoid the Whalers as they tend to consume all the fuel and everything else on the islands.
 

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I think we had like 12 ski and a Baja boat.

To be honest I didn't see any issues with them being there.

It was pretty cool to watch them arrive. It was a small parade of whalers.
How many Whalers were there this year? Sometimes they have filled up all the lodging in Bimini.

We had over 30 boats and skis planning to make the crossing this year. The forecast changed to 5+ footers for our planned crossing day so we went early during a small window of relative calm. At our peak I believe we had 18 boats and 2 skis in Bimini this year.
 

robert843

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Welcome aboard @Seadoo_Bimini_Crosser always nice to have a new member aboard with a similar adventurous interest as most of us on here. I too have done Bimini by Ski and by boat you will love the difference of going by boat! By ski its a nice adventure but the boat is so much nicer if not for anything but having a Bimini top to get out of the sun some the time makes a world of difference. A few others members and I even took two boats and two skis all the way down to the Exuma Islands this year it was awesome we stopped in Bimini, Chub Cay, Nassau and stayed in Staniel Cay in the Exuma's for 4 nights and came back and spent 3 nights in Bimini as well it was awesome time below is a video of us leaving Nassau heading down to Staniels welcome aboard again and hopefully you guys can join the group in Bimini next year!

 

Seadoo_Bimini_Crosser

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Welcome aboard @Seadoo_Bimini_Crosser always nice to have a new member aboard with a similar adventurous interest as most of us on here. I too have done Bimini by Ski and by boat you will love the difference of going by boat! By ski its a nice adventure but the boat is so much nicer if not for anything but having a Bimini top to get out of the sun some the time makes a world of difference. A few others members and I even took two boats and two skis all the way down to the Exuma Islands this year it was awesome we stopped in Bimini, Chub Cay, Nassau and stayed in Staniel Cay in the Exuma's for 4 nights and came back and spent 3 nights in Bimini as well it was awesome time below is a video of us leaving Nassau heading down to Staniels welcome aboard again and hopefully you guys can join the group in Bimini next year!



Awesome video!!!! I'm sure we will meet next year. It is hard to find people that can vacation for more than a few days!
 

robert843

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Awesome video!!!! I'm sure we will meet next year. It is hard to find people that can vacation for more than a few days!
Thanks man the rest of the videos of the trip are on my youtube channel including last years trip when I went by ski to Bimini with this group.
 

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We stayed a week.
Where do you guys stay at?

With boats most people bring at least 4 and want a condo to themselves. The skis that I know tend to bunk up making it a much more affordable trip.
 

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I typically rent my friends place on the resort. We rented two slips and packed them out.
Was this at Resorts World?

Do you want to move to somewhere other than Bimini after two nights or just hop from resort to resort in Bimini?
 

veedubtek

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I believe the only rotax powered boat to ever attempt the crossing with this group was mine (before it was mine) and it didn't make it due to seaweed. The exhaust is still cooled with raw water, and seaweed plugged the inlet for the exhaust cooling and melted the water box coupler. Amazing boat, but I'd never chance it with this boat again (not for just that reason).
 

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I know of over 100 rotax powered boats that have made the trip with zero problems.
Sounds like fun. Do any pictures or videos of those crossings exist?

@veedubtek, is only accurately reporting on what happened to his boat. We would have been happy to have BRP powered boats in our group crossings.
 

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LOL. I'm certainly not bashing anyone. In case you missed it, I own (and love) a Seadoo. Reading your posts, you made it sound like the rotax is unstoppable out there and the yammies can't make it. (maybe I read it wrong?). Just relaying some information from past experiences with this group. We always welcome any other boat that wants to join.
 

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Your an administrator you should just delete all the stupid pointless replies that have nothing to do with my orginal post.
I am just going to laugh at that one. We are an inclusive forum. We appreciate having all types of jet boats participate. No one is slandering Scarab or BRP.

But if you do feel you are being treated unfairly you can always tag @Administrative.

Was 2014 your first crossing?
 

Seadoo_Bimini_Crosser

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I am just going to laugh at that one. We are an inclusive forum. We appreciate having all types of jet boats participate. No one is slandering Scarab or BRP.

But if you do feel you are being treated unfairly you can always tag @Administrative.

Was 2014 your first crossing?

It was on a ski. I was apprehensive myself due to people constantly being negative about the trip.

Not threatened.
 

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We have a lot of members who have been to Bimini so no naysayers here. But after having two boats swamped we do take a cautious approach.
 
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