2019 Bimini Trip ( Unofficial Thread Until Admin Puts Official One Up)

[Berrie]

After reading about you people going out farther than Bimini, I'm realizing my true calling to win the lottery and buy a sail boat or large yacht!!! lol
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I think @Valerie can do that on her jetski in 3 days...

 

[Betik]

although truth to be told, there is higher chance that my wife lets me hire Geisha for nanny than @JeffVans winning the lottery

 

[Andy S]

@Andy S Pretty please ?

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@Amar Nanduri I am more than happy to share my Abaco coordinates and info. I will send the info to you on Monday when I get back from a boating weekend.

 

[Julian]

After reading about you people going out farther than Bimini, I'm realizing my true calling to win the lottery and buy a sail boat or large yacht!!! lol
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I think I'd loop back and avoid the Venezuela coast on that itinerary! Bill - who we met in Bimini did that whole route (in his 88' Lazarra) with his family (spend 22 months doing it) and was warned of pirates in the Venezuela waters. That would be an amazing trip to take though!!!

 

[Amar Nanduri]

I think I'd loop back and avoid the Venezuela coast on that itinerary! Bill - who we met in Bimini did that whole route (in his 88' Lazarra) with his family (spend 22 months doing it) and was warned of pirates in the Venezuela waters. That would be an amazing trip to take though!!!

Venezuela is not a country to be missed. If the political climate becomes democratic, Angel Falls is on my bucket list.

 

[Amar Nanduri]

@Amar Nanduri I am more than happy to share my Abaco coordinates and info. I will send the info to you on Monday when I get back from a boating weekend.

Thanks @Andy S

 

[Berrie]

@Andy S how much fuel did you burn going to The Abacos? Is that easily doable with a jet boat? Certain models that shouldn't try? Some of them run out of gas going to Bimini, and West End is about 20 more miles. Not to mention West End to Spanish (100 mi), and then on to Hope Town.

 

[robert843]

@Andy S how much fuel did you burn going to The Abacos? Is that easily doable with a jet boat? Certain models that shouldn't try? Some of them run out of gas going to Bimini, and West End is about 20 more miles. Not to mention West End to Spanish (100 mi), and then on to Hope Town.

We all burned about every ounce of fuel we had between West End and Spanish Cay. It would be recommended that the jet boats have extra fuel. The AR240 with us on the crossing over ran out of gas just a few miles from Spanish and poured an extra 5 gallons in. He did mention he did a little goofing off on the way. On the return he made it back fine but we had really good return conditions.

 

[Andy S]

@Andy S how much fuel did you burn going to The Abacos? Is that easily doable with a jet boat? Certain models that shouldn't try? Some of them run out of gas going to Bimini, and West End is about 20 more miles. Not to mention West End to Spanish (100 mi), and then on to Hope Town.

@Berrie like @robert843 mentioned my Cobalt R5 with 300hp V8 and a 2015 Yamaha AR240 had the same fuel burn (assuming normal run patterns), at about 2.0 mpg and with a 50 gallon tank that was cutting it very close for the 95 to 100 mile run from West End to Spanish Cay, it took me 49 gallons to fill my tank back.

 

[Berrie]

@Berrie it took me 49 gallons to fill my tank back.

That would be way too close for my comfort!

 

[Amar Nanduri]

I guess buying an external 50 gallon fuel tank should be on my bucket list for this trip.

 

[Andy S]

That would be way too close for my comfort!

In reality I should've brought 10 extra gallons with me, thankfully we had good weather to over come arrogance.

 

[robert843]

That would be way too close for my comfort!

It was close but the reality for us was there were three back up vessels and a total of 25 gallons of extra fuel on those vessels if we had an issue fuel wise we would have been ok based on that. I wouldn’t hesitate to go again with the exact same set up we had. Would I go with a Yamaha 240 by my self with no extra fuel no.

 

[Betik]

@robert843 isnt there a fuel stop in between west end and Spanish cat ? It looks all desolated but I was under the impression that besides Freeport on the south side there will something else for being to close to land

 

[Berrie]

@Betik you can stop at Rosie’s at Grand Cay, that’s about 50 miles from Eest End but takes you well out of your way. You can also stop at Fox Town but access is tricky due to underwater obstructions and gas availability is sketchy.

 

[Ramblin Wreck]

If anyone does it on a ski, I would certainly recommend bringing fuel. I was fine from West Palm to West End, however from West End to Spanish I pushed it to the limits. We ran into several miles of 1 to 2 ft chop that probably didn't help, but it took 18.2 gallons to fill up on an 18.5 tank.

 

[robert843]

@Betik I agree with @Berrie Grand Cay is way out of the way and not worth being a scheduled fuel stop due to added distance. Fox Town was my emergency plan I had it saved in the chart plotter in case of mechanical or fuel issues but this location based on everything I read is not really good as a scheduled fuel stop but more like an emergency stop like I had it. The path into Fox Town is tricky but it if you radio in they will usually send someone out to guide you in I'm told. I would just carry extra fuel and plan for Spanish Cay. There is a nice plane wreck to snorkel right off Spanish Cay as well so it a great stopping point for that also. Even 10 gallons would give a 240 20% back up. We had extra fuel with us but we all made it on our tanks with out the extra fuel except the 240 but he could have made it on on his main tank but was a few minutes ahead of us and went to goof off a bit before we got there he ran out of fuel yards form the Spanish Cay Marina and put a few gallons in. The boats fuel consumption was also hindered by @Ramblin Wreck and I a bit as well. We hit a probably 30-40 mile stretch that turned into really tight 1-2 chop which is no big deal for the boats they could have plowed right through it but it is the most miserable conditions on a ski as you just keep nose diving into the wave in front of you and getting a constant barrage of water in your face so we had to slow down to between 20-25 mph during that stretch. We told the boats to leave us and we would meet them Spanish as we had all the equipment we needed to safely do the journey on our own and did not want to hold the boats up but they refused to leave us in true @Andy S and @1948Isaac style so they probably burned some extra fuel by slowing down with us.

 

[Sandbar29910]

As a newcomer to this site and only a year or so into the Jetboat world, as I have read and continue to read the posts here, I would not hesitate for I minute to travel with this group anywhere whether in my boat or on my ski! I'm looking forward to hooking up with you guys next summer (saving up $) for a trip. The kicker is my son is getting married next year too in Ocho Rios so I may have to start selling stuff off

 

[Amar Nanduri]

As a newcomer to this site and only a year or so into the Jetboat world, as I have read and continue to read the posts here, I would not hesitate for I minute to travel with this group anywhere whether in my boat or on my ski! I'm looking forward to hooking up with you guys next summer (saving up $) for a trip. The kicker is my son is getting married next year too in Ocho Rios so I may have to start selling stuff off

On the bright side you only get to sell your stuff once

 

[Sandbar29910]

Very true!! I consider myself an organized hoarder (my wife will agree!) The sad part is the stuff always seems to get replaced with more stuff