We went a couple of years ago. Beautiful water!! Expensive landing fees, gas is $4+. Take any spares you might need. Bimini Big game club is a good place to stay. Watch the weather. We went over it was calm, came back in 8 to 10. Are we having fun yet?

In 1979 I took delivery of a new 38 Foot Magnum Sport, and my wife and I took another couple over to Bimini for the weekend. I'll see if I can find a picture and post.

Left from Ft Lauderdale on a bright sunny day in May. Water was calm all the way and we made the trip just cruising in about an hour and half.

The return trip was something else. I don't want to say how big the waves were, as time has taken some of the edge off, but I do remember as the boat climbed the face of the waves, the tachs would start dropping down until the engines were going to stall, and then the boat would drop off the other side of the wave and we would start the process all over again.

Six hours of climbing and dropping...just like ocean racing, only in slow motion.

I do remember passing a 60 foot Hatteras and waving as if nothing was wrong on our boat. Of course I had instructed the girls to stop upchucking over the transom if we passed other boats, didn't seem to fit in the Magnum image.

Finally made it back to Port Everglades and had to hold offshore for another hour, as a heavy rain squall had cut off all visibility and I couldn't find the entrance (no radar).

Great trip....make sure you do it in a boat you can really trust and just be careful of the weather!!

I think this roundy-round racing is diluting our seamanship! In the sixties, I raced a 16' Whaler to Bimini (twice), and I wasn't the smallest boat. With the speed of todays boats, weather forecasting doesn't mean s**t. Pick a decent day and your'e there in an hour, for crying out loud. GPS takes all the sport out of navigating. If the weather is rough for the trip home, leave the boat and fly home. Jake Trotter and I delivered about 125 boats to Nassau from Miami. Biggest? 23' Formula. Smallest,15' Thunderbird O/B. In 1966, two days before Christmas, Jake, Mike Collins (Pres of Donzi and Proline) and I delivered two 16' Donzis to Nassau. Come on you guys!

Great stuff! Thanks and keep it comming!
Brownie... you da man!

Brownie - Ahh, the ghost of offshore past; when men were men and the sheep were scared! Not sure I'll be down in Key West to join you for drinks this year, if not I'll sure miss your insights! When is your book coming out? Lots of us want to buy a copy!

OSO Admin - True you don't need a passport, but if you don't have your birth certificate AND your drivers license, it can be a problem. On our last trip over I didn't have my passport and only had a drivers license. They yanked me off the boat and down to the immigration office. For an hour they said I broke immigration laws and threated to lock me up. I don't know if they were looking for some payola, but they were very serious even saying they would feed me three times a day.

Barry

I’ve escorted boats over with the Bimini Fling, you need a passport or Birth Certificate and DL if you are a US citizen. If you are not a US Citizen you will need a Passport. My wife is not a US citizen but has a green card and she needs a Passport.

What was your favorite color in those days???

OK I got a bigger boat w/twins, I'm waiting on summers calm weather/water. Been doing my homework.
Sign4boat... lets do it!
I hear they dropped the passport thing for one more year.
I want to put some hours on my new(to me) boat to ensure she is reliable first. July sounds like the time!

Haven't been in along time but we went in June. Could have water skied across.
Usually strong easterly winds in winter and some bigger water. For example, Friday and Saturday's wave model predicts 6-8's for the 27th and some spots of 8-10's on the 28th. In a 23 I'd stick to the Keys.
BTW isn't there something like a $200 or $300 landing fee now?

The attached is pretty accurate wave forecast tool for anyone looking for conditions.
https://www.navo.navy.mil/cgi-bin/gr...336/21/0-0-1/2

I got a 30 footer now
I read 150 for boats under 35ft and 300 bucks for over.