Bahamas was Awesome, I am Back to FL'
 

Just got in today, I am beat. Everything was what I expected to be. But I am tired, so I will give all a full update tomarrow. Need sleep. But 1 short word = Sweet :D :D :D :D Mr. Bravo III still alive with boat in one piece.

Please give all the details. Sounds like a dream.

Kurt, welcome back! glad to hear you and the boat AND motor are all back in one piece.

Will wait for the full update

Kurt, glad you had a good trip :cool:

Wow, what an experiance we had. Only got to go to south/north Bimini, wich was enough for my pocket book. $100.00 dollers just to get off my Boat for Customs, then 40.00 a night @ Blue waters Marina. water was 47 cents a Gl'.
Food was awesome and fair priced. Water was Krystle Clear with lots of weird fish I have never seen before. Like flying fish was cool.
these fish junp out of the water and fly about 40 miles per hour. they flew next to my Boat to and from Bimini. Doulfins everywhere, no sharks!!. went snorkeling around the islands on the sholes or riefes. got cool shells and trinkets. Engine decided to richen
up a bit on the way there, don't now why either. maybe the weight of the air and heat.
cause 2.5 miles from south Bimini, I ran out of Gas. I hade 10 Gls in cans for reserve, thank god for that. I received about 9/10 a mile to a Gl. ouch! 3 to 5 foot seas on the way there, and 1 to 2 on the way back to the states. cool run back though, jumping swells
that could swollow me up. But each time I would jump a swell, it was like landing on a pillow. Awesome feeling. On the way to Bimini, I could loose about 4 knots with current of the seas. this was weird, so I had to be a throttle man to keep speed up. :cool:
Now for the Islands, beutiful is the word.
Natives where very nice and helpfull, but all where poor. our money keeps them alive, not to many jobs there at all except for hotels
and resturant. all in all, still poor.
Marinas are clean and plentifull. Gas was $2.86 a Gl=ouch. and that was swamp gas 89 octane. C-planes cruising in all the time landing at the Marinas, now that was cool.
Oh yeah, I was the smallist Boat there, 40s, 50s footers was very commen. as usual, all of the Boaters where very helpfull in the normal routine for the Islands. But still, you are on your own there, so be prepared.
My dinghy was great for cruising around till the damn motor stripped the vertical shaft. then I paddled a lot. not good to paddle when you are as old as I. Yeah right. I caught some Flounder and groupers to eat, wow, how good. O/k, now amagine getting to Bimini, next day your Boat doesn't start, 3 dead Batteries. something weird happened with alternater. So I borrowed a charger and charged all three up over night before we left. this became my first crises for the return trip. but I made it no problem.
When back in the states we cruised around Ft L' and was in awe to see these monster ships everywhere. I was a mouse amoung these ships.
Upon removel of my Boat I noticed my nice props destroyed from the salt water, also my drive shower. this all looked like I sand blasted it all to a santin finish. nasty!.
I cryed. Had to washed down entire boat, all else handled it well. My trailer also shows
fatigue, even after I hosed it down each time. All in all, I would recomend Bimini to any one. 52 nautical miles from Ft L. should not be a problem for any boat longer than 25'
:D this was the best trip in my life. I don't think I could beat this one.
any Questions, I will be happy to answere.
Now I just got to get home and put this rig back in storage. wish me luck. Kurt still in Ft L' FL'. later on OSO Mr. Bravo III :D

Kurt,
That does sound very cool! I had a friend whose boat broke down over there a couple of years ago, and he ended up having the parts flown in from the US.
I will send you an e-mail soon asking some questions about your contacts/reservations. I have been contemplating doing a Bahama Trip by boat for a while. So, did you go across with any other boats? Congrats on the your successful "Vacation"!!
Dean

Dean, I cruised there alone with my girl. I figured that i would fend for myself on this one. I built my repower, so I felt safe.
But Boat US Tow was everywhere in the states.
I worried of course, but a man must trust his equiptment or don't go accross. not a good time to die. when you don't see land, then you know you are on your own.
BUT, I did see alot of other boaters throughout my cruise there and back. VHF will help you indeed. Tow boats only go out 25 miles of the states, after that, it is anouther boater or Coast Guard.
Don't worry, be happy. Mr. Bravo III

Sounds like you had a great trip. :cool:

Sea Tow, which is like the boat/us towing service, will tow you from the Bahamas. they will also run fuel out to you or give a jump start. With the costs involved with this trip, the $95 for an annual membership is cheap insurance and money well spent. www.4seatow.com
My wife and I have talked about doing this trip. It would require trailering from MI, but the pictures I've seen from Bimini look awesome. There was a group from another board (boatered.com) that did this last year, and they had a blast. No offshore types, but fishing boats and small cruisers

glad to have you back.. Sounds like your trip was a success :D :D :D

Yeap, sea tow was another towing Co.
I seen alot of those dudes in Fort L'. to many in fact. I never seen so many tow boats in my life. Yes the $95.00 would be a good idea for the Cruise over. I just was bull headed to pay the 95.00. This fee is good for 1 year.
You should see the Water over there in Bimini. It looked fake, to clear for salt water. but is was true. You can see the bottom all over the place. Decieving at times. They all told me, brown, you run aground, blue=clear sailing. These sholes
change depth like every foot forward.
Must enter Bimini from Southwest end, starting from the southwest side of South Bimini, then cruise north into bay entrance to east side of North Bimini. South Bimini is kinda dead, but growing. They drive on the wrong side of the road, which there are only 2 roads to drive on. N Bimini is only 7 miles long, and 700 feet wide. The west side of Bimini is the best view, best beaches, awesome scuba and snorkeling. While Snorkeling I found a 300 Gl gas tank from a boat. Weird, where was the Boat. A few sunken ships you can check out around 3 miles from south Bimini. these are really cool to check out. Also many Islands to run around naked with sqeeze. Just bring lots of water,towels,cloths,Candles, flash light.
spare batteries, all that good stuff.
Need more info, please ask. Mr. Bravo III

O/k I am back home. Wisconsin sucks. To damn cold. Bah hum bug!!.

Kurt,

Thank you for sharing your adventure. That "Stuff" on your props and drive shower will come off easy. Just use Lime Away or Sno Bowl, avail form your local supermarket. Apply with a soft bristle brush, and hose off. It works within seconds. Use rubber gloves. Whatever shine the metal had before the encrustation, will return.

Take care Kurt,

Steve

Thanks steve. I will try that today before I store my boat. thanks again, Mr. bravo III

Wow, sounds like one hell of a trip! Thanks for sharing the experience with everyone. I would love to do that same trip sometime.
Glad all went well, Kurt.

Kurt, all I can say is , wow! :cool:

Glad you are back and thanks for sharing the story.

wb Kurt! Got a ? 4 ya....u mentioned that your props basically got stripped to hell? How long were u there? We are VERY METICULOUS w/ our boats/cars. The last time we were in Florida (or any type saltwater) we washed the boat/trailer......on the way home. We try to stay only in freshwater.

Now with a new boat/new props we're (my hubby)is concerned w/the damage a trip to Bimini might cause. But, I still want to go this summer. Please give me some info on how bad the damage was...corrosion....etc..

OutlawBayB, seems as if the props are sand blasted to a satin Aluminum finish. I was in the salt water for about 10 days, which 5 of them where heavy cruising. I logged about 155 Nautical miles with my Boat in the last 5 days. I belive the friction and salt in the Water sanded my props down to this weird finish. My drive shower though got this encrusted stuff all over it. this, I could actually scrape off, or wash off with Lime away. But my props never came back to life.
I will have them labbed finish again to restore to my satifaction.
I belive this is from the 155 Miles of friction of the salt water. This Trip to Bimini was worth it though. All other painted surfaces of the drive handled it well. I just washed my drive with dove soap and restored origanal look = Merc Black. My aluminum trim tabs was the best of all, don't ask me why. but they where untouched by the salt water.
Weird I thought. Maybe Electrolosis had some factor in this with my props. Oh yeah, my anodes on drive got severly punished also.
corroded badly!!!.But that is what they are there for right. at first My boat sat in the water for about 5 days and when I pulled it out, my props where still perfect. it was the miles and trip to Bimini and back which fried my props. never seen stainless look like this, kinda ugly. Hope this helps. Mr. Bravo III :D :D