Looking for some advice on where to lauch for a bahamas trip
 

I've been tossing around the idea of a big summer road trip down to Florida for awhile now, and have recently watched some good videos on a run to the bahamas. Frankly, I was planning on only taking my little fishing boat down, for some fishing, but now I want to do a bahamas trip and take my 86 scrarab panther 30ft with 2x454 mag trs boat down as well. It really looks like a fun trip!

If I end up doing this, any suggestions on ports to launch from? Any extra equipment I may need? Assuming vhf, 2 fire extinguishers, but I'm unfamiliar with Flordia, and frankly haven't navigated the sea, as I live in Oregon on the Columbia, and the only reason to go salt is to fish.

For navigation, I am currently running a Simrad nss7 evo2 and compass. I've been harassed by the river sheriffs enough, but have yet o be inspected by a coast guard on the river.


Any info and tips would be greatly appreciated. I know nothing about flordia waters, but have been reading a lot. Looking for a good launch area and what to watch out for. Also fresh water wash stations for the trailer.

Double up bilge pumps
double up battery power and separate
VHF or Two
Extra fuel filters and separators ON BOARD with tools
Flares!!!
Passports
Quarantine flags
Local Charts - THIS years or dont bother ... sand moves
Money!!!! fuel is 2X in bahamas and you pay for water, power, ice at marinas big time - gets pricier as you head East

Where are you going?
If going to Grand Bahama and hitting the Abacos and Bahamian Sea (highly recommended) East and island hoping shortest distance (about 70 miles) is from West Palm Beach. A little longer from say Pompano Beach. IF just going to Bimini - shortest distance is Miami 45-50 miles but Bimini is arm pit of Bahamas IMHO - not worth it.

Key is weather! Any wind from Northern directions causes Gulf Stream to turn into elephant sized rollers - winds above 10 mph out of the north and you are going to wish you were on a 70 footer real fast. A 2 hour boat ride when it is flat turns into 8 hours of hell quickly. Time it right - wait for weather window in both directions. Summers are flatter than winters.

My 2 cents.

Saying Bahamas is like saying you are going to America when you actually mean Florida... :)

Freeport = Boynton
Bimini or Nassau = Miami

If you've never boated in Florida before, your best bet would be to try to time a trip when one of the poker runs is going on and join it. Then you can learn the ins and outs of Florida boating. They make runs to the Bahamas as well. There are too many things to learn about just trying to read advice from people on here. Even a simple run down to Key West from Miami can turn into a bad trip if you're not familiar with the waters and prepared. Better have a really good GPS as well and a back up. Should have some charts and know how to read them just in case all else fails.

LOL, even when you ARE familiar you can easily end up with a prop in the sand.


I dont think its hard but its daunting coming from inland lakes and waterways. The first time you cant see land a lot of **** goes thru your head.

Do I have enough gas, did I bring my tools, did I lock the front door, is this really the Bermuda triangle are their really pirates. And thats in the first 5 minutes! LOL


In all honestly, one of the things that you should check is will your insurance company cover your boat over a mile offshore. When I was first coming to Florida from Lake Lanier I went offshore 5 times before I realized State Farm didnt cover my boat over a mile offshore.

Holy Commitment to get some Warm weather boating in.

Guess you don't like Mexico.

Best advice: Leave your boat home in Oregon. Fly to Florida, rent Recovery's 38 Statement with a captain and make the run to the Bahamas with the Florida Powerboat Club. You will have a vacation of a lifetime and you won't have to drag your boat 6,000 miles to do it.

I usually have 3 to 4 months off, so the drive down is going to be one of the fun parts for me actually, although yeah its never really exciting dragging that boat anywhere, but its doable, and I think it would be some good times. I plan on spending quite a bit of time checking out the fishing, but this has been bubbling in the back of my min for awhile now.

I am from Oregon as well. Where abouts do you live? I boat the John Day and Columbia. I have had the opportunity to visit the Keys twice, great place. Got to watch a poker run stop by Duck Key, amazing bunch of go fast boats, one was turbine powered.

Thanks for the replies. I'm starting to put a list together.

I do like the idea of checking out nassau, and some of the other islands. I'm reading up more and more on it currently.


-vhf radio x2
-extra gps
-possibly sat phone
-paper charts
-does navionics have any sort of updated chart for that area? I havent looked into it yet
-20g potable water
-high flow bilge with a backup
I already run a 4 battery system for my boat as I am always worried about killing batteries when im sitting for days with the stereo on frequently
Looking at a inflateable boat with something like a 4hp outboard for getting around if we end up spending a few nights in a cove
-set of spare props and hardware
-full set of tools with a set of extra raw water pumps. I already carry this.
-fuel flow guages. been on my list for awhile now.
-2x flare guns already have
-3x fire extinguishers already on board


What kind of anchors do you guys like down there? I run what we call a columbia river breakaway anchor. with about 15ft of chain. It's stupid big and heavy, but seems to be about the only thing that will hold me in the current on the river in sand. Shields dont work worth a damn here. I would prefer something a bit more compact then what I use.

Can I run a small 2 stroke outboard in the bahamas?

Right now the boat boat seems to average about a gallon a mile, maybe a little better at cruise. 40-50mph in a 3 to 4ft river chop with my k planes all the way up. I run a 150g tank, so it doesnt seem like fuel will be that big of a issue from stop to stop. I definitely need a good travel plan though.