NASCAT

Your Nor-Tech 340 is very capable of a 250mi trip to Compass Cay Bahamas (Exumas) via a stop in Bimini to clear customs and a refueling and overnight in Nassau.

We left out of Pompano and were fortunate enough to have ideal conditions all the way to Compass Cay, We had awesome weather the entire time we were there & manageable for the return trip. It was an incident free trip but I couldn't have and wouldn't have done it without my crew or the expert guidance of fellow boater & former racer Ben Robertson and his experienced crew. He made the trek in 2016 and allowed us to tag along for 2017.

Yes there's some work to be done stateside in preparation but overall with the right conditions and today's GPS technology the trip was rather easy.

Don't hesitate to ping me if I can be of any assistance to any fellow boaters looking to take a similar jaunt.

ben

iTrader: (1)

That looks awesome!

NASCAT

And it was!

Hook'em

Awesome. That's a bucket lister fo shore. How long was the trip? Did you overnight in Nassau on the return leg? Did you sleep aboard?

How about fuel, what kind of mileage did you see? Average speed? I'm sure you set the RPM based on your fuel efficiency target? What was the deepest reading you saw, did your sonar check off the scale at any point?

Thanks for sharing, the boat looks killer. Great pix.

NASCAT

Responding in order...

Pompano to Bimini like 65 miles
Nassau to Pompano was 191 miles (based on direct return trip, left 6:15am arrived 12:15pm but it was a bit rough and raining)
Compass Cay to Nassau 87 miles (based on direct return trip between 2.5-3hrs simply not killing it to get back)
By math that is closer to 280miles FL to Compass.
Keep in mind you stop to sight see, pee breaks, converse w/ the other boat so I don't have accurate times or miles to Bimini, Nassau or Compass just on the returns.

We ran anywhere from 35 - 55mph depending on conditions. Much more favorable conditions to Bahamas.
Fuel Burn between 1.25 - 1.35 mpg which I believe was in the 25-30gph. Since i have no plans to make this trip into a $$ making charter I don't really focus on those stats that much. Fuel capacity is 270 which technically is enough to make it all the way but certainly plenty to make landfall anywhere throughout the entire trip. Rule of thumb was fill up every chance you get NC they may not have fuel at your final destination. And that scenario did occur in Staniel Cay, waited 3 days for a delivery to have fuel for return to Nassau.

Fuel like $2.50/gal on land in FL, $4.16/gal non ethanol 91octane in Nassau and like $5/gal for 91 non ethanol in Staniel Cay. Based Receipts and the knowledge we departed full of fuel my math says we burned 424 gals over 7 days of boating every single day.

I dont know the range angel of my transducer, I want to believe I saw it read 300' but based on its location (forward of the steps to avoid aeration) it doesn't read over 35mph b/c now the hull is out of the water. Based on the GPS charts we were in 10,000 ft of water. Deepest water is between Bimini and Nassau. Avg depth is less than 20' entire way to Compass from Nassau. Reading up and preparing for this trip had me nervous about the very clear water and need for keen visual navigation but between the Garmin and common sense it was way easier than I had been stressing over.

Gary C

Wow that sounds like a great trip. I think I would need a bigger boat!

NASCAT

I don't t care how big a boat one has when you get out there in the middle of the ocean w/o land anywhere in sight your boat feels small. If you do a search on YouTube you'll find many vids of jetskis that have made the trip to Bimini and back. Most just go for the day.

Knot 4 Me

Way cool. Thanks for posting!!

bleek

Heading over with a 39cc for the month of March from Cape Coral. We are planning on crossing the state and meeting with the "mother" boat in North Palm, heading to Nassau, and then to the Exhumas. I'm a little concerned with boat security in Nassau on the way over and on the way back, I might be overly concerned, but would hate to have a missing boat. What's your thoughts on boat security over there?

NASCAT

Bleek,

Im not sure I follow. Are you leaving your boat unattended for days at a time in Nassau? We spent 1 NT in Atlantis Marina to and From the Exhumas. Plenty safe there. Another more affordable option would Palm Cay. This is where we bought fuel both directions. Cheaper and easier to deal with. Super friendly, they have boat slips, a small restaurant, ship store and overnight room accommodations. Hope this helps. Have a great trip.
Palm Cay / ONE Marina - Bahamas Luxury Real Estate for Adventure Lovers