MacGregorSailors.com

Rather than keep hijacking the Bimini 2017 thread http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/v ... =4&t=25885, I wanted to start a different one since this will likely be a different trip. I am not opposed to merging them if the moderators think it is appropriate. I would like to see who is interested in a trip starting at the end of May. Yes, there is weather and it does not play well with a tight schedule, so the best we can do is plan and have some contingency plans. Plenty of others have done Bimini in a week on a Mac, so it would be great to get a group of 4 or 5 and do this together. My preferred departure date would be Monday May 22nd. Here is a proposed schedule:

Day 1 (may 22): arrive to South Dade marina launch and anchor out near Angelfish Creek
Day 2 (may 23): depart to Bimini (0500?)
Day 3 (may 24): layover/beach day
Day 4 (may 25): sail to Honeymoon Harbor and snorkel the SS Sapona
Day 5 (may 26): layover/beach day
Day 6 (may 27): Back to Florida, navigate south on the ICW and anchor out in Biscayne Bay
Day 7 (may 28): return to South Dade Marina after stopping by Alabama Jacks for celebratory lunch

I think that for vacation time at least 3 days should be added (plus driving time) in case we have to wait for weather windows.

So, who is available and interested?

My only comment is that you may want to consider leaving a bit earlier than 5am. If you run at hull speed, it takes around 9 or 10 hours for the crossing. It's advisable to arrive at Alice Town as early in the afternoon as possible, so that the sun is still high, and you have good visibility into the water. Good luck with the trip. It's a great destination. Be sure and check out the bakery and the Dolphin House.

Chinook wrote:My only comment is that you may want to consider leaving a bit earlier than 5am. ....

I agree.



Also you need to watch the tide charts and the current at Angle Fish or any of the other cuts.

http://1fatgmc.com/boat/mac-1/2015%20Ba ... age-4.html

If all of you have X's or M's and the HP probably not a big deal but it can run strong in that cut. I was going to go through at slack tide but entered a little sooner than I should of and my S struggled a little bit right at the western entrance to Angle Fish.

I lucked out and the weather was settled so I was able to go through the day before and anchor near shore on the Atlantic side for the night...



... and left early in the morning.....

http://1fatgmc.com/boat/mac-1/2015%20Ba ... age-1.html

and ran into some confusing marker lights in the dark leaving the coast and...



.... there are coral heads just off-shore.

I was also thankful that I had bought the radio with AIS and had it connected to the chart plotter as there were a few very large ships out there and knowing where they are in the dark is a big deal. It is hard to tell by just looking at their lights and they are moving fast. I had one ask me to change course as we were going to end up being very close together if I held my course at the time,

Sumner

============================
1300 miles to the Bahamas and back -- 2015

The MacGregor 26-S

The Endeavour 37

Trips to Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

We were thinking about doing a bimini trip in may as we said on the other thread !

I may be interested. Need to work on the Admiral. May decide to go down the ICW and meet up. I retired last year

Tom
Wind Wager

Sumner's post reminded me of something I did before crossing to Bimini that worked well. In the past, when starting out on night time passages, I've also had difficulty spotting channel markers and avoiding shallows. Last year we went out, through Angelfish Cut, in the afternoon, and ran 3 or 4 miles out, on the proper course between reds and greens. Once out in good, clear water we turned around and returned to the anchorage. This gave us a nice "breadcrumb" trail course track on the GPS. It was very easy to follow when we took off in the dark next morning.

Chinook wrote:Sumner's post reminded me of something I did before crossing to Bimini that worked well. In the past, when starting out on night time passages, I've also had difficulty spotting channel markers and avoiding shallows. Last year we went out, through Angelfish Cut, in the afternoon, and ran 3 or 4 miles out, on the proper course between reds and greens. Once out in good, clear water we turned around and returned to the anchorage. This gave us a nice "breadcrumb" trail course track on the GPS. It was very easy to follow when we took off in the dark next morning.

I for sure would do that if you are going through a fairly long cut, which Anglefish is, for the first time at night. I was going to do that but then lucked out with calm weather and was able to just make the passage during the day and stay out on the Atlantic side. If the wind and waves are OK there is shallow water on that side just south of the cut.

One other thing is don't screw up your night vision with any lights on the deck. I tried going out of Whitehorse Key in the 10,000 Islands in the dark and didn't get rid of the LED yard lights I had on the deck and ran right up on the beach at Whitehorse when for some reason the chart plotter lost my location for a bit....

http://1fatgmc.com/boat/mac-1/2015%20Ba ... age-3.html

I'll never do that again ,

Sumner

============================
1300 miles to the Bahamas and back -- 2015

The MacGregor 26-S

The Endeavour 37

Trips to Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

Chinook: thanks for the advice, earlier departure will be considered. I was already planning in doing a run in the afternoon to save the breadcrumbs.
Summer: thanks for the current and tides tip. Good to see that the tides will help with an early departure. I am planning to upgrade my VHF with the GX2200
Wind Wage and Bahama bound: Game on!
Since the following weekend is a holiday, we should definitely plan to make reservations ahead of time. I was thinking in Bimini Blue Water Marina, but open to other suggestions.

Sea Wind wrote:....Summer: thanks for the current and tides tip. Good to see that the tides will help with an early departure.....

One thing to keep in mind going and coming back is which way the tide and current is running compared to the wind direction. If they are opposed by much you can end up with steep waves, a 'rage', at a cut.



I see that around midnight on the morning of the 23 that current at Caeser Creek, just north of there where there is a current station, shows current should be around 2 knots going out. If you had a strong east wind at that time then conditions at the cuts eastern end could not be comfortable.

By 3 am the current is down to 1/2 knot so a strong east wind wouldn't produce the same conditions. With my slow S I try to run through cuts at slack time or when the wind and current are running in the same direction.

Just thought I would throw that out there. Chances are good that you won't have any problems at the cut going out. I use OpenCPN for the tide/current information, trip planning and on the water. It and the NOAA charts are all free. I run it at home all the time for trip planning and used it for my Bahama Trip since it will work with NV-Charts (pay for these) there.

Sea Wind wrote:.... I am planning to upgrade my VHF with the GX2200 .....

You will love that radio and should be able to pickup NOAA weather while in the Bimini area. I could pick it up over twice that far away in the Bahamas with my Standard Horizon.

You guys have a great trip, Dottie and I are working on the Endeavour in Florida now and hopefully out soon for a test run and if all goes well will return next winter and will be Bahama bound also,

Sumner

============================
1300 miles to the Bahamas and back -- 2015

The MacGregor 26-S

The Endeavour 37

Trips to Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

Yes! a possibility.. I'm in Ft. Lauderdale

slight change of plans, new date for launching at South Dade Marina is Saturday May 13th.

Day 1 (may 13): arrive to South Dade marina launch and anchor out near Angelfish Creek
Day 2 (may 14): depart to Bimini (0400?)
Day 3 (may 15): layover/beach day
Day 4 (may 16): sail to Honeymoon Harbor and snorkel the SS Sapona
Day 5 (may 17): layover/beach day
Day 6 (may 18): Back to Florida, navigate south on the ICW and anchor out in Biscayne Bay
Day 7 (may 19): return to South Dade Marina after stopping by Alabama Jacks for celebratory lunch

any takers for a May 14th departure?

If I was a little closer (ok, a LOT closer) I'd go. I've never seen blue water like that in real life.



Only in movies. And here.

Sorry folks,
looks like I will be moving a 36 Nauticat from Virginia to Florida during this time.

Tom
Wind Wager

We kinda felt like it would be awkward since we have two kids that are 14 and 12 , great kids and great sailors but if I was with a guy sailing to Bimini I would not want kids around ...... Lol.....