Anyone ever make a run to Bimini?

inaforty

inaforty

Senior Member
Just for winter discussion has anyone ever run a V 20 to Bimini? I know there is a member on THT that has run his 23' Wellcraft over many times.

Would you do it given the chance?

This is on my bucket list. Not sure if I would do it on a V 20 but I will do it.
 
Me and my dad have ran over there out of port everglades with a 248 sportsman. it was a good run exactly 48 miles from the port. We would go every few months for a weekend, but havent been in about 5 years.
 
I'd love to try, but it's a hella run for me... first aprox 1400 mile trailer, then the 48 mile run etc. But in my younger days I've been out to the Sunken Texas tower in my first V, and that's about 63 miles off the coast of Long Island, so a run of 48 miles certainly seems feasible. The overriding concern of course would be the weather and sea conditions. I would not even consider a run like that unless the sea was calm and the weather for the next week was forecast to be mild with no storms on the horizon.
 
Interesting comments from everyone.
Thanks for every members comments
I think I would feel safe with twins running that far.
However I thought i read that Tow boat US was extending coverage to Bimini.
 
I worked at fort jefferson in the dry tortugas in the mid 80's. that was a 70 mile run one way due west of key west. we did it in shrimp boats and aluminum crew boats. boss's son brought a 17 ft chapparal out there. he took off from key west, but knew we were behind him in a back up boat. Water was usually flat calm and only about 25-50 foot deep most of the way.
 
Lesterus has run to Bimini as well as to Cuba I believe.

One of the biggest concerns on the Bimini run is wind direction against the Stream. A lot of cruisers will hole up for weeks sometimes waiting to cross.

Some good square grouper drops near Fort Jefferson.
 
bradford said:
One of the biggest concerns on the Bimini run is wind direction against the Stream. A lot of cruisers will hole up for weeks sometimes waiting to cross.
Click to expand...

That's the problem. You might get there and not get back. Wing against the stream makes ugly fast. My brother has taken his 29 Aquasport from Pompano to the Bahamas for overnighters many times and there have been a few white knuckle returns.

Theyv'e made daytrips in 24 CCs in good weather. You need a boat with some weight that can run 40+ mph.

Its kind of like here in NJ running my V20 60 miles to Chicken Canyon...you gotta know 99.9% positive that the afternoon wind will not kickup.

If I had my V in Pompano I wouldn't run it to Bahamas. There is so much great fishing 3 to 15 miles from the inlet. And if you want you to change it up, you can trailer down to the Keys.
 
I'm with Skunk. I would do it in a heartbeat without a second thought if I didn't mind staying until weather permitted a safe return. That equates to being retired and rich. Neither of which I am.....and if I were the latter I wouldn't be in a 20ft boat I'd be in a Freeman cat running 60 mph so in the end it is a moot point. :fam:
 
offshore

A better/safer in the v20 run than Bimini from Florida might be the suggestion to trailer to key west and do some stuff from there. If I had my v20 in California the run from Huntington Beach out to Catalina is not bad at all...what, maybe 25 miles and you can plan around weather for that pretty easily. Anything longer than that and you could end up with weather preventing a safe return trip in a lot of places where wind and currents kick up a real mess. As a lifelong sailor I've been on 35 and 40' boats where the seas were rough and coming over the bow and don't want to see that in a v20.

Another place I'd think about if I were there was Louisiana out of Venice, La or other places. You could run the passes down to the gulf and go redfishing or go out and around the oil towers, etc. and know the weather well enough to pick your spot. The passes are easy running, just watch out for the ocean ships!
 
We just started planning a month ago. A buddy of ours may back out so i might leave my v20 at home and jump on the regulator. Its on my bucket list. Gonna be a good time
 
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