South Florida to Bimini in 28' Sea Ray?

[esquire1]

Hi,

I'm looking to take a visit to Bimini in the next few months aboard a 28' sea ray. I was wondering if anyone has crossed in a boat that small before and whether you would recommend a larger boat.

Of course - We are not planning on crossing with any northerly component to the wind and looking to cross this summer/ early fall.

Thanks

[Vasco]

You should be fine. Just pick the right day. Quite a few power boats that size cross during the summer months. It's best to have a buddy boat.

[skipmac]

Made that crossing in a 25' Wellcraft. Also made a trip W Palm to W End all the way to Green Turtle Cay and back in the same boat.

Depending on your power/speed you can get there in 2-4 hours on a good day. If you have twin engines even better. If not it wouldn't hurt to take a kicker or travel with a buddy.

It should be a really fun trip. Smaller boats open up a lot of spots in the Bahamas that bigger cruisers can't get to.

Skip

[esquire1]

Thanks for the info.

Also - perhaps a strange question, but I am wondering about pirates (arghh). We were considering going over with a buddy, but what is the real risk of running into a pirate situation in this area?

[Vasco]

Nothing to worry about as far as pirates go.

[skipmac]

You are more likely to get mugged in Miami on the way to the marina than hijacked by pirates in the Gulf Stream.

Back during the heyday in trading square grouper and the S FL Cowboys there were one or two cases of piracy but even then it was really rare. I haven't heard of a case or even a rumor for years. Don't lose any sleep.

[esquire1]

Thanks - that's what I thought but I wanted to double check.

Great forum!

[meangene757]

just made that trip to Bimini in July in a 25 ft Glastron boat single volvo penta engine. zero pirates but the coast guard did fly over us to make sure we were fine.