June Bahama trip

[cdavisdb]

One more Bahama trip in the Seafari 25.

After all the work of replacing bulkheads, fixing stringers, etc, it was fabulous to finally get to use it like it was intended.

We(me, my youngest son, and a close friend) crossed from Lauderdale to Bimini in good weather, June 25. Bimini is getting very civilized, plenty of ice available, even internet connection from the boat using the Big Game Club's Yfi, big yachts all over the place, even a few mega yachts.

Spent all the first day north of Bimini, looking for the elusive spotted dolphins. No luck. Several other boats were looking too, but “Indigo”, the charter that specializes in dolphins, wasn't around. I suspect they knew something we didn't.

Next go south toward Beach Cay, about 20 miles S of Bimini, diving known spots all the way. Fish and lobster were a bit scarce, but plenty to feed us, until we got as far south as Riding Rock, where it got good. Found several new areas. Big hogfish and lots of'em. Plenty of Coney grouper, my favorite, with enough Mutton Snapper to make variety. Mutton snapper hash is serious good! Huge remoras, big enough to feed us all. One of these days I'm going to shot one and find out if the taste is like cobia. Big turtles all around and a few aggressive sharks to keep us honest. Best of all, my buddy Ted found one of those monster reef crabs, fabulous eating. Boy do I like that area. Total of 8 days, 6 full days of diving, and a good time was had by all. A few pics below.









On a more “Secraftlly” note, the boat ran flawlessly. It sleeps three in great comfort, although we did discover the limits of the canvas's water resistance when several hours of hard rain fell the last night. We jumped a mega yacht wake (he was going faster than I was), just to see what it was like. I hit the 5 ft wake perpendicular to it and without slowing down, about 24 knots. The boat came all the way out of the water, props just starting to scream. On the way down I remember thinking, “ this was NOT a good idea,” anticipating a real jolt on landing. No jolt, no bang, no bump, nothing, smooth as a baby's butt. I could not believe it. Yeah! Seacraft. We did a lot of running in 2-3 ft, steep confused chop, stuff that was slow and pretty unpleasant in the old Seabird. In the Seafari its jerky, but no reason to stand up and only slowed down a couple of knots. I'm getting used to driving sitting down all the time, nice. Most efficient cruise is about 2-2.5 knots slower in the Seafari compared to the old Seabird, but, most of the time I'm running 2-4 knots faster and in greater comfort, because the ride is so much better.

I've inspected the boat inside and out, looking for new stress cracks and/or anything else related to all the repairs. So far there is only a small chip missing from the chine gel coat near where the original damage was. I think this is just old stuff that is only now making itself visible.

The boat needs bigger trim tabs. That's on the list for next winter, my refurb budget is burnt for this year. As referred to in other threads, the boat is sensitive to fore/aft weight distribution. As the water and fuel was used up and the boat got relatively lighter forward, it started wanting to hoby horse. Bigger tabs will help that.

One thing maybe some of you gentlemen could comment on. With a moderate load, running flat water, I get almost 3 kmpg. On a Bimini trip with the boat maybe 12-13 percent heavier, I get 2 kmpg. My old Seabird did not vary so much. I originally thought it was low octane fuel, but doesn't seem to be. Rougher water?? just the extra weight? Something wrong? It seems to run perfect otherwise.

Any ideas?


Next trip October, going back to Hole in the Wall if the weather lets us.

Connor

[Ryan]

Sounds like a heck of a trip. Wheres the pics?

[cdavisdb]

Too quick for me. Pics are up now.

[strick]

Conner-

Great pics! Man do you know how to live. That crab is huge! Thanks for sharing your trip.

strick

[Blue_Heron]

Connor,
Glad to see she's back in commission. Looks like a good trip. Thanks for sharing the pics.
Dave

[cdavisdb]

And a very large THANK YOU for all the advice on how to fix the boat.

[Caymanboy]

Looks like you had a nice trip.
Not for nothing, but doesn't lobster season start Aug 1st?
Not sure I would want to advertise those bugs.

[cdavisdb]

Yeah, you are right. Since I just shoot dinner and have been about 1/2 Bahamian for too long, I forget about such things, not smart.

My experience is that Bahamians don't care about minor violations, but their enforcement is so spotty that, if you do get caught by a patrol boat, they may throw the book at you for relatively minor stuff. Friend of mine lost his boat like that, something quite innocent.