Bahamas Cruise this Summer - Any interest?

[lizfll]

Hello everyone!

I've been thinking of a Bahamas cruise this summer, but I'm afraid to do it by myself on my 2465. I think it would be great to get a few boats together to make the trip out of South Florida. Safety in numbers, I think!

Is anybody interested? And does anyone know those waters well? I'm still a newbie and haven't crossed the gulf stream yet.

Thanks!!

[oliver]

Hi
Go onto boattreecruiseclub.com . In June they make a run over there. About 10 to 15 boats.
Captain Chuck and Brenda run the show. They do a great job. I did it three times.You wont
be sorry. Its almost a two week run.Your size boat it might be rough,or it could be smooth.
Depends on mother nature. Go under the photo link and they have all the pictures of years past.
Best of luck

[rommer]

The Boattree Cruise Club seem like a great bunch of people. They are supporters of this site so I wanted to post a direct link back to them as well. http://www.boattreecruiseclub.com

[lizfll]

I looked at boattree but it appears that they run out of Orlando/Port Canaveral. That's really too far for me and out of the way since I'm in Broward/Palm Beach. Or do they come down the coastline to Palm Beach before crossing over the gulf stream? If that's the case, maybe I can meet them when they're down here.

[oliver]

Hi lizf11
I did the trip three times . I have a 3860 Its a great trip. You have to do it once in your life. Call Brenda
shes in charge of the club. She a great person to talk to. Everybody ho can trailer there boats
go to West Palm Beach at Sail Fish Marina were everybody meets.Then they cross over. With your size boat it could be ruff or it could be smooth. Depends on mother nature.Its about a two week trip. Its well worth it.Rommer if you read this I thing you should do this once in your life.
I under stand your a captain.So am I with a 50 ton master.I love it.So give Brenda a call.she will fill you in.Best of luck.

[rommer]

Its in the plans for when we retire. Plan on heading down the coast and visiting lots of places.

[lizfll]

Sailfish Marina is very close to me! That's great to hear! I'm also happy that its the Singer Island inlet and not the Boynton Inlet (which is an absolute nightmare!)

I think I will call Brenda now! Thanks again!!!

[oliver]

Let me know the out come. You wont be sorry.Its a great group.

[Tomskiier]

HI everyone,

I just joined this forum and I am also looking for another boat to travel with over to Bimini.
I have collected some information about ideal launch locations and most direct route.
I would like to do a long weekend trip late April - May, if anyone is interested.

I have a small group that are up for it but want to travel with someone that has done it before.
Thx
Tom
tomskiier

[lizfll]

Hi Tom!

That sounds like fun! But I'm new at this, so no, I don't really know anyone who has done it before either. If you do get a group together, please let me know!

Thanks!

L

[barktender]

We've done many trips with Chuck and Brenda, too (though, sadly, not the Bahama trip (YET!))...

You won't be sorry - they're fantastic!

WE want to do the Bahama trip, too... but not sure this is our year.

[lizfll]

Ok! Got new info!

As you may have seen from another posting of mine, I'm on the hunt for a new marina (which I think I've now found). However, this new Marina is also a Regal dealership in South Florida (they have a bunch of locations but I'm looking at the one in Fort Lauderdale). In any case, they also have trips that they sponsor. It looks like some trips involve 100 or so boats. They ALWAYS take a boat of their own with guys from their service department in case anything happens while you're away.

I think Tom wanted to know about Bimini... well, these guys do have a trip to Bimini this summer if you're interested.

Here's the website: http://www.sundancemarineusa.com/mypage.html?pg=Miamiboatshow

To recap, it looks like they're doing:

Key West - April 25-27
Hutchinson Island - June 6-8
Bimini - July 31 - August 3rd (Apparently, it's their 22nd annual trip out there as a group!) So I think it's safe to say, they know the waters pretty well by now.

Anyway, enjoy!

[danvolker]

I plan on taking my Regal 320 over to the Bahamas late this month and then several more times over the next few months....right now, it is mostly about when the weather will be good for both the trip out and the trip back
I would definitely like to cross with other Regal owners looking to do this....I keep my boat at the Loggerhead Marina in Lantanna, and could certainly leave from either Boynton or lake Worth Inlet....as one pster just mentioned, the Boynton inlet "can" be tricky....When I went out Saturday, you had to surf in on 8 footers over shalow water, and then just when you get to the center of where the 2 jetties are pointing ( the mouth of the inlet), there was a vortex with like a 9 foot drop, and it spun the dive boat going in 3 wave sets ahead of me around 45 degrees--I thought they were going to be flipped. However, the Regal went through like this was a non-issue...I have really found it to be amazing in nasty inlet conditions.

REgards,
Dan

[danvolker]

I forgot to mention...I have some friends who have a 40 foot Cranchi, that crossed over last week---at the moment they are in the Exumas....They skyped Sandra and I and said the first crossing was good, but the first fill up was over $1000 ! Gas and diesiel prices are up, as well as food.
So as long as you plan on dumping a bunch on gas and food, it should not bother you too much, right

My friends with the Cranchi are having a great time, regardless. One thing they are happy they did, was to buy a big freezer that runs of generator or battery, whichever you need it to--and they had this filled up with lots of grocery items before they left--it is mitigating the the price changes pretty well for them.

Dan

[whydude]

FYI Boat tree cruise club cancelled the bimini trip this year, as one of the refuel stops is up to $9/gal for gas and rising, and costs have been cut. They're still planning a Keys trip, but I don't think we'll be able to make it.