Bahamas trip ?

[Bull Market]

Just wondering if anyone is heading to the Abacos this summer. Last year in the Abacos we met several Regal boat owners and several planned to go back this summer.

[Bull Market]

Since it's summer and the kids are out of school, it's time for a boat trip that's longer than a weekend. The kids voted to return to the Bahamas specifically the Abacos rather than a Key West & west coast of Florida trip.

Over the last two weeks, the boat was cleaned, packed, fueled, and provisioned. The plan is to go down the Florida coast until Palm beach and make the Gulf Stream crossing to Old Bahama Bay. Then spend a few days and then move on the the
Abacos.

Itinerary weather permitting.

The weather looks good at this point and the family is ready to go.

Loaded up and ready

[Regal3260]

Us in the north envy your family trip to the Bahamas. Safe passage and we look forward to some great pics.
Btw..... smile you're going to the Bahamas.

Mark

[Bull Market]

We made the Gulf Stream crossing to Old Bahama bay yesterday. After watching the weather and checking with other people that were going to Bimini we decided to go. It was supposed to be less than 3 foot waves and a 6 second interval. I had planned for a 2 1-2 to 3 hour run at 25- 35 mph. Well it started out smooth, but about 6 miles out it got ugly. It turned to 4-6 foot waves with a 4 second interval. That meant we slowed to 8-9 mph. The Gulf Stream is about 12 miles offshore and I was hoping that the weather got smoother when we got there. Well, it smoothed out to 3 - 4 foot waves with a 3 second interval. So after 8 1/2 hours at 7-9 mph we finally got there.

Sorry no pics of the crossing except for my teenage son puking all the way over and he's requested that I not post them. My wife and daughter took sea sick pills but he was to macho to take it. (And yes he refuses to take on on it every crossing and he gets sick on every crossing, then he blames everything and everyone but himself).

After pulling into Old Bahama Bay and get into our sip it was time to hit the pool. The resort got hit hard by Hurricane Matthew last year and is still recovering. They have power and water on the docks (just got it two weeks ago). They employees are still there're and they are great.

My new seat. Was a lot more comfortable than the bench seat

[xixp]

Wow, your family are troopers...after a Bimini crossing with 4 footers one of my daughters doesnt want to go to Bahamas with our boat anymore...and the rest only if there will be 1 ft waves. 8 hours for just 50 miles was hard, i once had to go at just 10mph due to the waves and it wasnt fun..i though that with a 46 footer things might be easier with bad seas.

[Bull Market]

It was a really long day. The only saving grace was the auto pilot. I only had to take over a couple times when the gps lost tracking due to the thunderstorms. It took less than 30 seconds to reaquire the satellites and re-engage the autopilot, but It seemed longer at the time. This trip is the first time I have ever lost a gps signal due to weather.

[xixp]

You even had thunderstorms ?!
My concern with lighting is that you might lose the engines electronic due to a lighting strike and be stranded in the middle of the Gulf stream. Mat be next time it might be wise to just go back and wait until weather improves.
Keep sending updates and be careful becuaSe next week the forecast shows winds over 20 mph and over 5 ft waves in the Bahamas area for certain dates.

[Bull Market]

We made the trip from Old Bahama Bay (Grand Bahama) to Green Turtle Cay. The forecast was for 3 foot seas with a 4 second interval. Since the weather in the Bahamas in the summer gets worse in the afternoon we left at 7 am. It's 133 miles and we ran at about 27mph. It took about 5 hours. For most of the trip the seas were less than 1 foot. We hit one large thunderstorm. It was about 3 miles wide and had zero visibility. We cleared the storm about 5 miles short of the entrance to the harbour. My wife was very happy when the rain stopped she doesn't like to dock in the rain, and a happy wife is a happy life.

Starting the run

Watching the squalls move around us

Calm seas

Thunderstorm I can't avoid

Radar image of thunderstorm

[Lost Weekend]

Looks like a great trip. It also looks from your GPS that you took the Indian Cay Channel from Old Bahama bay to Green Turtle Cay. You were running about 27 mph. How did you find the depth in that channel?

[xixp]

Colin will confirm but it seems to me he took the deeper route of Memory Rocks...

[Bull Market]

On this trip, I took the deeper route of Memory Rocks. I used the Indian Cay Channel with my old boat, it had twin outboards, but I havent had the guts to take my Regal through it yet. I know plenty of people who do it all the time with bigger boats then mine, but I don't want to be stuck in the Bahamas with pod/prop problems. Ill trade the extra 30 mins of travel time for an extra 8 feet of depth.

[Bull Market]

Staying at Green Turtle Cay for a week was great, however the first two days it rained morning and afternoon. We had good weather for a couple hours in between. Then for most of the next three days and nights we had no power. (18 hrs a day no power). We ran the generator in the evenings and were out and about all day so it didn't really bother us at all. The guests in the resort were hating the nights. The resort has a generator for lights only not AC, and opening the doors and windows invites in clouds of no see umms (local small mosquitos) that bite really hard. Every year in the summer the Bahamas has power problems. They can not produce enough power in the summer. We expect it every summer now. But it's a small price to pay to visit paradise. Since I'm on the topic of power, the Green Turtle Club & Marina has electric meters at the slip. In my home marina my electric bill runs about $40 a month in Green Turtle Marina it was $245 for a week and that was with the power being out a large portion of the week. Even with all that said, my kids want to come back next summer already.

Welcome to Green Turtle Cay

The Marina

Gullam beach

Gullam beach 2

My daughters sand dollars

Starfish

Rainy day killing time.

Pinapples Bar / Restaurant.

The Wrecking Tree Restaurant. Great view

[Bull Market]

While in Marsh Harbour - Abaco Beach Resort / Boat Harbour Marina we saw a new Regal 33 OBX


It looked very nice.

[John143]

I would like to say that really nice conversation is going here about Bahamas trip from the entire member's side. I must say that I come to know that it is a great place for enjoying the vacations. So in my next vacations, I also take a trip to this place with my family members.