Bahamas 2022 Boating Flings Now Open

[ocgrant]

First fling to Bimini departing Thursday morning from Ft Lauderdale. Still time to join if anyone wants to come…. Looks like it is going to be a great weekend of Blue sky’s and Blue Bahamas water!!!

 

[Boca_Vincent]

Heading over Saturday morning, staying at Big Game until Monday. Where does the fling group dock?

 

[ttmott]

Heading over Saturday morning, staying at Big Game until Monday. Where does the fling group dock?

They are all going into West End then on to Marsh Harbor.
We cleared out at Big Game three days ago coming back from the Exumas. What a Sh't Show getting in and out of that harbor. Big fishing rigs running full tilt coming in and out. Luckily, no one at the fuel dock next to Big Game so we were first in line but by the time we finished there were four or five boats stacked in line circling in the wind and current.

 

[ocgrant]

Heading over Saturday morning, staying at Big Game until Monday. Where does the fling group dock?

Vincent, I will be there at Big Game myself with my friend and his 46 Sundancer (Island Time). We have close to 30 boats and some are staying there but many are center consoles and doing Air B&B at Resorts World Condos and staying at that dock. Look forward to seeing you there.....

Tom the July Fling is to Abacos

 

[ttmott]

Vincent, I will be there at Big Game myself with my friend and his 46 Sundancer (Island Time). We have close to 30 boats and some are staying there but many are center consoles and doing Air B&B at Resorts World Condos and staying at that dock. Look forward to seeing you there.....

Tom the July Fling is to Abacos

Ah - thanks for the correction.

 

[Randy Winters]

CSR team,

I am excited to be a new boating ambassador to the Bahamas and to promote the up comming 2022 Bahamas flings. I will be hosting the first Bimini fling and the extended fling to the Abacos this year for sure. These are great opportunities for first time crossers as well as experienced cruisers to meet new people and see the Bahamas. The Bahamas tourism board helps manage and plan these trips and this year the excursions are going to be even better. We are already hard at work planning fantastic day trips and events for these flings that give you access to places most crsuisers never see. This years extended fling to the Abacos is filling up quick, we have 11 boats confirmed with only 25 spots. Our Bimini flings are going to be huge and a perfect opportunity for first time crossers in any boat to get a taste of the Bahamas. Get signed up now before it sells out....

I am also starting to plan a seperate "special" August one week Fling to the Exumas. If you are interested please let me know as we are going to put this together if we can get enough interest to go to Staniel Cay for the week.

As always feel free to either post here or PM me any questions....

Hope to see you on a Fling soon!!!!

https://www.bahamas.com/getting-here/boating

View attachment 115287

My wife and I signed up for the July 28th Bimini Fling, which will be our first crossing. We haven't received any information regarding accommodations. We sent the $75 fee in and now just waiting for information. Any additional info would be helpful. Thanks

 

[Boca_Vincent]

Vincent, I will be there at Big Game myself with my friend and his 46 Sundancer (Island Time). We have close to 30 boats and some are staying there but many are center consoles and doing Air B&B at Resorts World Condos and staying at that dock. Look forward to seeing you there.....


Cool, I'll hunt you guys down sometime Saturday evening. I would have joined the fling but I have family that wanted to come along and wont arrive in FtL until Friday. Conditions for crossing still look good now, but Monday return is getting sketchy... we'll see.

 

[ocgrant]

Having a great time…. We have 20 some boats mostly center consoles from FL and a group from SC. Almost all are first timers and they are having a blast. One Yamaha jet boat. Everyone is having a blast. Boston Whaler having a fling also with 32 boats. Town is packed but everyone having a good time. Enjoying some conch, you can see conch shell mountain. Sad to see a Cuban raft, sad to see what people will risk to have a better life.

 

[copb8tx]

That water is unreal.

We need to do this within a few years

 

[ttmott]

@ocgrant and the other travelers.
We just got back from a trip to the Exumas and my dock neighbor just got back from Green Turtle. Here are some things of interest -
We spent just shy of $9K for diesel to the Exumas and back including filling the boat when we got back. Left Cape Canaveral fuel full, went into West End (156 NM) and cleared in / fueled. Be aware that the C2C isn't all of the paperwork that needs to be completed; there is an immigration form that needs to be completed. We arrived on a Friday about 3PM; there were about six others awaiting to clear in. Most were incomplete or unprepared in what needed to be done in C2C so it was about two hours to get through that. If you are bringing a handgun make darn sure you correctly record it and the quantity of rounds in C2C; they will come to the boat and verify the S/N and number of rounds. We lost steerage about 30 miles out of West End and came in on throttles; The Old Bahama Bay dock hand got us in touch with a fellow in Freeport who showed up in an hour pulled the steering hydraulic ram had it rebuilt in Freeport and back installed and operational the next (Saturday) afternoon; that is not an incidental job on a 52DB. So, if you should have issues with your boat and need repair services give Lennox a call at (242) 727-2281.
From West End we went south around Grand and down along the Berry Islands where we pulled in behind Hoffman's Cae for the night; spend the day on Hoffman's diving in the "Blue Hole" and just dinking around. It was a rough trip over; seas were big and got caught up in a large squall. From Hoffman's on to Nassau where we fueled up then directly on to Alan's in the Exumas. Storm comming across Florida so next day we went on down to Staniel, fueled up and weathered it out for a couple of days. Then up the Exuma chain spending several days in the Exuma Park. Warwik Wells is an awesome place to visit. Then on up the chain enjoying the Exumas. Then back to Nassau and more fuel then to Chubb Cae (South Berrys) for a day and night in a slip; what a place Chubb is, we never miss it when we are around there. Next day on to Bimini to clear out and another night at Gun Cae then the next day glass smooth waters to Ft. Pierce Fl. Fuel ranged from $6.10 to $7.45 per gallon US. 44 gallons per hour was our average burn rate. Interesting the new dinghy on the back significantly affected the fuel burn, like to the tune of 8 gallons per hour.

Ok so the Abaco -
My dock neighbor went from Cape Canaveral to West End then to Spanish and on to Green Turtle. They were going to spend three days at Old Bahama Bay at West End but due to the impending storm they moved on to Spanish. One night at Spanish they moved on to Green Turtle. They said that Spanish was extremely run down and the hotel room was infested with roaches. Sad to hear as Spanish was our "centroid" to spear fishing and lobster. They went on into Green Turtle; Green Turtle Marina as always a great place to stay. However, the storm coming from the South-Southwest really came in hard on the docks and I guess it was a rough one in the slips. I didn't hear what the fuel prices were but assume equivalent.

Hopefully, this helps to make your trip more enjoyable.
Tom

 

[Boca_Vincent]

Great to finally meet you Grant. (nice sunrise pic w/ your boat in it). Fantastic weekend in Bimini. Hope you didn't catch any storms on Sunday. We had a perfect crossing back on Monday morning with 1 ft seas. Although, US border patrol scared the crap out of me 5 miles off PE inlet... Heard my wife yell, and turned my head to see the RIB about 6 ft off the port side. I started backing down, think they saw my Jun reg and DToPS decals, then they waived and took off. Family flew in from AZ and MD to make the trip with us and they had best time and already asking to do it again next year.

 

[ocgrant]

Great to finally meet you Grant. (nice sunrise pic w/ your boat in it). Fantastic weekend in Bimini. Hope you didn't catch any storms on Sunday. We had a perfect crossing back on Monday morning with 1 ft seas. Although, US border patrol scared the crap out of me 5 miles off PE inlet... Heard my wife yell, and turned my head to see the RIB about 6 ft off the port side. I started backing down, think they saw my Jun reg and DToPS decals, then they waived and took off. Family flew in from AZ and MD to make the trip with us and they had best time and already asking to do it again next year.
View attachment 129292 View attachment 129293

Thats awesome... so glad you had a great time. Now catch up maintenance and be ready for the big trip!!!

 

[Randy Winters]

First fling to Bimini departing Thursday morning from Ft Lauderdale. Still time to join if anyone wants to come…. Looks like it is going to be a great weekend of Blue sky’s and Blue Bahamas water!!!

 

[Randy Winters]

Good morning,

Sad to say I am replacing a transmission in my boat this week and will have to back out of the fling. How do I recover my $75? Thank and safe boating.

Randy

 

[ocgrant]

Good morning,

Sad to say I am replacing a transmission in my boat this week and will have to back out of the fling. How do I recover my $75? Thank and safe boating.

Randy

Sorry to hear you can't make it this year. Please reach out to Donna

Donna Ash
Manager Sales & Marketing
Bahamas Ministry of Tourism & Aviation
Suite 450
1200 South Pine Island Rd.
Plantation, Florida 33324
US
Phone:1-954-236-9292, Ext. 3012
Fax:1-954-236-9282

 

[boaterholic]

@ocgrant and the other travelers.
We just got back from a trip to the Exumas and my dock neighbor just got back from Green Turtle. Here are some things of interest -
We spent just shy of $9K for diesel to the Exumas and back including filling the boat when we got back. Left Cape Canaveral fuel full, went into West End (156 NM) and cleared in / fueled. Be aware that the C2C isn't all of the paperwork that needs to be completed; there is an immigration form that needs to be completed. We arrived on a Friday about 3PM; there were about six others awaiting to clear in. Most were incomplete or unprepared in what needed to be done in C2C so it was about two hours to get through that. If you are bringing a handgun make darn sure you correctly record it and the quantity of rounds in C2C; they will come to the boat and verify the S/N and number of rounds. We lost steerage about 30 miles out of West End and came in on throttles; The Old Bahama Bay dock hand got us in touch with a fellow in Freeport who showed up in an hour pulled the steering hydraulic ram had it rebuilt in Freeport and back installed and operational the next (Saturday) afternoon; that is not an incidental job on a 52DB. So, if you should have issues with your boat and need repair services give Lennox a call at (242) 727-2281.
From West End we went south around Grand and down along the Berry Islands where we pulled in behind Hoffman's Cae for the night; spend the day on Hoffman's diving in the "Blue Hole" and just dinking around. It was a rough trip over; seas were big and got caught up in a large squall. From Hoffman's on to Nassau where we fueled up then directly on to Alan's in the Exumas. Storm comming across Florida so next day we went on down to Staniel, fueled up and weathered it out for a couple of days. Then up the Exuma chain spending several days in the Exuma Park. Warwik Wells is an awesome place to visit. Then on up the chain enjoying the Exumas. Then back to Nassau and more fuel then to Chubb Cae (South Berrys) for a day and night in a slip; what a place Chubb is, we never miss it when we are around there. Next day on to Bimini to clear out and another night at Gun Cae then the next day glass smooth waters to Ft. Pierce Fl. Fuel ranged from $6.10 to $7.45 per gallon US. 44 gallons per hour was our average burn rate. Interesting the new dinghy on the back significantly affected the fuel burn, like to the tune of 8 gallons per hour.

Ok so the Abaco -
My dock neighbor went from Cape Canaveral to West End then to Spanish and on to Green Turtle. They were going to spend three days at Old Bahama Bay at West End but due to the impending storm they moved on to Spanish. One night at Spanish they moved on to Green Turtle. They said that Spanish was extremely run down and the hotel room was infested with roaches. Sad to hear as Spanish was our "centroid" to spear fishing and lobster. They went on into Green Turtle; Green Turtle Marina as always a great place to stay. However, the storm coming from the South-Southwest really came in hard on the docks and I guess it was a rough one in the slips. I didn't hear what the fuel prices were but assume equivalent.

Hopefully, this helps to make your trip more enjoyable.
Tom

Tom,
I went to Spanish and GTC last two weeks in June, first couple days in July.
Was only in Spanish for about an hour. Fuel was $8/gal. It did look a bit beat up still from Dorian, but nice to see they were open.
At GTC, we topped off at only place with Diesel on the island, Green Turtle Club Marina. On June 19th, $7.16/gallon.
We stayed at the Bluff House Marina. Spent an extra day while we waited on a fuel line to arrive from the States for our port engine. If anyone needs a part flown in to Treasure Cay I can recommend having your part delivered to Ft Lauderdale to Island Wings, and they will fly it to Treasure. They were reasonable I thought.

 

[Randy Winters]

Sorry to hear you can't make it this year. Please reach out to Donna

Donna Ash
Manager Sales & Marketing
Bahamas Ministry of Tourism & Aviation
Suite 450
1200 South Pine Island Rd.
Plantation, Florida 33324
US
Phone:1-954-236-9292, Ext. 3012
Fax:1-954-236-9282

Thanks for your help