Tag: Ships Log

From May 26, 2009 Picnic Island to Bimini Basin – 6 miles

Posted by admin – June 3, 2009

May 26, 2009. Dinghy has been stolen which forces us to return too Bimini Basin (Cape Coral, Fl) to start the search again. Having a 5.5′ draft makes it pretty difficult to pull in for supplies and to enjoy the islands we plan to visit. Motoring. Departed Picnic Island (Sanibel, Fl) ~11am. Engine cranked right up. No problems. Steven pulled the anchor. Best pull yet. Took less than 5 minutes to haul in the anchor/mooring ball and get the boat turned around towards the ICW. Winds ~6-8kts. Making 5.3kts with the wind blowing over starboard. Throttled down to 5kts due to engine blowing black smoke. Guess 5.3 in this wind is too much for our jumpy 27hp diesel. Bumped 5.9kts after turning NE. On a side note: Thanks, Joyful Spirit, for hogging the ICW and cutting us off. Anchored at Bimini Basin ~12:45pm. You can make great time when the wind decides to be helpful. A warm welcome from Tony aboard Miss Cindy.

Bimini Basin to Picnic Island – 6 miles.

Posted by jen – May 24, 2009

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Departed Bimini Basin (Cape Coral, Fl) at ~3:45pm today. The channel leading in/out of the basin is really well marked, both green and red markers to/from the ICW in the Caloosahatchee River. Headed to Picnic Island (Sanibel, Fl) for Steven and Sandy’s birthday. Took two depth soundings in the channel leaving the basin. 7′ and 12′. Plenty of room for our 5.5′ draft. Cleared the power line with not much room to spare though. Fair winds out of the West/SW. Averaging 3.6kts just after entering the ICW. Tons of Memorial Day boat traffic. Mostly powerboaters kicking up big wakes. Makes us hobby horse around a good bit. Note: clear the area around the mast. There’s currently a blind spot from the piles of rain tarps, lines and fenders on deck. GPS markers do not match the real ICW markers around #93. Bumped 5.1kts after entering the Miserable Mile, named so because of the strong currents. You really need to pay attention during this stretch. It gets shallow, quick. Anchored at Picnic Island ~6pm. Smooth anchoring just before the rainstorm.