Bobthebuilder's next adventure - Part 1, Ft. Lauderdale to Turks & Caicos

[Bobthebuilder]

Last year it was Cancun and now it's time for something a bit different and hopefully more relaxing. For months now I have been planning a trip down into the Caribbean with Team PREDATOR and it is now time to get started. Part 1 will take us from Ft. Lauderdale to Paradise Island (Nassau) in the Bahamas for a few days, then down to Georgetown, in the Exumas and from there to the Turks and Caicos. That distance is about 600 miles. Once there we will put the boat away for 7 - 10 days, take a break and fly home.

If that goes well, the plan (Part 2) is to return and continue on to the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Island and finally the British Virgin Islands. That is another approximate 600 miles and I expect will be much more difficult than the Bahamas with some ocean going.

Once in the BVI, we will leave Team PREDATOR there for most of the month of May and explore the Islands and possibly beyond. All being well, we hope to join our offshore friends in the BVI for their annual Memorial Day Poker Run. After that, I expect we will then head back to Florida as my insurance company wants us out of there by early June.

This whole trip and the idea of doing the BVI poker run was inspired by EXPAT (on that other site) with his thread on their poker run last year. I've had several conversations with EXPAT ( David) , as well as Brad Schoenwald and others who have been a great help and inspiration. The waters are incredibly beautiful and perhaps I can share with you pictures and experiences of our adventure. I expect my postings may be somewhat sporadic, as I'm unsure just how good the internet connections will be along the way.

Again, I will take “SPOT” along with us and you can follow our travels by clicking on this link: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/f...914DBgj39xjKD2

Bob

[Tommy Gun]

Dream trip...the BVI's are so nice...I can imagine the fun to be had in a performance boat...scary good time!

[catmando]

Good luck to you and your crew. Can't wait for the pics and vids!!

[glh]

Well,,, We'll be on the Mut in Paradise Island from Friday 17th to Tuesday 21st, so stop to see a fellow Canuck there my friend!

Anyway give us your Spot website again so I can catch your lines when you pull into your docks in Nassau!

[Bobthebuilder]

Thanks for the call the other day GL and look forward to seeing you at Atlantis. I have "Spot" set up now I think and will add the link to the end of post#1.
If all goes well we should be in by dinner time. We will lose some time clearing customs at Cat south of Bimini.
Bob

[Bobthebuilder]

My crew from Ft. Lauderdale to Paradise Island will be 3 longtime friends from Kitchener - Waterloo, ON. Randy Bird, Paul Huck & Rick Caravaggio are flying to FLL tonight and in the morning. They are only available till Sunday so we will hang on Paradise Island for a few days and do some local boating, perhaps down to Allen Cay to check out the iguanas and / or out to Eluthera.

On Saturday, Marco Island friends OSO rockstrmkr (Hans H.) and OSO Marco Marc ( Marc S.) are flying out to the Bahamas in Marc's plane to join us. Hans and Marc will then help get us down to Turks and Caicos. They are both experienced divers so they will bring their gear along and we will do some diving.

Crewing from Turks and Caicos will be a bit more difficult. I will be watching for a 3 day weather window and will then fly in on just a few days notice. I have several offers of help but of coarse not everyone is free to go on such short notice. We will need to get that figured out but we have some time to do it.

Bob

[glh]

Call me if you need to get on the Mut on Friday night we will be there on Saturday around noon...

[Bobthebuilder]

Call me if you need to get on the Mut on Friday night we will be there on Saturday around noon...

Nice offer, thanks GL. I expect we will stay at Atlantis but held off booking it as some uncertainty with the weather. We will see what Thursday brings us.
I will keep in touch.
Bob

[jmbtile]

I should have been a builder instead of a tile guy!

[catastrophe]

This old guy is getting soooo far ahead of us in the fun dept. we are never going to catch up.

Be safe buddy.

[BLAZE]

Good Lucky Bro-----

[boatme]

Bob

Sounds like a fun trip

we wil be watching with great interest

have fun my friend

[Ratickle]

Have a great trip Bob. We'll be paying attention.

[cosmic12]

Have a fun safe trip. Will watch and wait for pics, and thanks so much for shareing.

[stainless]

Sounds like a blast! Have fun and stay safe!

[Airpacker]

Bob, please complete this amazing offshore boating trip in one piece without need of medication, doctors or surgery on the return run

Sounds awsome Bob. Wish I were there being your boat b*tch

Have fun, be safe and post ots of pics for us "Lakes still frozen" folks.

[jayboat]

Have a great trip, Bob!

I'll be in BVI to shoot the run for H2O Full Throttle - will see you there.

[Bobthebuilder]

Bob, please complete this amazing offshore boating trip in one piece without need of medication, doctors or surgery on the return run

Sounds awsome Bob. Wish I were there being your boat b*tch

Have fun, be safe and post ots of pics for us "Lakes still frozen" folks.

Sean. I'm not all put back together yet from Cancun run. I had banged my left knee in that fall and thought just a bruise but never did heal. Finally got an MRI a few weeks ago and doc wants to repair torn meniscus. Told him it has to wait as I have boating plans. LOL Surgery is set for June 11 after I finish with this trip.
I figure this is a good time to do this with FMO runs done for now and season not yet ready to start up north.
Gotta go.
Bob

[Magic Medicine]

That is an awesome trip, good luck and have fun and be safe!

[Ratickle]

Have a great trip, Bob!

I'll be in BVI to shoot the run for H2O Full Throttle - will see you there.

Sweet Jay, I'll see if I can figure a way down to give you some crap.....