Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I'm trying to gather info on a possible Miami to Bimini to Key West to Cuba and possibly to Cancun

First i'm a Canadian citizen i dont no if going from key west to Cuba is a problem or not ! I heard all kinds of rumors on going to Cuba by boat but nothing on Cuba to Cancun

Are plan would be , Miami to Bimini first trip
Miami to Key West to Cuba and possibly to Cancun second trip

We will be using pwc

Going to Bimini from Miami i presume i will need to advise the authority before we get there ?
I presume its the same thing for Cuba and Cancun

Anyone as done this trip or parts of it ?

A friend of mine is planning a trip to Bimini. I'll see if I can get come details.

Bimini is just a 50 mile hop from Ft Lauderdale, it is actually a lot farther to Key West but Key West will be in more protected waters with the keys on your right assuming you run the short route on the inside.
Key West to Havana is 90 miles, the west coast of Cuba to Cozumel is about 150
If you have a Canadian passport there are no problems with you going to Cuba.

Go to www.greenhulk.com which is a PWC site. The South Florida PWC club does that kind of stuff all the time. They'll clue you in on amount of gas needed and best time of year to go. Good luck.

www.pwctoday.com is another good resource. I've seen several threads talking about those kind of trips. Occasionally, they'll put up some nice videos of their trips.

I currently own two PWC's, and have owned "jet skis" for over 25 years.

The open ocean is not a place to do long distance trips on a 9' long boat that's 3' wide. It's not even a place for a 25' pontoon boat, even if it's a heavy duty model tri-toon (with strakes) and a 250 hp motor.

I would prefer to make long distance runs on inland rivers, where there's something to look at. In the open ocean, all you've got to look at is waves. Any mechanical failure would be disastrous without a support boat to back you up.

A large group of PWC's runs the length of the Tennessee River every summer, and they'll have 100+ PWC's. They're supported by fuel boats, as logistics are quite complicated for a 500-600 mile trip. They come back every year, so it looks like they're having a ball.

People make the Miami to Bimini hop in all sorts of boats. It is best to run with someone else and be sure you have a couple of GPS's plus a good compass. There is a 6-7kt current across that path and Bimini is easy to miss.

You will need a yellow (Quebec) signal flag to fly as you approach and go to customs immediately to check in (aka pay your port tax)
I assume the same will be true in Cuba and Mexico.

Going down the Keys is less of an issue because you can basically island hop the whole way, all the way out to the Marquesses.

The Coast Guard may be with you most of the way to Cuba but you are probably going to be on your own on the way to Mexico.

I can't speak about the other trips, but the crossing from Miami to Bimini is fairly common in jetskis. I would definalty go with a couple other people and having a support boat is a smart idea.

The current is strong so a pontoon boat (displacement hull) would have trouble staying on course, but with a jet ski (planning hull) it's not that much of an issue.

There are lots of videos on YouTube documenting this portion of the trip. Here is one of them.

A pontoon will do fine with the current but if you get a little weather you could get in trouble in a hurry. I know a guy who did it this spring, actually all the way to Big Abaco, in a 20' sail boat. He left his boat there and flew back. He is going to commute when he wants to sail around the Bahamas.

I just meant that a pontoon boat would take more effort, and fuel, to maintain course in the Gulf Stream than a jetski that just zips over the top of it.

I've been thinking about making this trip with a friend of mine, but still haven't convinced my wife that it's not completely nutz. My dad is probably going to sail there next year. It seems like a good introductory trip in open ocean crossings, but like you said a good GPS is important because it's a small target.

You really don't know you are in that current. That is why people get it trouble. You can be doing perfect dead reckoning and still miss the islands by 40 miles. The current is still pushing you north at 6 knots and the next stop is Africa. More likely, your wreck washes up on the beach in Nova Scotia.
As long as you understand and plot a vector across the gulf stream you will be OK but you are right, that course will be using more fuel.
Back in the olden days (before GPS) you could still do a good job as long as you had a sextant and could plot your latitude. (the easy one) All you really need to do is find the north star.

Eric, If you're not planning on going with a support boat you're going to need to build some fuel can holders to bring some extra gas with you. If conditions are perfect you probably won't need it, but if you have to divert because of foul weather you're going to need it. My friend is starting to build his with PVC pipe. I'll try to see if I can get his specs.

In my mind you have 2 main concers...mechanical failures and weather. You can deal with either one individually, but if both strike at the same time it could get ugly. A few guys I know tried this crossing once, but when they got about 10 miles offshore it got very rough and they decided to turn back. Remember The Gambler,..."know when to walk away, and know when to run..."

Check out Avalon's website; they have videos of one of their toons making that trip as well as some other long-distance runs...

I think I read that story about the pontoon trip from Florida to the Bahamas in Pontoon and Deckboat magazine.
http://www.tahoepontoons.com/info/adventure.html

Drago.......you opened a BIG can of worms now.