Cruise from Panama City Fl to Brunswick Ga this summer

[RECESS]

I have accepted a teaching position in Camden county for next year. I will shorten the commute to my boat from 3 hours down to 20 minutes and live near the coast again. We are planning the cruise from Panama City to White City, dock overnight. White City to Dog Island near Carrabelle, anchor overnight. Dog Island to St. Marks River, anchor overnight. St.Marks River to Steinhatchee marina overnight. Steinhatchee to Cedar Key, anchor overnight. Cedar Key to Tarpon Springs, marina overnight. We have done the jump across the Gulf from Dog island and this time my wife really wants to do the coastal route as we may not be back this way for a while in our sailboat.

We are planning to go to the Keys and then up the Atlantic ICW and outside to Brunswick. Any places that are a must see? We want to anchor at least 4 days to everyday we marina. We have 80 gallons of freshwater and a shower on the boat.

 

[woodster]

why not stay in ST Mary's ...they have marinas there.....

regards

woody

ps didn't mean to sound so strong in my question ...

 

[Stu Jackson]

Dave, sorry I don't have any local knowldge, but that sounds like a way cool trip. Safe journey, have fun.

 

[RECESS]

why not stay in ST Mary's ...they have marinas there.....

regards

woody

ps didn't mean to sound so strong in my question ...

I looked at a few marinas in St Marys as it would be closer and cheaper. The problem for me is the amenities are very spartan in St Marys and a few of the marinas say they have interruptions with their shore power. They really are not set up for live aboards and we may have to stay a few months on our sailboat to get settled in the area. Brunswick Landing has a pretty impressive set up if you plan on staying on your boat.

 

[RECESS]

Dave, sorry I don't have any local knowldge, but that sounds like a way cool trip. Safe journey, have fun.

Thanks Stu, we are looking forward to it.

 

[gettinthere]

We enjoyed Miami Beach. Several places to anchor. Lots of great restaurants and all the art deco.
St Augustine is very nice. You'll want to take a mooring there.

 

[Bill1565]

I have accepted a teaching position in Camden county for next year. I will shorten the commute to my boat from 3 hours down to 20 minutes and live near the coast again. We are planning the cruise from Panama City to White City, dock overnight. White City to Dog Island near Carrabelle, anchor overnight. Dog Island to St. Marks River, anchor overnight. St.Marks River to Steinhatchee marina overnight. Steinhatchee to Cedar Key, anchor overnight. Cedar Key to Tarpon Springs, marina overnight. We have done the jump across the Gulf from Dog island and this time my wife really wants to do the coastal route as we may not be back this way for a while in our sailboat. We are planning to go to the Keys and then up the Atlantic ICW and outside to Brunswick. Any places that are a must see? We want to anchor at least 4 days to everyday we marina. We have 80 gallons of freshwater and a shower on the boat.

Anchorage north of Clearwater off ICW called Mandaly Channel.. Publix grocery store south east end, public access to Clearwater Bch southwest end of channel. Self serve pump out just south of entrance to Mandalay Ch. Sarasota has mooring balls, maybe anchorage. Skip Venice. Anchorage off ICW north of Tom Adams bridge in Engelwood, small anchorage south west of Tom A. CayoCosta State park just south of Boca grande inlet. Sanibel island/ St James city depending on wind. Ft Myers Bch mooring balls$15 trolley $0.50 to Publix group sto.. Naples city dock fuel,water, pump out $10 mooring ball. Marco I. Smokehouse bay, Winn Dixie with dock. Se end of bay. Loong day to little shark river. Loong day to KW or Marathon.

Pm me if you want more on west coast.

 

[sunman]

when R U gonna Be in Steinhatchee?
that's my port, where R U gonna dock/anchor, Sea Hag Marina?
If its gonna be on a Mon or Thurs, and U need to get some provisions/supplies etc. I can shuttle U around town,
I'll even offer to take U out for dinner at Fiddlers or Roy's, be glad to do it
PM me

 

[RECESS]

Anchorage north of Clearwater off ICW called Mandaly Channel.. Publix grocery store south east end, public access to Clearwater Bch southwest end of channel. Self serve pump out just south of entrance to Mandalay Ch. Sarasota has mooring balls, maybe anchorage. Skip Venice. Anchorage off ICW north of Tom Adams bridge in Engelwood, small anchorage south west of Tom A. CayoCosta State park just south of Boca grande inlet. Sanibel island/ St James city depending on wind. Ft Myers Bch mooring balls$15 trolley $0.50 to Publix group sto.. Naples city dock fuel,water, pump out $10 mooring ball. Marco I. Smokehouse bay, Winn Dixie with dock. Se end of bay. Loong day to little shark river. Loong day to KW or Marathon.

Pm me if you want more on west coast.

Thanks Bill That is a great bit of info. Can't wait to share it with my wife.

 

[RECESS]

when R U gonna Be in Stienhatchee

My wife has a certification test on June 7th, so the first decent weather window to come around the big bend after that date.

 

[RECESS]

when R U gonna Be in Steinhatchee?
that's my port, where R U gonna dock/anchor, Sea Hag Marina?
If its gonna be on a Mon or Thurs, and U need to get some provisions/supplies etc. I can shuttle U around town,
I'll even offer to take U out for dinner at Fiddlers or Roy's, be glad to do it
PM me

Sea Hag is where we plan to take a slip. That is very nice and I will contact you when we get closer and know the date.

 

[med2463]

You may be interested in my blog. All places on fl west coast you can anchor & dinghy to grocery store.
http://dinghytogrocerystorewestfl.blogspot.com/?m=1

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

In Ft Myers Bch, from the mooring balls you can dinghy to a small cove (lots of dingies tied up there) right behind the grocery store. Maybe a 200 yd walk.. No need for the trolley.

 

[The Garbone]

Kingsley Plantation just north of the St Johns is a real nice anchorage. You can ding to their dock and tour the old plantation. If you like out of the way historical stuff it is worth a stop.

 

[Claude L.-Auger]

Don't know much about Florida's West Coast but seems like previous posters have provided good info. Have done the east Coast route from Key West to St.Augustine many times, both inside and outside. Several marinas in KW. All fairly expensive. We always stay at the Galleon, inside the Bight and close to restaurants. Groceries in KW are not close. Nice run and when conditions are right (can't do it if a North wind is blowing) it's a great sailing day in the Hawk Channel from KW to Marathon where you can anchor or stay at the very good Marathon Marina. From there, again great sailing opportunity going towards Miami. You'll need to check info from others on anchoring possibilities or marinas up that leg as we always go straight through.

Approaching Miami, you might have to go outside if you mast is higher than the 56 feet posted clearance of Tuttle bridge. We stay outside to Fort Lauderdale. Lots of marinas to choose from there. South of Lauderdale in the ICW you can anchor in Hollywood Lake. North of Sunrise bridge in Lauderdale is the small Sunrise lake where you can anchor overnight.

If you stay inside the ICW there are a few places to anchor along the way. The bridges will slow you down but it's a nice motor trip that will show you lots of beautiful nature scenes. Sailing outside along the coast from Port Everglades (Lauderdale), the inlet at Lake Worth provides a good access 24 hours a day and there are 2 places for anchoring + marinas. From Lake Worth, for a sail boat, the next 24 hours inlet is Fort Pierce. Again marinas and anchorage near the inlet. FYI it's 84 miles from Port Everglades to Fort Pierce with Lake Worth about half way.

From Fort Pierce going north, Port Canaveral is your next inlet (good marinas, no anchorage unless you go up the Barge Canal towards the Indian river), followed by Ponce Inlet, then St.Augustine, St.John River (Jacksonville is about 18 miles up river), and St-Mary's.

Inside you'll find Vero Beach, with good marina and excellent free bus service for provisioning, then good anchoring near marker 21, next going towards Melbourne and Cocoa there are lots of places for anchoring. Cocoa provides free internet, charming old town next to the anchorage and good bus service to shopping mall, Walmart and West Marine. North of that is Titusville with good marinas, anchoring and mooring facilities.

If you stay inside, New Smyrna has marinas, of course Daytona offers all kinds of docking space as well as some anchoring. Someone already told you about St. Augustine. Plenty of mooring and marinas. Great restaurants.

From there, because of the meanderingand shoaling of the ICW we always run outside to St.Mary's.

If you do plan that trip allowing enough time so as to not to rush & giving yourself the time to maybe wait for the favorible weather window, you should have a great and very enjoyable trip. Good luck and be safe ! Claude

 

[Rick Webb]

Big Bend

St Marks and the rest of the area down to almost Tarpon Springs are all pretty much the same. One of the issues that makes this an uncomfortable trip is it is shallow. That leaves little room under your boat in many areas but it also makes for a choppy and confused surface. You also significantly increase your travel distance. As an alternative I'd suggest Port St Joe to Clearwater. If the weather is not right to cross move on down to Apalachicola or to Carrabelle and then cross. Another issue with many of the marinas in the Big Bend is the distance you must travel from the coast up the river or channel to the marina that adds further to the time and distance. I understand the allure of the new and unexplored if that is the motivation there are some truly lovely places and people to visit along the way that will make the trip worthwhile but the challenges are quite different than along the panhandle or west coast.

Pick up the "Cruising Guide to Florida's Big Bend" by Captain Rick Rhodes (ISBN 1-58980-072-9) it is loaded with tips and information. If you'd like information on particular spots I can relay the info from my copy to you.

 

[emergpa1]

Hello recess, we are currently sitting at anchor just east of Cumberland Island on a beautiful clear day. This is a must see for sure. My wife just brought in a little baitfish on the cast net and we are currently hoping to catch our supper. The island is beautiful, the anchorage is, scenic, quiet, excellent holding, and well protected, (not a hurricane hole) and the island is beautiful. Of course I know all about Brunswick so as you head this way we will keep in touch.
You will find that Brunswick is beautiful and scenic. Very much like a small Savannah. It is a great hurricane hole. The local islands are nice and so are the people. The food is top notch.
The water, because of the beautiful saltmarsh, is murky. Not clear like we gulf coasters are used to. But very nice anyway.
Brunswick Landing Marina is an excellent Marina. It has all the basic services, a very nice clubhouse and decent showers. The laundry is free. Current costs are $12 per foot per month plus electric.
There are no great do-it-yourself boatyards in the immediate area. But you can do any work you want in the water at Brunswick Marina. There are not great services for major extensive refits here, but I do not have money for that anyway ha ha I do all my homework of course.
I will try to load a couple of pictures I took this morning while paddling my dinghy around at sunrise. But for some reason photos from my iPad always load sideways on this site. The iPad is the only connection we have out here. We use the 4G network, no Wi-Fi at Cumberland but there is Wi-Fi at Brunswick Landing Marina.
Correction, the picture is from sunset yesterday, the sunrise photos are on my camera so cannot load them from here.

 

[bawlmer]

You are making me wax nostalgic. I used to sail out of Shell Point, between St marks and panacea. I am sure you will have an awesome time. Great cruising area. Seek lots of local knowledge in the big bend area. The inlets are tricky. Best of Luck and fair winds!!

 

[ggrizzard]

Recess, I can recommend Cocoa (FL) Village Marina. See attached:
http://www.cocoavillagemarina.com/

Further, I can offer you two nights free and a car at Bouchelle Island Marina which sits on the ICW at New Smyrna Beach FL.
Send me a PM if you'd like more info.
G.

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

You are making me wax nostalgic. I used to sail out of Shell Point, between St marks and panacea. I am sure you will have an awesome time. Great cruising area. Seek lots of local knowledge in the big bend area. The inlets are tricky. Best of Luck and fair winds!!

Bawlmer - did you ever read the book "The Living Dock at Panacea"? Great read.