Can anyone suggest an updated FL west coast cruising guide? I have the last edition of Tom Lenfesty's Gunkholers Cruising Guide ( Circa 2003). There has to be a more updated guide with emphasis on anchorages rather than ICW Marinas. Thanks...
FL west coast cruising guide
- Thread starter Florida sail
- Start date
- Status
You can be certain of one thing the anchorages will be mostly the same today as they were ten years ago. The advantage of an anchor is the vast number of places where you can set it. Read the charts and find sheltered water and drop the hook. We own the water for 24 hours before someone asks us why we are here.
Don't anchor in a mooring field and don't anchor to interfere with other boat traffic.
Don't anchor in a mooring field and don't anchor to interfere with other boat traffic.
From Lake Erie to Tampa we relied primarily on the Waterway Cruising Guide series(http://www.waterwayguide.com/catalo...id=97&osCsid=1b77f4c34fa1ba8d86c484dea75d22e7 ) and Skipper Bob(http://www.skipperbob.net/publications.htm ). As pointed out you have an infinite number of possibilities just from your charts. From Tarpon Springs south you can go into the ICW and find lots of out of the way spots. It will be shallow but the bottom is soft unless you find an oyster bar.
Unfortunately, that is not quite true. Anchorage silt in just as channels do and more importantly, the entrances fill in and you can't get to them any more. The ICW on the Atlantic side and the Gulf side is constantly changing. I would agree with the recommendation for Waterway Guide and Skipper Bob. The reason being, we are not only long time users, but both my wife and I now work for them. As Editor, Susan just finished updating the Southern Edition, which you would need, and there are more than 1500 updates, including anchorages. Skipper Bob is updated several time each year so be sure and get the latest edition. There are lots of anchorages on the west coast of Florida, but lots of shallow areas also. Many of the charts have not been updated and the waters have not been surveyed for many years. When the Corps. Of Engineers do a survey, they will only survey the ICW channel. So those spots that look good off the channel on the charts should be approached with caution. Good luck. Chuck
Waterway Guide and Skipper Bob are definately the way to go. Skipper Bob has different editions, one for anchorages, one for marinas, one for Bahamas. etc. We bought new Skipper Bob guides and submitted our e-mail address, and have been receiving updates ever since. They were invaluable during our cruise from the Gulf Coast to Cape Cod.
There are indeed many anchorages along the ICW, and Skipper Bob has a rating system that rates the best anchorages according to holding, wind, current, etc.
There are indeed many anchorages along the ICW, and Skipper Bob has a rating system that rates the best anchorages according to holding, wind, current, etc.
Jeff , every boat should stock the locker with port wine. This is the stand-by go to answer to bad weather.
In the long tradition of the sea: Any Port in a Storm!
Ahhh...perfect! I'll never look at that saying in the same way again!Any Port in a Storm!
Most Current Info
The most up to date info. is availabale on line for free at Cruisers Net. They have a complete listing of marinas, anchorages, and fuel prices. They give lat/lon and a chart clip of the area. Very to date info, and many more anchorages than any guide I have seen.
The most up to date info. is availabale on line for free at Cruisers Net. They have a complete listing of marinas, anchorages, and fuel prices. They give lat/lon and a chart clip of the area. Very to date info, and many more anchorages than any guide I have seen.
A couple questions about ActiveCaptain
It's a good resource Jeff.
Can it be used offline without the $339 charting software?
You comment on anchorage count and quality of data. Since this appears to be a wiki-style site isn't it dependent on the quality of the user input?
This is an excellent tool that I appreciate you making available. I would use it in addition to rather than in place of up to date guides.
It's a good resource Jeff.
Can it be used offline without the $339 charting software?
You comment on anchorage count and quality of data. Since this appears to be a wiki-style site isn't it dependent on the quality of the user input?
This is an excellent tool that I appreciate you making available. I would use it in addition to rather than in place of up to date guides.
Jeff's tired old rhetoric has been going around the web for a long time now. He mines any boating site that posts anything about cruising guides and comes on with this same spiel every time. The only reason I bring this up is that you might want to take these comments with a grain of salt. You can search posts from a year or more ago and see the same responses. There are several cruising guides available that cover the west coast of Florida. Ours at Waterway Guide is one choice as are our Skipper Bob publications. Claiborne Young also puts out a good guide, and combine either those with a good chartbook and the cruising on that coast is superb. We much prefer it to the east coast. As Nice and Easy suggested, Claiborne's website as well as ours contains lots of very current information on the latest navigational updates and cruising news. So you can see you have lots of options and tons of information. Chuck
Florida sail, If you want some first hand information on our cruises along the west coast you can go to our Sea Trek website. Scroll down the left column under Our Posts and start with 0014 to 0017. Then try 22,23 and 24 for an earlier trip. We like to anchor a lot so you might find something useful. Have a great trip. Chuck
Well, it looks like Jeff's post has disappeared.
Too bad. I wasn't trying to be negative I just was looking for some clarifications.
He had stated something to the effect that that he (or his company) "verifies" (or something to that effect) each anchorage. I wanted to know precisely what this means. Local knowledge is fine but when it reaches me it's still second-hand knowledge. So is a guide. So is Active Captain. That's not necessarily a bad thing but knowing how the information comes about is important for a skipper to make good decisions.
He also talked about the iPhone/iPad program(s) that allow the data to be used offline. I just wanted to know what those were because I didn't see them on his website.
He also made some pretty sweeping assertions about cruising guides in general which I don't necessarily agree with but that's okay. As I mentioned in a previous post I wouldn't substitute his resource for another anyway, I just wanted to know more.
Too bad. I wasn't trying to be negative I just was looking for some clarifications.
He had stated something to the effect that that he (or his company) "verifies" (or something to that effect) each anchorage. I wanted to know precisely what this means. Local knowledge is fine but when it reaches me it's still second-hand knowledge. So is a guide. So is Active Captain. That's not necessarily a bad thing but knowing how the information comes about is important for a skipper to make good decisions.
He also talked about the iPhone/iPad program(s) that allow the data to be used offline. I just wanted to know what those were because I didn't see them on his website.
He also made some pretty sweeping assertions about cruising guides in general which I don't necessarily agree with but that's okay. As I mentioned in a previous post I wouldn't substitute his resource for another anyway, I just wanted to know more.
I've been asked to not make commercial postings. I'm complying with that. I'm sorry for any confusion. There is a Contact Us link on our site where it's easy to ask any question.
Hmmmm, okay.
Thanks for responding. I certainly respect Phil's decisions. Perhaps I'll shoot some questions to you on your site.
Thanks for responding. I certainly respect Phil's decisions. Perhaps I'll shoot some questions to you on your site.
- Status