Florida coast summer

[jmcwilliams]

My name is Jerry McWilliams. I am a teacher in Littleton, Colorado and am planning a summer exploration with my 21 year old son, Cameron. We will sail the west coast of Florida south from the Tampa Bay (Clearwater Beach) to Key West, to the Dry Tortugas and back to Tampa. We are planning on taking about a month, from June 10 - July 10. I have a '93 MacGregor 26S that I will trailor from Colorado. I am an experienced sailor - having sailed the same route in an '83 Passport 40' years ago - 26 years! My experience in the last 25 years involve inland sailing on large resevoirs with few humans. I have recent charts of all areas that I could be sailing.
My questions are about dealing with Florida. Where do I launch into the Gulf of Mexico? Where do I leave my car and trailer? What is proper etiquite in dealing with marinas/public docks?
I have many more questions, but this is a start.
Thank you.
Jerry McWilliams

 

[Ed Schenck]

I am probably three sailing hours north in Port Richey. And I am new to the area. But my marina would be very accomodating with a ramp, a couple of empty slips, and a fenced area for leaving vehicle and trailer. I am sure there are many like it further south. E-Mail me if you have trouble finding something closer to Clearwater.

 

[Rick Webb]

Get the Cruising Guide

It will help the two of you plan for the trip and heighten the expectations and even learn some of the history before you arrive.

Cruising Guide to Western Florida by Claiborne Young

http://www.amazon.com/Cruising-Guid...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269259675&sr=1-1


Little Shark River and Everglade City would be a great stop be prepared for the skeeters though.

 

[sailingdog]

Leaving your car and trailer would probably require some sort of deal with a marina down there. If you use a boat ramp at a marina to launch, you might want to talk to them about leaving your vehicle and trailer there. I would highly recommend not leaving it at a public launch ramp for obvious reasons. Another possibility is to leave the car and trailer at a self-storage yard for the month, but that would require paying TWO months of storage more likely than not.

As for dealing with marinas and docks, it depends on the marina/dock. Some public docks are free, others require you pay a small fee, as do the marinas generally.

I would highly recommend you get an account on ActiveCaptain.com and look at the various facilities on their interactive map. Activecaptain is an excellent resource for the cruising sailor. They also have a pretty decent mobile version of their app IIRC.

 

[Rick Webb]

A couple of Other Ideas

It may be wise for your sone to get this:

http://myfwc.com/SAFETY/Safety_Boat_Safety_GetID_Card.htm


Send away for all of these they are really handy charts with ramps, marinas and other facilities identified:

http://myfwc.com/SAFETY/Safety_Boat_Safety_GetID_Card.htm

These are all free and the send them right to your door.

 

[zeehag]

look at the weather every day--will be thunderstorms daily and ye donot wanna get caught in those in a macgregor 26 ..we did it in a 37 seidelmann and wished for better weather when we were told 60 mi from anywhere that the storms were buoy to buoy and mariners should seek IMMEDIATE shelter--we just laffed and made a ditch bag....goood luck--bring a laptop for weather--noaa lies ..lol---btw--the sailing was awesome in the tstorms---10 kts one nite for 10 hours --lol---

 

[Sumner]

I posted some similar questions in the 'Destinations Forum' a while back that you might want to look at if you haven't already.

The following one was about possible sandy beach sites...

http://forums.macgregor.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=115249

....and the next is about the bug situation and possible solutions....

http://forums.macgregor.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=115618

....we are going to make a removable netting that will be able to cover from the pop-top back to the rear of the cockpit over the bimini.

Thanks again to everyone that provided some answers for us on those two threads.

We hope to sail some up by Carrabella (just west of the Big Bend) for a while with our Mac and then trailer down to Charlotte Bay/Punta Gorda/Ft Meyers area and will leave the Suburban/trailer at this place (the rates are the best I've found).....

http://www.aaboatstorage.com/

...a thanks to Bill1565 for that info. That area looks like a great place to sail.

Then we will probably trailer the boat down to Flamingo.....

http://www.nps.gov/ever/index.htm

......where other than the entrance fee there are no daily fees for leaving the tow vehicle/trailer. Lots of people with Macs have started their trips around into the 10,000 Island area and down into the keys from this point.

One of the above links has books that you might want to consider buying before going for the west coast. Also I would recommend talking to a Park Ranger at Flamingo and learn what is expected of you while in the 10,000 Island area and Everglades area if you are within the part boundaries. He told us that if we were there for any length of time to expect to have our boat checked for their sanitation requirements.

The other option we considered was leaving the Sub/trailer with these guys.....

http://southdademarina.com/

....as they also are not bad on rates and this would be a good place to put in if you wanted to enter over on the Biscayne Bay side and go down.

Good luck and be sure and write your trip up for those of us that will follow you. We hope to be in that area 2-3 months next fall with our Mac.

One last thing and that is check these two sites out for some other Mac owners that have covered the same ground on longer trips......

http://www.ne-ts.com/

http://www.conchcruisers.net/

c ya,

Sum

Our Trips to Lake Powell, UT - Kootenay Lake, Canada - Priest Lake, ID

Our Mac Pages

Mac Links

 

[TimCup]

Does your boat have air conditioning??

An opinion from St Pete:

I think you're gonna be hot. Take an August day in Colorado. At 2pm. Right after a light sprinkle. In a mall parking lot.

That's the weather when you wake up.

Okay, maybe it's not that bad, but It'll be an adjustment for sure. When the breeze is still, it feels like you're baking, even in the shade. My experience is it takes a few weeks to acclimate to the heat. Where we are, you can sleep on the boat- you don't have to be in the boat. We have a consistent sea breeze, so mosquitos aren't a problem very often (any breeze more than 3 knots overpowers them). The more protected the anchorage, the worse the bugs.

Advice was good for weather- storms come often and strong. Of course, if they are the typical summer pattern, they hit late afternoon, and make sleeping a little cooler, so don't be surprised if you find yourself PRAYING for rain each day!

Hope you guys have fun. 20 years from now it'll be the best trip of you're life, and you'll laugh about the weather!


cup

 

[jmcwilliams]

thanks to Ed

I am probably three sailing hours north in Port Richey. And I am new to the area. But my marina would be very accomodating with a ramp, a couple of empty slips, and a fenced area for leaving vehicle and trailer. I am sure there are many like it further south. E-Mail me if you have trouble finding something closer to Clearwater.

thanks Ed. We are not committed to Clearwater necessarily. I have actually sailed to Port Richey from Clearwater - again, 26 years ago! As I continue to pursue plans, I will keep your invitation in mind. Again, thanks for the information and looking forward to more communication from you.
Jerry

 

[jmcwilliams]

Thanks Rick

It will help the two of you plan for the trip and heighten the expectations and even learn some of the history before you arrive.

Cruising Guide to Western Florida by Claiborne Young

http://www.amazon.com/Cruising-Guid...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269259675&sr=1-1


Little Shark River and Everglade City would be a great stop be prepared for the skeeters though.

Rick, I have a copy of the Cruising Guide to Western Florida. It is excellent. Thanks for the advice about the skeeters. I need to look into more protection dealing with them.
Jerry

 

[Sumner]

Be absolutly sure you check these guys out.....

http://cruisersnet.net/

....great anchoring info,

Sum

 

[Joe]

Just make sure you have the no-see-um quality netting... those things are awful. I was there labor day weekend once... down at captiva. We based out of South Sea Plantation marina. HOT>>>>>HOT>>>>>>>>HOT>>>>> get a fan... get two fans. The best nights sleep were when we anchored off of North Captiva and Cayo Costa.. right in the gulf about 50 yards off the beach in 10 ft, sand bottom. Nice breeze, no bugs and pleasant motion to rock me to sleep. Course it could have been the Mt Gay helping a bit. That was awesome... but it was 25 years ago so I'm not sure whether you can anchor off the beach there now. Hope so.

No matter the inconvenience with the bugs and the heat... it is still amazingly neat to cruise that area. Make sure you and your son stop for lunch at Cabbage Key and staple your colorado dollar on the wall in the bar.

 

[Rick Webb]

Another Thought

Perhaps you considered it already. Launch the boat drive it to your destination. Then take the bus, rent a car, or hitch back to the boat. Seems like that would give you more time along the way

I did not consider the noseeums around here they are a spring and fall occurrence. I’ve had good luck with Avon's Skin so Soft and Mosquito coils.

Sounds like a fun trip

 

[Rick Webb]

Just Noticed

I sent the wrong link for the Boating and Angling Guides

http://research.myfwc.com/products/products.asp

Maybe you found them anyway

 

[Bill1565]

HOT>>>>>HOT>>>>>>>>HOT>>>>> get a fan... get two fans. The best nights sleep were when we anchored off of North Captiva and Cayo Costa.. right in the gulf about 50 yards off the beach in 10 ft, sand bottom. Nice breeze, no bugs and pleasant motion to rock me to sleep. Course it could have been the Mt Gay helping a bit. That was awesome... but it was 25 years ago so I'm not sure whether you can anchor off the beach there now. Hope so.

No matter the inconvenience with the bugs and the heat... it is still amazingly neat to cruise that area. Make sure you and your son stop for lunch at Cabbage Key and staple your colorado dollar on the wall in the bar.[/quote]

 

[Bill1565]

Sorry, i screwed that up. posted a reply with no reply

You can anchor anywhere you want in the Gulf of Mexico. Or in Charlotte Harbor. Most of the settled areas, including Captiva, Sanibel, Cabbage Key are sprayed for mosquitos. The 10,000 Islands, the Glades and Florida Bay are not.

Be sure you are comfortable with the weather forecast if you elect to anchor anywhere other than a protected anchorage. Typically in summer, the thunderstorms are over by 5 or so and it is light till past 8 so you can hide and then go outside for the breeze.

Contrary to what somebody said there are no free public docks and damn few free launch ramps.

 

[jim ho]

Hey, guys! We're from Durango, but we sailed South Florida and the Keys clear down to the Dry Tortugas for 20 years in our MacGregor 26. We liveaboard now on a Hunter 310 in Florida & the Bahamas. You'll have a blast; a lot of stuff you just have to learn the hard way . . . like no see'ums. You may want some tips with the Key West to Fort Jefferson trip; email me at summerbreezeholland@yahoo.com . Enjoy.

 

[jmcwilliams]

Ed, I'd like to talk more about sailing from Port Richey with you. Please email me at jmcwms99@yahoo.com or call me at 303.359.0589. Sorry that I waited so long to reply, but I have been out of contact with electronic devices for a while.
thanks, Jerry McWilliams