How Would You Sail From Tampa Fl. To Mobile AL.?

[sigbear]

If you had to sail a 30' sailboat from Tampa Fl. to Mobile Al. would you follow the coast line which would take much longer or would you sail across the gulf. I have never sailed the Gulf of Mexico before and have no idea on how I would approach this if needed.
How tricky is the sailing in the Gulf as far as schoal waters and reefs?

Donny

 

[Rick Webb]

Nice Trip

I would sail up to Tarpon Springs stay at the City Marina wait for a good weather window perhaps even a few buddy boats to join you then sail to Carrabelle or Appalachicola. From there I would travel the ICW to Panama City where you can go inside or outside to Fort Walton and again inside or outside to Mobile.

Some go further north to Steinhatchee or Ceder Key and over to St Marks. It gets really sloppy up there with any wind from the south or east because of it getting shallow and the fetch across the Gulf.

I just came back from a trip to St Marks from Fort Walton and because of Claudette it was really ugly from Carrabelle to St Marks going before the storm and coming back after though at least coming back the waves were from only one direction.

You could always just sail across diectly too.

 

[Jerry Clark H356 SV Persi]

Tampa, Clearwater, either Apalachacola or Panama City

Tampa Bay outside or in the ICW to Clearwater, then to Apalachacola or Panama City depending on the weather window. PC outside to Pensacola then inside or outside to Mobile Bay. PC to Pensacola with mast up could be a problem. Bridge clearance is 49 feet on ICW.

We sailed a Cabo Rico 38 direct from Pensacola to Punta Gorda. If you catch the weather right, you could go direct, but your 30 is a little light. If you and your crew are up to it, you could go direct, but you need to be prepared and know the weather.

 

[MoonSailer]

looking at the Charts a direct sail would keep you fairly close to shore. Depending upon the boat and the weather I would do a straight shot with the option of going in at St Joe if the weather changed. There is a lot of shoal water if you stay in close to shore. Also once you get to St Joe area Panama city and Pensacola have great deep water inlets. IMHO it is much more dangerous trying to run a shallow inlet than it is to be at sea. I have been in Panama City and Pensacola and both are great inlets. St Joe is also an easy inlet to enter. Look at the inlets farther east and they seem much more risky to enter in poor weather.
http://www.visitflorida.com/articles/navigating-floridas-inlets
From the Coast Pilot 5 ..

From Apalachee Bay to St. Andrew Bay, the
10-fathom curve extends as much as 19 miles offshore;
shoals with as little as 3 feet over them extend several
miles from the E end of St. James Island, from Cape St.
George, and from Cape San Blas. From St. Andrew Bay
to Pensacola Bay the 10-fathom curve is close inshore
and the beach is steep-to. The 10-fathom curve gradually
extends farther offshore beyond Pensacola Bay until
off Mobile Bay where it is about 11 miles offshore.​

(8)​

​

​

​

There are numerous fish havens along this section​

of the

 

[zeehag]

with the weather as it is now--take the hop route using many stops--we used port st joe, apalachacola--took the river to port st joe from apalachacola--is gorgeous--use the charts well and do not fallout of the channels---short water in some places---we also went thru icw from pensacola to past ingrahams bayou and wolf bay and past lulus ..... go across mobile bay and find biloxi in the sunset---follow the icw path in biloxi bay--water gets shallow and the path is well marked .....i fyou go across gulf at this time of year you will encounter thunderstorms almost every day--not comfortable out there in those--we did that-----wooohoooooo!!!!!

 

[Rick Webb]

If going to Appalachicola

Do not try to use Government Cut, go through the East Pass Pass between Dog and St Georges Islands.

 

[sailaway78]

I would

I would run a straight shot from Tampa to either Appalachicola, or Pt.St.Joe. It is roughly 200 miles. Two days should do it. Watch the weather and go for it. If you run much closer to shore, there is lots and lots of shallow water. Can get real snotty in not much of a blow. Be sure you have plenty of fuel. This time of year, dead calm is pretty common after dark. Recently did this same trip going the other way, and had to motor all night second night out. Dead calm.

 

[MoonSailer]

Nice and easy I just looked at the chart for east pass. Maybe I am just chicken but that does not look like a place that I would want to be in foul weather or at night. Very thin water on both sides of the channel and some bars on the inside as you enter. I am very curious as I will be in that area soon. Also with the angles I don't see a lot of advantage to going into St Joe when Panama city is just 20 miles away. Please explain your reasoning.

 

[Mark Major]

Panama City vs St. Joe

Nice and easy I just looked at the chart for east pass. Maybe I am just chicken but that does not look like a place that I would want to be in foul weather or at night. Very thin water on both sides of the channel and some bars on the inside as you enter. I am very curious as I will be in that area soon. Also with the angles I don't see a lot of advantage to going into St Joe when Panama city is just 20 miles away. Please explain your reasoning.

It's been five years since I did my "Big Bend" sail, so things change, but...Panama City smelled from paper mills and if I were to be going that way I'd pass by. On the other hand, I will always make it into St. Joe Marina for it's staff and emenities, especially the restaurant. Try the grouper sandwich with the remoulade and you will never forget the visit.

 

[kloudie1]

Went through the East Pass a couple of months ago to Carrabelle from Tampa.. No problems but there are some narrow places as you head toward Apalachicola from there.. We had originally planned to go through Gov. Cut at Apalachicola but went to Carrabelle first. The Gov Cut is probably a bear if the tide is running.
Really nice marinas in Carrabelle and a new city dock in Apalachicola.. the ICW bridges are 65 feet high from Pensacola west, but as Jerry noted, there are a couple of short ones east of Pensacola.. If crossing quickly, Moonsailor’s advice is pretty good.. straight to Mobile with lots of options to go in along the way.. That would be OK in a good weather window with lots of diesel, as Easy says.. For fun places, Zeehag is right on.. Lulu's and Pirate's Cove in the ICW run between Pensacola and Mobile..
Good Luck !!

 

[Rick Webb]

Bridges

Thee are three 50' bridges on the ICW along the way

Dupont Bridge in Panama City
Brooks Bridge in Fort Walton
Navarre Bridge in Navarre

Also to get inside to the ICW there are at least two that are less than 65'

Marler Bridge in Destin is probably around 48' it is now marked at 49'
I think the Perdido Pass Bridge is 50' but I would check the charts to be sure

 

[zeehag]

outside has fewer short bridges to hassle with and is easier to sail...catch good fishies too.....

 

[sailaway78]

Why did I

Go into Appalachicola. I was headed that way, as it is a really quaint little town, and I like wandering around there. Had left Marco Island three days prior, and about 3AM the morning before we got there, got the absolute hell kicked out of us in a line of thunderstorms. 40 t0 60 knot winds, with higher gusts, coming from every direction, and some really nasty square faces seas. So, at that time were tired and beat up enough, to head for the closest landfall. But as I said, that was the intended port. Went in Govt. Cut, and it can be a little bit nasty if you hit it at the wrong time. I really like the run inside between there and Pt. St. Joe, and the marina at Pt.St. Joe is wonderful. A Piggly Wiggly and a store with some boat stuff within easy walking distance. Oh yeah, and an ice cream store, that the marina giives you a gift certificate for.

 

[Paul F]

Donny, when do you plan to make the trip. I sail out of Clearwater, FL and have a son who lives in Panama City. If the sailing schedule works out maybe we could sail to Panama City together?

Paul

 

[SeaRanch]

I live in Panama City:
Made two trips from Panama City to St Pete (Johns Pass).
First trip very little wind, motored down and back, 200 mi at 5 kts = 40 hrs.
Second trip down 2-4 ft seas, 40 hrs. On way back 1st day fine, that night 6-8 ft seas. Boat handled it fine, wheel pilot would not, crew took 1 1/2 hrs shifts at the helm all night long, came in at Applach, Government Cut took 30 hrs (it was shallow), if not going in at Carrabelle, call Apalch Marina, check depth at Gov Cut. 8 hrs Intercoastal from Appalach to Panama City.

Yes, boat was equipped with chartplotter/radar and all recommended safety equipment, including Dink and GPS enabled EPIRB and we got all of the weather details before departing. We were prepared.

If you are going to make the trip, make sure you and your vessel are prepared. You can rent an EPIRB and a life raft from Boat US.

I have Intercoatal's to Mobile twice. Get a Coastal Crusing Guide, spend nights in a marina or on the hook, enjoy the trip.

Bill

 

[sailaway78]

Never been in East Pass

I have never been in through East Pass. Always head to either Appalachicola, or to Port. St. Joe. Kind of depends on my mood at the time. I really like the town of Appalachicola and the Marina at Port St. Joe. If I was going to have to do a night entrance, and had any choice, would certainly prefer the entrance at Port St. Joe. Govt. cut is a tad shallow in spots, and can be a lttle nasty with a little help from wind and tide. Last time heading east, did an overnighter from Pensacola to Pt.St.Joe, and from there straight to Tampa/St.Pete. Coming back went it to Appalachcola. The inside run from there to St.Joe is pretty nice, and makes for an easy day, after getting beat up offshore. By the way, there is a very small marina with a fuel dock, on the Gulf County Canal, just off St. Joseph Bay, that has diesel about 25 cents cheaper than the Pt.St.Joe marina.