Wes, I often meet folks on the same route. Here is some information from a sailor that did the same trek about a year ago. Sorry for the length. Ray, if you are reading this, I hope you'll forgive me for sharing your information. Galveston to the Keys Galveston Bay to the Florida Keys - The Easy Way The following guide is intended to help anyone who is planning to sail a boat from Galveston Bay to the Florida Keys. This guide contains a recommended path for travelers as to the route, places to stop, things you'll need, and what to do along the way. I understand that it is by no means comprehensive or exclusive. I guess I should include a disclaimer that it is only one tool, among many that you should use when planning and sailing this passage. There are as many pathways to this destination as there are sailors who may travel this route. This is only intended to convey what we learned from our voyage. I hope this information is helpful to someone planning this trip. Hopefully it will assist in preparing for this journey.
When you leave Galveston Bay with a goal of the Florida Keys, you have the option of heading straight across the Gulf of Mexico or sailing along the Gulf Coast using a combination of near shore sailing and traveling in the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway (GIWW). This guide is intended for those traveling the second route. Our goal was to limit the amount of over-night passages, and to stop and visit the many towns and ports along the way. We enjoyed each and every stop of our trip. If you decide to sail across the Gulf, then a completely different approach and type of preparation will be required. Things We Used Along the Way Navigation and Trip Planning We used four basic tools for planning our route and stops along the way. These were the Active Captain website, Dozier's Waterway Guide - Southern Edition, Google Earth, and the information contained on our GPS chart plotter card for the Gulf of Mexico. The Active Captain website is free to use and includes up-to-date charts, info on marinas, great notes on passes and channels, and the Reviews/Comments sections for various spots were very useful. The Waterway Guide contained a great description of traveling in the GIWW, was a handy reference tool for phone numbers, VHF channels, and information on features that encountered along the way. It contained some recommendations for areas of anchorages and the tables of information on marinas provided a good comparison of these facilities. Additionally, this guide did not depend on wifi and cell phone service for usage. You will be passing areas where this will occur and a paper reference is very handy. We used Google Earth to see a close-in aerial photo of places we were considering visiting, determining the route to access various areas, and to get a feel for the character and layout of planned places to stop. I love to study aerial photos of areas that I'm planning to visit. I've found I can determine the types and age of docks, the route to enter a marina, proximity to local stores, where the fuel docks are located, and where the transient docks are likely situated by looking at these photos. The remaining tool that we used for trip planning was the GPS chart plotter. I purchased the most recent and detailed chart card for our Raymarine E80 chart plotter a few months before we left. This information was found to be very accurate for the water depths that we encountered, it contained aerial photos of areas that we visited, and was always available whether we had wifi or cell phone service. With these tools, we had sufficient information to determine possible destinations within our daily travel range, whether or not we had sufficient water depth and vertical clearance for our route, what services we could expect at each stop, and what we would likely encounter along the way. We were rarely surprised with anything that would impact our desired route and usually found that what we anticipated was close to what was actually there. Supplies and Equipment We started our trip in April with food and water for a couple of weeks, full fuel and water tanks, clothing for cool and warm weather, plenty of dock lines and fenders, two bow mounted anchors, one spare anchor in a locker, appropriate safety equipment, two spare GPSs, two handheld VHF radios, medical supplies, the bimini and dodger installed, the bimini side panels installed, mosquito netting, appropriate engine spares, lots of parts for the plumbing and mechanical systems on the boat, a heavy weather drogue, and a bulging tool bag of the primary tools that I thought I might need. We also included two spare five gallon cans of diesel fuel, a spare five gallon can of water, a Honda generator, and an emergency diving system of a small tank, mask, fins, regulator, and 40 foot air hose. I've found that I needed to acquire a few additional tools along the way to accomplish some specific maintenance tasks. These were easily acquired at either Home Depots or West Marine stores along the way. These included specific large size metric wrenches, grommet tools, specialty screwdrivers, and metric socket hex wrenches. The spare diesel and water tanks are something that I probably wouldn't bring along again on this route. We were never more than a few hours from fueling stops. Our tank holds 55 gallons and we never filled up with more than 25 gallons, and I stopped whenever I thought the tank would need more than about 15 gallons to fill. I would probably also leave the spare water tank off. These tanks were generally in the way on the side of the deck, were not even close to ever being needed, and I can't think of any situation were they would be needed with just a minimum amount of planning for when you fill the boat's tanks. If you're planning an extended, multi-day voyage, then they should be included. But for a voyage that is one day at a time, with frequent stops, they are probably not needed. We departed with five large side fenders and one medium stern fender. We later added fender boards that allow two fenders to be placed side by side and the fender board outside of them. This proved to be very helpful in side tie marinas where poles or timbers were the contact points. The horizontal fender boards allow the fenders to ride up and down with tides and absorb the contact with timber piles much better. Internet access was available at most marinas through a free wifi network. However, the signal strength was pretty weak such that an amplifying antenna was necessary. We use the Rogue Wave system which is then connected to a wireless router on our boat. This seems to work pretty well. Additionally, we have the capability of using one of our cells phones as a hotspot for internet access when wifi is not available. We used this system when we were anchored and it worked nearly all the time. Weather information was accessed through the Sirius satellite weather service, NOAA's broadcast on the VHF, Sailflow cell phone app, various forecast services on the internet, and of course looking at the sky. On the overnight passages, once we were more than 20 off shore we lost all cell phone service and primarily used the Sirius service. Additionally, this system is connected to our GPS chart plotter and provides a real-time overlay of storms, winds, wave heights, and other information on the chart plotter. This is very helpful in inclement weather. Our Route to the Florida Keys Following is a description of the route we took to the Florida Keys. Each segment is listed with the beginning and ending destination, the approximate water miles between each destination, and the Lat/Long of the end point of each segment.
Segment One - Clear Lake to Galveston 24 miles, Destination Lat 29 21.586 N/ Long 94 44.359 W (following this point I will only include the Lat/Long coordinates and omit Lat/Long and N and W) The first day was an easy trip from Clear Lake to Galveston. This allowed for a flexible departure time, and easy route to our destination, and was only a 3-4 hour trip. You have the option of anchoring or staying at the Galveston City marina. We anchored just north of the Bolivar Roads ship anchoring area. This area is about 15-20 feet deep, inside the Galveston jetties, reasonably protected, and provides for an easy exit into the Gulf the following day. Don't anchor too near the ships since they may swing a wide arc on their anchors as the tide switches directions. Segment Two - Galveston to Sabine Pass 60 Miles, 29 42.066/93 51.156 When leaving Galveston you can either sail in the Gulf or take the GIWW to Sabine Pass/Port Arthur. We chose to sail to Sabine Pass in the Gulf, and enjoyed great sailing conditions the entire trip. If the weather is questionable, then the GIWW may be the better route. We anchored just inside the jetties on the southwest side of the Sabine Pass channel, but outside of the ship channel. There are quite a few big ships that use this channel. This was a decent anchorage and protected from most winds. Depth is 10-13 feet, but shallow nearer shore. I suggest that you set both a bow and stern anchor to limit swinging. Alternatively the City of Port Arthur's Pleasure Island Marina is a few miles up the Sabine River/Channel. Active Captain states that the depth in the access route to the marina can be as low as 5 feet, so this could a problem for many boats.
Segment Two - Sabine Pass to Calcasieu River 30 Miles, 29 47.829/93 20.269 This was again a great sail in the gulf of only 30 miles. There is a nice anchorage on the north side of Monkey Island in 8-12 feet of water. Lots of industrial activity at this island, but most of it is on the south and east side of the island. Suggest that you set both a bow and stern anchor to limit swinging. At this point we had to decide if we wanted to pass through Louisiana via the GIWW or sail around the Mississippi River delta area in the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf route is approximately 400 miles of sailing in the Gulf with few ports available if the weather turns bad. Due to this aspect, and our desire to limit the overnight sailing, we chose the GIWW route.
Segment Three - Calcasieu River to Lake Charles 35 Miles, 30 13.458/93 13 13.386 We had originally planned to sail from the Calcasieu River to the entrance to Vermillion Bay. This would be approximately 80 miles and would allow us to then sail north to the GIWW from there. However, forecast stormy weather encouraged us to instead sail north up the Calcasieu River to Lake Charles to wait out the storms. This turned out to be a great port to visit and we thoroughly enjoyed the days there. The City has built a transient only dock that is fairly new, is easy to access, and is near downtown. It's named the Bord Du Luc Marina, but everyone calls it the City Marina ($20 per night). From the channel in the river, turn at marker 122 into the lake and head straight to the marina. There is a fuel and pump out marina (Bowtie Marina) nearby up Contraband Bayou. It's just short trip a small creek with plenty of depth. Lake Charles, like Galveston Bay, will drop 2-3 in depth after a day or so of a strong north wind. Just keep that in mind. Alternatively you could stay in the GIWW from Port Arthur and make a long day of sailing straight to Lake Charles. I'm not sure of the exact distance, but it could probably be done in one long day.
Segment Four - Lake Charles to Mermentau River 50 Miles, 29 58.795/92 48.299 The Mermentau River provides a good place to stop for the evening in the GIWW. The GIWW is uniformly about 12 feet deep, but outside the channel it is usually very shallow and few anchorages are available. This river includes a marked channel to Lake Arthur; just make sure you anchor outside the channel when you stop. During warm weather, from Lake Charles until you return to Gulf, you will encounter a large number of mosquitoes at all places that you stop. We replaced the bimini sides with the mosquito screens at about this location and were very happy we had them. If you don't have mosquito screens, you'll be driven inside around sunset each day by the hungry insects. You'll also pass your first lock just east of the Calcasieu River - GIWW intersection. These locks in the GIWW are salt water intrusion control docks so no change in elevation is required. Contact the lock master on VHF channel 14 and ask when you may pass. They are very helpful and courteous. Additionally, you should talk to the tug/barge captains on VHF channel 13 whenever you approach them. They are always friendly, like to say hello, and appreciate your contact and letting them know that you see them and will avoid them.
Segment Five - Mermentau River to Bayou Petit Anse 55 Miles, 29 50.844/ 91 55.998 The Bayou Petit Anse, which is also the water access to the Tabasco factory, is also a good anchorage on the GIWW. There is also a ship channel at this location, so anchor close to the east shore. It's deep (10-12 feet) right up to the shore, so set both bow and stern anchors near the shore. On the route, you will go by Shell's Morgan Point store at Intercoastal City. This is a good stop for fuel and a grocery store is only a half block away. They're very friendly, helpful in docking, and a good break after motoring in the GIWW.
Segment Six - Bayou Petit Anse to Morgan City 50 Miles, 29 41.763/91 12.658 Morgan City provides a good place to stop at a City provided side-tie dock just past the railroad bridge (normally open) and before the highway bridge. A few stores within walking distance, but you probably want a taxi if you need anything major. Water and power is provided at the dock. You place your slip fee ($20) in an envelope at a box at the dock. Be prepared for a strong cross current where the Wax Outlet crosses the GIWW on the way to Morgan City.
Segment Seven - Morgan City to Houma 35 Miles, 29 35.932/90 42.673 Just east of Morgan City is a lock, and there is a cable ferry right before you get to the lock. The cable for the ferry is normally submerged, but is just below the water surface when the ferry is operating. Make sure the ferry is docked before crossing. Houma is a great convenient stop right on the GIWW. The marina has 10-12 side tie slips with power, water, pump out, and convenience stores and restaurants a few blocks away ($25 per night). The marina is between two bridges over the GIWW. At the entrance, the depth drops to less than five feet, but you can easily power through the mud bar and once past that, the depth increases to eight feet.
Segment Eight - Houma to Jean Lafitte (Isle Bonne) 40 Miles, 29 44.567/90 8.128 Before passing thought New Orleans, you need to find a place near the City so that you can stop and be near enough to be in NO in the mid-morning. Jean Lafitte fits this requirement, and is located where the Barataria Channel comes into the GIWW. We anchored in the Barataria Channel just east of Ilse Bonne. Barge traffic passed on both sides of us, so you need to anchor as close to the island as possible and set bow and stern anchors to limit swinging. Alternatively, when we left the next day it appeared that a good spot to anchor for the night would be just before your pass through the large flood control structure a few miles east of Jean Lafitte. There seemed to a good anchorage spot where the channel widened ( 29 48.804/90 4.101).
Segment Nine - Jean Lafitte to Half Moon Island 60 Miles 30 8.577/89 25.964 When passing through NO you will be going through two locks and several bridges that must be raised to pass. The locks monitor channel 14 and the bridges monitor channel 13. However two of the bridges are very near each of the locks and they seem to work together on Channel 14. The first lock is the Harvey Lock. Call the lock master as you approach and ask for instructions on when you may enter. This lock raises you about 11 feet up to the level of the Mississippi River. There are mooring cleats recessed into the side of the lock and you will need to place several fenders on your port side. As the boat rises up with the water, you'll need to move your dock lines up to a higher cleat on the side. One or two dock lines should be sufficient. Once the lock has completed raising your boat, the lock master will open the gate and tell you when to exit. You will quickly be in the Mississippi River. We experienced a current of about 3-4 knots and lots of debris in the water. Be careful and keep a look out for large objects in the river. You will quickly pass downtown NO on your port side and then you'll need to navigate over to the north side of the river. The exit into the Industrial Canal is easy to spot. Once in this canal contact the lock master and ask for instructions as to when you may enter the lock. This lock lowers your boat about 11 feet back to the GIWW level. The cleats are outside the lock walls above the lock. You will need a long dock line (60 feet) to reach from the cleat to your boat when it is lowered. The lock master will attach your dock line to the cleat. You will also need several fenders on the port side of you boat. After traversing the locks and bridges, you need to decide if you want to spend some time in NO. If you want to stay for a while, you probably want to continue north in the Industrial Canal to one of the marinas there or even further into Lake Ponchatrain. You can either enter the GIWW from the Industrial Canal or traverse Lake Ponchatrain and then reenter the GIWW further to the east. We chose to continue east in the GIWW and decided to anchor at Half Moon Island in the Mississippi Sound. Another alternative is an area known as the Rigolets. There are good marinas in the Grand Lagoon area (30 12.970/89 47.654) and also good anchorages in that area. If you choose the Lake Ponchatrain route, this is where you rejoin the GIWW. Half Moon Island is very well protected from SE to SW winds. However, the mosquito population is very healthy, so netting is needed.
Segment Ten - Half Moon Island to Biloxi 40 Miles, 30 23.344/88 51.526 This is an easy sail along the Mississippi coast. The Biloxi Channel has a west and an east entrance. You'll want to take the west entrance route and stay in the channel. We stayed at the Point Cadet Marina, which is next to the Golden Nugget Casino. Fuel, water, power, showers, and some supplies are available at the marina. When leaving, take the east channel route. Be sure and stay in the channel in both instances.
Segment Eleven - Biloxi to Mobile Bay/Gulf Shores 72 Miles, 30 16.843/87 41.143 This was a great sail, but a fairly long day. We decided to sail across Mobile Bay since the marinas at Dauphin Island were of questionable depth and the other marinas in Mobile were 16 miles north of the GIWW and out of the way. These were in the Dog River. We heard that there were some nice places there, but decided to keep heading east rather than this side trip to the north. We sailed to the Home Port Marina, right on the GIWW. Lulu Buffet (Jimmy's sister) owns a restaurant there, and you should try the gumbo. The marina is very protected and a good place to wait out a storm, if needed.
Segment Twelve - Gulf Shores to Pensacola 20 Miles, 30 19.593/87 21.374 After the long trip to Gulf Shores, we made the short trip to Pensacola. We stayed at the Southwind Marina; primarily because it was right on the GIWW and the other marinas in the area were about eight miles north of the GIWW. However, this marina doesn't have a protective breakwater, so if strong south winds are forecast you'd probably want to use the other marinas. Palafox Marina was recommended.
Segment Thirteen - Pensacola to Panama City 100 Miles, 30 10.111/85 42.079 We had planned to sail in the Gulf to Destin, but when we arrived there we discovered that the marina we planned to use no longer accepted transient boats and no other places were available. It seems that Destin is not a good place to visit unless you plan to live there and keep you boat there permanently. There may be an anchorage available, but we didn't think that the places available looked promising. Additionally, the entrance and harbor in Panama City is well marked, so we felt comfortable entering there at night. Additionally, there are three bridges on the GIWW between Pensacola and Panama City that have a vertical clearance of 50 feet or less. Thus using the GIWW was not an option for this leg of the trip. Leave early and plan on a long day on the water. Panama City has two municipal marinas, the City Marina and the St. Andrews Marina. The St. Andrews Marina is near several restaurants and bars and a grocery store is about six blocks away. The other marina is near downtown and the convention center, but not much else. We recommend the St. Andrews Marina.
Segment Fourteen - Panama City to Clearwater 240 Miles, 27 58.000/82 48.296 This was the longest leg of our journey. There are a couple of places that you could stop at the first day (St. Marks, Apalachicola, Carrabelle), but they're a little out of the direct path to Clearwater and would still leave a 200 mile leg. We decided to leave early one morning (8 am) and arrived in Clearwater at approximately 7 pm the next day. The Clearwater Municipal Marina is just inside the Clearwater Pass and on the GIWW. However, the channel to the marina is narrow and shallow on both sides, use care and watch your depth. Clearwater operates two marinas; the Clearwater Beach Municipal Marina is closer to the beach area but appeared to more difficult to access, especially at low tide. Thus we chose the other location.
Segment Fifteen - Clearwater to Sarasota 50 Miles, 27 19.975/82 32.797 We decided to stop in St. Petersburg for a week, but if you are not interested in that diversion, then head straight to Sarasota. The Gulf pass at Sarasota is questionable for sailboats, so you will need to enter the GIWW just past Egmont Key at Anna Maria and stay in the GIWW until Venice. You have a few lift bridges to pass on the way, they monitor VHF channel 9 and are very courteous and helpful. We stayed at Marina Jacks in Sarasota which also operates a mooring field next to the marina. This is very nice marina with floating docks, good restaurants, near stored downtown, and very easy to access. It appeared that a good anchorage was available across the channel on the west side. Alternatively, if you want to stay in the open water, you can sail in the Gulf all the way to Venice.
Segment Sixteen Sarasota to Venice 18 Miles, 27 6.724/82 27.868 The very short run to Venice is easy and very picturesque. We stayed at the Crows nest Marina. This is a very small marina with room for 4 transient boats using side ties. It's right at the pass to the Gulf in deep water. Some current but the side tie position lines up with the current. There is a good restaurant in the marina of the same name. You can borrow bicycles to explore if you want.
Segment Seventeen - Venice to Fort Myers Beach/Sanibel Island 60 Miles, 26 27.688/81 57.866 From Venice it's a full day sail to Fort Myers Beach/Sanibel Island. However, it's back in the Gulf and the water is blue and if the winds cooperate, the sailing is great. If you want to duck in before there, the Burnt Store Marina is a good option. It was recommended to us but we didn't stop there. Additionally the Sanibel Marina seemed pretty good except that one reviewer indicated that there was only five feet of water depth in the channel to get there. We decided to go to a different place rather than chance this. We stayed at the Pink Shell Resort marina. Nice marina, floating docks, fairly new. Next to the resort are a couple of restaurants. 5-7 block walk to downtown with numerous restaurants and bars. Check that you can arrive at slack tide. We arrived at a strong ebb tide and docked in a 3-4 knot current on the side. Just down the channel is Moss Marina, which would have been our choice except that the casino boat docks there at the end of the transient dock. Lots of people walking through the marina to access this boat. Info on the Burnt Store Marina 26 45.664/82 3.635 Fairly easy to access at the Boca Grande Pass. Good water depths to the marina in the channel.
Segment Eighteen - Fort Myers Beach to Naples 30 Miles, 26 8.278/81 47.440 This is an easy sail from Ft. Myers Beach. We stayed at the Naples Boat Club Marina. This is a nice marina equivalent to Marina Jacks in quality. New floating docks, pool, clubhouse, and restaurant on the premises. Alternatively the Naples City Dock 26 7.949/81 47.592 is just south of the NBC. Fixed wooden docks and a little further from downtown, but a little cheaper. Naples apparently has an ordinance that you can't stay on your boat more than five days in a row (trying to discourage live-aboard sailors apparently). We stayed a week however, and they didn't seem to mind.
Segment Nineteen - Naples to Marathon 110 Miles, 24 42.147/81 6.771 This is an easy overnight sail is the weather cooperates. We left Naples around 4:30 pm and arrived in Marathon around noon the next day. There are several marinas in Marathon and the City operates a mooring field of over 200 mooring ball on a first come, first served basis. Several boats anchor just outside the cove in a fairly protected area. Alternatively, you can sail to Key West as your destination. There are several marina in Key West/ Stock Island and also several mooring fields on the west and north side of the island. The sailing distance from Naples is about the same for both. If your further destinations are on the east side of Florida, then the seven mile bridge pass just south of Marathon is the only bridge clearance south of Miami to Key West that will allow a tall sailboat mast to pass.
