Sandy Beaches....
- Thread starter Sumner
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Jim we are looking at putting in at Flamingo. There is a small entry and launch fee and after that it seems you can leave the tow vehicle and trailer there for as long as you want. We will be out for hopefully a long period of time, so that could save us a lot of money. From there we would probably work or way up to Everglade City, replenish there. Then go further north and back again to Everglade City again to replenish. From there work on down towards Marathon and towards Key West. This is all up for grabs as we don't like to plan a day by day schedule. I'll try and take photos and write about it whatever we do.
We were looking into putting in over at South Dade Marina, but then we were going to cut the trip in half and fly north to visit family and then come back down and continue. That plan is probably out now as we have a different plan in the works for late spring early summer where we would do our visiting as part of that trip with the Mac.
If we do that one I'll also document it. I enjoy doing it and it is rewarding to hear that some people enjoy reading the trip log and viewing the pictures. Thanks!
Bill I can't find the book anywhere, I think it is out of print. Thanks for the links though I did find other items of interest at them
.Thanks again to everyone who has offered suggestions. Your suggestions have kind of set the course for the trip.
c ya,
Sum
Our Trips to Lake Powell, UT - Kootenay Lake, Canada - Priest Lake, ID
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try cruisingguides.com shows up for $17.95 +shipping. Also look on the web for BAIL Boaters Action something league. They published 2 editions of a book with photos and charts of anchorages. Out of print, but the data and photos are on line at Florida Seagrant web site
Thanks Bill I found it second time around searching under the author's name. I'll order it tomorrow and I also found the BAIL book on Amazon. $29 for it, but probably worth that. I'll order it also and I think I'm also going to get The 2010 Southern Waterway Guide that covers all the way over to Mexico. It might give us some ideas for the future
.Thanks for the help,
Sum
Our Trips to Lake Powell, UT - Kootenay Lake, Canada - Priest Lake, ID
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They sold the last one they had a month ago :cry:, so now the only ones are $97.00 and up. I have these on order.....
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A Guide To Anchorages in Southwest Florida
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Hidden Florida Keys and Everglades: Including Key Largo and Key West (Hidden Travel) Candace Leslie
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Cruising Guide to Western Florida: Seventh Edition (Cruising Guide Series)" Claiborne Young
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......I'll see how they are. Thanks for the help,
Sum and Ruth
Our Trips to Lake Powell, UT - Kootenay Lake, Canada - Priest Lake, ID
Our Mac Pages
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A book update............
I got some of the books in that I ordered and thought I would comment on them a little.
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A Guide To Anchorages in Southwest Florida
If you are looking for anchorages south of Naples much or in the 10,000 Islands or south of there towards Flamingo forget this book. Now saying that if you are interested in the Naples area north I really like the way the book is laid out. They have a map on one page of each anchorage and then on another page there is an aerial view with the passage to the anchorage marked with a dashed line and an arrow. This is very nice and easy to visualize. They also give you the GPS location and chart number and the approach dept and depth at anchorage. I like that a lot. The only problem for us is that we are looking for remote anchorages and there aren't many in this book but other than that it is a good book.
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Cruising Guide to Western Florida: Seventh Edition (Cruising Guide Series)" Claiborne Young
Now Young's book has about 30 pages on the area from Flamingo to south of Naples. I haven't had a chance to look at it in detail, but it looks like it is going to help us. Most of the book (a big one) continues up the coast from Naples north. The anchorage are show on actual shots of charts. Nice in that if you have the same chart on a chart plotting program it is easy to see the lat./lon. location. It isn't as easy to visualize what the actual anchorage looks like since there are very few actual photos of anchorages. Still a book worth having.
If you are into towns/marinas/eating out and all of that the books seem to be good at that especially Young's.
Well hope that maybe helps someone,
Sum
Our Trips to Lake Powell, UT - Kootenay Lake, Canada - Priest Lake, ID
Our Mac Pages
Mac Links
I got some of the books in that I ordered and thought I would comment on them a little.
==================================
A Guide To Anchorages in Southwest Florida
If you are looking for anchorages south of Naples much or in the 10,000 Islands or south of there towards Flamingo forget this book. Now saying that if you are interested in the Naples area north I really like the way the book is laid out. They have a map on one page of each anchorage and then on another page there is an aerial view with the passage to the anchorage marked with a dashed line and an arrow. This is very nice and easy to visualize. They also give you the GPS location and chart number and the approach dept and depth at anchorage. I like that a lot. The only problem for us is that we are looking for remote anchorages and there aren't many in this book but other than that it is a good book.
==================================
Cruising Guide to Western Florida: Seventh Edition (Cruising Guide Series)" Claiborne Young
Now Young's book has about 30 pages on the area from Flamingo to south of Naples. I haven't had a chance to look at it in detail, but it looks like it is going to help us. Most of the book (a big one) continues up the coast from Naples north. The anchorage are show on actual shots of charts. Nice in that if you have the same chart on a chart plotting program it is easy to see the lat./lon. location. It isn't as easy to visualize what the actual anchorage looks like since there are very few actual photos of anchorages. Still a book worth having.
If you are into towns/marinas/eating out and all of that the books seem to be good at that especially Young's.
Well hope that maybe helps someone,
Sum
Our Trips to Lake Powell, UT - Kootenay Lake, Canada - Priest Lake, ID
Our Mac Pages
Mac Links
Try Cruisers Net
You can go to www.cruisersnet, not sure if .com or .org. Have all anchorages, position, holding and wind protections. Are listed from S. to N. on the west coast of Fla. Also the Keys and East Coast there, along with marinas, fuel prices, provision availability etc. A good site.
You can go to www.cruisersnet, not sure if .com or .org. Have all anchorages, position, holding and wind protections. Are listed from S. to N. on the west coast of Fla. Also the Keys and East Coast there, along with marinas, fuel prices, provision availability etc. A good site.
I'll echo Joe, great site and that helps a lot, thanks.
The web address is....
http://cruisersnet.net/
I'll be spending some time there. The anchorage maps are really nice along with the comments.
c ya,
Sum
Our Trips to Lake Powell, UT - Kootenay Lake, Canada - Priest Lake, ID
Our Mac Pages
Mac Links
Sum- If you want to see the barrier islands of Sw Fla, consider using Pelican Bay as a home base. It is on the south side of Boca Grande Pass (great fishing) and is a very pretty, very protected anchorage. It is also right next to Cayo Costa state park island that has a very beautiful beach that you can walk to on the gulf side. Also rest rooms, ice and drinks are available- otherwise it is pretty much undisturbed. Sannibel and Cabbage key are short hops away. It is one of my favorite areas. It will be in your gunk holers guide- about marker 72 on the icw. Have fun!
Thanks for suggesting that area. I had looked at it before, but not closely. It does look very nice and we sure will consider it.
We are kind of narrowing in on some tentative plans. We hope to be down there for up to 3 months breaking the trip kind of in half, flying north to visit family in the middle more or less. Right now we are thinking of stopping and sailing some up around Carrabelle, FL on the way down and then would like to do some of the West Coast before taking out and the area you mentioned looks really nice.
Then we would fly north for a couple weeks to visit family and then possibly put back in at Flamingo and spend time south, east and north of there.
Can you recommend any places to put in around Charlotte Harbor that have reasonable rates to leave the Suburban and trailer?
Thanks,
Sum and Ruth
Our Trips to Lake Powell, UT - Kootenay Lake, Canada - Priest Lake, ID
Our Mac Pages
Mac Links
Thanks Bill. I called them today. Looks like about $80/month to leave the Suburban/trailer and you aren't charged for putting in or out as many times as you want. We will probably use them.
They have an interesting self-controlled lock going out of there. That will be interesting for us.
Thanks for suggesting them, nice lady on the phone, very helpful,
Sum and Ruth
Our Trips to Lake Powell, UT - Kootenay Lake, Canada - Priest Lake, ID
Our Mac Pages
Mac Links
Sum,
If you make it as far south as Key West, the are two islands just west of Key West. One is inhabited and the other is not. The uninhabited one has a very nice anchorage and sandy beach on the west side of the island. There is also a wreck right off the beach there that always holds a few lobsters. Have fun and welcome to Florida.
John
If you make it as far south as Key West, the are two islands just west of Key West. One is inhabited and the other is not. The uninhabited one has a very nice anchorage and sandy beach on the west side of the island. There is also a wreck right off the beach there that always holds a few lobsters. Have fun and welcome to Florida.
John
Thanks, would the uninhabited one be Wisteria? I can see beaches on it with Google Earth. We just need to get off the boat once in a while and walk some. Here at home we try and walk 1 1/2 to 2 miles every day.
At places like Key West and say Marathon if we anchor out and take the dinghy ashore and tie to a dock can we be comfortable leaving it for 3-4 hours and that it will be there when we get back? We have friends that use to sail down there and they recommended keeping the dinghy locked to the boat even when we were on it at night if close to a community. They said people do steal them. Is this something to really worry about? Out west here we usually don't lock up much.
Thanks,
Sum and Ruth
Our Trips to Lake Powell, UT - Kootenay Lake, Canada - Priest Lake, ID
Our Mac Pages
Mac Links
Yes, it is Wisteria Island. As far as dink thefts, I don't lock mine up, but I can't say I would be very surprised to find it gone. All things considered, a bike lock would probably be a good idea, but I haven't had anything stolen yet. And, I do a lot of cruising in south Florida. I would say popular dingy docks are pretty safe. My two cents worth.
John
John
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