Seeking opinions on living and sailing around Clearwater

May 12, 2004
1,502
Hunter Cherubini 30 New Port Richey
Also failed to mention, there is a nice, deep,(relative term around here) marina in Dunedin, ( pronounced Dun Edin, not Dune Din as many tourist call it, LOL), just north of Clw. Easy access to the gulf and nearby barrier islands. If you draw four feet or less you are mostly OK. Anything more kinda limits how close you can get. If you tow a dinghy then you are set.
Pull up Google Earth and have a look around.
I feel like the Chamber of Commerce should be giving us a kickback.
 

SFS

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Aug 18, 2015
2,065
Currently Boatless Okinawa
Gulfport should be given serious consideration. The mooring field is going begging, the wonderfully funky town is a 2 block walk, and you are bridge free (well, if your air draft is 55 ft or less) to the Gulf with a dependable straightforward pass.
 
Apr 16, 2017
841
Federation NCC-1701 Riverside
I feel like the Chamber of Commerce should be giving us a kickback.
No one should have to live in Jersey. :)

I would totally visit for a week in March and again in august doing what you enjoy. If you are living the dream in the marina your experince will be VERY different than living in a marina in clearwater and driving to Tampa or St Pete for work. If you like new houses youll have to tear down some 60's house with 1400 sqft and one bathroom and build a new one yourself.

Most of coastal construction FL looks the same, like a fractal of trailer parks, money stores and run down hotels. Theres not much room left in the tampa area to make it nicer without tearing something down.

A good hurricane would actually really help in rebuilding the area, at the expense of charcter.

If you have some money to burn the place is amazing since there is a lot to do.

Go to Ft Myers and youll see the newer construction (urban sprawl) but with new construction & the salt life
 
Dec 19, 2006
5,809
Hunter 36 Punta Gorda
When deciding where to move to in Florida I fell in love with PG Charlotte Harbor but we started looking in Tarpon Springs and stopped and looked in Clear Water / Sarasota / Tampa area and we both fell in love with PG Charlotte Harbor and we love sailing the area for sure.
We are on our way home back to PG after traveling on our H-36 for the last 3 weeks and love Clear Water but so crowded and Tampa OMG I thought PG and FtMyers was crowded but after visiting and anchoring and Marina’s we love visiting for sure but visiting only now I remember why we moved to PG but we are retired no young kids and PG is a great retirement community and great sailing in uncrowned Charlotte Harbor and yes we do sail south to Key West and many great other places.
Nick
 
Oct 19, 2017
7,732
O'Day 19 Littleton, NH
I like the Punta Gorda/port Charlotte area too. The Myakka and Peace Rivers are beautiful. My wife and I have spent some time renting down there and we started going for the Peace River shark tooth hunting which turned into fossil hunting upstream in Arcadia.
Peace River.jpg

One woman floating by with her husband in a canoe asked, "Aren't you afraid of alligators?" Standing in water above my waist, I answered, "You wrestle two or three of them and you start to get a reputation." Her husband burst out laughing while she looked like this: :yikes:.
In fact, Friday, we are heading down there by car. the river is low so fossil hunting is good. We are driving so we can take our Rougarou with us.
BTW, that is part of a mastodon tooth.

-Will (Dragonfly)
 
Apr 16, 2017
841
Federation NCC-1701 Riverside
interestingly, the Dunedin and Punta Gorda/port Charlotte area are popular for trailer sailing. There used to be a West Coast Trailer Squadron and the site was always planning meetups and beach camp events, but never in the Tampa and Sarasota area or in the bay. Too dense and not enough easy access i guess
 
Apr 16, 2017
841
Federation NCC-1701 Riverside
I like the Punta Gorda/port Charlotte area too. The Myakka and Peace Rivers are beautiful. My wife and I have spent some time renting down there and we started going for the Peace River shark tooth hunting which turned into fossil hunting upstream in Arcadia.View attachment 163530
One woman floating by with her husband in a canoe asked, "Aren't you afraid of alligators?" Standing in water above my waist, I answered, "You wrestle two or three of them and you start to get a reputation." Her husband burst out laughing while she looked like this: :yikes:.
In fact, Friday, we are heading down there by car. the river is low so fossil hunting is good. We are driving so we can take our Rougarou with us.
BTW, that is part of a mastodon tooth.

-Will (Dragonfly)
K Will, Youve been to Bradenton...why are there no dinosaur fossils in FL?
 
Nov 30, 2007
271
Hunter 36 Forked River, NJ
Ok, so there's a huge swell of support for this being a dream location to live and sail. I appreciate all perspectives, and encourage you to keep them coming. I love the idea of so much sailing access, warm weather, and living somewhere that can be like vacation anytime. The multitude of cruise destinations is truly like a dream. But I personally also feel split about the future of recreational sailing in light of sea level rise, diminishing coasts, storm destruction, and federal replenishment. How do you feel about your property investment in in a vulnerable location? Do you worry that sooner or later the real estate market will take a hit? Are existing marinas set up to survive a rising sea level and diminishing coastline? From what I can tell in my coastal NJ stomping grounds, our marinas are not.
 
Sep 25, 2008
7,075
Alden 50 Sarasota, Florida
Ok, so there's a huge swell of support for this being a dream location to live and sail. I appreciate all perspectives, and encourage you to keep them coming. I love the idea of so much sailing access, warm weather, and living somewhere that can be like vacation anytime. The multitude of cruise destinations is truly like a dream. But I personally also feel split about the future of recreational sailing in light of sea level rise, diminishing coasts, storm destruction, and federal replenishment. How do you feel about your property investment in in a vulnerable location? Do you worry that sooner or later the real estate market will take a hit? Are existing marinas set up to survive a rising sea level and diminishing coastline? From what I can tell in my coastal NJ stomping grounds, our marinas are not.
My background and experience is in environmental science so take this for whatever value you place on it - We'll all be long gone before the horror stories ever come true, if ever. The boating population here continues to grow, seemingly exponentially, and everyone can't be wrong. We have and will continue to adapt to whatever the future brings.
 
Jul 12, 2011
1,165
Leopard 40 Jupiter, Florida
No one has discussed depth and air-draft issues yet in this area. Does six foot draft severely limit you? How about those short bridges?
 
Apr 16, 2017
841
Federation NCC-1701 Riverside
Ok, so there's a huge swell of support for this being a dream location to live and sail. I appreciate all perspectives, and encourage you to keep them coming. I love the idea of so much sailing access, warm weather, and living somewhere that can be like vacation anytime. The multitude of cruise destinations is truly like a dream. But I personally also feel split about the future of recreational sailing in light of sea level rise, diminishing coasts, storm destruction, and federal replenishment. How do you feel about your property investment in in a vulnerable location? Do you worry that sooner or later the real estate market will take a hit? Are existing marinas set up to survive a rising sea level and diminishing coastline? From what I can tell in my coastal NJ stomping grounds, our marinas are not.
IMO, Old FL construction is disposable. New construction to new standards is viable for decades. Commercial activity can insure for total devastation as long there are profits. New Oleans commercial recovery proves that.

Infrastructure is the problem. St Pete and Sarasota dump sewage on "accident" during heavy rains on a frequent basis. Sarasota has seen some extreme skyrise construction and outer burbs expansion and I doubt there is an appropriate equal increase in utilities capabilities. Those owners are proably just stashing wealth so they arent populated like a normal bedroom community.

Freshwater will decide FL future. If sea levels rise, the fresh water will become contaminated and harder to come by. Tampa's desalination facilities in Apollo Beach is impressive, but not sure if that would scale everwhere, edpecially for agriculture.

If you buy residentail property get off the surge areas and youll have plenty of time.

Valuation theory proposes that the price of something in the future is already asigned a price now. Its no secret that sea levels are rising and coastal areas get trashed in storms. The price of a commercially rented barrier beach house already has the apocalypse factored in.
 
Sep 10, 2012
220
Hunter 450 Gulfport, Florida
Gulfport should be given serious consideration. The mooring field is going begging, the wonderfully funky town is a 2 block walk, and you are bridge free (well, if your air draft is 55 ft or less) to the Gulf with a dependable straightforward pass.
That should be 65' as that is the bridge clearance and @ 63' plus the wiggly stuff on top never touched!
 
Apr 16, 2017
841
Federation NCC-1701 Riverside
There is the Everglades 300. Starts in Tampa Bay. Only trailersailers or boats that start from high and dry on the beach.


-Will (Dragonfly)
The West Coast Trailer Sailer Squadron does exist still. I guess the page moved as they talk on the new site about one of their members being rescued by the Coasties in the EC2019.

As a tough mudder finisher, this EC is appealing. Not something to do on any given weekend though. The WCTSS travels too much for job holders so i never got involved.

Ft Desoto is a powerboat super mega ramp. Looks amazing, but the Inland water is shallow sewage and the channel out to the gulf requires a good motor, not exactly a protected sailing area for class d boats.
 
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Oct 19, 2017
7,732
O'Day 19 Littleton, NH
Sarasota has seen some extreme skyrise construction and outer burbs expansion and I doubt there is an appropriate equal increase in utilities capabilities
This may, in Florida especially, have the effect of sinking the land since Florida is mostly limestone with large subterranean freshwater aquifers supporting it. Sink holes occur occasionally and adding the massive weight of bigger and bigger high rises could become problematic. As far as I know, that is just my personal speculation and nothing like that has happened yet.
I'm of the opinion that the 3"-4" sealevel rise that we have recorded over the last 150 years, hasn't accelerated appreciably in recent times. The are graphs accessible from NOAA that show this. Sealevel rise isn't going to see Florida losing coastline. Hurricanes and erosion cost Florida far more coast every year. We have gotten good at rebuilding and replacing it.
A more immediate concern for the waterfront land owner is the habit of municipalities to build up the beach in front of a private residence and then claim the owner's deed doesn't any longer include all the land to the water's edge. That means what was once a private beach becomes a public beach and a devaluation of the private property. This practice will stop when owners insist on a revaluation of their tax rate based on their status as waterfront property.

Ft Desoto is a powerboat super mega ramp. Looks amazing,
A very fine area for a quick casual cruise.

-Will (Dragonfly)
 
Sep 25, 2008
7,075
Alden 50 Sarasota, Florida
I'm of the opinion that the 3"-4" sealevel rise that we have recorded over the last 150 years, hasn't accelerated appreciably in recent times. The are graphs accessible from NOAA that show this. Sealevel rise isn't going to see Florida losing coastline. Hurricanes and erosion cost Florida far more coast every year. We have gotten good at rebuilding and replacing it.


-Will (Dragonfly)
This is a good graphical depiction of worst-case scenario for those who ascribe to the dire predictions. Ignoring the estuarine area to the south, the only albeit minimal impact of a 1 meter sea level rise occurs in the most unpopulated section of the entire east coast, the Big Bend area which is from Tampa north to Tallahassee along the Gulf Coast.
77C3E260-A312-4C77-A80D-9EE55D1C6808.png
 
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Jul 27, 2011
4,988
Bavaria 38E Alamitos Bay
Sooner or later, the glaciers will return if you believe the geologic and paleooceanographic history of North America and its waters. We are right now at the peak of the warm cycle. So, come to FL and be inundated at some indeterminate time in the distant future, or stay in NJ and eventually be covered by glacial ice.:doh: Some like it hot, some like it cold. However, as said above, not in your lifetime.:wink3:
 
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