St. Joseph Peninsula State Park, FL

[Stan Breaux]

Does anyone know anything about this place?

I'm taking my family there in our Mac26S next week.

We plan to launch the boat at the state park.

Are there good anchorages in St. Joseph Bay?

Any places you would recommend?

 

[SeaRanch]

I live and sail mostly in Panama City. Have sailed to Port St Joe (St Joseph's Bay) many times. Have not been to the state park in many years, but I do remember comments several years ago about the launch there being shallow. St Joe Bay is big and mostly shallow, plenty of room to anchor. There is a public ramp in downtown Port St Joe that is big and very good, so lots of power boaters. There is a city marina which is very nice, has fuel and pump out, and spaces for overnight and daily rental, with power. There is a new boat storage north of Hwy 98 bridge, on the west side, not sure what facilitiies that they have. Port St Joe Bay has a big opening to the Gulf, therefore can be rough in bad weather close to the pass.

Might I suggest you look at Panama City, deeper water, better anchorages. Lots of boats will spend the weekends anchored up behind Shell Island, a barrier island that has lots of sand beach to walk, play, swim. There is St Andrew State Park where you can launch (very busy), also the downtown City Marina has very good ramp = lots of power boaters.

Suggest you go to website below. Claiborne Young's Cruising Guides and get the one for "Northern Gulf Coast". He does a very good job of detailing the "Panhandle" of Florida. The website says that it is "out of date" due to storm damage, that does not apply to the area from Carrabelle to Pensacola, the area that you are looking at.


http://www.cruisingguide.com/cp/Scripts/prodList.asp?idCategory=22

Since you live in Birmingham, you should know, NEVER come to Florida without plenty of "bug spray".

Good luck, hope you have a pleasent "spring break".

Bill

 

[MoonSailer]

St Joe State Park is a great place if you like the beach..more than 10 miles of undeveloped beach. Anchoring overnight can be a problem depending upon the wind direction. Out of the south it is great but out of the north can be a problem. With the Mac's shallow draft all should be easy in the main part of the bay. I think that St Andrews bay Panama city)might be a better place if you are going to sail. It is more protected and between the three areas of the bay there is a lot of places to sail. BUT if you like hiking along the beach St Joe is hard to beat. There is a mini forest of stunted trees and lichens that is very cool. Be aware that the eastern diamondback rattler lives in the park. I took my old Mac 26D to panama city years ago and had a great week anchoring behind shell island. We parked the truck at St Andrews state park. We had one rough night at St Joe when the wind came out of the north so strong that we couldn't get off of the anchors and spent the night in breaking waves 50' from shore. The forecast was for light winds out of the southwest. As fate would have it the next day was dead calm and we had to motor all of the way back to Panama City.

 

[Rick Webb]

Boating and Angling Guides Available for Free

About half way down the page there are guides for different areas available free by mail just for the asking


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

 

[hutch5151]

The St Joseph Bay is a great place for a shallow draft boat such as yours. There is great spot at Eagle Landing. State Park with restrooms and cold showers and a few piers for powerboats. You could possibly launch there. Our favorite anchorage is just inside the western tip of the island. Great shelling and walking on a desolate beach. Just be aware of , and plan for ,the North wind or land breeze in the morning when anchoring. Crooked Island (about 15 miles to the west) is also a great place to hang out and anchor. You should plan to visit Crooked Island on the weekend, as the military has been having operations there during the week, which restricts the area, sometimes up to 12 miles out. You can call Tyndal AFB control on Channel 16 to check on operations. St Joe has a great marina and boat ramp, with plenty of boat supplies and fuel. Good luck on your trip.

 

[sailaway78]

St. Joe

I have never been to the state park, but have anchored up there. Pretty nice sailing, but somewhat shallow. Since you are going to be here at the right time, why don't you go a little farther west, and join up with a bunch of gulf coast sailors, enjoy a nice weekend and meet some good people. We are going to have a raft up the weekend of March 20, 21 & 22 at Petit Bois island. Is just a tad farther west than St.Joe, some excellent sailing in Mississippi Sound, and really pretty beaches. I will be in there Fri.night the 20th. I think Chuck Creel will be out and about a day or two before that. You can launch in Biloxi, and is a fairly short sail across the sound to the island. Come and visit if you would like. You will be made welcome and meet some really nice fellow sailors.

 

[tagalong]

OOOOOOOOOOOhhhhhh! Can I COME TOO? !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!