St Petersburg Area Sailing

Anonymous 121765 · Apr 5, 2015

Hey Coyote,

Welcome aboard to my area pal.

I live in the TB area. Yes, you may find slips in the bay but, areas to dock your boat will depend on your type of sailing.

If bay sailing is more to your liking, a slip inside the bay might be fine for you. If you are abit more adventurous, a slip close to the Gulf "IS YOUR BEST." Quick out to the Gulf & not have, fighting tides, shifty winds, summer thunderstorms that create lightning & close wave intervals & skinny areas of water. Plus, great anchorages & places of interest.

The Gulf is not like the Atlantic but, more of a giant bathtub with nice wave action. I've been sailing this area for 25 years & never, I mean NEVER sail the bay unless I am going to a boat yard.

Beach areas to check are: St. Pete. beach, Treasure Island, Madeira Beach (we lovingly refer to as "MAD" beach) and in-between all the way up to Clearwater beach. I leave my slip, & in 5minutes, I go under the bascule bridge & I am in the Gulf with North, South & West points of sail in plenty of water. Plus, there is alot of beach social activity goin on.

PM me & leave me your PH# & we can go into better detail. I can promise you, this is a great place to sail all year round.

CR

Kings Gambit · Apr 5, 2015

Coyote said:
I am considering a job change that would take me to the St Petersburg area.

I have searched the archives of this forum, and there really doesn't seem to be current information for guidance.

First and foremost, before I sign my employment contract, is where shall I dock my 28' Oday. Only a 3 1/2' draft,,,

We see using her mostly for day sailing, with the occasional week or so journey.

We like the idea if the St Petersburg City Marina, with downtown access (safety issues??), etc. and bay sailing,,,
ActiveCaptain has very good reviews of the marina, and it appears to have relatively deep water,,, and I called yesterday, and there ARE slips available.
I know there have been waiting list in the past.

However, fellow SBO members who live and sail in Pinellas County might have more valuable, and useful intel and info!

as always, thanks for the assistance,

cheers,
Coyote

I can't say I have "up-to-date" information, but I owned and sailed boats out of St. Petersburg between 1988 and 1999; three altogether at various times including one 20' powerboat; plus I made several charters in Tampa Bay before owning a cruising sailboat. I kept the later two boats at the Bayboro [Harborage] Marina which is near downtown; the 30' sailboat in a slip and the 20' powerboat at the high-and-dry "next door." I had no "security problems" at Harborage. It was then a nice, modern, marina w/floating concrete docks having "double-wide" slips, although it bordered on a run-down section of town then. I don't know what that area looks like now, but there's a campus at Bayboro now called the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg. The downtown marina had fixed wooden docks of double-wide slips in 1999; so you might check out the status of the docks there today. The downtown marina is probably a much more interesting location now to have a boat than it was in the 1990's when St. Pete suffered from the economic down turn of that decade. It's also very close to the St. Petersburg Yacht Club, if you're so inclined to investigate a membership there. A highly recommended membership alternative is the Dolphin Cruising Club of Tampa Bay (see at link below).

There's not much difference leaving the downtown marina versus Harborage @ Bayboro except that the channel exiting Bayboro is longer and you have to get near the end of it b/f standing off toward south, or face shoals. As you know, the prevailing wind directions in FL are easterly; i.e, northeast, east, and southeast, so it's a broad reach to a run entering both basins harboring the respective marinas; and, the wind is typically on the nose (or near so) exiting. The wind waves going out can get up a bit in a strong easterly. Also, you might wish to closely examine the slip orientations. Many slips at Harborage are oriented N-S [see .pdf] whereas at downtown many are E-W; the point being that at Harborage you will find youself trying to enter a double-wide slip, on the windward side of your neighbor, in a strong crosswind (east or west, depending). Downtown you may find yourself having to enter a west-facing slip with a strong east wind astern. [Those are probably the slips that are available downtown!] Not that much of a problem after some experience(s).

The downtown marina is more convenient if wishing to daysail in view of the downtown skyline, the Vinoy Resort and Vinoy Park, or anchor in the Vinoy Basin for lunch, etc. These all lie to the north (but not far). The Harborage Marina @ Bayboro is more convenient, in my opinion, for departures south toward lower Tampa Bay, out through the bridge b/c it's a bit closer; a 20- 30 min saving each way depending on conditions, etc. Incidently, and you might not know this, but it's about 10 n.mi. from Bayboro to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, the "exit point" from Tampa Bay to lower Tampa Bay. So, that's a "daysail" (there and back) that you'll probably do only once! It's about 9 n.mi. across Tampa Bay to the marinas on its eastern side.

If you have more specific questions, feel free to inquire.

KG

http://www.dolphinscruising.com/DolphinClub/DCStartFrame.htm

Kings Gambit · Apr 5, 2015

captnron said:
Hey Coyote,

Welcome aboard to my area pal.

I live in the TB area. Yes, you may find slips in the bay but, areas to dock your boat will depend on your type of sailing.

If bay sailing is more to your liking, a slip inside the bay might be fine for you. If you are abit more adventurous, a slip close to the Gulf "IS YOUR BEST." Quick out to the Gulf & not have, fighting tides, shifty winds, summer thunderstorms that create lightning & close wave intervals & skinny areas of water. Plus, great anchorages & places of interest.

The Gulf is not like the Atlantic but, more of a giant bathtub with nice wave action. I've been sailing this area for 25 years & never, I mean NEVER sail the bay unless I am going to a boat yard.

Beach areas to check are: St. Pete. beach, Treasure Island, Madeira Beach (we lovingly refer to as "MAD" beach) and in-between all the way up to Clearwater beach. I leave my slip, & in 5minutes, I go under the bascule bridge & I am in the Gulf with North, South & West points of sail in plenty of water. Plus, there is alot of beach social activity goin on.

PM me & leave me your PH# & we can go into better detail. I can promise you, this is a great place to sail all year round.

CR

I can't say that I was ever a "great fan" of sailing in Tampa Bay, per se; although the area at large has a lot to offer cruising sailors. Certainly, the harbors from MAD beach to Pass-a-Grille offer great access to the Gulf with all that it has to offer, north and south. If I still lived in FL I likely would have moved the boat by now to a Gulf-side location. The downside is driving across the Pinellas Peninsula to the Gulf from a residence in St. Pete using the highly inconvenient [read: idiotic] traffic flow scheme of the Pinellan Pinheads, as we once fondly referred to them!

RECESS · Apr 5, 2015

Beautiful sailing area, lots to see from a sailboat. It can get real skinny water above Anclote Key. I have lived in Titusville and kept my boat in Tampa / St Pete. You will have more open ocean sailing days in the St Pete area than Titusville. I fish from my boat and as good as the fishing is in and around Titusville, it is better off St Pete. If you like going a little off shore, the Middle Grounds is spectacular fishing.

I like the Clearwater area the best, so much within walking distance to the marinas. I mean a two story 24 hour Walgreens? Fantastic!

Kings Gambit · Apr 5, 2015

RECESS said:
I like the Clearwater area the best, so much within walking distance to the marinas. I mean a two story 24 hour Walgreens? Fantastic!

Yeah, sounds like what people love about Florida including Clearwater, warm water and Walgreens; the esteemed birthplace of Hooters as well as a principal headquarters of Scientology, afterall. Nevermind there's no place I ever found with a selection of microbrews on tap, particularly IPA's. I remember a fish resturant at the marina in Clearwater that had "Tuna-amberjack

" on the menu. When I asked the waiter to ask the chef/cook what fish it really was he came back with "... the cook said Tuna-amberjack." Turned out to be amberjack. What a place! I guess most tourists never heard of an amberjack so to sell the dish they had to call it "tuna-something."

Windborne · Apr 5, 2015

Greetings Coyote,

The Tampa Bay area is a great place to live, work and sail and if you have the opportunity I say take it. There are numerous marinas in the area on the Bay side and on the Gulf side and each has its advantages. St. Petersburg Municipal Marina may be the Cadillac of marinas and if you have the opportunity to get in you can't lose. Downtown St. Pete is a happening place with a great waterfront.

That said, I moved my boat to the Gulf side years ago and wouldn't go back. But that's not the point. Come on down, settle in, sign a lease and over the following year look around. You can always move her.

Kings mentioned Bayboro Harbor also in St. Pete. Like the municipal marina a beautiful place, close to reputable yards and easy access to the Bay. No bridges and deep water in minutes.

Ron likes the Gulf side. I know, I dock two slips down from him. More interesting IMHO but depending on where you dock could be a longer ride to the open waters of the Gulf, may need to traverse draw bridges and stay within the ICW in some places.

I'll put a plug in for what I think is the Cadillac marina of the Gulf side. Consider Gulfport Marina. Great waterfront dining and artsy downtown.

Good luck,
Windborne

vhfchannel16 · Apr 9, 2015

Coyote, we live in Tampa, but keep our boat in the St. Pete Municipal Marina on the South Docks. We kept our previous boat in Tampa, and it was nothing to write home about. The location of the St. Pete docks alone is a step-above- no offense, but downtown Tampa really is not even in the same league for boaters, which is really sad. While we are not liveaboards (more like, "Weekend-aboards"), the commute is not bad, and really, for what the marina offers, is a fair price. (Mobile pumpouts, security is good, and the location cannot be beat.) Publix is within walking distance, along with many great restaurants, bars, and there is always something happening in downtown St. Pete. The liveaboards on my dock are great and will always look out for your boat for you, too. While the waiting list to get in sometimes is arduous (we were #2 on the list for 6 months), it is definitely worth it!

St Petersburg Area Sailing

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