Cruising Guide For Western Florida

[fishheadbarandgrill]

Is there a penultimate cruising guide for the west coast of Florida? We just acquired a new to us Ranger Tug R29. While we planned a Bahamas cruise, I won’t have enough time with the boat to be comfortable with taking her to the Bahamas this season.

Bob Menches
2011 R29 Sea Shanty
Southport, NC

 

[quinsky]

I am planning a trip to SW FL in February. I've done a little research and have purchased the following:

Florida West Coast and the Keys Chart Book - Maptech ChartKit® Book w/Companion CD $123.03 from Amazon
Waterway Guide Southern 2018: Florida, the Keys and the Gulf Coast $45.95 from Amazon
A Guide to Anchorages in SW Florida. Free. Put together by the Florida Sea Grant Program, it is rather old but I read some blogs that said it was still worth having. You can download it in .pdf from the following website. Scroll down and select "Full Document" http://nsgl.gso.uri.edu/flsgp/flsgph990 ... index.html

Right now my plans are to start in Punta Gorda and cruise down to Everglades City. I want to do some dinghy fishing around Ten Thousand Islands. We plan on a two week cruise so we may work our way back north of Punta Gorda. I've looked up some Marinas in PG where I can launch the boat and store my truck and trailer. Haven't made contact yet. Any info you have would be appreciated.

BTW where do you keep your boat in Southport? We really enjoy staying at Southport Marina. Saw a light green R29 there. Is That You?

 

[fishheadbarandgrill]

I am planning a trip to SW FL in February. I've done a little research and have purchased the following:

Florida West Coast and the Keys Chart Book - Maptech ChartKit® Book w/Companion CD $123.03 from Amazon
Waterway Guide Southern 2018: Florida, the Keys and the Gulf Coast $45.95 from Amazon
A Guide to Anchorages in SW Florida. Free. Put together by the Florida Sea Grant Program, it is rather old but I read some blogs that said it was still worth having. You can download it in .pdf from the following website. Scroll down and select "Full Document" http://nsgl.gso.uri.edu/flsgp/flsgph990 ... index.html

Right now my plans are to start in Punta Gorda and cruise down to Everglades City. I want to do some dinghy fishing around Ten Thousand Islands. We plan on a two week cruise so we may work our way back north of Punta Gorda. I've looked up some Marinas in PG where I can launch the boat and store my truck and trailer. Haven't made contact yet. Any info you have would be appreciated.

BTW where do you keep your boat in Southport? We really enjoy staying at Southport Marina. Saw a light green R29 there. Is That You?

Great info. Thanks. That is not my Tug. That is an R31 CB. It was for sale but someone told me it sank at the dock during Hurricane Florence. It is or at least was on the hard now at Zimmerman Marine. Of course the water at that slip is probably only a couple of feet at low tide under normal conditions. Luckily the marina is about to be dredged. My tug is in Maine now and will be trucked down to Southport Marina next week. I'll be on E-dock. The wife and I will leave to head south mid-January. Still may venture to the Bahamas but with such a short time-line, I'm not sure I can get all my registration and documentaion work done quick enough. So I'm planning a west coast Florida and Keys trip as a backup.

Bob