GULF COAST OF FLORIDA

[steveandtina]

GREETINGS SOUTHERN TUGNUTTERS...AFTER VISITING HERB AT PORT ISABELLE IN MARCH , WE WILL BE TAKING THE CHRISTINA BEE SOUTHEAST TO FLORIDA IN APRIL. WE WOULD LIKE TO EXPLORE THE COAST LINE BETWEEN PANAMA CITY AND TALAHASSE (APPROX) AND THEN TRAILER THE BOAT TO THE FT MEYERS AREA TO EXPLORE 100 MILES IN EITHER DIRECTION. --MAYBE EVEN TO LAKE OKEECHOBEE. --IF TIME PROVIDES . ANY ADVICE, SUGGESTIONS , MARINA, GUIDEBOOKS, PLACES TO LEAVE THE TRUCK ETC WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. PROBABLY WILL NOT HAVE TIME ON THIS TRIP TO SEE THE ATLANTIC SIDE 🙁 THANKING ANYONE AND EVERYONE IN ADVANCE FOR THEIR RESPONSE... SINCERELY STEVE AND TINA 😀 😀

 

[Bay Ranger]

Steve and Tina -

My wife Elaine and I cruised the Gulf Coast of Florida and the Okeechobee Waterway in 2009.

We spent almost two months at the Bradenton Beach Marina and enjoyed the area very much. Anna Maria Island is great to explore and a free trolley runs the length of the island with further bus connections at the southern end of the island to Sarasota. The beach is right across the road from the marina, there are lots of good restaurants and the trolley will get you to the supermarket and West Marine in short order.

We also enjoyed our visit farther south at Sanibel Marina on Sanibel Island. It's a first class marina which even delivers to the boat each morning. Gramma Dot's Seaside Saloon is on site and has great food.

The Army Corps of Engineers operates campground/marinas at several location on the Okeechobee Waterway and towns such as LaBelle, home of the Swamp Cabbage festival, provide free 24-hour dockage.

More details of our experiences can be found by searching Bradenton Beach and Sanibel Island on the Chat Forum. Posts on June 8, 14, and 19, 2009 cover the areas mentioned above.

I would be glad to answer any follow-up questions by PM.

Ed

 

[LADYBUG TOO]

Steve & Tina,

There is a great cruising guide by Claiborne S. Young on the Northern Gulf Coast (Pelican Publishing.) There are several editions for the south east by Young. There are many interesting sights all along the coast that are redily accessible from the ICW. Ladybug Too is based in pensacola, Florida. The trip from here to Apalachicola, Florida can be totally inside(i.e. out of the Gulf) and the route offers some great side trips. The run from Pensacola east runs inside Santa Rosa Sound to Ft. Walton Beach, don't be suprised to have dolphins riding your bow wave. There are several great sandy bottom anchorages along the way. At Ft. Walton the ICW enters Choctawhatchee Bay. The Destin pass is along this portion of the trip and there are great marina facilities and restaurants in Destin harbour. Continuing easterly you would enter the "ditch" of "canyon" (as the Tow's call it). The ditch gets into West Bay at Panama City Florida and again there are many marina facilities all around West Bay, St. Andrews Bay and on east until you get back into the ditch near Tyndal Air Force Base. The ICW ditch has a cut off to Port St. Joe east of Mexico Beach that would give you a great side trip to Cape Sand Blas. If it is scallop season, bring your dive flag and gear and enjoy some choice bay scallops, small but tasty. The ditch opens in to Lake Wimico before intersecting the Apalachicola River. Great facilities and seafood available there. St. George Island and Dog Island are south of the ICW on the way to Carrabelle and there are many adventures to be had along this route. Further east you can explore Ochlocknee(sp.?) Bay and Angelo's Restaurant.
The cruising guide has it all. Check it out. Good Luck! Ladybug Too

 

[commander bill]

I have had LENABELL there 2 times (2008 & 2009) almost 2 weeks each time. Applach is outstanding. ICW east of applach is very good with lots of wildlife. We cruised over to Port St Joe & Panama City also. Talk to Mark at Welfing as he is great and cn provide lots of info

 

[steveandtina]

ED,BILL, AND LADYBUG2, THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR INFORMATIVE RESPONSES--- THE CRUISING GUIDE IS ON THE WAY!! I THINK THIS INTERNET THING IS TURNING OUT NOT TO BE THE PASSING FAD I ORIGINALLY THOUGHT IT WAS--- STEVEANDTINA 😀

 

[wefings]

Let me know when you are in the area , I can give you my local knowlege for the Apalachicola area .We are the oldest Ranger Tug dealer in the east . Can help you with boat issues and maintennance as well . We enjoy meeting Ranger Tug folks .
Marc

 

[Bruce Moore]

Hi Steve and Tina - speaking of the Internet "thing" - if you haven't already checked it out, go to Active Captain Interactive Cruising Guide and search on the areas you want to cruise. It will be full of information about services, hazards, and local knowledge entered by boaters in the region. For those with iPhone/iPad the content is also available within Navimatics excellent Charts & Tides application.

Good cruising!

 

[thataway]

You might want to include Rick Rhodes "Cruising Guide to the Big Bend" which is by the same publisher as the Claiborne Young Guide. A good place to launch and leave the trailer in a secure area is the Pensacola Shipyard Marine Complex. Many public ramps are not areas where I would leave a rig unattended for some time. After reading the cruising guides, you might want to do part of the "Big Bend" or some of the river trips. There is a lot of "old Florida" which begs to be discovered.

When down this way, don't forget the St. John's River.

Incidently Tallahassee, is a good distance inland, and not a boating destination. There are several chart guides which work well for this area.

There are also some good destination in the Orange Beach/ Gulf Shores Alabama area if you want to start there. There are many towns which have both a lot of history and charm to be explored along the way. Don't rush thru this area.

Bob Austin
Pensacola FL

 

[JamesTXSD]

Just a little side note... I live in the same town as Herb. When you go to the Panhandle area of Florida, you will be going NORTHeast from here. 😉 Our latitude is: 26º, Pensacola is around 30º, Panama City is around 29º. Unless you are running diagonal across the Gulf, you gotta go north from here to get to Florida. (Notice the winkie emoticon, just a little SOUTH Texas humor - we are just about directly west of Naples, FL, btw). We got together with Russ and Toni when they came to visit Herb and Wilma - we may cross wakes when you're in south Texas.

Best wishes,
Jim B.

 

[thataway]

Hi Jim,
What was the temperature down there last night? I think I saw some sleet on the weather map?

Seriously--The Gulf Coast is a 4 season area--and can have cold nights this time of the year--although we hope it is warming up. The best months for cruising are March thru June, and Oct thru early Dec. Watch out for Northers if you want to cross open water in the winter months.

Bob Austin,
Pensacola.

 

[JamesTXSD]

Hi Jim,
What was the temperature down there last night? I think I saw some sleet on the weather map?

Seriously--The Gulf Coast is a 4 season area--and can have cold nights this time of the year--although we hope it is warming up. The best months for cruising are March thru June, and Oct thru early Dec. Watch out for Northers if you want to cross open water in the winter months.

Bob Austin,
Pensacola.

Hi Bob,

We got hammered; power is out and has been for over 18 hours. Ice storm, totally unheard of down here. A lot of damage in the area, power lines down, transformers blown. I have the generator fired up and have checked on all the elderly neighbors around us. We had lows in the upper 20s, and it stayed there for nearly 48 hours. If the power doesn't come back on, we'll be staying in Wild Blue tonight - easier to keep that small space warm.

Sounds like Florida missed this one. Since we've cruised "the Sunshine State" a few times, we know what Florida winters can be like. In 15 winters here in the Tropical Tip, this is the first time I've seen the temp go below freezing for more than a couple hours... and that is rare. Having lived in the frozen northland, we understand the cold and still have cold weather gear... there are houses down here that don't have furnaces, and most folks haven't had the need for a heavy coat. Our citrus crop is going to take a real beating. Sadly, it looks like a big sea turtle kill (they're endangered).

With the cold we're having, I sure would like to be cruising Florida about now. 😉

Best wishes,
Jim