St Petersburg/Tampa Area Information

[Bosn Mate]

Good Afternoon:

We are starting to plan for our winter 2023-2024 cruise in the St Pete/Tampa area on our R29 Sedan. We are looking for information on marinas with easy truck/trailer access (wide load) and ability to take Tingira off the trailer with a forklift and launch/recover. Also ideas on storing the truck and trailer while we cruise.

Any info would be much appreciated!

Mike and Kathy
TINGIRA (2018 R29 Sedan)

 

[knotflying]

Any info now may not be accurate due to the hurricane issues. I would also think that getting a slip will be difficult if traveling on the west coast between Tampa to Marco Island. This will put pressure on other marinas that will be open, even on the east coast. All of the areas that I know of have been destroyed. I have yet to hear about my marina in Goodland, Calusa Island Marina. They have a great ramp and can usually provide storage.

 

[mlanger]

Any info now may not be accurate due to the hurricane issues. … . All of the areas that I know of have been destroyed.

One of the folks at MTOA shared this link this morning:
https://storms.ngs.noaa.gov/storms/ian/ ... /-82.05735

It’s recent hi-def satellite images of the Hurricane Ian destruction that includes street names, etc. you could use it as a reference to try to determine how severely hit a specific area was.

I’m putting my boat in at Chicago with the idea of cruising south to Florida for the winter and am starting to get worried about places to stay in that area along the way.

 

[CaptT]

You can try Regatta Pointe Marina Safe Harbor in Palmetto or Shell Point Marina in Ruskin. Both of these marinas have launch ramp access. Regatta would require you store the truck and trailer at one of the self storage places in the area, ( short Uber ride), but Shell Point might allow storage for both, on-site, for a fee.
I have my boat in rack storage at Little Harbor Marina by Suntex and they store my trailer for a monthly fee of $75. When we go on trips for multiple months we leave our truck in their parking lot as they have private security and cameras. They do have wet slips available the last time I checked and can lift your boat off of the trailer with one of their forklifts. Little Harbor is also in Ruskin, Florida.
As far as I know, and I do live in the area, most of the marinas are now open. Little Harbor opened today and only closed due to the loss of power and internet communications.
Hope this helps
Terry

Edit- Anything south of the Tampa Bay area is questionable. The Ft Myers, Charlotte Harbor area is pretty much destroyed .

 

[gwishon]

I don’t believe either Regatta Point or Shell Point have forklifts to take your boat off the trailer. Both are easy to launch down their ramps, though. Cut’s Edge marina is nearby Regatta Point, and they do have a forklift.

Gordon

 

[CaptT]

I don’t believe either Regatta Point or Shell Point have forklifts to take your boat off the trailer. Both are easy to launch down their ramps, though. Cut’s Edge marina is nearby Regatta Point, and they do have a forklift.

Gordon

Gordon,
Regatta has a ramp, as stated earlier, which is part of Mantee County's free launch program, Shell Pointe does have a lift and does lift boats from trailers. Shell Pointe closed their launch ramp over a year ago . I've been on Cut's Edge wait list for over a year, do they have open slips now?

 

[Bosn Mate]

Thanks for the info!

 

[gwishon]

Thanks for the correction. Regarding Shell Point, I thought you were talking about EG Simmons Park, which has only a ramp. I don’t know if Cut’s Edge has available slips. I used their forklift for a haulout to get the bottom painted. The boat was placed on stands for the bottom job.

Gordon

 

[CaptT]

Gordon,

Did you have Cut's Edge do the bottom job on your boat or do they let do-it-yourselfers work on their own boats? I'm getting close to having to do mine. I went to Snead Island Marina last time, (Mike, another place that can lift and launch), and they were very expensive. Good work but you pay for it!

Thanks,
Terry

 

[gwishon]

Cut’s Edge allows DIY’ers to work on their boats. We had third party local recommended by Dan McClanahan do the bottom paint, while Dan and I replaced a packing nut and did other maintenance on the boat. This was a year ago, so you may want to call ahead to see if their policies have changed.

Gordon

 

[BB marine]

Hopefully we will run into some of you TugNuts in the Tampa Area this winter. We will be in Bradenton December and January. I'm looking forward to cruising in that area. We have spent most of our time in SWF which may be limited this winter season. Although my thoughts are Floridians are resilient and will have the area cleaned up and looking good in a short period of time. I hope all that went through the storm are doing well and had little or no damage. See you on the water!

 

[Matty]

Sadly our R27 did not survive the storm. Upside down and fully submerged. Want to thank folks on the forum for all their great advice and glad I could help a few folks along the way. Only made one rendezvous but it was fantastic. Boat was hauled to salvage today. As my son put it...they can take the boat but not the memories. We will see what the next boating adventure brings. Wishing all of you great memories and boating experiences. Be safe.

 

[CaspersCruiser]

Sadly our R27 did not survive the storm. Upside down and fully submerged.…..Wishing all of you great memories and boating experiences. Be safe.

What a bummer. Glad YOU are safe.

You are a valuable Tugnut and hope that a replacement Tug or Cut keeps you here.

Best wishes!

 

[gswearin]

Very sorry to hear that Matty.

 

[gwishon]

Matty, glad you are safe. I hope you will able to replace the boat and look forward to seeing you at future Rendezvous.

Many of us would benefit from hearing more about your experience—where the boat was located, how you prepared it to weather the storm, etc. Unless it’s too painful, of course!

Gordon

 

[BB marine]

Sorry to hear that your boat took a direct hit and was destroyed. I know it happened to many this hurricane season but when it is you that experienced the damage it is not a story it is an experience. I'm sorry you had to experience this. There is not much talk about the damages on the east coast because of the major focus on the SWF area. As Gordon mentioned could you elaborate on what the conditions were and damages in the area you keep your boat?

Thank you for your past contributions to the forum and I hope you continue to participate.