MacGregorSailors.com

John
What does it cost to keep your boat there, and how much to have them put it in the water. We have a place down in Palmetto where we keep the boat for the winter - costs us about $85.00 per month (we feel is quite reasonable) but when we were down at Christmas, they charged us $285 to put the boat in the water and take it back out again (I thought quite expensive) thanks
Ken

Ken, I pay $145/Mo. with unlimited "put-ins" and "take-outs". Not cheap but an inwater slip in that area is $10/ft/Mo and this way I don't have to worry about bottom maintenance. John L

John: would you have the phone number of the marina.thanks mark,97

Mark, The name of the place is Doc of the Bay, the owner is named Rick and the number is 727-942-3969. John L

Thanks John,right now(always subject to change)appears will come to area 3-21,rig and launch spend nite in tarpon sps,maybe eat at one of the Greek rest. then head out the following a.m.,,maybe meet up with Dimitri around caldsei isl.(if that works with his plans) ,,will see how it pans out

It appears i need a different place to launch and stow my truck and trailer at, any idea's,thanks mark,97

Mark, John, Ken,

Looks like it is 4 of us who have interest in the week of March 20th. I still haven't decided whether I want to start from Tampa or trailer my boat down to Charlotte Harbor/PineIsland/Captiva area and cruise around there for a few days.

Don't know if there is enough momentum for the longer version of the cruise. May end up being either 3-4 days around St Pete/Caladesi area, or 3-4 days around Captiva area.

I'd like to know some of your opinions.

sorry guys ,something has come up,will have to pass this time,will try again as after seeing the pic's the boss still want's to try caldesi island,mark,97

Dimitri, I don't have any choice but to stay in the Anclote, Caladesi, Honeymoon Island area as my tow vehicle will be in Missouri so I can't trailer down to Charlotte Harbor. John

John, it sounds like that is what we might end up doing at this point...Caladesi area. I had started planning the Sarasota area but just learned that there is a red tide outbreak going on so it now looks like the Northern route makes more sense.

Right now I'm just trying to figure out whether I want to sail the boat 65+ miles to get there, or put it on the trailer and drive 15 miles to the Dunedin area

Anyone besides John interested in meeting up?

Dimitri:

I've been lurking on your thread for months. Would like to join in and maybe have a new trailer built in St. Pete at the same time. Would save a 450 mile round trip. But, I so seldom get off dead center and do anything don't count on us. Just a maybe so far.

Jack

Jack, that would be great if you could make it over. Its basically down to two weeks from today...depending on how I make it over there. Sailing 65 miles isn't that big of a deal except that is more than a 1 day range unless I want to burn some gas. Otherwise, it would be about 1.5 days each way for the trip and I'd like to spend at least a couple nights at Caladesi. Since there aren't a bunch of people coming from out of state, I think I'll play the best weather window within that week...ie starting out probably Mon or Tue depending on weather. If I sail, I might try to shoot for John's Pass to stay the first night..either anchored off of the ICW or at a marina if I feel like being a tourist. That way, the next morning it is easy to either shoot out into the gulf for a 22 mile sail or head north on the ICW depending on weather. John's pass is between Madiera Beach and Treasure Island and is a fun place...who knows, you may find John Levique's treasure which was lost during the devastating hurricane of 1848 which created the pass. Between Caladesi and Honeymoon island is a pass (appropriately named hurricane pass) which was formed during the last catastrophic hurricane to hit the area in 1921.

I found this site which shows the Caladesi Marina and lets you make reservations. http://www.reserveamerica.com/jsp/commo ... index.html Looks like it costs about $18 per night which is pretty low cost for around here...but it probably doesn't include much except for safe harbor. I understand there is about a 500 foot boardwalk from the marina to the beach side. I'm going to give them a call in the next week and ask exactly what they have. Have read conflicting descriptions about whether electricity and hot showers are available.

I'll do some more planning and we can touch base in about a week, exchange phone numbers and all that kind of stuff.

Ken, you still coming down?

Wish I could meet you all. I am going to sail that area the 31st and 1st while I visit my brother in the Pine Island area. My kids have off the week of the 27th.

I am looking for suggestions on day/one night sails in the area as I am not familiar with the area much. My brother says Cayo Costa is a nice park.

Jeff S

I have spent the night at the Caladesi dock before. You will need noseeum neting on your boat. There are very small flies in Florida called no-see-um's. They bite and there are thousands of them. You can get the neting at your backpacking tent repair store. Sunblock works well to keep them from biting.

The next Island north is Honeymoon. Anchoring in the bay on the north side of Honeymoon Island is very good. With a light wind, there is almost no bugs.

How did the trip go? I wish that we could have joined you. However, we have not got our stuff together yet. It will be a few more weeks before we get our furler working.

I like the idea of that marina where you can leave the boat rigged and on the trailer.

Does anyone know of such a place farther south on the west coast of Florida? We live in Venice which is just south of Sarasota. Anywhere in Sarasota County or the Englewood (Stump Pass) area would be fine.

Hope that you guys had a good sail.

Regards,
ROB