Free mooring in south florida/upper keys?

[ufsugar]

We just bought a 30' 1981 Hunter. We're looking for a place to moor her in south florida or the upper keys so that we have quick sailing access to Keys/Bahamas. Having a hard time finding free mooring. I've seen something about Upper Matecumbe Key but haven't been able to verify. Any ideas? Thanks a lot!!

[southwindphoto]

Many Cities in Florida now prohibit mooring or anchoring up your boat and instead are providing (paid for) mooring spaces.

There are numerous good spots in the Keys to anchor up, a shallow draft sailboat.

And Monroe county’s which includes all of Florida’ keys so far does not require you to have a paid for mooring. But you are required to have at least a 10 gallon black water holding tank, and the locals LEO’s and FWC are checking for it.

[CaptainForce]

Originally Posted by southwindphoto

Many Cities in Florida now prohibit mooring or anchoring up your boat and instead are providing (paid for) mooring spaces..................

I don't think there is a single city in Florida that totally disallows anchoring! Vero Beach, St. Augustine, Fort Myers and Fort Myers Beach have mooring fields that greatly limit the opportunity to find anchoring space and some cities like Naples have little if any space available outside established channels. Many cities have available anchoring space, but few public dinghy landing opportunities. If you make this statement, "Many Cities in Florida now prohibit mooring or anchoring...", it would be helpful to cite the names of some of these cities. Thanks, Aythya crew