west coast florida

[rads]

Possible relocation to the Sarasota-Tampa area. Would like to hear about the sailing conditions and marina availabilty in this area. Non-hurricane conditions of course!
thanks
Mark

[boatbum]

Summer hot and you motor everywhere. Winter, mild, you still motor to a destination, wind always on bow, no destination, great day sails. Plenty of marinas, a few closing to build condo''s. Great area... Come and enjoy.

[Oscar]

Had the most beautiful sailing there in March.....Shallow draft is a must.....

Oscar, C-42 "Lady Kay"

[halyardz]

boatbum...wind on the nose all the time? That because you are either cruising north or south along the coast?

[boatbum]

So what other direction would you have in Fla. when coatak cruising?

[boatbum]

West and East. Check the weather patterns and the seasons historacally, blow boats blow along nicely as long as you don''t have a destination and limited time. It always sucks unless you just want to go out for the day and don''t give a **** where you go.

[Sailormon6]

I''ve cruised the gulf coast during two and three week vacations generally between Clearwater and Ft. Myers for 25 years, and love the area. I haven''t found that the "wind is on the nose" any more often there than anywhere else. It might seem like that at times because of afternoon windshifts and little weather variations that blow through, but that''s just the nature of sailing. If you establish a casual itinerary, so that you aren''t trying to cover too much distance every day, a little windward sailing won''t throw you off. If the wind is on the nose and you really need to get to a destination at a certain time, that''s what the engine is for. If the weather is bad offshore, you can use the IC Waterway. If the conditions change unfavorably, just be flexible enough to adapt to them. If you enjoy the challenge of beating to windward, as we all do, then have at it, but if it gets tiresome, and you just want to get to your destination, don''t forget that you have options.

[sailnaway]

My Wife and I cruised from our dock in New Orleans down and back up the west coast this past summer. From Panama City to key West it was motoring some sail that was great and shallow as hell we have a deep draft boat.
We saw more lightning in St Pete than I have seen in years actually got hit and it cost us a bunch. It was exciting dodging the hurricanes with allot of luck and God looking after us we missed the brunt of the storms by a small margin 30 miles.The squalls are hellish in summer you have to be very careful waterspouts are common and you can not always see them coming. I like
StPete for the ease of getting a good burger walking distance from the ancorage to Johnny Rockets and a good movie and some dancing if you want a fun place. The Municipal marina is not cheep but is clean they have other marinas by the airport Salt Creek area.It gets real hot back in the bay so I don''t like to stay to long you start wanting to move into the condo penthouse on the top of the local highrise buildings. South is fun the Keys are a blast but over priced marinas drive most real sailors away. I cant get in to most ports north of Clearwater so that is not on my list,i also cant get into the island at Sarasota so I can not speek for that place Panama City and Destin are nice places the Beaches don''t get any better than that.