[Nancyleeny]

Hi all,
After a brutally cold few months, my husband and I went down to Florida, thinking about a place to spend a few months each year. We visited three Florida cities: St. Petersburg, Sarasota, and St. Augustine. We like a lot about each city, but want an active sailing community. Our impression of St. Pete's is that it has a very active public marina, lots of live aboards. We didn't see that in the other two cities, but we weren't there as long. We are now in a Charleston, SC, and going to check out their public marina too, as I saw they had winter rate discounts.

Any advice? Suggestions? We are new to this, don't even have a boat yet, but know we want to be in a sailing community.

Thanks!
Nancy

 

[ccriders]

I don't know from personal experience, but a friend regularly crosses the gulf to hand out in Ft. Meyers and recommends it highly.
John

 

[eherlihy]

I don't know from personal experience, but a friend regularly crosses the gulf to hand out in Ft. Meyers and recommends it highly.
John

Nope - No sailing in Ft Myers...

Actually, I've been teaching on Ft Myers Beach and Captiva. Fort Myers proper is a way up the Caloosahatche (SP?). There are a bunch of sailboats there, but it is a long way from the gulf, and you need to stick to the channel to get there (read this as motoring is a requirement). Under 5 foot draft would be preferable.

 

[Sailormon6]

I bareboat chartered in either the Tampa Bay area or in Charlotte Harbor for many years, and cruised up and down the Gulf Coast between Tarpon Springs and Captiva Island, and never tired of it. When the conditions are favorable, you can sail in the Gulf, and when they're bad, you can stay on the ICW. There are lots of beautiful restaurants, resorts, marinas and anchorages, and the geography of the area makes navigating from place-to-place interesting. I was only there for 2-3 weeks at a time, but it's well known that there's an active racing and social scene in the Tampa Bay area. There are other great places to sail, cruise and race, but the Tampa Bay area would be hard to beat.

The good thing about boating is that, if you get tired of cruising an area after awhile, you can move to a different sailing venue.

 

[Donna_F]

St. Augustine has a VERY active cruising community. A few full-time cruising SailNetters make it their home base. There are regular cruising nets, activities, get togethers. I've visited friends a few times there and we're considering it ourselves. Sailed into it once. The town is very boater friendly. Easy walking from the city marina to historic sites, great restaurants, shops, etc.

PM me with an email and I can put you in contact with some people in St. A.

 

[travlin-easy]

Ditto for Saint Augustine.

Gary

 

[eherlihy]

Finishing my earlier post; (and the correct spelling is "Caloosahatchee." Also, the river is named after the native Americans that lived there, the Calusa. "Hatchee" means "river" in their language, so while Caloosa (or Calusa) River could be considered correct, "Caloosahatchee River" is redundant.)

The waters here are skinny, and the shoal's shifty. So, while this is a great place for powerboaters, saiboats need a good depth sounder, and up to date charts. A swing keel would be a good thing to have.

 

[dpapesh]

We are leaving St. Aug. for Tampa / St. Pete. In St. Aug. the tidal currents rather strong,
the shores are mostly muddy, limited points of sail inland, winter is still pretty chilly. West coast offers sandy shores, much less current, bay offers more sailing options, temps. average 10 degrees warmer in winter. When our house sells its onto the boat & out of N.
Fla.

 

[svzephyr44]

I personally don't like St. Augustine. Very strong currents. Very iffy inlet with shoal water on each side that gets very nasty when the wind/current is wrong. I was there once when the Coast Guard could not get a 50 foot cutter out of the inlet on a rescue. St. Augustine is also North Florida - it was 28 degrees there at 6 AM this morning (I am currently in Jacksonville right around the corner.) If I were to pick St. Augustine I would consider Hidden Harbor marina - a nice live aboard community.

If I were going to pick a place in Florida it would be Marathon/Key West. Beautiful water, beautiful beaches, great night life (Key West, Marathon not so much), big boating community, nice SCUBA diving sites, sailing in the Gulf, easy trip to the Bahamas, annual race week to bring in the "fun" boats, great music scene, lots of deep water a short distance from the anchorages, pretty easy prices (anchor out for free or use the municipal marina at Garrison Bight,) warmer than North Florida, easy going Police - it is a resort community that depends on tourism - can't carry a drink in the streets - "please sir, would you step in that doorway and finish your drink!" The downside is that the big city is Miami - a long drive over a two lane road.

Never sailed the West Coast of Florida so no info there.

Fair winds and following seas

 

[Capt.Alex]

Depends what is most important to you, Shore side amenities, cruiser friendly town, accessible cruising grounds, low costs, etc.
As far as places to live, I would vote Charleston. By far the the best amenities ashore of any of your choices. Good sailing in Charleston harbor and offshore, however, no great cruising grounds nearby. There is a very active sailing/racing community and great marina facilities. The down side is cost. Its reasonable during the winter, but VERY expensive the rest of the year.
Saint Augustine has a good sailing community and a fun little town, but no nearby cruising destinations of interest. If you want to be in Florida look at the Charlotte harbor or Tampa Bay areas. St. Pete is a great spot if you want to be near the city life but still have some good weekend cruising options. There are numerous places to anchor for a night or weekend within a days sail.
The Charlotte harbor area (Sanibel Isl, Pine Island, Punta Gorda, Matalacha Isl, etc.)has fantastic cruising grounds but a bit less interesting ashore, but tons of natural beauty. Also closer to the FL. Keys, Tortugas, etc for a longer getaway.
I could go on and on....

 

[nolesailor]

While St. Pete is the only location of the three you've mentioned that I've sailed in, as a Florida resident my vote would be for St. Pete/Sarasota on the west coast of FL. From St. Pete you can get down to the Port Charlotte/Ft Myers area fairly easily...as well as having a fairly easy jump down to the Keys. From what I've seen, St Pete has a decent sailing scene...and as has been noted above, the beaches on the West coast of FL are great...and the weather further down the peninsula is warmer (this coming from a FL panhandler - it was 26 here this morning!).

 

[blutoyz]

I don't wish to hijack this thread but I would bet the OP would be interested in this question:

What is the price range for seasonal (winter) slips in this area? Up here in Narragansett Bay it will go from 80-$120/foot depending on amenities for April - Oct give or take.

 

[miatapaul]

it was 28 degrees there at 6 AM this morning

Well that is about 36 degrees warmer than it was in my driveway this morning! Does not sound like a bad winter low to me!

 

[Donna_F]

...

Any advice? Suggestions? We are new to this, don't even have a boat yet, but know we want to be in a sailing community.

Thanks!
Nancy

Are you talking about sailing to these locations? Why not just try them all? Boats are meant to be moved. Try one city one season, another the next season, and so forth. You may get to the first one and not want to leave. So don't. You may hate it and want to try a different one next time. So go.

Mobility and exploring new places are part of the joy of sailing. Don't set your keel in stone.

 

[travlin-easy]

Donna is right, hoist the sails and sail to all of those destinations, and all the places between them. There is so much to see and explore along the east coast I'm amazed that more people never roam more than a few miles from their home port. The absolute best sailing experience I've ever encountered was north of Marathon Key's 7-Mile Bridge on the shallow waters of the gulf two winters ago. It was exhilarating to say the least.

Gary

 

[night0wl]

get a few insurance quotes before you move down...you may decide you can handle winter just fine. as for favorite sailing in FL, if you can afford it, Miami and Biscayne Bay are great, especially with the Bahamas so close by. Charlotte Harbor is second on my list...

 

[jenunn01]

St. Petersburg would definitely be my choice. Lots of marinas and great support in terms of riggers, mechanics, electronics techs, etc. I have lived in both St. Pete area and Sarasota....both are beautiful, but far more choices in St. Pete. I love the keys as well but as a place to visit, not live. Tampa Bay would be a great place to learn to sail before venturing out into the Atlantic or Gulf. Good luck!

 

[Nancyleeny]

I had a long response but it disappeared!

Thank you, all, for sharing your experience. I'm not sure we want to live aboard because I am a silversmith and potter and also have dogs, cats and birds that I can get a pet sitter for if we have a house, but can't take on the boat. So for now, we have those ties.

Thanks!
Nancy

 

[eherlihy]

Blutoyz raises a good point about slip costs. I keep my 35' boat in a slip in RI, and it costs over $4k per season (April - November). Storage for the off-season (October - May) is at least another $1.5k. Thus bringing the total annual cost for a 35' boat to $5.5K.

I know that I could keep the same boat in Ft Myers for $8-$10 per foot per month (I believe that I could shop around and beat this). Thus the total cost for a slip for me, year round, would be $4.2K in FL.

Insurance and taxes are another story....

 

[Sal Paradise]

Nancy

Good thread. Tell us what YOU found.

Sal