Stuck in West Florida?

We have had a wonderful, deliver style, run down the ICW we know so well and then a great time seeing new waters from Coco to Fort Myers. We did the rim route over the lake which I'm finding is not a common thing to do in a boat our size. The bridge tender at the hand operated bridge seemed incredulous when I told him a 43 footer was coming.

Our plan is to find a place to leave the boat fairly early in December for about a month to return north for the holidays and then return to explore west Florida over the winter. However, so far every marina I have called has laughed at me. They are all full of boats being repaired or which lost their docks or home marinas in Irma.

We're wondering if things might be better up in the Tampa area. Any suggestions appreciated. I'm leaning towards leaving the boat on the hard as we may want to put new bottom paint on when we return.

You could try some in the Tarpon Springs area. We did not get hit very hard so I would think some had space available.

Two yards in my area Pine Island/St. James City, are York Rd. marine 239-283-1149, Bob and Annie's
boatyard 239-283-3962 may have room.

Charlotte Harbor Boat Storage. Hard storage only.
No affiliation. Happy customer.

Try The st, pete municipal marina. The only problem is you may not want to leave.

Marina - St. Petersburg

Think about going back through the O Waterway to that yard you passed in Belle Glade. They usually have very good rates for dry storage.

Keysdisease said:

Think about going back through the O Waterway to that yard you passed in Belle Glade. They usually have very good rates for dry storage.

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I think he means LaBelle. Actually there are two yards between Moore Haven and LaBelle.

Hi Roger,
Is that your boat I see anchored when I cross the Matlacha bridge?

bayview said:

Try The st, pete municipal marina. The only problem is you may not want to leave.

Marina - St. Petersburg

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They said their waitlist was over a year long for a 44’ slip. [emoji15]

I thought you only wanted a month, They have a big transient dock usually with plenty of room. Also have cheaper moorings.

Where are you headed? Next destination?

Try The Glades 863-983-3040 or Owl creek 239-543-2100 offer what your asking,,, you passed both on your delivery. I’m not sure if they want your boat, it’s very busy, be very nice and most places can find room for one more.

Also, try Maximo Marina over off Boca Ciega Bay.

BandB said:

Where are you headed? Next destination?

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We're heading up to the Saint Petersburg / Tampa area tomorrow morning. Will stop somewhere enroute to celebrate finally having a boat with an oven by having a quiet Thanksgiving at anchor.

I'll be on the phone a lot tomorrow morning following up on the recommendations I've gotten here and from the Active Captain Facebook group.

milt said:

Hi Roger,
Is that your boat I see anchored when I cross the Matlacha bridge?

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No, wasn't us. You can see on our SPOT page (link in signature) where we are and have anchored as I send out a "Check In" message every night as I am shutting down the engines.

IF you are willing to burn a day , coming back up the river bring it to my place in Ortona..

PM if interested , plenty of room.

cardude01 said:

They said their wait list was over a year long for a 44’ slip. [emoji15]

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Re: St. Pete Marina....
A friend got a slip there for a month in Dec just a few weeks ago. Long term is harder.

Thanks on Thanksgiving

FF said:

IF you are willing to burn a day , coming back up the river bring it to my place in Ortona..

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Thanks very much for the offer. I wish I had posted earlier. However we are now set for Tuesday morning with J & R up here in Port Charlotte. Now that we are this far I think we'll bite the bullet on the cost. We also want to leave the boat on the hard as we need to check zincs and may repaint the bottom before continuing on our return.

BTW, our run from Fort Myers up to here yesterday has us thinking this is the most beautiful area we have seen south of Maine. Parts of it remind me of Bermuda.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. We're giving thanks for being here and owning a boat with a stove for the first time in over half a century of cruising.

High Wire said:

Charlotte Harbor Boat Storage. Hard storage only.
No affiliation. Happy customer.

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Thanks for this suggestion. I never would have thought to click an Active Captain icon so far inland. I thought it would be an outboard motor place along a road somewhere. They were full but hooked us up with J & R for whom they do the haul outs. "Gypsy Star" will go a short distance down the road and spend a month on the hard.

If you want hard storage and a well done bottom job while you are away then call Sneads Boat Works near Bradenton, FL @ 941-722-2400. They do a really nice job. They are EPA approved for bottom sanding.

Roger,
Good to hear you made a connection. We are in up state N.Y. for the summer but
if you are ever in our area (Pine Island) during the winter months give us a shout.

Roger Long said:

Thanks for this suggestion. I never would have thought to click an Active Captain icon so far inland. I thought it would be an outboard motor place along a road somewhere. They were full but hooked us up with J & R for whom they do the haul outs. "Gypsy Star" will go a short distance down the road and spend a month on the hard.

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Glad to help. You can waste some time at Cayo Costa State Park before Tuesday. 3 hours to the lock then 1 1/2 hours or so to CHBS dock.
Watch out for that stupid lock! Twenty seconds after you let go of the center chain, it gives you the message "Now closing the lock gate, stand clear!" By that time you just cleared the wall and your bow is between the doors! Don't panic, the doors don't really close until you pull and hold the chain (or button) on the other side.

Happy Thanksgiving! If you can venture to the panhandle, Pensacola shipyard, Hooks Marine Services can handle your needs . . . Getting a face lift there currently, had a wallet lift in South Florida[emoji33] on a couple of jobs.

milt said:

R We are in up state N.Y. for the summer but
if you are ever in our area (Pine Island) during the winter months give us a shout.

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We're on the same schedule. We spend summers at our cottages in Canaan, NY so summer isn't cruising time for us. We just finished my 11 th ICW transit (sounds better counting the trips each way) and will be heading back to Albany for the holidays. We'll be back here early in January and finishing our exploration of the west coast before heading north again. We hope to have the boat on the Hudson and do some of the Canadian canals next summer.

Happy Thanksgiving.

And a happy Thanksgiving to you. I think we had a short conversation on tf when
we were up in your area looking at a 29' prairie.

Take a look at Turtle Cove Marina in Tarpon Springs. They have space (as of today) and are very near to Pitman's Yacht Service for any haul out work, etc.

X 2 on Tarpon Cove.

If you really want to have something unique, head up to Crystal River. The marina is crap but the manatees are starting to flock and there is plenty of dock space.