Cruising Florida SW Coast

[Monk36]

We own a Monk 36, are based in Ft. Pierce and are pretty much river rats. Unless it's less than 2-3 feet, we stay on the ICW for the most part.

We've crossed Lake O numerous times and have learned it's a more pleasant trip in the winter with lower temps. However, we have little experience cruising past Fort Myers/Estero area and prefer to stay in highly protected waters.

Any thoughts on cruising South from Ft. Myers? Is there mostly protected water or will we need to cruise the open Gulf heading towards Marco Island?

On the flip side, any ideas on heading North from Ft. Meyers? How far north can we cruise before we have to be in open Gulf water?

Your feed back is welcomed and encouraged. Thanks in advance.

 

[bayview]

ICW all the way north to Tarpon Springs and much cruising in the wilds of SW FL inland from Naples.

 

[High Wire]

Agree ICW from Ft Myers Beach to Tarpon Springs. South of FMB is all outside in the Gulf. There is a shallow inside path but its barely 4 ft deep and it does not go all the way to Naples.

 

[O C Diver]

There's a very simple way to find out:

http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s27/tarpon-springs-cruise-get-together-47724.html

We play nicely; have cookies and milk for members coming from the East coast. You will probably need to leave around the 1st if coming by boat, but driving across for Saturday lunch is a good second choice.

Ted

 

[DavidM]

I live in Punta Gorda and mostly do overnighters behind the barrier islands of N. Captiva, Cayo Costa, Boca Grande and Don Pedro, all of which are north of Fort Meyers Beach. I have also cruised down from Tampa to Marco Island and beyond.

There are several nice cruising destinations in this area. Most are anchorages but marinas are also nearby. Here is a run down:

Boca Grande- Nice anchorage north up the bayou from the marked inlet on the bay side. A bit skinny, maybe 5' after you make the turn to the north, but it opens up and the anchorage has 10' in the middle and 6' all the way up to the mangroves. Drop your anchor in the center and back down and tie your stern to the mangroves. Dinghy over to the public/private dock on the north end. The north half are public and the south half are for the Pink Elephant. Walk a half mile or so into town wich has a couple of restaurants and over to the beach for a swim.

Cayo Costa State Park, Pelican Bay. Just south of Boca Grande. Either anchor out- there is lots of room for big boats and 6'+ draft, or if you are a smallish boat tie up to the park docks and pay a pittance for overnight. Walk 1/4 mile or so over to the beach.

Don Pedro State Park Docks- This one is a sleeper. Go north on the ICW from Boca Grande, under the bridge and then a mile or so up look for a tiny cut to the west. Your boat needs to draw no more than 3' to make it through at low. Tie up at one of the free park docks then walk a few hundred yards across the island to the pavilion and beach.

Sarasota- Further north, there is a mooring field just south of Marina Jack's who manages the moorings. Dinghy in to the beach to the north and you are in the middle of downtown Sarasota with lots to do.

Back down south again, North Captiva/Barnacles Restaurant- 3' is about all that can do this at low. Go into the cut and around the point at the north end of North Captiva. Barnacles, a nice old Florida type of fish house is at the head of the cove. Tie up at their docks, 30ish feet is about all that fit, and go in for lunch or dinner. The restaurant is under new ownership and maybe they will be more accommodating of overnight stays than the former ones. Or you can anchor out after dinner.

Down further south, Fort Meyers Beach has a nice mooring field. The motel at the bridge manages them. The mooring field is good for up to 45' and has deep water. The dinghy dock is under the bridge and from there you can find lots of bars, restaurants and the beach is 1/4 mile to the west.

Naples has a public mooring field right in town. Don't know of any other anchorages.

Marco has a decent anchorage in Factory Bay, but not much to do or go to down there.

David

 

[AZ2Loop]

Great timing on your thread, Monk36, and thanks to DavidM for the info. We are in Fort Myers now and spent some time today looking south to figure out where and when we should go. We have more research to do, but here is what we are thinking so far. We would go outside from Fort Myers Beach down to Naples, where it looks like we could go inside at Gordon Pass if desired. South of Naples, around Rookery Bay, it looks like there may be some good options for anchoring. I think one could stay inside heading from there to Marco Island. From Marco Island, we may head east through the Judge SS Jolley Bridge and go to Goodland. From Goodland we may take Coon Key Pass southward and eventually head to the Keys from there. Eventually we will likely come up through your area, Monk36, around Ft. Pierce. This is very rough planning so far and we will research it more. Other ideas will hopefully keep coming in from this thread from those who know the area.

 

[Steve]

We made the trip from Louisiana down to Marathon, Fl then back via Miami and Okeechobee in March 2010 below some blog entries for the portion Sanibel Is. to Marathon. for more details check out that time period on the blog link below my signature line, Watch out for the crab trap floats down there!
March 7 2010
It turned out a beautiful day, not so cool, light winds and sunny. We left Sanibel for Marco Island at 10 AM. We met and were following a British couple in their Monk 36 trawler, the Sterling Dollar. They have been to Marco Island and the keys several times and gave us some good information on the route. They were stopping to stay at a marina in Goodlands which is on a canal just past Marco Island on the Inside Route it is part of the ICW which is now used by pleasure craft to cut out some of the open water travel around Cape Romano when traveling along the area, it is not kept up to the ICW standards and has some shallow spots we went through on a rising tide and had no problems. We got to the anchorage at Tripod Key at 3:15PM and had dinner on board.

March 8 2010
We left the Goodlands (Tripod Key) area anchorage at 9AM the weather was very nice, warm, light breeze from the North and sunny. The tide was quite low and we went through some shallow spots on our way to the gulf through Coon Pass and Gulivan Bay. Everything went fine on the way down the coast and we arrived at Little Shark River at 3:15 PM. The water depths in the Gulf on the way down and in the anchorage were good, usually around 8 feet. One sailboat was there when we arrived and several more arrived after us. The little Shark River is in the Everglades Park there is no development for miles so it is pitch black at night till the stars come out they really shine there with no "light pollution" around.

March 9 2010
We left Little Shark River anchorage at 7:45 AM The weather was pretty much a carbon copy of the last two days. Everything went fine until we reached Florida Bay, it is the body of water between the Florida Mainland and the Keys it has more crab traps and floats then any place I have seen. They are run in long strings at different angles which makes them hard to dodge. We didn't have any problems but had to keep a very close look out for the floats, we had nice calm water today if it had been rough it would have been much more difficult to see and dodge them.
Soon we arrived and passed under the Seven Mile Bridge of the Overseas Highway, it is the highway which runs from Miami to Key West next we turned into the entrance of Marathon's boot key Harbor and the Marathon Marina and boatyard where we docked and checked in at 2PM. Got the boat cleaned up and looked around a bit before having dinner at the restaurant attached to the marina

 

[bayview]

Yes it is outside from ft Meyers to Naples. From there there is inside paths to glades.
In the right weather outside along the entire coast and Florida bay is often fine
I don’t think you need to remain only in rivers.

 

[Monk36]

Wish we could make it then but already have plans for early Jan. Sounds like fun!

 

[Monk36]

WOW- you should write a book! very helpful information. Looking forward to making a copy of your tips and heading west this Winter.
Thank you

 

[Monk36]

really helpful
Thanks for taking the time to respond

 

[FootballFan]

Yes the ICW goes north all the way to Tarpon Springs. Be aware it does cross Tampa Bay which can get very choppy when the wind picks up. Once you are across the bay you are back into protected water to Tarpon.


Great area to cruise.


Last I heard there is a dredge scheduled to be working in the Venice area.

 

[bayview]

Mosquitoes are terrible in glades and shark river in summer

 

[Capitaine R]

Mosquitoes are terrible in glades and shark river in summer

He ain't lying. The last time I spent the night in shark river the mosquito were eating the owner of the boat alive while he was in his cabin, l was hanging out in the open cockpit and didn't get one bite, weird.