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Please Note That Anchorages Below Are Listed in A Rough North to South And East to West Geographic Format
46. Cowpens Northeastern Anchorage
Statute Mile:1154.5
Lat/Lon: 24 58.911 North/080 33.300 West
Location: on the northeastern reaches of charted Cowpens Anchorage. This body of water comprises the southeasterly section of Cotton Key Basin and borders on Plantation Key
Minimum depth: 5-feet
Swing Room: unlimited Foul Weather Shelter – fair, open to western, northwestern, northern and southwestern winds
Foul Weather Shelter: Fair, open to western and southwestern winds
Rating: 
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47. Cowpens Southwestern Anchorage
Statute Mile:1154.5
Lat/Lon: 24 58.029 North/080 34.371 West
Location: on the southwestern reaches of charted Cowpens Anchorage. west of Plantation Key Yacht Harbor. Cowpens Anchorage comprises the southeasterly section of Cotton Key Basin and borders on Plantation Key
Minimum depth: 5-feet
Swing Room: unlimited Foul Weather Shelter – fair to good, open to northwestern and northern winds
Foul Weather Shelter: Fair, open to northern and northwestern winds
Rating:
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48. Snake Creek Anchorage
Statute Mile:1155.5
Lat/Lon: near 24 57.684 North/080 35.721 West
Location: on the northwesterly arm of the Y-shaped split in Snake Creek south of unlighted daybeacon #10
Minimum depth: 6-feet
Swing Room: sufficient room for vessels as large as 36 feet
Foul Weather Shelter: very good
Rating:
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49. Whale Harbor Channel – Wilson Key Anchorage
Statute Mile:1156.5
Lat/Lon: 24 56.734 North/080 36.567 West
Location: on the charted Whale Harbor Channel offshoot east of Wilson Key, north of the 12-foot fixed bridge
Minimum depth: 6- to 7 -foot depths, but it’s easy to wander into only 4 feet of water
Swing Room: sufficient room for vessels as large as 34 feet
Foul Weather Shelter: good in all but strong northwesterly winds
Rating:
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50. Whale Harbor Channel – Windley Harbor Anchorage
Statute Mile:1156.5
Lat/Lon: 24 56.677 North/080 37.056 West
Location: on the charted Whale Harbor Channel north of Windley Harebor, north of the
Minimum depth: 7 feet
Swing Room: sufficient room for vessels as large as 38 feet
Foul Weather Shelter: good
Rating:
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51. Cotton Key Anchorage
Statute Mile:1157
Lat/Lon: near 24 57.674 North/080 37.313 West
Location: lies off the eastern banks of Cotton Key, southeast of the ICW’s flashing daybeacon #81
Minimum depth: 5-feet
Swing Room: unlimited Foul Weather Shelter – poor to fair – wide open to eastern, northeastern, and northern winds
Foul Weather Shelter: Fair, open to northern, northeastern, eastern and southeastern winds
Rating:
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52. Islamorada Anchorage
Statute Mile:1160
Lat/Lon: near 24 55.534 North/080 38.227 West
Location: found on the correctly charted deep waters northeast of Little Basin, southeast of unlighted daybeacon #86
Minimum depth: typically 6 feet or better, but some boats on the extreme edge of this anchorage are actually lying in the mud
Swing Room: unlimited
Foul Weather Shelter: fair, but open to northern and northwestern winds
Rating:
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53. Little Basin Anchorage
Statute Mile:1160
Lat/Lon: no specific location – anchor anywhere in Little Basin that has enough depth for your craft
Location: on the waters of Little Basin, southeast of unlighted daybeacon #86
Minimum depth: 3 ½- to 4-feet
Swing Room: unlimited
Foul Weather Shelter: very good
Rating: (due to depth restrictions)
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54. Shell Key Anchorage and Mooring Field
Statute Mile:1161
Lat/Lon: near 24 55.548 North/080 40.264 West
Location: the state of Florida maintains a series of 5 five mooring buoys off the Shell Key’s northwesterly shoreline
Minimum depth: 6-feet
Swing Room: unlimited
Foul Weather Shelter: good, but open to northern and northwestern winds
Rating:
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Click Here to Review This Marina/Anchorage
March 25, 2011 - Spent one night there on March 13. [2011] I found only 1 mooring ball. Erwan read more
February 12, 2011 - We dropped the anchor on 11/28/2010 at 2:30am and we really enjoyed the place in the... read more
March 19, 2010 - Lignumvitae House and Tour continue to be only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. One... read more
August 17, 2009 - Lingumvitae Mooring. Weʼve stopped here twice. With a south wind it was peaceful,... read more
August 14, 2009 - Cruising News: Question 31 We stayed 2 nights on the state mooring off Lignumvitae... read more
55. Lignumvitae Key Mooring Field
Statute Mile:1162.5
Lat/Lon: near 24 54.410 North/080 42.246 West
Location: state of Florida maintained mooring field lies off the the northwestern side of Lignumvitae Key
Minimum depth: 6- to 7-foot depths
Swing Room: unlimited
Foul Weather Shelter: fair to poor, sheltered ONLY from southeastern, southern and eastern winds
Rating:
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May 5, 2012 - Matecumbe Bight. Anchored here May 5, 2012. Things were good until shortly before... read more
February 23, 2011 - Nice spot….good for anything but strong north winds. You might even have it to... read more
May 26, 2010 - This is one of our favorite Keys anchorages. For some reason, the water is always... read more
July 17, 2009 - June 2009, found good holding and depths as shown on chart. read more
56. Matecumbe Bight Anchorage
Statute Mile:1166
Lat/Lon: near 24 52.255 North/080 42.856 West
Location: on the large bubble of deep water known as Matecumbe Bight, south-southeast of the ICW’s unlighted daybeacon #97
Minimum depth: 6 ½ feet
Swing Room: unlimited
Foul Weather Shelter: fair, but wide open to northern, northwestern and western winds
Rating:
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57. Matecumbe Harbor Anchorage
Statute Mile:1168
Lat/Lon: near 24 51.057 North/080 44.520 West
Location: marked entryway into Matecumbe Harbor lies well south-southwest of the ICW’s flashing daybeacon #98 and unlighted daybeacon #97
Minimum depth: 5-feet
Special Comment: this is a powercraft ONLY anchorage, due to the nearby presence of low-level, high tension power lines
Swing Room: sufficient room for a 39 foot vessel
Foul Weather Shelter: very good, in all but unusually strong northern winds
Rating: (powercraft ONLY!)
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58. Long Key Bight Anchorage
Statute Mile:1169
Lat/Lon: 24 49.697 North/080 47.962 West
Location: on the central waters of Long Key Bight, which lies west of Channel Five’s flashing daybeacon #2
Minimum depth: 4 to 4 ½ feet
Swing Room: unlimited
Foul Weather Shelter: fair
Rating:
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"Ladys Island Swing Bridge Opening for Sailboat (Beaufort, SC)"
by: Bob Schwerzel
