I am sorry to hear that things are not going well at Rickenbacker Marina. This faciltiy is owned by the city of Miami, and its fortuntes rise and fall with the city’s current state of affairs.

We were long term customers here, both mooring and slip.
The moorings are in the middle of allot of power boat and jet ski activity, in and around the marina, and also exposed to northerly winds which tend to be the stronger winds we get in the winter, what I did and would recommend, pay for the mooring to have access to the marina facilities but anchor in the marine stadium that has excellent holding and is very well protected, gets just a chop even in high winds. You’ll sleep well there. Bear in mind that I have heard over and over that anchoring will be prohibited there but last I heard boats were still anchoring there. On the plus side the moorings are well maintained, screw type and our boat at the time an Oday 39 survived hurricane Wilma on the mooring.
The dingy dock at the marina is just a mud bank under some mangroves so your shoes get muddy and your dingy will quickly foul from the wet decaying leaves inside your boat. That was always a headache. If you are there for just a few days you can put up with it. The bathrooms are in poor condition so you may prefer to shower on your boat.
The marina facilities are in urgent need of a renovation and last I heard the City of Miami had a complete renovation plan for Virginia Key that included the marina putting up some millions for a major refit. Don’t know if the renovations have begun yet or if they will ever materialize.
As for the slips, they have no finger piers which was a major headache with our now double ender, not so bad with other type boats but not ideal at all, and just two pilings outboard, not ideal for tying up either, and with no central pilings it’s very easy to end up banging into the boat alongside on a windy day. With all the power boat action outside the marina and mega yachts passing by on the inter coastal, strong wakes come in and really thrash the boats especially on weekends but sometimes even in the middle of the night I thought I was going to fall out of my bunk. Double up the lines and get a slip as far in as your draft will allow and if you have a choice don’t get a slip beyond 3/4 out on the piers. On the plus side security is extremely tight, cameras everywhere. Nothing get’s lifted at these docs without it being filmed.
An excellent, very friendly and helpful staff, unfortunately at a marina needing a breakwater and major renovations / redesign. Hopefully it will get done.
Jules Robinson

Hmmmmm, sounds like the new mooring field at Coconut Gove (Miami) has some real administrative problems.

We came into the new dinner key mooring field on Dec 1, and they asked us to take a mooring on the outskirts of the field that was a fair dingy ride in and is subject to wakes from boats in the channels before they begin to slow down ‘” we are a 40′ Jeanneau ds40 with a 5’ draft –
As we dinghied in we noted several 40’+ boats with deeper draft closer in so we asked if we could move closer in as most of the field is currently empty ‘”
we suggested a mooring number and told to go ahead and move which we did. Now we are told that the mooring we moved to is a 30′ mooring and the original mooring we were on was a 40′ mooring – in fact i would estimate that over 2/3 of the mooring field is designed for boats less than 40′ and we were told that they can not accomadate any boat greater than 42′ – when i told them a 47′ boat just left for the islands they agreed and told us that the boat was told they could no longer use the field because they were too big –
There is also a very very tiny dingy dock
Trying not to be to prejudical, it appears if this is a test field for the florida anchoring problem they designed it for failure – in fact you may just want to anchor on the other side of the mooring field and not have to pay which is right next to the 40-42’ moorings
just my thoughts
chuck patty and svsoulmates
miami fl

Hello,
As for the engineering of the field I guess what is done is done for now. Short of building a break water all around the field, I don’t know. It’s an unprotected area, so it will be rolly polly from wind, waves and wakes. I suppose the center of the field and closer to land may be the best spot to be in if you have a choice and a lesser draft.
But in regards to the dingy dock I was told that the larger floating dingy dock by the boat ramp will eventually be available to the mooring customers, once the mooring customer showers, baths and offices are installed. However for security purposes my preference would be where they have it now, well inside the marina and close to the harbormasters office, better a small safe dingy dock than one exposed to the street and to the unsavory characters that hang around the boat ramp at night.
Hope things improve.
Jules
S/V Nemesis
Dinner Key Marina
Miami

I keep my boat (70 feet) in Florida most of the winter and in Nantucket Harbor during the summer. In Nantucket we’re on a mooring, there is a Town-owned and operated pump-out boat running 7 days a week, launch service, two good-sized dingy docks and even delivery service. The Harbormaster’s building, at the foot of the Town Dock where the dingy docks are has nice bathrooms with clean showers. The water in the Harbor is clean, so clean that the Harbor is used for commercial scalloping in the fall and winter, and it is certainly clean enough for swimming. The health of the scallop population is dependent on clean water and healthy beds of sea grass. If boats were anchored instead of on moorings the sea grass beds would be destroyed in a season or two.
Contast this with Florida where mooring fields are few and far between, pump-out facilities (let alone pump-out boats) are scarse and out-of service much of the time, and amenities of any kind are limited to say the least. I don’t get it. Florida’s waters are just as precious as New England’s waters. I’ve been reading for years about the damage done to coral by yachts anchoring on top of or too close to the reefs. If there was a mooring field close by (but not too close) and an anchoring ban enforced it strikes me that the problem would be at least partially solved.
Just my opinion.
Nancy

Coconut Grove Sailing Club is the southernmost of the facility’s set along the Miami – Dinner Key – Coconut Grover waterfront. They feature a well sheltered harbor, and, if my own experience is any judge, some of the friendliest folks you will ever find!

Subject: Transient Moorings at Coconut Grove Sailing Club
Cruising News: CGSC has transient moorings available for sailboats up to 40FT. $35/night, includes 24 hr. Launch, Bath/Showers, dinghy dock, BAR and Restaurant available to guests… Safe Protected moorings convenient to Coconut Grove. Website: www.cgsc.org
Marc Buller