Marina Jacks - Click for Chartview

Marina Operations/Marina Jacks abuts the east-northeastern shores, to the northeast of red unlighted daybeacon #8A in Sarasota Bay, in the heart of downtown Sarasota, Florida.
The mooring field, which is the subject of Captain Power’s report below, has been controversial, first, because it displaced a very popular anchorage, and secondly, some claim its cost benefit ratio to the city of Sarasota is very much a negative concept. On the other hand, there was a legitimate problem with abandoned and derelict vessels in the old anchorage.
Sarasota IS one of the Florida Pilot Mooring Field Program sites, so the regulations surrounding their mooring field are legal, at least according to Florida state law. Federal law is another matter entirely, but that’s another discussion for another day!

After much controversy in Sarasota, Marina Jacks opened its mooring ball field about a year ago. We recently used the field. The marina management, staff, and facilities are first rate. It is located right downtown with numerous restaurants nearby and a Whole Foods within easy walking distance. The only drawback is that out of the 35 balls, only 3 are set aside for transients. They do take reservations but you will have to move on if your ball is reserved before you want to leave. The daily rate is $20. You can still anchor outside of the field boundaries but it is a lengthy ride to the dinghy dock.
David S. Power
s/v Two If By Sea

Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s Western Florida Marina Directory Listing For Marina Operations/Marina Jacks

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Twin Dolphin Marina - Click for Chartview

Twin Dolphin Marina, A SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR, sits perches on the southern shores of Mantee River, just short of the Highway 41 Business bridge.
Stayed at Twin Dolphin again this year for three nights, and as usual, the service was outstanding. The pool and Jacuzzi is a welcome change of pace from cruising and the occasional anchoring out. This is a top-notch facility with very helpful and courteous staff. Will repeat next year.
Manuel Farinas

Click Here To View the Western Florida Cruisers’ Net Marina Directory Listing For Twin Dolphin Marina

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Smokehouse Bay lies in the heart of northern Marco Island. This fortunate body of water plays host to Esplanade Marina and a good anchorage. Its entrance channel leaves the unofficial Marco Island to Naples waterway west of marker #14.

This is one of the best small town harbors in Florida. When entering Smokehouse Bay from the north, keep on the west side of the bay. There is a narrow, north-south 3′ MLW mud shoal in the center of the north half of the bay. The shoal can be circumnavigated on the edges of the bay. Depths are mostly 9-12′ in slimy mud; be prepared to hose down when retrieving your ground tackle. Allow your anchor to set a while before setting as the mud is soft and deep. There is a 1 hour dinghy dock at the Winn Dixie, and you are within walking distance of anything you desire; West Marine, hardware store, rental car, many restaurants, propane, etc. On island taxi’s are about $7. We’ve lived here 34 years and if we didn’t live here, this would be our premier cruising destination now that anchoring is unrestricted.
Lee Oldershaw

Click Here To View the Western Florida Cruisers’ Net Anchorage Directory Listing For the Smokehouse Bay – Marco Island Anchorage

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Tierra Verde Marina - Click for Chartview

Tierra Verde Marina is located directly on the Western Florida ICW, just west of the Pinellas Bayway Bridge, northwest of marker #22. This facility went through a major rebuilding only a year or so ago.

Stayed one night on our 31 foot sailboat. The staff is extremely friendly and helpful. They only have 50 amp service, but were able to hook up to their outlet. No showers, but is in a nice location when going to/from Tampa Bay and the Gulf Intracoastal.
Manuel Farinas

Click Here To View the Western Florida Cruisers’ Net Marina Directory Listing For Tierra Verde Marina

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Recommendations of this type from fellow cruisers make for some of the best information you can get!

Call Dan Matos, marine engine surveyor (239-461-0366), and Steven Berlin, Accredited Marine Surveyor (239-466-45440 , They are both from Ft. Myers. Reported to be one of the best in Florida. We used them both on our new (new to us) Heritage East 44.
Good luck,
Ron on “Meander”

We have used Dan on two occassions. He is VERY GOOD, thorough and you can have confidence you are getting the best rests
Mary Anne Osborne

Rose Marco River Marina - Click for Chartview

Rose Marco River Marina overlooks the southwestern shores of Marco Island’s Factory Bay, which sits south-southwest of the Marco – Naples waterway’s unlighted daybeacon #15. Marco Island is on the Gulf coast south of Naples.

We spent three nights at RMRM recently. Nice floating docks, great fuel and dock prices and a helpful staff. It is a short walk to a hardware store, convenience store and restaurant. A taxi company offers complementary RT transport to selected local restaurants – a nice service.
Albert Howes, Chaparral Signature 270 – JAH Love

Click Here To View the Eastern Florida Cruisers’ Net Marina Directory Listing For Rose Marco River Marina

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This posting was prompted by a recent recommendation for a fuel delivery service in the Fort Myers area:  http://cruisersnet.net/?p=113209. Manatee County is the Bradenton area south of Tampa. Cruisers’ Net would like to hear the opinions of our readers on the issue of truck-to-boat fuel delivery.
Please use the “Comment” function below, or follow the “Click Here to Submit Cruising News” link found on the upper right of this, and all (except Chart View) SSECN pages.

Cruising News:
Our Homeowners Association in Manatee County has banned the delivery of fuel to vessels in our community. I am trying to find out if this ban is legal. I am aware of three locations where such bans were overturned or rescinded. Dania, North Palm Beach and Ft. Lauderdale. The delivery service we were using is fully insured and has been in business for many years.
Les Martin

Naples Mooring Field - Click for Chartview

Naples City Moorings are located south of the Naples City Pier and west, northwest of marker #34.

One requirement of using the Naples City moorings is that you get a pump-out first at the City Dock–no exceptions, even though we had been pumped out the previous day at Fort Myers Beach. We understand that this is a city requirement.
Ron Dwelle

Click Here To View the Eastern Florida Cruisers’ Net Marina Directory Listing For Naples Mooring Field

Click Here To View the Eastern Florida Cruisers’ Net Marina Directory Listing For Naples City Dock

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Legacy Harbor Marina - Click for Chartview

Well, of course, Legacy Harbour Marina is a SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR!!! Legacy Harbour Marina’s entrance is located on the Okeechobee Waterway/Caloosahatchee River, east of marker #49.

Cruising News:
A-1 Fuel Services (239-246-4777) is a tanker service to marinas in the Marco, Naples and Ft. Myers area. Marinas that do not sell fuel will generally allow A-1 to come and fill up vessels. Minimum is 100 gallons and they only deliver on weekdays. They deliver to Legacy Marina in Ft. Myers which does not sell fuel. Among the lowest fuel prices in southwest FL. They need at least 1 day notice and prefer 2 days before delivery.
Mike Negley

Click Here To View the Latest Prices at A-1 Fuel Service

Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s Western Florida Marina Directory Listing For Legacy Harbour Marina

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St. Pete Municipal Marina - Click for Chartview

St. Petersburg Municipal Marina – A SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR! – lies west, northwest of Tampa Bay’s flashing buoy #3. Enjoy this very complete on-site description of this large municipal marina in downtown St. Petersburg.

Claiborne, as you asked a couple of weeks back as we left the Keys, here is a report on St Petersburg Municipal Marina. I will not recap the many published statistics on depths, etc, etc.
For the newbie to this area (us), it is important to understand that the entrance is just a bit tricky because this marina is located in the Central Yacht Basin between North Yacht Basin (known locally as Vanoy Basin) and
South Yacht Basin, where the St Petersburg Sailing Center is located. The St Petersburg Municipal Pier sticks a goodly distance into the bay between North (Vanoy) Basin and Central Basin; so there is little confusion about
the difference in those two basins. However, there is a “Y” in the channel as you enter the breakwater to the Municipal Marina which allows a right turn into the Central Basin or a left turn into the South Basin . The
sometimes noisy local small aircraft airport is located immediately to the south of South Basin but was not a nuisance at the transient pier.
By the way, the “upside down pyramid” which has long marked the end of The Pier is scheduled to close very soon and be demolished. A grandiose design has been offered up, but there is local dissention about what will ultimately grace this area.
Further confusing to the newbie is the fact that there are three separate landside marina entrances to their three separate piers (each with an office at the locked entrance), and the St Petersburg Yacht Club also resides in
Central Basin. The long transient alongside-tie pier is part of the North Entrance pier structure and is quite easily seen once you enter central basin. You just angle right about 30 degrees to enter the basin from the
breakwater entrance and then dogleg left about the same and look for the long pier.
Piers are fixed, and tide is a couple of feet. We had to step on the handrails of our GB-42 at low tide in order to get aboard. Power was adequate with 30- and 50-Amp plugs at each pedestal. A limited cable TV service was provided, but was essentially worthless due to the poor channel selection.
Potable water tasted good with no hint of sulfury “beach water” we encountered in marina near the coast.
The northern portion of the basin is subject to the effects of easterly wind. We had some light winds from that direction during a part of our stay and rocked gently. Strong easterly winds might make it uncomfortable.
We were not certain how long we intended to stay while awaiting a Gulf-crossing weather window to get home to the panhandle so we decided to sign up for a week, which the staff said they would rebate if we left early.
The weekly “slip rate” before taxes for our Grand Banks 42 was $283.08 or a bit less than a dollar a foot per day while the daily rate was about 2 bucks a foot. Since my wife fell ill with a stomach virus and was out of commission for several days, we ended up needing at least four days, and by the fourth night, we were ahead of the game had we been paying a daily rate.
The facilities are very clean and well kept without any of the usual rust and grime one so often sees in marina bathrooms and showers. The staff is friendly and helpful – ignore the one negative comment on Active Captain,
except for the warning about strong easterly winds the guy must have encountered.
We find the downtown area of this small city to be almost European in atmosphere with cultural, dining, and shopping clustered close to the marina amongst buildings in which people also live. The nearby college probably has something to do with this. In previous trips up and down the west coast of Florida, we were busy getting to some place else and ignored this place, but it really should be a destination in any trip by here. It is easily accessible from the ICW by simply running under the causeway of the Sunshine Skyway bridge to Bradenton and following the well-marked channel a few miles up the bay.
There is a trolley stop outside the entrance to the north piers of the marina and 50 cents (25 for folks over 55) gets you aboard. It connects with buses which will run you all the way to the beaches and even Tarpon Springs.
Rich Gano
Calypso (GB42 Hull # 295)
Panama City area, FL

Click Here To View This Facility’s Full Listing of Services on the Western Florida Marina Directory

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Pink Shell Resort and Marina - Click for Chartview

The Pink Shell Resort guards the southern shores of the Mantanzas Pass channel, west of Moss Marine, making this new marina the first facility encountered as one enters from the waters of the open Gulf. This fresh facility is clearly a GREAT addition to the cruising scene for the waters hard by the southerly genesis of the Western Florida ICW, and the westerly extreme of the Okeechobee Waterway/Caloosahatchee River.

We just stayed at the Pink Shell resort 1st week April and what a fantastic Marina with a great Pool and beach access
also and great if you have kids too.
They let us use the spa bathrooms and shower and the woman could not stop talking how great they were and the price very reasonable $2.00 per ft’
Nick

Click Here To View the Western Florida Cruisers’ Net Marina Directory Listing For Pink Shell Resort Marina

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The series of messages below are copied from “The Cruisers’ Forum” (http://www.cruisersforum.com/), an alternate information outlet highly recommended by everyone here at the SSECN!
If you are not familiar with Sarasota, this community actually has two inlets, Big (Sarasota) Pass and New Pass. Having sounded both many times over the years, I can say unequivocally that I do NOT recommend that cruising size craft use either seaward passage. Even with the info very thoughtfully provided by the Sarasota Yacht Club (see below), it’s a dicey proposition at best to run Big Pass. Don’t even think about trying New pass!
A FAR safer plan is to come inside or out into the briny blue via naturally deep Venice Pass to the south or Longboat Pass, just to the north. Some of you may very well have a different opinion about all of this, and we would very much like to hear from you. Please use the “Comment” function below, or follow the “Click Here to Contribute Cruising News” link on the upper, right of this, and all (except Chart View) SSECN pages.

A few weeks ago we called a local towing comp. for local knowledge. Fog offshore was very thick. My plan was to enter Sarasota Bay skipping Venice inlet and the company advised us to go further north to Longboat Pass. When I called the bridge tender, he said I will raise the bridge when I see your vessel………. How is he going to see the vessel if i cant see 50ft in front of the bow? As we turned east there it was a few yards away!!!
After a few days I am wondering if it safe to enter/exit BP. I scouted the inlet from the end of Lido Key and could not see any nav aids west of green 9. Are there nav aids showing the inlet? Controlling depth? I understand that under some conditions (NW, W or SW with strong wind) its not recommended to use the inlet/pass.
Thanks
Velero49

It’s a dicey pass. The Sarasota Sailing Squadron has some directions at their website, let me see…
here’tis
http://www.sarasotayachtclub.org/Visitor-Info/Navigational-Items-of-Interest/Big-Pass-Information-405.html
tamicatana

The “pass” at Big Pass moves around a lot, virtually with every heavy weather event, and shoals up very quickly. It would be very foolish to attempt that pass in anything but a very shaol draft yacht. Either come in at Venice and run the ICW or at Longboat Pass although the channel there has moved around a lot as well and does not match the channel that appears on most charts (see various NTM). Note that Longboat is a narrow channel and is subject to sharp, strong, currents. You’ll want to enter there at slack water. If you can’t see the bridge from the channel entrace mark due to fog, continue north and come into Tampa Bay through the Southwest Channel.
svHyLyte

We kept our boat on the West coast for two years. It draws 4 feet. Sarasota Pass was always a no go because of the shifting shoals. We used Longboat Pass on a regular basis whenever we entered the intercoastal. It does have considerable current and is quite narrow. The bridge tenders seem to think that a sailboat can approach closely and remain steady in the strong current before they open the bridge. We never followed their orders and held at least 100 yards from the bridge and told them we would approach quickly once the bridge began to open. Numerous times, we had powerboats cut in front of us or attempt to negotiate the small channel at the same time. They were completely clueless. We also experienced a very rude catamaran charter captain, who used the pass daily, try to intimidate us into moving closer before the bridge had begun to open. We had a very serious conversation once both of us passed through the cut. If you choose to use Longboat Pass, be your own captain, exercise caution and safety and you’ll be fine. Be prepared for other boats also making the transit. Good luck and good sailing.
rognvald

I sail a morgan 28 with a 4.5 draft and have come in and out Big Pass many times. You must check with the Sarasota yacht club, they maintain the bouy markers and are always moving. I have never seen less then 7ft, however it can become very narrow when the monster size boat with his noise high comes barreling through the Chanel with wakes 3-4ft high. As far as being able to moore up a nice spot is just north of the ringling bridge to the east, there is a fishing shop and a nice size cove that will protect from heavey north winds… From Sarasota Bay have fun sailing and hope to see ya around.
Autumns Wind

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While I have sounded Matlatcha Pass several times over the years, particularly the shallow, hard to follow, southern portion of this passage, I must admit, however, to never spending too much time on Pine Island.
This is not the first time I’ve heard of some dockage, and good eats ashore, but shallow depths on the Pine Island Sound side of the island have almost made me hesitant about taking a cruising size craft into the smaller streams which indent the isle’s westerly banks.
Sounds like the effort might be worthwhile though. Of course, you can always anchor just south of the high-rise bridge. There used to be a potentially SHOCKING Issue here for sailcraft, but the powerlines were supposedly raised quite a few years ago, THOUGH THE NOAA CHART STILL LISTS THE VERTICAL CLEARANCE AS 56 FEET.
Has anyone visited Pine Island Sound and/or Matlatcha Pass recently? Do you know if the powerlines at the bridge have indeed been raised? Can you recommend good places to anchor, dock and/or dine on Pine Island?
Your fellow Western Florida cruisers can wait to hear from you!

Matlatcha is a quirky little town at the entrance to Pine island. There is a couple marinas there, and also at each end of Pine island. Pronounced ( matt-la-shay) This is a can’t miss area. There are several quirky art galleries and restaurants in the area. Have lunch or dinner at Bert’s bar and grille. (we like manatees,taste like chicken). Also, at the southern end of Pine island, is St. James City it is nice with several small marinas and restaurants. A little further north is Punta Gorda. There is a waterfront area with dockage and restaurants called Fisherman’s village. this is a nice stop for a walk and some browsing.
haw961

There is a new drawbridge just being finished alongside the old one, and you will currently find work barges and cranes in the vicinity. Work is supposedly being finished by mid-summer. Drawbridge is working, but you might experience delays until all work is cleared. There are NO LONGER any power lines in the vicinity of the bridge – they’ve been buried! Best anchorage is just south of the bridge. Once anchored, you’ll find Bert’s Bar (highly recommended!) just to the east of the bridge, on the south side, with docks available. Across the street is Andy’s Island Seafood fish store. Follow the shoreline to the west of the bridge around to Matlacha Park, where dinghy dockage is possible. From the Park, you can walk to the west to Barnhill’s Seafood Restaurant, with its attendant seafood store, or continue further west for some eclectic shopping, ice cream parlor, and the Sandy Hook Restaurant at the very west end of Matlacha (accessible by dinghy, if you look at the chart). Another good restaurant lies about 1/2 mile to the east, on the north side of the road – Miceli’s, offering good food at good prices, with nightly music. This restaurant is also accessible by water, if you look at the chart and take the first opening north of the bridge, on the east side, and follow along the shore.
Access to Matlacha is best from the north, with deeper water and a well-marked channel. From the south, powerlines with a 47ft (sorta) clearance and a very twisty channel, along with less water (maybe 4′ with a rising tide), make it a mostly powerboat experience.
Capt Mike Smith
S/V Blue Skye
M/V Scandalista

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The Fort Myers Beach Mooring Field, found east of the high-rise bridge, and just north of Estero Island is a SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR. This community is also one of the most welcoming to the cruising community in the Sunshine State. Every year they have a “Cruisers’ Appreciation Day.” How many municipalities show this much welcome to the cruising community?

Best mooring field is at Ft. Myers Beach, and there is a fun, funky beachy tourist strip along the whole island. Not specifically seafood, though they do have a lot of it on the menu, but I always eat at the Plaka Greek restaurant right on Times Square.
John Kettlewell

Click Here To View the Western Florida Cruisers’ Net Anchorage Directory Listing For the Fort Myers Beach Mooring Field

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Well, any good words, particularly when they apply to a SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR, are welcome, even if brief!

We have stopped at St. Petersburg marina a couple of time and enjoyed it.
Steve Willett
Monk 36, Gumbo

Click Here To View the Western Florida Cruisers’ Net Marina Directory Listing For St. Petersburg Municipal Marina

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