Our good friends at Boat/US have asked the Salty Southeast Cruisers’ Net to help get the word out that they have just released an updated statement of Florida Anchoring Right, which are specifically designed for the use of cruisers, while they are underway. Boat/US has rendered the Cruising Community a GREAT service by formulating this document. May we humbly suggest that one and all make as much use of it as possible!
The Canaveral Barge Canal Extension departs the Waterway/Indian River at statute mile 894 east through a well marked channel at AICW marker #67, just north of the Florida A1A Bridge and continues east across the Banana River to Cape Canaveral Inlet. Port Canaveral Yacht Club is on the south side of the Inner Reach of the Canal.
Helping to deliver a friend’s sailing cat from VA to FL we entered the Port Canaveral Inlet, stopping at a wonderful facility between the Ocean Club and Cape Marina – the Port Canaveral Yacht Club for a night. They are open to transients, have incredibly reasonable (almost cheap!) rates – especially when compared to their neighbors. They have a bar onsite and a restaurant too (not always open – check in advance). We came in at around 5pm and were welcomed by the dockmaster (who is also a cruiser). We didn’t have a hose for water so he grabbed one from somebody for us. They then invited us up to the bar where we drank Guiness and Margaritas and partook of some food they had laid out for club members (most excellent stuffed baked potatoes, salads and brownies!). The bartender, Jeremy, most graciously drove us to a nearby restaurant for dinner. Afterwards, we took the opportunity to stretch our legs (after 3 days offshore) and walked the 3/4 mile or so back to the yacht club. They also have nice shower facilities. Anyway, good facility, good location, excellent rates and really nice people. What more do you need?
Skipper Chris aboard s/v/ Pelican
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Port Canaveral Yacht Club
Cruisers’ Net Bridge Directory has this bridge listed as 62ft and care needs to be taken at high tide as Almost Heaven relates below. The Broadway Bridge (E International Speedway Blvd) crosses the ICW at Statute Mile 830.5, south-southeast of unlighted daybeacons #33 and #34.
This Bridge is 62′! on a high tide we would not clear this bridge.(63.5 + Antennas) The Markers on the bridge clearly showed 63′ with the tide down 1 foot. Please consider the tide range when passing under the Broadway Bridge. The chart is INCORRECT as it shows 65′.
Almost Heaven
This bridge needs a proper clearance board. ie: measurement. I crept under this spring with the board reading 63. My antenna usually hits at a 64 reading. Antenna did not hit.
Skipper Paul Eckenroth
Our mast height is also 63.5′ + antennas, we passed under this bridge @ 8pm Sunday May 13th, 2012. The Bridge clearance guage showed 62′ but as we had previously cleared this bridge in the fall we gave it a very slow go weaving between the nav light. As far as we could tell not even our antenna touched (unlinke many other bridges on the AICW) which means there is at least 66+’ in the middle of the span.
Andrew
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To A “Navigation Alert” Position at Broadway Bridge
The clearance boards indicate MINIMUM height. Run down the middle of the span and you add at least 1 1/2 feet. We confirmed this on October 11, 2013. After waiting seven hours to pass under using the range board, going under the center our ant. did not even touch.
The South Channel departs the Ponce de Leon Inlet and intersects the Waterway at green/red marker east of red marker#18 at Statute Mile 843 near New Smyrna Beach, FL. This anchorage lies just north of the South Channel – AICW intersection. We rate it as having poor foul weather protection weather rating.
I suspect the shallow depths encountered by Captain Mason are part and parcel of the shoaling that has been taking place here for some time at the South Channel/AICW intersection. Deeper water would probably have been found a bit farther to the north, BUT you still have to bypass the unmarked shoals, and the tidal currents Captain Jason notes below are very much for real!
Tide moves too fast and there is bad shoaling. Boats go through sideways during a flow. Hit bottom 2 times with 5.8 keel, then finally got through with local help. You would be safer crossing the gulf stream with a north wind.
Skipper Jason
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of South Channel Anchorage
Port Salerno Marine is west of green marker #1 near the south end of Manatee Pocket, departing west and southwest from the intersection of the AICW and Okeechobee Waterway in Stuart, FL.
For the many cruisers who pass through Stuart, Fl. every year, this will be of interest to you. I recently had my 1985 Albin 36 trawler hauled at Port Salerno Marine for renovations. Jack Sharp runs the yard (772-223-5022) and, unlike some yard managers I’ve encountered, is friendly, welcoming and very helpful. This is a do-it yourself yard and you can do whatever you wish to bite off yourself, but independent (not yard employees) skilled professionals of every discipline at very reasonable prices are readily available in this Manatee Pocket location. I had the entire boat painted, Awlgrip above the waterline and bottom paint. The boat looks like new. Danny Cabrera (772-521-2732) and his crew did a flawless and detailed paint job at a very reasonable price. I also had a new genset and air conditioner installed with 3 new thru hulls and associated electrical panels. My mechanic, Bob Downey (772-485-4292) did a first class installation and really gave a lot of thought to locations, access, maintenance and aesthetics. A real pro, in the process he also caught a few unrelated electrical and hull issues that certainly will help the wife feel more secure on the way to the Bahamas or crossing the Gulf. Bob maintains a long term relationship with his “clients” and treats the boat like his own. The yard is located next to Finz restaurant with Walmart and many boating support companies in the immediate vicinity.
Skipper Jim Tracey aboard Albin 36 “O’Dea” MTOA # 3919
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Port Salerno Marine
The Jacksonville waterfront is 13 miles off the AICW on the St. Johns River and Jacksonville Landing is a downtown shopping mall/food court with a stage area for special events and concerts. The city marina Wade mentions is the Metropolitan Park Marina located northwest of St. Johns River flashing red marker #82.
This morning the tides/current were in our favor, so Shady Lady cruised about 19 miles up the St. Johns River to Jacksonville, stopping at the “free” dock downtown at Jacksonville Landing. As we approached we smelled coffee, then saw the Maxwell House factory near the river. “Free,” I say? Well, we walked around for a good part of the day, and at
5pm the monthly art festival and fashion show began. Many establishments feature the work of local artists, and some offer wine and snacks as well. The fashion show was kind of tacky, but the art displays got better after the 3rd glass of wine. Unfortunately for me we then went into a jewelry store to look at the art displayed there. Susie saw a necklace she “loved,” and the “free” dock suddenly became kind of pricey. One of our walks today took us down to the football stadium, where there is a city-run marina. If you have bikes on board, or like to walk, it’s a great deal! Free floating docks, free pump-out and free water. If you want electricity, there’s a kiosk that accepts your credit card and you purchase (for around $8 for 24 hours) electric power. The place was absolutely empty. Of course, there’s a charge if an event is going on.
Back to Jacksonville Landing. The sign says rafting up to 5 deep can be required. There are only 3 other boats tonight, though, with plenty of empty dock space. The potty/manatee police also came by; very friendly and informative, but he carried a bottle of blue dye to test your holding tank if he became suspicious.
The plan for tomorrow is to continue cruising up the river for a few hours, then turn back and dock for the night by the stadium.
Wade Ehlen aboard MT36 Shady Lady
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Metropolitan Park Marina
This anchorage is on the easterly waters of Peck Lake, east-southeast of flashing daybeacon #19.
We anchored at Peck Lake 5/3/11. We entered just south of Green 19 and saw nothing less than 13 feet. Head straight to the sign on the shore. We then anchored in 9 feet. Good holding. No bugs and no wind. It can be bouncy from the ICW. A great spot from which to head either north towards Vero or south to West Palm.
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Peck Lake Anchorage
These two anchorages are on the waters of extreme southern Banana River, north and south of the charted Mathers 7-foot swing bridge departing the AICW at statute mile 914.
We spent several days here this April, anchored between the abandoned home on the Point and the yacht club in 15+ feet, in windy conditions. Great holding. Although Anchorage Yacht Basin, the marina directly at the entrance to the anchorage, no longer offers a dinghy dock because of misuse by cruisers several years ago, we used a sandy beach just east of the marina, with no problems from law enforcement. The marina said this spot is used all of the time. Must be because there is a well worn path up to the street, right past the No Trespassing sign.
Captain David Power
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Anchorage Yacht Basin
Anchorage Yacht Basin lies on the east side of the Waterway in the shadow of the Eau Gallie Causeway north of Melborne, FL.
Although not a fancy marina, it is the friendliest and most helpful marina we have used when cruising. We first anchored at Dragon Point because of a leaking raw water pump. The marina answered a phone call after closing and offered to help. It did not have a replacement and spent a morning trying to locate one. It allowed us to use it as a shipping point for delivery of a new one I ordered. The marina also has the most complete ship’s store I have seen. It also gave us a discount on dockage for us to bring the boat in to make repairs. The owners are there 7 days a week.
Captain David Power
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Anchorage Yacht Basin
Here’s a well thought our review of what sounds to be Captain home marina.
We’d like to clarify the reports about the conditions of the docks here at Harbortown. Overall the conditions are acceptable. And certainly the staff is very courteous and helpful.
My beef with Harbortown is the design of their docks. These are designed for big sport fishing boats that back into the dock with their twin screws. The pier, per se, only extends 15′ or so NOT the full length of the slip. So a sailboat or any boat for that matter, that pulls in bow first, has a high step off the bow to climb on to the dock.
Moreover, the pilings at the stern of the dock (if you are bow in) are excessively high if you are sitting in a cockpit a few feet off the water. I’d speculate they are 12′-15′ high and make for a very hard piling to lasso from the cockpit, so you get blown to the windward side.
While painfully functional, the design is old and tired compared with modern, floating docks.
Jeff Graham
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Harbortown Marina – Fort Pierce
Seven Seas Marina and Boatyard is located east-northeast of unlighted marker #56, just north of the Port Orange high-rise bridge.
Nice small operation. VERY helpfull staff! Nice and quiet. Easy access from ICW and great breakfast restaurant on site. No glitz (a good thing !!), and the price is unbeatable for around here.
Off Our Rocker
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Seven Seas Marina
The recently rebuilt and enlarged facility has garnered a host of favorable comments here on the Cruisers’ Net. Below, Captain takes a look at both side of the proverbial coin.
Lots of good comments regarding this marina and staff here. I moved over here in January from another local marina with intent on making this my permanent home port but am leaving after 4 months. Some good points to be aware of ‘¦ some not so good.
Sunsets are to die for here. Locals and tourists line up on the seawall by the restaurant to watch and photograph them.
Pricing was considerably more expensive here for a lift slip than where we came from. But given the resort-like feel, the proximity to my house, nice ship’s store for sundries, cleanliness and the comments here about staff we felt this was a good move and that the $250 more per month we would pay would be worth the cost increase.
The lifts are brand new and there are 10 or 12 of them at the marina. I had to adjust the bunks to my specifications after the staff told me that the bunks could not be tilted (they can be). They are a bit slow and have no automatic raise/lower feature enabled, but there is a good 8 feet of water under them. The current happens to run in-line with the lifts so getting on and off even in a cross-wind is easy.
For transients, this is definitely one of the better marinas in Stuart in terms of facilities, boat access and nearby amenities. Note the comments above with other posters really reflect and center around the transient and live-aboard populations.
Fuel pricing is competitive with the other local marinas. The problem of boats running the Okeechobee waterway at speed parallel to the fuel dock has been resolved with a `Slow, Minimum Wake Zone’.
For locals, parking is incredibly limited and gets way worse during weekends when the Sailors Return restaurant gets wound up. The marina started using a valet parking service in an attempt to deal with what they even admit is a very poor parking lot design with small spaces and too few spaces.
At first the valets were best described as rude and confrontational with the paying marina partrons and restaurant customers but that seems to have been ironed out. A parking permit sticker is made available to marina patrons and we get priority handling without the attitude from the valets.
My experience with the staff was mixed. Some were among the most customer-oriented and customer-friendly people I have conducted business with. Others not so much ‘¦ with some pretty surprising authoritarian and uncaring attitudes toward the paying customer from a few. Once in a while is just a bad day but there are a couple of guys there that just do not get it and it is recurring enough to be noticed.
One example of staff not meeting my expectations: We had one recurring issue with dock people driving their three wheel electric scooters at high speed on the narrow docks. Even after repeatedly asking the offending staff guys to slow down, the behavior continued. The Harbormaster did tell me after complaint to him that he would slow them down, but it did not happen.
After nearly being hit on the narrow dock while getting some supplies from my dock box once too often, we decided to move on. You cannot hear these scooters coming so be aware of this safety issue especially of you end up on the `A’ dock that has the fuel dock at the end. Be told `coming through!’ as the dock boy flies by is just not acceptable.
Another example of staff not meeting expectations: Last weekend while I was not there, my son was reportedly told by one of the staff that he was not allowed to wash our boat due to South Florida Water Management District regulations forbidding water use. I was not there to see who actually said this but that was incorrect.
When I talked to the Harbormaster about this and to point out that SFWMD does not have a rule forbidding boat or car washing, he agreed and stated that he did not ask people to not wash boats. He did state that the marina has high water bills and that they are asking people to conserve water. I suspect something got lost in interpretation with one of the staff when this issue was discussed with them.
So’¦ *some* staff is great and `gets’ it. Others I am not so sure I would say do.
Ultimately, we just did not feel we were getting the value and service expected for the *premium* price charged us. Granted there are a good 300 slips here and our experience needs to be taken in light of how many seem happy. We were disappointed to have to leave but decided it was for the best for us.
I hold no ill will with Sunset Bay Marina and wish them luck. They just have a few things to work on as I suspect they have back-slid a bit since opening.
Bill Barrett
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Sunset Bay Marina
As I’ve always said, experienced recommendations from fellow cruisers are worth their proverbial weight in gold!
Have used this very competent and professional surveyor in the past.
Price Marine Services Inc
Tom Price
772-546-0928
9438 SE Sharon St.
Hobe Sound, FL
Martin Veiner
I agree, in this business I think word of mouth of any marine vendor (including marine surveyors) is the most reliable source. As a marine surveyor and boat owner, I have seen the best and worst of them here in south Florida.
Capt. John Banister
Recommendations from fellow cruisers of this type are the best data anyone can possibly have in their hip pocket!
I just had an insurance survey done in that area (Lantana). A very knowledgeable friend referred me to the surveyor, and I was very satisfied with the outcome.
The surveyor’s name is Mark Rhodes, of Rhodes Marine and Consulting. His business address is in Port St. Lucie. His contact cell phone is (954) 646-3760.
Mark is certified, and I found him reasonable and easy to work with. Turnaround for the report was very timely. The focus of a pre-purchase survey
is different from an insurance survey, but I would definitely use him again.
Jim
Hontoon Island State Park Marina/Dock is a marvelous stop on the St. Johns River, south of Lake George and north of Lake Monroe near Deland, FL. located east-southeast of flashing daybeacon #53 and the northeasterly mouth of Hontoon Dead River.
What an underutilized resource. Wonderful park, well maintained. 5 foot depth at end of T-dock. 30 amp at every slip on one dock now, 50 amp on the other arm. Water is now available now. A true bargain !!
Off Our Rocker
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Hontoon Island State Park
Inlet Marina is, as of 4/14/11, the newest SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR. Eventually, this facility, which sits on the site of the old Sea Love Marina, along the AICW/Tolomato River’s eastern shores, north of St. Augustine Inlet, and hard by the Vilano Beach Bridge, will be a full fledged marina. For now, these good folks are anxious to sell fuel to all passing cruisers. Please help us welcome Inlet Marina to the Cruisers’ Net fold!
Inlet Marina just opened with new fuel tanks installed for unleaded 89 octane gas with no ethanol and of course diesel. They currently are just a fuel stop but they are supposed to have their new restaurant opened on May 15th, called Beaches. This marina used to be the old “Sea Love” marina which was closed last year sometime then bought and is now permitted for 60 slips (not yet built), but they do have two floating docks, one concrete and one wood and a fuel dock. There is also a boat rental operation already there. They have a nice beach area near the dock office also. There is a lot of area behind the marina office which is planned for development with a Publix grocery planned as part of the complex and they are supposed to have a grocery delivery operation for the marina if folks want to get provisions while fueling..that is to come. The new owners are taking it slow but are committed to the new operations success. The Marina is very close to the St. Augustine inlet and on the AICW.
So it is very convenient for cruisers to stop in for fuel.
This is the old “Sea Love” marina. Lat: 29*55’4″ Longitude: 81*17’55”
Marina tele: 904-547-2219
Marina Fax: 904-547-2221
Fuel prices on April 14, 2011: (All taxes inlcuded – price shown is what boater pays)
Diesel $4.09 tax included
Gas, 89 octane, no ethanol $4.29 tax incl.
Palm Harbor Marina flanks the AICW’s western banks, in West Palm Beach, FL, immediately south of the Flagler Memorial Bridge and just north of marker #12.
If, like us, you rate marinas on location, this one is fabulous. Right in the center of West Palm. And, as said by others, a great facility with what must be the best floating docks on the East Coast.
Captain John Walsh
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Palm Harbor Marina
Located south-southeast of unlighted daybeacon #27, Titusville Municipal Marina is A SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR!
Great well protected marina. EXCELLENT staff!
Off Our Rocker
Great stop. Good, friendly folks with well maintained docks. This was our second stop and we’ll stop again.
Skipper Bill Brubaker
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Titusville City Marina
Rockhouse Creek is just north of New Smyrna Beach and northeast of Marker #12. This anchorage is not listed in our anchorage directory, but we have received other favorable reports.
Just past this point [marker #19] we enjoyed a very nice anchorage in Rockhouse Creek in 10-12 feet of water, plenty of swing room if there are not too many sailboats there.
Skipper Doug Cordello
Click Here To View An Earlier Posting on Rockhouse Creek
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Rockhouse Creek
We established a Navigation Alert for this stretch south of Fernandina in January of 2010 and we glad to hear that the shoals have not shifted significantly since then. Captain Pascal’s advice is to be heeded.
This is a WELL known spot which is well documented elsewhere here as well as on Active Captain. north bound, you have to pass close to G1, just south of the bend, then stay close to the green shoreline as you round the bend, to pass between the shore and the 15 and 9 sounding on the latest NOAA chart, and obviously take it slow to back out of it if you are too far to the red site. Just been thru there yesterday, no change from the past couple of years.
Captain Pascal
Click Here To View Earlier Postings on this Area
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