Fleming Island Marina is on the southern shore of Doctors Inlet, southwest of St. Johns River daybeacon #11.
Fleming Island Marina (on the St. Johns S. of Jacksonville) where we bought the boat was a good one as well, though it can get rolly if on the outside piers in a blow (the St. Johns is very wide at this point.) Probably won’t fit as it is cold in the winter. They had a pool, etc.
This note is response to a request for a liveaboard marina on the east coast of Florida.
Harbortown Marina in North Fort Pierce; Perhaps the only fresh water marina just off the ICW (has a fresh water creek that flows through the marina); great restaurant / bar on premises; laundry on premises; walking distance to many stores – food, liquor, barber, etc. and West Marine. Full service repair yard next door with travel lift and full repair capabilities, including a canvas shop. We kept our boat there over a winter when we were on the Loop. John and Judy Gill
This note is response to a request for a liveaboard marina on the east coast of Florida. Note that liveaboards are not permitted at the City Marina’s north section, Fisherman’s Wharf, above the Ft. Pierce high-rise bridge.
Fort Pierce City Marina [south section]. Good location; Farmer’s market on Saturday mornings; good restaurants in the area; ship’s store; laundry facilities, etc. Friends spent two winters there. John and Judy Gill
Waterway veterans will remember fondly stopping at Jones Fruit dock, north of Vero Beach. Once upon a day, you could tie up here, go ashore and purchase very fresh citrus fruit from Orange Groves literally next door. Unfortunately, for most of us those days ended some years ago. The “dock” has been is such poor shape of late that I have not recommended stopping here since the mid 2000’s. I am very sorry to hear of the final passing of Captain Richard Jones. He will be missed up and down the AICW!
On a sad note, we arrived at Jones Fruit Dock in the Indian River and found everything locked up and the dock empty. We learned from a neighbor that the owner passed away last Saturday, March 26. We had never had the chance to visit the dock before, but had heard from other loopers that it was a stop we should make. We pressed on, but 2 or 3 other looper boats behind us did tie up for the night. The neighbor had no idea what would become of the place. Larry & Jane Pfeifer on Bavarian Cream
Rivers Edge Marina is found well off the AICW, on the San Sebastian River, near this body of water’s upstream cruising limits.
Rivers Edge (formerly Oyster Creek Marina), St Augustine: Not high end but comfortable and well protected from wakes with a nice cruising community and walking distance to downtown and to shopping. Mike & Tammy Valhalla II
Here’s a brief but very encouraging remark about SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR, Vero Beach Municipal Marina!
Vero Beach:Nice marina. Big cruising commuity. Call early if you are going peak season. They have a free bus that goes to shopping areas. Mike and Tammy
I can verify from my own experience that Turnberry Isle Marina is HIGH END!!!! On my last visit to this facility by “land yacht,” I parked my Toyota Prius between two Rolls Royces.
Turnberry Isle, Aventura: Excelent high end facilities, pool, hot tub. They allow liveaboard. They have a free shuttle bus that runs to the mall and their beach club across the AICW. The beach club is included. For a long term stay it was going to be around $1000/month for our boat. The only downside was parking our old pickup between all the lambos and Ferraris. Vahalla360
Halifax Harbor Marina is in Daytona Beach on the western shores of the ICW/Halifax River, south of unlighted daybeacon #39A.
I suggest you stay at the Halifax Harbor Marina, I lived there for two years and the people and services were great, and you could not beat the rates, for liveaboards, I would still be there if work did not keep me where I am now. Sean Hickey
We just stayed there last week & it is a great place. Cheryl Jones
Our sincere thanks to Captain Mary Dixon for forwarding the link below. We have read the document in question, and it IS LENGTHY and very wordy, BUT it is perhaps the last word on virtually ALL the issues surrounding the complex and emotionally charged Florida anchoring issue.
Below, Captain Judy Klawe gives us a good description of the Daytona Beach iteration of Loggerhead Marinas. It’s interesting that this facility does accept cruisers for long term/live-aboard stays, but many Loggerhead Marinas seem not to offer the same service (see below).
Don’t want to start a whole big thing again, but…. We are at Halifax Harbor Marina, yesterday we took our Whaler over to Loggerhead just south of Marker 32 and had lunch at Caribbean Jack’s. After lunch I went in to the office and spoke to the Dockmaster. I inquired about the live aboard situation. I told her we had called several Loggerhead Marinas on our trip south and none would accept live aboards. She told me that each Loggerhead Marina is a separate entity a few do allow live aboards but most do not. They do here in Daytona. They charge a $50 per month live aboard fee, $65 a month for 30 amp and $85 a month for 50 amp. $8 per foot for boats up to 46 feet and $9.50 for boats over 46 feet. Those are their annual fees. If you just want to stay seasonal (min of 5 months) it is the same for electric and live aboard fee but the rate is $9.50 up to 46 and $11.00 for over 46 feet. They have a small swimming pool and you get 10% off at Caribbean Jacks restaurant. I did not inspect the laundry or bath houses, but the place looked very well kept. Dockmaster also told me that if you decide to visit another Loggerhead while at their marina, like further south, for a week or two, they pay the dock fee and you just pay your electric. Oh yeah, they provide cable and of course water. Wifi you would have to pay for separate. So that is the scoop from Daytona Beach. Judy Klawe
Lambs Yacht Center guards the northern shores of the Ortega River, just a short hop west of the Highway 17 twin bridges. These good folks are a SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR. Please patronize them whenever possible!!!
SEASEA is located at Lamb’s Yacht Center on the Ortega River just south of downtown Jacksonville, Fl. Lamb’s is offering new transient and longer term rates that anyone interested in coming in to the St. John’s river should be aware of. Call William Nicely (dockmaster) at Lamb’s and tell them SEASEA sent you. Paul & Stacy Brannon
River’s Edge Marina is on the San Sebastian River at marker #29 with a channel departing the Waterway to the west-northwest, south of marker #12 and just north of SR 312 Bridge in St. Augustine, FL.
Visited friends that are at Rivers Edge but will NOT be making the visit again. Music is too loud from the restaurant and there was a rather loud party at the grills that lasted well into the night. The next morning, there was a terrible mess; beer bottles, trash, etc. According to my friends, the prices are very reasonable, but I think that if it were me, I’d pay a little more for a quieter evening. Celeste
No-name harbor lies on the southwesterly tip of Key Biscayne, just north of Cape Florida, and is part of the Florida State Park of the same name. The crew of the “Sorry Dawg” does a good job of describing what this anchorage has to offer below.
Visitors are allowed to anchor overnight in No Name Harbor for a fee of $20.00 per boat per night. Mooring to the seawall overnight is not permitted. During operating hours, visitors who have paid the overnight fee have access to coin operated laundry machines and a rinse shower. We also have a free pump out for all boats, a picnic shelter and restrooms. Boater’s Grill is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Visitors arriving by boat but not anchoring overnight must pay a $2.00 entrance fee. The entrance fee and anchoring fee are both collected by honor system.
This is a nice harbor during the week but is mobbed on the weekend, tons of weekend boaters all around the area. You can also climb the Cape Florida Lighthouse while you are there during regularly scheduled tours. However, I do not think there are water hookups at the wall. You can call them and inquire, Bill Baggs State Park @ (305) 361-5811 Incidentally, there is a restaurant right there in No Name Harbor that has good Cuban food. Sorry Dawg
We have confirmed with SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR Coconut Grove Sailing Club that, indeed, only sailcraft are accepted for guest stays in their mooring field. If you do pilot a sailcraft, it is our experience that Coconut Grove Sailing Club is a wonderful place to pick up a mooring!
CGSC’s reciprocal yacht hospitality does NOT extend to power boaters! We’re members of a yacht club that us listed in the Registry of American Yacht Clubs & had been enjoying the Keys for the winter on our trawler. We contacted them via phone . . . they got back to us saying they accept sail visitors only. This was confirmed by their vice commodore just today. None of available cruising info states this ‘” their website, THIS net, the waterway guides, the Registry of American Yacht Clubs, etc. Linda Hughes
They also only accept up to 40Ft. sailboats. We tried to stay there. We took a mooring in Dinner Key Marian instead. S/V Colleen Mae
This facility lies along the northern shores of the St. Lucie River, hard by the new, high-rise US 1 Bridge. Formerly known as the Harbourage Yacht Club and Marina, this is a quality facility in every sense of the word. Several restaurants and multiple shopping possibilities are within easy walking distance.
Cruising News: We have spent 2 months here and love the facilities, access to Stuart and the excellent day staff. However there is no night security and excessive noise both from inconsiderate boaters and the adjoining Wahoo’s Restaurant is a real issue on weekends. If you can, avoid slips on A and B docks Ian Rasmussen
The Vero Beach Mooring Field is managed by the adjacent Vero Beach Municipal Marina, which is a SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR. The combined marina and mooring field are a well run operation, and cruisers can coil their lines here with confidence. There is also very inexpensive bus service to nearby shopping and dining, plus a healthy but do-able walk will take you to the beach, where visitors will discover another set of restaurants and fine shops.
We have been in Vero’s mooring field several times. It is a well protected harbor. When we have are dingy in the water we always have two lines secured to it at night and have never had a problem. At vero they have a dingy dock to go into and tie up for the day. We do have a padlock on our motor at all times to deter the less determined individuals. But in eight years of traveling and 24k nm we have never had an issue. Searaven
We just spent 5 days in Vero Beach mooring field. Our original plan was for two days, but Vero Beach was just wonderful and we stayed 3 extra days. The staff was friendly and helpful and the long term residents were delightful. There is a bus that runs in front of the Marina. We did lock our dinghy when we were gone for the day, but we do that where ever we go. The Vero Beach Yacht Club and US Power Squadron are located next door to the Marina. The Power Squadron was having a party and the guys yelled to our boat to “come on over!” James & Gloria Crawford
No-Name Harbor lies off the extreme southerly shores of Key Biscayne, inland of Cape Florida. These waters are part of a Florida State Park, and are well protected.
There are no moorings there, but wish there had been. A large catamaran, anchored there for a week, as we know because we left and returned, dragged anchor when the S wind shifter to 30 knots NW all night. We were not hit badly but others were. Still a wonderful place to be. by the way, restaurants are good ‘“ not excellent. John and Joan on Destiny
These anchorages are located along the splintered course of Bells River ‘“ this stream intersects the AICW abeam of the Fernandina Beach waterfront, hard by flashing buoy #10.
Rode out a 4-day storm in May, 2008 in the branch of the Bells that turns south between the two upstream anchor marks. Anchor did drag a couple of boat lengths when the winds went over 40 kts, then reset (44 Bruce on a 21000 lb ketch). Otherwise secure and at worst moderate seas. This storm dumped so much water in N. Fl that at high tide the Bells River became the Bells Lake. All of the marsh land that forms the banks were under several feet of water. The tops of the marsh grass was under water. With no channel marks in this portion of the river I would have had to blindly trust my chart plotter to re-anchor if the Bruce had not reset. Bottom line: A good anchorage, but if a really bad storm is coming I would now try to get into one of the marinas on Amelia Is. See also: http://www.svsarah.com/Sailing/ewBahamasNorth.html for more details on my adventure. Captain John Stevenson aboard SV Sarah
This is certainly good news for cruisers since the nearest Fernandina Beach grocery was heretofore quite a hike from the municipal marina. Fernandina General Store is a handsome facility located at 520 Centre St. only a short walk from the waterfront. It’s telephone number is 904-310-6080
The Fernandina General Store has opened in the old Bank of America building on Centre Street, two blocks from Fairbanks House. Just think of it as a downtown grocery with a deli in the back from which you can eat in or take out. When I stopped by I saw a nice wine display going in too. There are a couple of [other] places in town for people to just pick up a bottle of wine, but the hours of the store will be 7am to 10pm seven days a week. Excerpted from Fairbanks House B&B, Fernandina, FL
The hard to find entrance to this interesting marine lies east and south of the AICW between markers #58 and #60, a short hop south of the Port Orange Bridge and Daytona Beach. Wow, I have never had the opportunity to try the on-site restaurant, Boondocks, which Captain Ted speaks of so lovingly below. Looks like we all need to remedy that oversight as soon as possible.
We have become regulars at this out of the way marina with its rickety docks and funky restaurant known as Adventure Yacht Harbor. We had become friends with Jim Boren who has been nursing the marina through bankruptcy. This is another hard to get into marina, but we like it. Jim reported that the marina has new owners, so things are expected to improve. We’ve mentioned Boondocks Restaurant before, and it is at least half the reason we like to stop here. Where else can one find a restaurant and bar (wine and beer only) in a marina parking lot under a tent? The food is good, too, and reasonably priced. One hears boat talk around the bar, and the dining room (for want of a better name) has both conventional tables for four along the walls and long picnic tables in the center where diners mingle. The staff is cheerful, friendly, efficient, and each appears to be enjoying her job. When someone leaves a generous tip, the waitress rings a bell. Signs permit smoking only when the tent flaps are rolled up (they were not this time because it was winter and the space heaters were on). Last spring (tent flaps up) kids were along the outside walkway feeding french fries to the fish, who gobbled them up. I told the woman bartender that this was the funkiest restaurant on the ICW assuring her that this was a compliment. I challenged her to name a another restaurant in a tent on a marina parking lot. She thought about it for a long time, and could not come up with anything like it. `And we’re bikers’, she said. `We see lots of places.’ Ted Jones
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