We stayed in the `downstream’ anchorage and it was fine with a good anchor and plenty of rode. A bit spalshy ride to town but that is what the dink is for. Great lunch intown. Another ruiser said the marina facilites (available to us on anchor, too) were really nice.
Joanne S. Woodward
Click Here For The Cruisers’ Net’s Eastern Florida Anchorage Directory Listing For Bells River
Palm Coast Marina is a good facility, well situated between St. Augustine and Daytona Beach. At the management’s request, we have just recently returned this facility to our Eastern Florida fuel price listings.
[Palm Coast Marina] Has become one of my regular stops – always good place to walk over to European village to MezaLunna for pizza. found out they’re not open on Mondays – otherwise pretty much as described above [in SSECN Marina Directory listing]. If you’re getting fuel, I learned this year that there can be a current in that canal, my plan to dock was quickly thwarted by a surprising strong current running east, so turned around and got it figured out.
Capt Bill,
s/v Kittiwake
I’m not sure if anyone has responded to this yet. We are currently staying here at Palm Coast. The local boaters tell us that there used to be a pool but that with development of the area, the property that had the pool was bought and redeveloped, so no pool. The marina facility however is really nice. It is off the waterway with no current. I was unprepared with my lines for the pilings at the slips but we quickly readjusted. The showers and rest rooms are a bit dated but clean and work well and the bicycles are also a bit old. The owners (or managers?) and the liveaboards have been very friendly and helpful and we feel secure leaving our boat here to make a run home to the Northeast. There is a fresh pot of coffee in the morning, lots of outside patio seating for socializing (and there is lots of that) and they are going to look after my basil plant whie we are away.
J.S. Woodward
Click Here For The Cruisers’ Net’s Eastern Florida Marina Directory Listing For Palm Coast Marina
Stopped for fuel at Palm Cove Marina just north of the bridge. We entered at low tide with a solid six foot draft. Eased over a few mud spots but really no problem. Fuel price was as promised and dock assitance was cordial and effective.
Ed Grygent
Click Here To View the Eastern Florida Cruisers’ Net Marina Directory Listing For Palm Cove Marina
It’s always a very good thing to find a reliable boat repair yard. Fair Winds sounds like a really good choice!
Subject: Inflatable Boat Repairs St Augustine
Cruising News: We had cause to use the services of Fair Winds Boat Repairs LLC while in St Augustine this week. The owner, Arnis Zvirbulis, was very accomodating and professional. The repair, a 5 inch cut in the bow of our 11′ rib, was repaired professionally. Arnis came to the marina we were staying at, Oyster Creek, pulled the dink on his trailer. He took it to his shop and repaired it and returned it in less than 24 hours. The price was very fair. His office/cell numbers are 904-825-4692/904-669-6045. His shop is at 134 Riberia Street #7, St Augustine.
Ed Grygent
We had Arnis do a major rebuild on our inflatable and were very pleased. He is highly recommended.
FSMike
Tied to the dinghy dock for some essential shopping, and buying fresh shrimp, (Atlantic Seafood) right by the dinghy dock. Shrimp was superb, but so was dinner at the on site restaurant in the marina. It renewed my faith in `eating out’ after our disaster meal at Fishy Fishy in Southport, Friends went there for lunch and said it was top notch also. Highly recommend.
Beverly Feiges
Wow, talk about a ringing endorsement!
10/09 update. We came to Acosta Creek to look at a boat for sale & were so impressed we immediately moved our RV here & now are buying a boat in the marina. The marina is small & remote but peaceful and charming. The owners, kathy & Jay, are delightful. Transient slips are available as well as the services mentioned above.
Ted Johnson/BJ Hawk
Click Here For The Cruisers’ Net’s Eastern Florida Marina Directory Listing For Acosta Creek Harbor
Pirates Cove Marina is one of several fine facilities on the the Manatee Pocket. This sheltered body of water cuts off from the easternmost reaches of the St. Lucie River and the Okeechobee Waterway, just a stone’s throw from the St. Lucie/AICW intersection. Watch out for shifting markers and channels here, as the intersection of the Waterway and the St. Lucie River (and inlet) is infamous for shoaling.
What a great little gem of a marina in Manatee Pocket. Pirate’s Cove is just off the Okachobee Waterway. Best shower facilities we found since we left NJ on the ICW to FL. Great restaurant also! We’ll be back!
Wendy Childers
Click Here For The Cruisers’ Net’s Eastern Florida Marina Directory Listing For Pirates Cove Marina
Wow, what a glowing recommendation. Don’t miss this facility!
We have spent many days at this marina on our annual trips to and from the Keys. This is one of those facilities that you have to look very hard to find something wrong with it. To date, we haven’t . The staff is great and the facilities are clean and modern. The marine is well protected from the elements. Security is good. The location is across the street from downtown Cocoa Village which offers great food and entertainment. Travis Hardware store is worth the trip to Cocoa alone. This is a `time warp’ experience with an inventory of every known hardware item ever made!! I would (and do) strongly recommend this marina as a great stop for anyone.
Marsh and Bob
M/V ‘˜Threadbare’
Cocoa is good place to stop and spend some money having fun. Ryans Pizza really hit the spot after not getting in further north. For decent protection from the north, the west basin is much better than the east. Good showers, unfortunately the sauna is only for property owners!
Capt Bill, s/v Kittiwake
Click Here For The Cruisers’ Net’s Easern Florida Marina Directory Listing For Cocoa Village Marina
Looks like the bridge tenders here might give Captain Gray the benefit of the doubt.
I live in Florida and travel through this area several times a year. The bridge tender(s) always tell me I can get under their [L.B. Knox/Bulow/High] bridge and I always inform them that I can’t. This past month (Sept) they actually had an employ come down and measure (by sight) what my boat height was. Guess what, I can’t clear the bridge! I was told that they would keep a record so we would not have to ‘˜discuss’ this the next time. With virtually no one on the water in this area this summer, I heard no other boats calling this bridge.
Richard Gray
This is at least the second laudatory report we’ve had here on the Cruisers’ Net about Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart. This facility is the newly rebuilt Southpointe Harbor, once Stuart’s city marina. It is now privately leased, and the new mangers seem to be doing a splendid job.
Sunset Bay Marina is located on the South Fork of the St. Lucie River/Okeechobee Waterway, just upstream of the old Roosevelt Twin bridges.
I was one of the first long term dockers at Sunset Bay. I could go on and on about how pristine the faciity is and how professionally run it is but the the biggest asset of the marina is the staff. I have stayed at many marinas but have never had the pleasure of having such a friendly and capable staff as Buz, Sam and Ruth. From day one, they made me feel like I had been there for years. The icing on the cake is the magnificant restaurant, Sailor’s Return. The restaurant is owned and operated buy Bob Davis. Bob has a very colorful cullinary background and will soon have Sailor’s Return known as the best restaurant in Stuart.
Clay Thomasson
This is a great place to stay. It’s a marina where you will stay longer than you intended because you will not want to leave. The facilities are new and very well maintained. The staff is professional and cannot do enough for you. The permanent residents are particularly friendly. Every one makes you feel like family. Coincidentally, the marina is very convenient to the town. We are eager to return when the restaurant has opened.
Walt & Ellen Solomons
Vessel Rachel
Click Here For The Cruisers’ Net’s Eastern Florida Marina Directory Listing For Sunset Bay Marina
The glowing recommendation below comes from Captain Milt Baker, founder and former owner of Bluewater Books and Charts in Fort Lauderdale, and, I might add, good friend of yours truly and mariner extraordinnaire! Thanks Milt!
Contact Bruce Melius, in my experience the best small engine diesel mechanic in Florida. He’s based in Fort Lauderdale and he’s been my mechanic for about 25 years and four different yachts. He is thorough, methodical, professional, and extremely reliable. He has his own shop and all the tools one would ever need. Only problem is he’s a one-man shop and sometimes has trouble fitting you into his schedule. Still, Bruce is well worth waiting for and he knows Lehmans, Cats, Cummins, and Luggers like the back of his hand.
Call him at (mobile) 954-646-0283 or (office) 954-565-9143.
Milt Baker
Boy, this one is news to me. Fort Caroline overlooks the southern shores of the St. Johns River from a high earthen cliff, upstream of Mayport. I don’t remember any sort of dockage here, but clearly that has changed since I last researched these waters. From Captain Thomason’s description below, sounds like this would be a great stop, assuming you can drop the hook nearby, within dinghying distance.
We don’t have an up-to-date East Coast Florida guide either but the 2000 edition says one cannot dock at Ft. Caroline (and this was the case about 4 years ago when we stopped by). So maybe you already know this but the dock is now open to the public. There are two 28 ft slips on the land side of the dock. The depths are 8 ft or so but the distance from the slips to the rip rap shoreline is not great. A small run-about could dock there but nothing bigger. We anchored just north of the dock in 20 feet of water (just opposite the fort fence) and took the dinghy in to the dock. Like Kingsley Plantation there is a 59 minute docking limit but this is obviously not enforced, especially for a dinghy. There are nice exhibits in the visitor’s center and there is a Park Service constructed fort to give one an idea of what the fort looked like. It is not on the site of the original fort (which is unknown). The memorial column is not walking distance away, according to a ranger. This makes a nice stop coming up the St. John River.
Jean Thomason (DOVEKIE)
The praise keeps rolling in for this fine facility, located on the Ortega River, just upstream from downtown Jacksonville.
If you are considering staying a night or a few months in the JAX area this winter, I strongly suggest you consider Ortega Landings. Great staff, super friendly and helpful. Friendly live aboards. Very aafe and secure. Great boater’s lounge. Dockside pump out. Floating concrete docks. Pool. Free washers/dryers. Very clean and bright restrooms/shower facilities. Nice mall within 2 residential blocks of the marina with Publix, CVS, two marine stores, department stores, several fast food/coffee shop/casual dining places, two banks. Nice park near by for evening walks. I think this place would make a great ‘˜destination’ marina for snow birds who are looking for some place more laid back than the south Florida scene.
Rick Parish
Ortega Landing is a great marina anyway you want to judge it. The staff is very helpful and very professional. The facilities are new and beautifully organized. The pricing is very competitive. Walking distance to good resturants, grocery stores, UPS Store and a West Marine. We are extending our stay and plan to make this an annual stop. I would recommend this facility to anyone.
Marsha and Bob
M/V `Threadbare’
Picked up this little tid-bit below from the T&T (Trawlers and Trawlering) Mail List. I thought the crusing community should know about a facility that receives this sort of recommendation!
If you are doing any work on boat etc. There’s a marina on the Dania Cut-off canal called Cozy Cove Marina that has concrete covered dockage. It’s just one mile to beach, intracoastal, and Ft. Lauderdale Airport. Price is around $20/Foot. Nice people – Family run for 60 years.
Below, the crew from CuteSea gives us some good words about the anchorage on northern Lake Worth. Now, if only the city of North Palm Beach will learn that the new Florida state anchoring law makes it illegal for them to interfere in anchoring ANYWHERE on Lake Worth, we will be getting somewhere!
We live nearby and use this anchorage as a `getaway’ from the RatRace of beachbumming. Easy access to: Publix, CVS, West Marine about a mile walk, Bank of America ~3/4 mile, restaurants, etc. Some sailors spend the whole winter. Anchor in the `right’ spot and no cost / hassles from N. Palm Beach officials. Can’t tell you where the `right spot’ is ‘¦ the lines I draw on the water keep floating away. Politics!
CuteSea
Sunset Bay Marina is the new incarnation of the old Stuart City Marina – South Pointe Anchorage. This facility has been completely refurbished, and is now operating as BOTH a marina with slip dockage, and an adjacent mooring field. We’ve had several earlier postings here on the Net’s “Eastern Florida” cruising news section concerning Sunset Bay Marina, but the one below from Captain Berry is so chock full of useful cruising news, I’ve posted it here on its own.
The moorings have gone back down to $10 per day or $240.00 a month. There is free wifi, a nice boater’s lounge, new showers, new laundry facilities and a new waterfront restaurant next door. The restaurant is opening in October. The marina is full but they have a waiting list. They still take transients for short term stays. We walked a short 10 minute walk to the grocery store and to downtown Stuart. They also have a public bus that takes you to just about any store you need to go to. All in all it’s a great place to stay and the staff is the best you’ll find anywhere.
J. Berry
S/V Lil Rain
Cocoa Village Marina occupies the mainland side of the Waterway, just north of the Cocoa bridge. As you can tell from Captain Kat’s message below, it’s a quick step from the docks to the downtown Cocoa business distict!
I just wanted to let everyone know that we had a very pleasant stay at Cocoa Village Marina. We went to Ryans Pizza just a few blocks away. A sweet girl named Mel was the server. We had a wonderful meal and a very enjoyable evening. I recommend every one to go to Ryans. Next day as we cruised South we saw several pods of dolphins and were happy to be back in Florida.
Kat Luchene
This is a great spot for cruisers. The basin is nicely protected and the staff is very nice. Cocoa Village is across the street and should not be missed. Great shops and rest. as well as the best hardware store on the east coast of Florida. I’d give the marina 4 stars.
Scott W.
The series of messages below are yet another example of how things don’t stay the same in the cruising guide business.
Boat Tree Marina guards the St. Johns River, a very short hop north of this stream’s entry into Lake Monroe. The last time I researched this facility, the transient dock had 30 amp power connections. Then, today, I received the message below.
Boat Tree Marina: has 50 amp and pumpout at most slips. The othe `T’ and slips have 30 amp.
Frank Hartle
So, I e-mailed Captain Hartle, and allowed as to how my information was at variance. He sent along the very informative reply below:
Claiborne, in February 2006 the Admiral and I moved our 47′ Atlantic from Florida’s west coast to the St Johns River and Boat Tree Marina. They put us on a 40′ “T” dock at the end of “F” dock which is located on the river. That was their transient dock and had 30/50 amp with pump out at dock. We resided their until December of that year because they were full at the time. Have since moved to the beautiful and remote Sanford Boat Works and Marina that I have wrote to you about. That transient dock is still unoccupied as is over half of the slips in the marina.
Regards,
Frank
So, clearly Captian Frank’s information is more up to date than my own!
Click Here For The Cruisers’ Net’s Eastern Florida Marina Directory Listing For Boat Tree Marina
Marina Bay Resort is located well upstream on New River, above the downtown Fort Lauderdale municipal facilities. It has been around for many years, as I remember reviewing it in the late 1980’s. From Captain Bevely’s description below, it sounds like this facility is more desirable than ever!
We have been to this marina many times over the years, even with a sailboat with a 53 foot mast, and have always been pleased, even as it was going through its transition from old, to what is now a new, first class facility. It is like being at a country club, with a beautiful pool, hot tub area, exercise room, internet room, movie room, lounge with coffee always available, monthly parties, and new floating docks. Staff is friendly, and the location, at the intersection of 95 and 84, couldn’t be more convenient. Downside is the exhaust particles from the traffic and nearby airport that coat the boat, as in most big cities, and the long passage up the New River, which is fine for longer stays, but not for a night or two. We usually rent a car, and we are minutes away from all the marine places of business, restaurants, Costco, everything you could possibly need. Highly recommend this place.
Beverly Feiges
Click Here For The Cruisers’ Net’s Eastern Florida Marina Directory Listing For Marina Bay Resort
Palm Coast Marina lies directly off the AICW, between St. Augustine and Daytona Beach. The loss of the “amenities” described below by Captain Jennifer is probably due to the destruction of the once adjacentt motel. Doe anyone know if another structure has taken this one’s place?????
We stayed at Palm Coast Marina on the way up. Again, nice place but it doesn’t have near the amenities that your cruising guide says it once did. The pool and courtesy van that once took cruisers shopping are both gone. It is clean and well run but we were disappointed because the kids were really looking forward to swimming. Those things were the main reason that I chose to stay there. Oh well.
Jennifer Clendinen
Click Here To View the Eastern Florida Cruisers’ Net Marina Directory Listing For Palm Coast Marina
I’m not sure if anyone has responded to this yet. We are currently staying here at Palm Coast. The local boaters tell us that there used to be a pool but that with development of the area, the property that had the pool was bought and redeveloped, so no pool. The marina facility however is really nice. It is off the waterway with no current. I was unprepared with my lines for the pilings at the slips but we quickly readjusted. The showers and rest rooms are a bit dated but clean and work well and the bicycles are also a bit old. The owners (or managers?) and the liveaboards have been very friendly and helpful and we feel secure leaving our boat here to make a run home to the Northeast. There is a fresh pot of coffee in the morning, lots of outside patio seating for socializing (and there is lots of that) and they are going to look after my basil plant whie we are away. – J.S. Woodward
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