MacGregorSailors.com

Anybody interested in a West Coast Florida sailing trip in a couple weeks?



The annual sailboat show is down here on Nov 4-7 and I would be willing to organize a group event right after that if there is any interest.

The options could be as little as a 1-2 day trip around Tampa Bay, or perhaps a 2-4 day coastal trip between Sarasota and Tampa Bay, or as much as a 4-6 day trip between the Charlotte harbor and Tampa areas.


Our weather in November is usually awesome so if you want a good excuse to come down and visit, here it is. The barrier islands on Florida's West coast are considered some of the best beaches in the world (Sarasota Beaches, Honeymoon/Caladesi Islands, etc.). It's like our own little Bahamas except without the gulf stream and custom's fees. Here is a pic from our trip last November to Egmont Key...2 miles of pristine beach all to ourselves.



Or, if you are into more civilized amenities, plenty of that around too:



http://www.starmandscircleassoc.com/
http://www.stpete-pier.com/picturegallery.php

Or if you want wild...there's always Ybor...



http://www.ybortimes.com/what-is-ybor.cfm
http://www.tampagov.net/about_Tampa/att ... /index.asp

Send me an email if you are interested in participating...agenda is flexible at this point.

Dimitri

how about one in spring march or early april

mark,97x wrote:how about one in spring march or early april

Yup, I'm trying to plan something for the Week of March 20th too... Typically quite windy that time of year, so will hopefully be a great week. Any kind of activities that particularly interest you?

wind in the sails,scuba diving you ever been to caladesi island

Mark,

Looks like we may now have 3 boats interested in a March trip!

I love Caladesi Island and have been there a few times. Have you been there before?



Although I've never overnighted there, I've thrown a lunch hook 2-3 times at that area to the left of where you see the people in the picture. It is the North side of the island that faces honeymoon island. With a Westerly wind (normal summer seabreaze), you can get a good lee shore right there and the beach is second to none. In March, the winds are frequently Easterly which means you can anchor right on the Gulf (West) side of the island.



A nice thing about making Caladesi an overnight destination is that it is a state park with a well protected marina right in the middle of the Island. It is rather a bare bones type marina and was not crowded the one time I motored in. It is really there for the nature crowd as there is hiking, fishing, camping, etc. Really kind of like a marina in the middle of the wild. But a good place to know if the weather picks up and you need to get some calm. There are shallows on either side of the channel, but is no problem for our Macs..

never been,great pic's,

With any luck we will beable to join you. I'll be watching the board.

is anyone still planning on this cruise in March - I'll be down that way and would love to go with a few others - see my post in the regular "posting" area

Ken, Dimitri has a group of 3 of us planning to get together in mid March. Dimitri and I have our boats in the Tampa Bay area. My problem is I will be out of town until the 18th and can't be ready to sail until the 19th so I may have to catch up to the group if you sail earlier. I am good to go until the 27th. Originally we were looking at the barrier islands north of the entrance to the bay; but that can change if others have a better plan. Regards, John L

plan on coming dwn on 3-21 and puttering around till 3-26,as in previous post want to get to caldesi island,but waiting on Dimitri to frim up his plans

Great -we plan on being there by the 14th - keep the "forum" posted as to the plans - looking forward to meeting some of you guys personally Ah - warm weather and water

we just has another six inches of snow last night - spent a good part of today snowblowing the yard & driveway


how warm is the water usually in March?

Glad to see there is still interest in the March cruise! I won't be ready before the 19th either and I was thinking about meeting up either that night or on Sunday the 20th, probably around St. Petersburg harbor since that is a good place with lots to do.

I need to put some tentative agenda together but I'm still not sure whether a Northern cruise or Southern route would be better. A Northern route could probably be done in 2-4 days and perhaps a good place to overnight is Caladesi marina which is quite rustic (state park). This would be just about in John's backyard. Have to say though, I was out at Anclotte key during the late summer and the beach was not as nice as it is at Caladesi, Egmont Key, and points south.

A nicer cruise that would take longer would be to head South towards Charlotte harbor where Cayo Costa State Park, Pelican bay, Pine Island, and Captiva are. I'm figuring that this would be more like a 6-8 day cruise that would effectively take the whole week. Other good spots along the way are Egmont, Anna Maria Island, Sarasota area, Venice area..all top notch cruising grounds.

Be great to hear any opinions..and I also plan to discuss this in the Macsailing yahoo group.

Ken, just from memory, the water temp that time of year should be around the upper 70's. Of course, that can vary based on temperatures. If it is unseasonably cold, it could get into the lower 70's, or if unseasonably warm, could be in the lower 80's. Would also be a couple degrees warmer if we take the southern route which is about 110 miles south of the Tampa area.

Dimitri, I prefer the shorter sail 3-4 days as I have to be back the night of the 26th. St Pete sounds like a great place to start although if you come north I might just meet you at Caladesi by sailing south out of Tarpon Springs. The trip down to Charlotte is probably too far for me on this trip due to available time, but could make Sarasota in the given time. Look forward to seeing what we can come up with. John L

Johns: I might prefer to put in at tarpon spgs and avoid the clearwater,st. pete area . Is there a good place to put in and leave the trailer for 3-4 days while cruising thanks mark,97x

Mark, I keep my boat on the trailer with the mast up at a boat yard on the Anclote River in downtown Tarpon Springs. They have a ramp and push you in the water with a tractor. They do mostly power boats. I am the only sail boat right now. I am sure they would be happy to put you in the water and keep your trailer for a reasonable fee. I would be happy to check for you. There are a number of ramps in the area both public and private but leaving the trailer for more than a day is a problem especially at the public ramps. There is a great ramp at the mouth of the Anclote river where it flows into the Gulf that is in a public park but I don't think they allow overnight parking. Depending on the tide there can be a fair amount of current too. I'll check the next time I go to the boat and let you know. John L