Florida Sailing

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Florida Sailing

Postby bilbo » Wed Jul 27, 2022 2:25 pm

It's been a while since I've been on here; I ended up taking a different job an moved to Florida from the frozen North. I'm used to lakes near my former home, but where would be good to get the DaySailer out here? I live by Clewiston, so a little over an hour to either coast or I did see some lakes to the North, besides Okeechobee. My limited research so far is that Okeechobee isn't really good for sailing around. Is it wise to sail up and down the coast on either side as long as I'm not too far out? It would be kind of neat to do that and beach the boat wherever we wanted to.

I do have some work to do before I can sail though. Our boat & trailer was picked up, barrel rolled 360 degrees, then slammed into an electrical tap can about 20 feet away by either a microburst or small tornado in May. It tore the strap over the boat holding it to the trailer and broke the bow eye off, separating them. The trailer was lying across the top of the boat. Surprisingly, the only damage to the boat was the bow eye, a 1/6" or so gouge on the bottom, and the boom crutch was broken. The trailer had a bunch of dirt and grass stuffed in the boom crutch from landing upside down.
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Re: Florida Sailing

Postby GreenLake » Wed Jul 27, 2022 7:02 pm

Wow!
~ green ~ lake ~ ~
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Re: Florida Sailing

Postby tomodda » Wed Jul 27, 2022 10:38 pm

Wow indeed! Glad that boat and owner are ok.

As for Central Florida sailing, it's not that Okeechobee is unsailable, it's just shallow, muddy, and boring. And surrounded by a dike, so basically you have to lock in and out of the place (I think Indiantown? has a marina) and no shores to run to if a storm brews up. Not that I've sailed it, just looked at it from the dike ans said no thanks!

But you're in Florida. Go West, young man! Marcos Island, Ten Thousand Islands, Charlotte Harbor, Pine Island Sound.. plenty of (relatively)_ protected sailing. Start easy, Fort Meyers waters, behind Boca Grande. and go on from there as you gain experience. And near offshore should be fine on the DS... but be aware that your lee-shore is South Texas.** Depending on time of year (winter/spring), winds can be fierce on the FL West Coast, keep a close eye on the weather, and baby-steps as always. You'll have many years of sailing just meandering around the waters behind the barrier islands. Admittedly, I haven't sailed there since the 70's, I hear there's LOTs more condos and motorboats. Anyway, still tons to explore and discover.

East Coast, from where you're at, it's "Lake Worth", aka the lagoon behind Palm Beach. I wouldn't go out of my way to sail it, but it IS closer than West Coast for you. Motorboats, jetskis galore. Supposedly the inlet out to the ocean is the calmest/easiest one in Florida, I dunno. Near offshore sailing is fine, just watch the weather as always. Fortunately, South Florida prevailing winds for most of the year are easterly, so you can just run to shore if anything brews up.

Three last tips:1) Look up the West Coast Trailer Sailor's Association. 2) It's far from you, but Cedar Key is the small boat sailor's Southern Slice of Heaven. Maybe weekend trip? 2) WATER. Hydrate, before, during, and after sailing. Florida sun is no joke, and out on the (salty, briny undrinkable) water you get it from both above and reflected from below. Take more water than you think you need and then some extra on top of that. And always wear sunscreen :)

Fair winds!

Tom

**My brother, who lives in Miami, once explained to me that Florida is basically a sandbar separating Texas from the Atlantic. Keep that in mind when sailing the West Coast.
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Re: Florida Sailing

Postby bilbo » Fri Jul 29, 2022 1:58 pm

Thanks for the tips, I'll check those places out. A co-worker mentioned Lake Placid, which appears to be about an hour away. It looks more like the midwest lakes I'm accustomed to.

First, I have to go get some supplies and fix the bow-eye. It's weird having stores with boat stuff all over. It's not super popular where I came from so I had to order everything online.
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Re: Florida Sailing

Postby Bandit » Mon Aug 01, 2022 4:13 pm

We have two DS1's up here in Apollo Beach and there are at least 8 Dunedin. Christine Kelly is the contact for Fleet 123. Sailing in Tampa Bay fantastic.
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