Hi, gang... The Admiral (jmclemore) and I are planning a trip to Florida in the first week of April, 2007 with our two sons, and I thought I'd pick your collective brains. We are thinking of towing the Mac down there and using it (mostly) as a camper while we visit Disneyworld, Sea World, Cape Canaveral, etc.
We figure for the 3-4 days that we're staying near Disney we'll park at the Disney Fort Wilderness Campground and then detach the Mac wander around in the van. But we also need to know if there are other good campgrounds nearby and we'd need one near Canaveral, too. Also, if we want to launch the boat in the intercoastal or a lake (or ?) where are the good places to go boating? ...and good launches?
We're very much open to suggestion as we are only at the planning stages just now.
Any locals wanna chime in?
Thanks, James! I think it will be all we can do to visit Canaveral and the stuff around Disneyworld, but I would love to come down sometime and put the Mac in around the Keys!
Thanks, Bill, but I'm not looking to "Bang, zoom, Alice, over the moon"... just to have a spash-down in the intercoastal.
Seriously, though, I can really use some help here, folks - Florida is definitely NOT my stomping grounds and we'd really like to put in while we're there.
You can feel free to drop me a line off-list, if you like, by clicking "PM" or "e-Mail" below. Thanks!!
As you may rememeber we are new, having only owned the boat since Oct. I have only taken the boat down the intercoastal once, it was OK, just for sight seeing and looking at the big houses but no fun imho becuase you cant sail.
Heck if you are coming down after the parks and what not head about 4 more hours down to Black Point Marina and we can sail over to Elliott Key or Key Largo and do some snorkeling.
Kevin:
There where several campgrounds and a couple of them are on the water/Ocean in the New Smyrna Beach Area. Would that be too far north?
For sure make reservations for a place to park, ahead of time. One of the places was a Mobile Home Park that also had numerous slots/spaces for very short term, and it had trees hills etc. It wasn't your typical Parking lot scenario. Mostly SnowBirds who left their rolly homes sit all year round and visited for the season. Truly wish I could remember the name for you, for what is was , for what it was IMHO fairly nice place.
I've launched out of Port Canaveral. It's a great place. Very well developed with a popular boat ramp, a restaurant, bait shop and all the rest of that good stuff. It's also close to "Jetty Park" which is where all the campers go and provides a terrific vantage point if and when there are Space Shuttle Launches as well. We ventured too close to a nuclear submarine in the area with our boat and had a bunch of rifles pointed at us by the Naval guys. We were told not to get too close. We listened if you get my drift.
If you plan on coming down further south into South Florida, the sailing is simply superb in the Biscayne Bay area as was mentioned above by NCHOBERG. It's a protected area since you are sailing on bay that is about 6-9 feet deep surrounded by outer islands. Launch from Blackpoint and sail 6-8 miles across to camp out on your boat at Elliot Key. You may want to check the Biscayne National Park website. Boca Chita Key just north of Elliot Key is also beautiful with the lighthouse and picnic areas next to the harbor. A great place to spend the day. It is so scenic. That could be a wonderful itinerary. This area is a boaters paradise. It was rated #1 in a recent article in a major sailing magazine as the best places for trailer sailing. If you do this area, you'll know why.
You may want to continue down to the Keys, which would be a good idea I might add. A good place to plop the boat in the water would be in the middle keys at the 35th street boat ramp in Marathon. Its is very close to the new Home Depot (as a landmark). Yes I know Marathon is about 40 miles further than Key Largo but the versatilty is unmatched. When launching out of that boat ramp, you can anchor within a block of the ramp in protected waters for camping out. If you stay on the protected Gulf side which is where you launch from, you cruise around there, possibly head 1-2 miles west and be by the beautiful Marathon Seven Mile Bridge which has plenty of clearance for going out to the Atlantic side should you choose. If you are adventurous, you can head north in Florida Bay (watch for the lobster traps) for 38 miles into Flamingo at the south tip of Everglades National Park and stay overnight there, either anchored just outside the harbor for free or inside for a modest fee at a tie up run by the National Park service. I've done that quite a few times. It's a special place and makes you feel like you're in the Bahamas.
If you do want to do the IC Waterway, to motor around and see all the mansions and huge yachts in Ft. Lauderdale, then you would want to launch at the 17th street boat ramp in Ft. Lauderdale (near the Texico Gas Station). 4 ramps with plenty of parking. That is a popular ramp that gets you very close to the action and if the weather is good, you could be going through Port Everglades and onto the ocean within 10 minutes of launching. If the weather is "iffy," you simply head up North in the protected IC Waterway and admire all of the wealth in Ft. Lauderdale.
Kevin, Aquaone has some good advice. If you are gonna go to the trouble of hauling your boat all the way down the East Coast, I would visit the excellent coastal areas of Florida. Its gonna beat the heck out of sailing in a lake near Orlando IMHO. I'm kinda partial to the West coast, with all its great beaches from Anclote key down to Marco Island but I've spent a lot of time in the keys too and that is some prime sailing ground. As for venturing out into the Atlantic via the 7 mile bridge, I used to do that on a windsurfer on spring break trips down there (camping on the water at Sunshine Key).
Just double your time in Florida so you can do both the touristy stuff as well as the prime sailing. I don't know what kind of sailing you typically do up in PA but Florida usually has some great wind in the springtime and you can go anywhere with a 26X! If you want to come West towards Tampa Bay, I'll meet you and we can do a day or two's worth of sailing around here. Lots of great places near here, like Egmont Key, Fort Desoto, Anna Maria Island, etc. Also, you can get a great offshore breeze in March/April which lets you sail in high wind with relatively smooth seas.
Hello, my name is joe. I live in Jacksonville Florida. I imagine you will be passing through this area. I have lived here in Jacksonville for about eight years, so if you need some assistance with your trip planning maybe I can help you. The Jacksonville landing might be a nice place for you to visit by boat. You might also want to visit Silver Glen Springs on lake George I used to take my Sea Ray there when I had it. You can drive your boat right into the springs. I haven't seen too many sailboats there though. Very nice place to spend the night on your boat.
An 800-foot-long boat launching facility with eleven floating docks.
A 238-site family camping area with facilities including picnic tables, grills, water, electricity, washers, dryers, sanitary disposal stations, modern restrooms, showers, play areas, and a camp store.
2 ½ hour drive from the Mouse, Online reservations too.
Great sailing, you will not be disappointed.
I don't know what kind of sailing you typically do up in PA but Florida usually has some great wind in the springtime and you can go anywhere with a 26X! If you want to come West towards Tampa Bay, I'll meet you and we can do a day or two's worth of sailing around here. Lots of great places near here, like Egmont Key, Fort Desoto, Anna Maria Island, etc. Also, you can get a great offshore breeze in March/April which lets you sail in high wind with relatively smooth seas.