Need to Find a Reasonably Priced Marina in Tampa Bay Area

[deryk]

Hi I have been living aboard here in NJ for 4 years and am tired of winter lol, so since I just got let go from my job, and sold my boat and bought a new 1 that is in knoxville, I have decided to move her south to florida. I am leaning towards tampa bay, have a close friend living in the area and I have dreams of takein off to New Orleans for Mardi Gras lol so Tampa seems like a nice area and hopefully although the horrible state of our nations economy might be able to find some job paying enough to get by.

I saw a posting mentioning IC Sharks and for $10 a foot plus a $25 liveaboard fee, that sounds pretty nice for my Watkins 27 Pilothouse and me. Anyone familiar with the marina? Anyone know of any other lesser priced marina's, my only issue is not being in a heavy crime area lol? Being on unemployment at the moment Im not wanting to over extend myself. I have found a few with $100 to 200 a month liveaboard charges and am looking to avoid that if possible. Im not fancy, and its just for me, Dont need all the higher priced amenities. My boat doesnt have a hot water heater on it but as soon as its delivered that and air conditioning will be installed immediatly (and a shower sump lol). Im drawing 3'8" and the mast height above water is 33'6" if that helps.

Thanks and much appreciate any suggestions!
deryk

[James S]

Hey deryk welcome to the forum.
Tampa Bay is nice...sounds like good plan!

[deryk]

Thanks James!... Just need to find the right spot to get the boat to!

[deryk]

mmm anyone have any suggestions? Im flying down tomorrow to look at marina's the boat needs to be delivered by the end of the month.

Im going to check out:
Blind Pass Marina
Pasadena Marina
Seafood Shack
ShellPoint Marina
I.C.Sharks
St Pete's Municipal Marina

I know getting into St Pete's is pretty unlikely but cant hurt to check it out. ShellPoint I hear is a full service marina and would be able to lift my boat off the trailer so thats a plus.

Any other suggestions?

[svHyLyte]

Check the Harborage Marina in St. Pete's. They still have slips available and its a nice marina. You might also check the Twin Dolphins Marina and Regatta Point Marina in Bradenton. Both are very nice, have reasonable rates, will tolerate live-aboards, and are reasonably well protected during storm season. Before bring the boat down, ensure that you have coverage for storm season. Some policies exclude coverage in areas subject to "Named Storms".

FWIW...


(I spent a "year" in NJ the Sunday before last. I don't understand how people can live in the place. I darn near froze!)

[deryk]

Yeah those 3 marina's are too expensive for me, although Kenneth at Harbourage said they are going to be lowering their rates in april...right now they wanted to charge me for a 30 foot slip for $400 and my boat is 27 ft, and a $225 a month liveaboard fee with an annual contract and metered electricity. Thats too rich for my blood, and Twin Dolphin sent me a response to my email and wanted almost $800 a month. Im tryin for under $500 since who knows what I will be makeing once I find a job down there.

Im sure once Im down there and driveing around will find some more marina's...

[denverd0n]

You might want to check out Salt Creek Marina or the Gulfport Municipal Marina. There is enough marina competition in the Tampa Bay area that you generally get what you pay for. Higher prices come with nicer facilities and lower prices, of course, come with... let's just say, facilities that are "less nice."

Another option is to check craigslist for the Tampa area. You can sometimes find homeowners with waterfront property, who have a dock, but do not have a boat of their own, who are looking to rent out their dock. This is often the cheapest option, but be aware that many of them do not want liveaboards.

[forsailbyowner]

Just caught your mast height, didn't realize it earlier but your able to get north of Gandy bridge. There's a marina up there (I think run by city) that is low budget. A friend stayed there for a while. Ill see if I can get name and number and post again.
Ps if you'll be here saturday JSI is having a marine flea market that is known as quite the event. Its on 3rd ave south in St Pete

Steve

[deryk]

Hmmm Salt Creek Marina they said they are primarily a brokerage and don't often rent out slips anymore and Gulfport Municipal Marina says they dont do liveaboards... recomended Blinds Pass Marina, and Medira Beach Marina which is $20 a foot but includes electric gonna check it out...can't hurt.

thanks!

deryk

I dont think Im going to make the flea market, not getting into orlando till after 2 in the afternoon

[s/v Beth]

Deryk- do you have to live in Tampa Bay? Tarpon Springs is close by, as are some 'anchorages" that are a lot cheaper. I found the marinas in St. Pete to be nice, and I felt safe.

[deryk]

Well Im trying to think about employment possibilites, but also have a good friend who lives in the area, so I dont want to go too far away.

[deryk]

IC Sharks is badly in need of new docks and some of the telephone poles in the water are badly in need of replaceing. Blindpasswasnt so bad... Pasadena's I like. Very clean 2 showerhouses, pool, laundry, and dock boxes... still have a few to check out today.

[LauderBoy]

I looked at some a couple weeks back. IC Sharks was a real dive. Old docks, sunken boat in the pond, etc.

St Pete Municipal was real nice, right downtown.

Seafood Shack was okay, but they don't have wifi so that was a no-go for me.

Regatta Pointe was an amazing marina. A bit pricey though. You might check Twin Dolphin which was across from that. Don't know if their rates are any lower.

I've also been looking at the east coast and the rates seem to be pretty reasonable for some decent marinas. Harbortown, Titusville Municipal, Cocoa Village Marina are all real nice.

[deryk]

Well my boat is being delivered in the am to shell point marina and Im going to St Pete's. Im not likeling haveing to drop 50 a month for internet but maybe I can "borrow" someone elses lol

[aboutgone]

I'm at the Seafood shack.....10 per foot+ 150$ for live aboards..electric included..no phone or cable....showers are ok...laundry......Ed