Gulf of Mexico cruising

[capn_billl]

I'm looking for points of interest on the Gulf coast from Texas to Destin.

[capn_billl]

Has anyone tied up at Avery island recently?

Chandeleur islands?

[SandCat]

Originally Posted by capn_billl

I'm looking for points of interest on the Gulf coast from Texas to Destin.

All the islands of Gulf Island Natl Seashore are worth a visit. Horn Island, Cat Island, Ship Island, Petit Bois, Deer Island.

Horn Island is the largest and has the most diverse ecosystem.
All essentially uninhabited, unspoiled nature. You can camp and stay indefinitely, as long as you have water.

Stay a while and enjoy. Most importantly, leave no trace of your visit.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/27/t...-anderson.html

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, SandCat.

[capn_billl]

Now I'm looking further. The Big Bend. Steinhatchee river, Crystal River, Cedar Key, Suwanee river, and Weeki Watchee. I know most people go direct from Carrabelle to Tarpon Springs, but that leaves half the coast behind. I've also heard scary stories of shallow water, and groundings until the next day, too shallow for even the tow boat to come. and bad shoaling from the storms, vacant crumbling docks, and abandoned fuel docks.

Has anyone been there recently? My boat only draws 3.5ft, I should be able to get in there in a normal tide if the charts are accurate.

The alternative is to take extra fuel, and do a non stop 20 hour gulf of Mexico crossing.

Not a fun day.

[Tim francis]

Flower garden?

[GordMay]

See ➥ https://www.waterwayguide.com/latest...end-of-florida

[capn_billl]

Originally Posted by Tim francis

Flower garden?

Isn't flower garden off of the coast of Texas?

[Tim francis]

Yes. If I remember right, it’s 120 nm from port Aransas and like 90 miles from Freeport area. Super cool spot. It’s like 200 ft deep around the reef. I’ve only fished around it but looks like an awesome reef. They should have mooring balls on the reef.

[capn_billl]

Originally Posted by Tim francis

Yes. If I remember right, it’s 120 nm from port Aransas and like 90 miles from Freeport area. Super cool spot. It’s like 200 ft deep around the reef. I’ve only fished around it but looks like an awesome reef. They should have mooring balls on the reef.

I've fished there. Good spot for Wahoo, and Kingfish, and sometimes snapper.

This trip I'm looking more for Coastal land sites, or islands in route to Florida.

I'll be in the intercoastal mostly with occasional forays up to 50 miles offshore between ports.

[a64pilot]

I ran aground in a 23’ fishing boat in the big bend as a kid, I was on plane and ran aground in I’d guess a foot and a half of water, was grounded until the tide came in, hours later.
Tidal swing is only about a foot and a half. We were out of sight of land and out of VHF range.

If you go play there, I wouldn’t, but if you do, do so only on a rising tide, do not go at high tide, cause if you ground on a high tide, it’s going to be bad.
You will go aground, the question is how many times and can you get off.
There are also a lot of rocks, limestone, but still rocks there that are isolated and not on any chart. The local area mechanics are real good at fabricating SS guards for outboards as many people get the gear cases busted on these rocks.