Florida Bay thru Keys and Florida Reef to Straits of Florida

[longjonsilver]

What is the best way to get from Florida Bay to the Straits of Florida? Beam 27 feet, draft 3.5 feet, air draft 55 feet.
thanks
jon

[Jammer]

The Channel Five bridge is probably your best bet.


Here's the list of inlets suitable for most sailboats, beginning in the Miami area and proceeding towards Key West...

Government cut
Biscayne channel
Angelfish creek

These do not have bridges. No inlets for quite some distance and then...

Snake creek - Plantation key - bascule bridge, 7' nominal but presently shoaled to 4.5'. The bascule bridge has 27' clearance when closed. Opening schedule is limited and has changed to become even more limited in the last year or two due to effects on highway traffic.

Channel five - between Matacoumbe key and Long Key -- 7' deep, 65' fixed bridge

Moser Channel - Seven mile bridge - deep - 65'

[Pandor]

Originally Posted by Jammer

The Channel Five bridge is probably your best bet.


Here's the list of inlets suitable for most sailboats, beginning in the Miami area and proceeding towards Key West...

Government cut
Biscayne channel
Angelfish creek

These do not have bridges. No inlets for quite some distance and then...

Snake creek - Plantation key - bascule bridge, 7' nominal but presently shoaled to 4.5'. The bascule bridge has 27' clearance when closed. Opening schedule is limited and has changed to become even more limited in the last year or two due to effects on highway traffic.

Channel five - between Matacoumbe key and Long Key -- 7' deep, 65' fixed bridge

Moser Channel - Seven mile bridge - deep - 65'

Good comprehensive list, Jammer. But where did you get the current status of Snake Creek from? I was under the impression that it was shoaled closer to 4 feet and was wondering about that. Is your source fairly current?

[carlosproa]

Are you doing this soon?
May want to go inside vs outside and enjoy the bay. Summertime is storming time mostly from the E-SE so it can get rough outside

[longjonsilver]

Originally Posted by carlosproa

Are you doing this soon?
May want to go inside vs outside and enjoy the bay. Summertime is storming time mostly from the E-SE so it can get rough outside

Probably in July or early August. Recommended inside route?

thanks all
jon

[longjonsilver]

Found this map online. Yes, i have OpenCPN and all Florida charts from NOAA, but this is good for planning as well.

https://www.topozone.com/florida/mia...al-waterway-2/

jon

[cottonsail]

With that draft you could stay in Florida bay all the way to No Name harbor.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by Pandor

Good comprehensive list, Jammer. But where did you get the current status of Snake Creek from? I was under the impression that it was shoaled closer to 4 feet and was wondering about that. Is your source fairly current?

It's from my notes from a conversation last year. It certainly may have changed by 6". My time in the area has all been on land and other people's boats, I don't have firsthand knowledge. It's an area I plan to visit and I've been studying it.

[neworleansrich]

I crossed thru Florida Bay last month. I went through at Snake creek 1/2 tide (4.5 draft, 21 Height). No problems with the depth. Didn't need a bridge opening.

Channel Five is always an option, but i had planned to meet friends at the Lorelei.

I was surprised to see NO crab traps in Florida Bay. Not sure what the crab season is, but Florida Bay always seems to be filled with floats (as well as all the channels), no matter what time of year.

[Geek_Guy]

We just came from Marco Island through the Moser channel under the bridge and into Marathon on the outside. Moser was very easy. We had 8 feet of water all the way in. Markers were easy to spot and the bridge was easy to identify.