Port of the Islands marina Naples FL

[wunderluster]

A friend asked me to help take a Caliber 28 with a 4'2" draft into the Port of the Islands Marina.

Access is through the Ten Thousand Islands with Private Aids. It appears on the chart that Panther Key is the entry point to get into Faka Union Canal which feeds into the marina. He says there are some larger sailboats in the marina and I do see a few on Google Earth.

But the charted depths are very shallow in several places and the private aids worry me.

I hoping that someone has been in there with at least a 4' draft

David

[DotDun]

I know of a FP Bahia (4' 3" draft) that used to be moored there.

[Snore]

Never ran a boat up there but have kayaked the area EXTENSIVELY. The current through most of the passes is very fast. You may want to ride the tide in.


And this time of year, bring 5-10 gallons of bug spray

[wunderluster]

DotDun and Snore,

Thanks for the replies. I did go in with an incoming tide at 330 AM. It was really ripping through the cut. I had two crew on the fore deck with flood lights to spot the lateral markers.

We bumped once but no real issues. Got to the dock about 5. The next morning 2 guys in the lounge asked when we got in because they hadn't noticed the boat the day before. When I said 5 am they were both surprised we came in at night. The one fellow said he has been there several years and he doesn't like going in or out in the daylight!

I didn't notice the mosquitoes until after we were stopped at the dock. I think with practice a 4 foot draft could go through at mid tide.

David