Places to Live and/0r Sail in Florida?

[Elzaar]

Hey folks,

I've read what I can find on this, but still would appreciate some recommendations.

I have friends in Ocala, and spent most of last Winter around Cape Coral. Seriously thinking of leaving the Pacific Northwest and re-locating to Florida or maybe Carolinas. I'm open to either coast (I sail and dive), but overall probably prefer the more relaxed approach the west side at least has a reputation for having. Currently checking Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda, Venice, Tampa, St. Pete, and maybe a bit further north or into the Panhandle. On east coast I'm curious about St. Augustine area down to St. Lucie.

I welcome any advice from areas to live to areas to sail. I learned years ago driving is simpler than sailing, so I'm not against living in one area and mooring the boat within two hours drive elsewhere.

I appreciate your suggestions!

[SCWentz]

Since you leave a lot open on what you are looking for in terms of life/work/play, the Swiss army knife answer would be to start off in Orlando until you nail down where you want to keep the boat more permanently. It has a major airport hub and a decently diverse job market. The Turnpike gives you easy access to your friends in Ocala (Crystal River/Homosassa via 44), and decent Coastal access down to Ft. Pierce although a bit longer than two hours. 50 will give you Tarpon Springs, I-4 puts you within a couple hours of either Daytona or Tampa/St. Pete, and the 528 will be a short hop out to Titusville, Merritt Island, Cocoa, and Melbourne.

[thomm225]

The Panhandle is usually lower in cost of living and the water is beautiful especially Pensacola, Ft Walton Beach, Destin, and Panama City.

Then there's the Redneck Riviera out toward Alabama/Orange Beach Area....

[tkeithlu]

There is one area in the Florida panhandle that is distinctly different from the rest of Florida. It is the "Forgotten Coast," the rural and small town section from Port St. Joe to St. Marks. It is not Florida developed. Within it is the village of Carrabelle, which has a beautiful harbor, all the boat resources you could want including a pro/DIY yard, and quick access first to Apalachee Bay and then to the gulf. If "Florida" in the usual packed urban sense is what you want, it holds no appeal. If living in small city Tallahassee 90 minutes from the coast is appealing, then it starts to fit. If living in a village where Meridian St. runs east-west, people come to the supermarket on their lawn mowers, and you can walk to all resources, then it really starts to be appealing. We're based here, are active in a community that still values volunteers, and have our boat at our front yard/dock.

[Tetepare]

In “the same boat”. Looking forward to insights.

[skipmac]

Diving and boating Florida for 45 years I have developed a few opinions on the subject.

First diving.

Until you get to SE Florida, roughly Palm Beach, the only diving will be wrecks or the caves in the north FL springs.

East coast FL, from Palm Beach down to Key West and out to the Dry Tortugas there are coral reefs. West coast of FL except for wrecks and artificial reefs, is all sand with some rock ledges where you'll find some fish but no reefs. This also applies to the coast up the panhandle area.


Sailing.

The entire Florida east coast the only sailing is out the inlet to the ocean, sail around and go back or go north or south to the next inlet and back in. Occasionally in some areas you can sail up and down the ICW and back to your dock.

There is some cruising on the west coast. Tampa Bay area has a good sizes area to sail and you can visit marinas, restaurants and find places to anchor from Clearwater to Sarasota. Farther south Charlotte Harbor area offers a lot of islands, rivers and cruising but lots of very shallow water so shoal draft strongly recommended.

For me the biggest attraction is SE Florida that gives you access to the Keys or 50 miles to the east, the Bahamas one of the nicest cruising grounds in the world. BUT the closer you get to SE Florida the more it's going to cost to live and dock. Bring your big wallet.

[thomm225]

he one thing you may not be used to is the sweltering heat in July and August especially along the Gulf Coast and places like inland Orlando.

Many people stay in the AC for those months......

[Elzaar]

Excellent and thanks for the responses and PMs.

Great timing on the information on Carrabelle. I drove up to Apalachacola from Ocala yesterday and Carrabelle and Apalach are both beautiful. I wondered if the water depth would support a centerboard boat - mine draws just over 5' with the board up. I also have heard the sailboat crowd isn't necessarily well-received in some areas, so curious if that is true and, if so, what areas those are? Looking especially at the post with the "fiberglass shattering steel trawler"? FWIW, in my home base of Bellingham, I share the yard and workspace (and restaurant/bar) with commercial crews prepping their boats to head up to fish and crab in Alaska. I have plenty of respect and appreciation for people who earn their living on steel boats.

My plan for today is to check out Apalach and work my way back east looking at Carrabelle and points along the panhandle. I have to say, having never been here before, I'm impressed. It looks beautiful and the towns (esp. Apalach) are just the right size. Any hints on what the people are like?

North of Tampa, I checked out Dunedin and Tarpon Springs. I liked both of them, also. People were very friendly and relaxed. My main concerns there were that the only areas I had time to check out looked likely to get inundated by tourists on the weekends. Still, I could see living a few miles inland and keeping the boat between Tarpon and Dunedin or maybe Tampa. I hope to get over to check Rockledge down to Port Saint Lucie on the Atlantic side tomorrow and the next day, and then back up through Sarasota to Tampa.

My ideal would be to find an area that is deep enough to hold the boat and sail ( I have a centerboard, so anything deeper than 5' is possible, but to really sail needs a bit more). I would like to work on the boat and/or sail regularly (like every few weeks anyway), so two hours of motoring a channel to get to open water would be doable, but a major PITA. Ideally, the boat will be out sailing for weeks to months at a time outside of hurricane season, and probably try to find someplace on the hard or a good hurricane hole like up the Caloosahatchee river during hurricane season.

I'm semi-retired (police and Army), so I'm pretty flexible on most things as far as dodging the worst of the Summer weather, sailing down to the Keys, or even around to the Bahamas for a few months. Volunteer work is appealing to me, but unless its a real emergency or one heck of a community, my days of being the police are done. One consideration is to be able to sail and relax for half the year and do disaster relief during the storm season.

Thanks for the info on the diving. I had read about snorkeling at least along the Panhandle to see Rays and the like, but sounds like even that is pretty limited. I can always save the dives for road trips or longer sail excursions.

Reminds me, for the Panhandle, where do people swim? Is the entire coastline basically swimmable?

Please keep the information coming. As always, CF is incredible.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Elzaar

Excellent and thanks for the responses and PMs.

Great timing on the information on Carrabelle. I drove up to Apalachacola from Ocala yesterday and Carrabelle and Apalach are both beautiful. I wondered if the water depth would support a centerboard boat - mine draws just over 5' with the board up. I also have heard the sailboat crowd isn't necessarily well-received in some areas, so curious if that is true and, if so, what areas those are? Looking especially at the post with the "fiberglass shattering steel trawler"? FWIW, in my home base of Bellingham, I share the yard and workspace (and restaurant/bar) with commercial crews prepping their boats to head up to fish and crab in Alaska. I have plenty of respect and appreciation for people who earn their living on steel boats.

My plan for today is to check out Apalach and work my way back east looking at Carrabelle and points along the panhandle. I have to say, having never been here before, I'm impressed. It looks beautiful and the towns (esp. Apalach) are just the right size. Any hints on what the people are like?

North of Tampa, I checked out Dunedin and Tarpon Springs. I liked both of them, also. People were very friendly and relaxed. My main concerns there were that the only areas I had time to check out looked likely to get inundated by tourists on the weekends. Still, I could see living a few miles inland and keeping the boat between Tarpon and Dunedin or maybe Tampa. I hope to get over to check Rockledge down to Port Saint Lucie on the Atlantic side tomorrow and the next day, and then back up through Sarasota to Tampa.

My ideal would be to find an area that is deep enough to hold the boat and sail ( I have a centerboard, so anything deeper than 5' is possible, but to really sail needs a bit more. I would like to work on the boat and/or sail regularly (like every few weeks anyway), so two hours of motoring a channel to get to open water would be doable, but a major PITA. Ideally, the boat will be out sailing for weeks to months at a time outside of hurricane season, and probably try to find someplace on the hard or a good hurricane hole like up the Caloosahatchee river during hurricane season.

I'm semi-retired (police and Army), so I'm pretty flexible on most things as far as dodging the worst of the Summer weather, sailing down to the Keys, or even around to the Bahamas for a few months. Volunteer work is appealing to me, but unless its a real emergency or one heck of a community, my days of being the police are done. One consideration is to be able to sail and relax for half the year and do disaster relief during the storm season.

Thanks for the info on the diving. I had read about snorkeling at least along the Panhandle to see Rays and the like, but sounds like even that is pretty limited. I can always save the dives for road trips or longer sail excursions.

Reminds me, for the Panhandle, where do people swim? Is the entire coastline basically swimmable?

Please keep the information coming. As always, CF is incredible.

Yes, and the Panhandle beaches are some of the most beautiful. Plus between Pensacola and Navarre is protected.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Gu...!4d-87.1298624

Also in Pensacola you have Pensacola Bay which is maybe 8-10 miles across with easy access to the Gulf. Most every Saturday and Sunday they are sailing in the Bay

Picture sailing/racing is from Pensacola Bay and the Sound just inside Pensacola Beach

Also if you retired army you'd have base privileges at Naval Air Station Pensacola or the Air Force base in Ft Walton.

[tkeithlu]

Hi, Elzaar. Our "Fiberglass shattering steel trawler" has a five foot draft and is docked 1 1/2 miles up river from the Carrabelle bridge. There are larger boats farther up river than us.

Carrabelle has a better harbor than Apalachicola. There are multiple marinas and even achorage, and all the community services are within walking distance within the harbor. You get more harbor and boat support and less town than in Apalach.

Nothing against sailboats - I grew up on them, and turned to diesel only in retirement and with a small wife.

Politically, the panhandle is the most conservative of Florida. Shrines to trump can get a little old, but everyone is most civil. Only one grouch in town.

Volunteer? Yeah, I gave up a badge, too. Now I maintain the Crooked River Lighthouse and am the volunteer Operations Chief for the county's emergency management. I have about 15 positions to be filled by volunteers for the next hurricane.

Give me a PM if I can be of help to you. Be glad to show you around.

[Capt Clark]

Elzaar,

Don’t dismiss SE Florida so easily especially if you like sailing & diving. There are a few areas here that do offer a more relaxed approach. I have lived in a few places and have found that if you have good friends and fun activities, it’s a great place to be.

Capt Clark

[Bobby Lex]

The gulf coast of Florida has wonderful sailing grounds. Secluded anchorages, deserted or almost-deserted islands to explore, fair winds (usually), light waves (usually), some of the best beaches in the world, year-round sailing, and spectacular sunsets. It's the reason I moved to Florida from Michigan in the early 80's, and I have never regretted my decision.

PM me if you would like a bit of "local knowledge" about any of west Florida's sailing grounds from Hernando Beach (about 60 miles north of St. Pete) south to Key West and the Dry Tortugas and everywhere in between. The long and short of it is that there is something for every sailor's tastes in these waters if you do your homework.

Meanwhile, I would suggest that you think twice about your willingness to live someplace that would require a two hour drive to get to your boat, as you suggested. That's a 4-hour round trip just to make sure you left your battery selector in the right position, or just to add an extra dock line or two because a storm is forecast, or because you can't remember whether or not you closed a seacock, or whatever.

Sometimes you just have no choice. But ideally, I sure like to be as close to my boat as possible so I can keep a good eye on it.

Bob

[Elzaar]

Well, Apalachicola and Carrabelle both looked great - very relaxed, but organized.

The advise on being closer to the boat is well taken. Driving back down toward Tarpon Springs tonight I was imagining what that drive is probably like when there are RVs everywhere.

Pensacola region will probably have to wait for another trip down, but it does look inviting. Having a bay to sail and miles of beaches is hard not to like.

Really going to have to think about the diving trade off.

[Hudson Force]

I've first learned to sail in Fort Lauderdale in 1955. 'a wonderful boating town, but not much for sailing except offshore. I would suggest a place where you have access to the ocean or gulf and also protected water for anytime spontaneous sailing without a couple hours added to a sailing opportunity to get from a marina and out an inlet and back or a drive to get to your boat.

These places with large protected water adjacent to an excellent inlet are:
-Escambia Bay/Pensacola Bay areas in the Panhandle
-Tampa Bay area
-Charlotte Harbor
-Biscayne Bay
-St. Johns River, south of Jacksonville (a little far to the Inlet for offshore)
-Some areas of the Keys especially Marathon & bayside of Key Largo
-Indian River from Stuart up to Titusville (limited space inland)
-St. Augustine & Fernandina (strong currents inland & limited space)

[jeanathon]

Following this. I grew up in Merritt Island, and long ago gave up on Florida as there were just too many people.
Then I found the nature's coast, and am quite interested in the Forgotten coast.