Cheep and safe place to park my truck and trailer

[Zephyr's Aura]

Hi all,

I'm going over to Bimini the last week of Febuary through the first week of March. Putting in at Key Biscane. I'm looking for a cheep and safe place to park my truck and trailer from Febuary 21st through March 8th. any sugestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Tim

[Cormorant]

Have you called the Crandon Marina to ask if they offer longterm parking of vehicle and trailer?

You could also look into launching at Homestead Bayfront Park, where maybe real estate is less dear, and more parking available. . . .

Sorry I don't have the answers. I've been planning the same trip myself, but mine is farther off, and I haven't nailed down the details yet. . . . Let us know what you wind up doing.

[mobetah]

Homestead bayfront park might be a good idea. I know folks leave their trucks and trailers there at least overnight while they go fishing. Two weeks might exceed their limits but it sure wouldn't hurt to ask. It's a county park with offices and security on site ...... contact info for them them at: Park and Recreation

What type of boat are you going over in?

Good luck, Bill A.

[mobetah]

Tim,

I totally forgot that Homestead Bayfront Park has a long term dry storage yard (fenced in). I'm almost sure you could work something out with them. I'ts an easy run through Biscayne Bay, out Ceasar's Creek, through the reef and on to Bimini.

Let us know what you decide.

Agian, Good luck, Bill A.

[Cormorant]

I notice Homestead Bayfront Park mentions "trailer dry storage" on their website. Not sure if that means longterm car & trailer parking, or just leaving boat & trailer there for regular use -- but it sounds promising. Room to negotiate.

I've also thought that the answer to this problem might be in finding a sympathetic boater in the area who has extra space in their driveway / side yard. Park there and pay him something for it. There would be better peace of mind that way. Finding the right person is a challenge, but this forum and others like it make it much more possible than in the olden days.

The boat we'd take over is our 31' shallow-draft water-ballasted Cormorant, a Jim Michalak design I built a few years ago. It's just dreamy for getting up into isolated coves, beaches, etc. We use it partly like a "movable beach house." Can't wait to try it in the Bahamas. Our big logistical challenge is our kids and school. I'd like to wait a year till they're stronger swimmers; and then we need to manage taking them out of school for two months . . . .

[nautical62]

I researched this a couple years ago and was amazed at how difficult it was. Marinas with travel lifts often will provide car and trailer parking, but often don't have big ramps because they want everyone to pay for the travel lift instead. Most ramp facilities I came across allowed long term trailer parking but not car.

I believe Crandon would store a car and trailer, but it was prohibitievely expensive. (5-week cruise)

I ended up launching at Indiantown instead. There is a seldom used, double wide public dock which has no tides, and little wave action, with tons of rigging room. I camped the night before on the boat at the St. Lucie Lock campground and stored my boat at the Indiantown Marina for a fraction of what anything in the Miami area costs. The two are a mile or so from each other, but it was easy to use my dingy for the shuttle vehicle. (There is also an affordable storage facility in Indiantown located on the road to the marina, but it was often full when I inquired. (I believe it was called In & Out Storage)

From Indiantown you can get to Stuart the day you launch and it's an easy day from there to Palm Beach. When returning it's fast and easy to just use the Gulfstream to just head directly to the St. Lucie inlet and back to Indiantown. Since I was coming from the north, this also meant I did not have to deal with the busier traffic found further south while trailering a 26-foot boat.

This of course was for an Abacos trip, not Bimini, but just point it out as another option to consider for anyone Bahamas bound with a trailerable boat.

The other option I considered using Crandon was to leave my vehicle and Trailer at a self-storage facility on the outskirts of town and take either a taxi or bus back. The other deep water ramps I found were located at the park at the base of the bridge at West Palm which had storage facilities up the road and one in Fort Lauderdale, which also had parking issues.

[Zephyr's Aura]

Looks like we will be parking at Bayfront park. They have an annual pass for $176.55 unlimmited parking for one year.

Thanks for the help!

Tim

[Cormorant]

Thanks, Tim -- that's great info to have.

Gotta love it: the longer you stay out, the cheaper your parking spot is (per day).

Did you ever get a price from Crandon Marina?

Have a great trip! Please post details here when you can, for all of us planning and dreaming but not quite there yet. . . .

[Zephyr's Aura]

Crandon said $15.00 / day. They said that they had security but didn't recommend leaving the truck unattended for two weeks. They also said it's a park at your own risk policy.

[mobetah]

Tim,

With that shallow draft you might want to explore the back side of the Berry Islands (If you get bored with Bimini) ...... nice anchorages, clear water, plantation ruins, blue hole, good fishing, secluded coves, a restaurant or two, beaches, etc., etc.

I envy you guys, Bill A.

[over40pirate]

[quote=mobetah;250283]Tim,

With that shallow draft you might want to explore the back side of the Berry Islands

Hey! stop suggesting the Berry Islands. You really don't want to go there. If you go there, go straight to Chub Cay. Don't go to the northern Berry's. Leave the less traveled, more remote anchorages in the northern Berries to me!

[nautical62]

Originally Posted by Zephyr's Aura

Looks like we will be parking at Bayfront park. They have an annual pass for $176.55 unlimmited parking for one year.

Thanks for the help!

Tim

Glad you found something. Have a great trip!

[dbohara]

I am very interested in knowing how this trip went because I have been interested in building Cormorant (would be my 4th and largest boat I built). I'd like to know how seaworthy Cormorant is.

David OHara

[Cormorant]

David -- we haven't done the trip yet. We're now scheduled for next February and March 2010. It's looking good. All in the household are unanimous now.

As for how seaworthy Cormorant is -- we've had her out in moderately rough seas (25 knot wind gusting to mid-30s, 6-8 foot steep waves, some breaking) on Cape Cod Bay. The boat did fine sailing a beam reach, reefed down. A couple of passengers were not happy, though. . . .

Because she's lighter than a lead-ballasted keel boat, and because there's much less boat underwater compared to what's up above the waterline, she doesn't sail to weather well if she has to fight into big waves. (She sails to weather beautifully in protected waters.) She tends to get knocked around more easily than a deep keep boat of comparable length. There may be a flip side to this, too -- she might float up and over certain seas that a heavier boat would plow into. . . .

But, all that said, I wouldn't be afraid to cross the Gulf Stream on a good day. The design does allow the boat to roll 90 degrees without shipping a drop of water -- not that I'd ever want to try it. Hell, the ancient mariners would probably have been overjoyed to have such a dry craft to sail from the Faroes to Iceland to Greenland . . .

I love that the shallow draft allows you to run up onto the beach if necessary. You can get up into creeks and coves for shelter inaccessible to deeper draft boats.

I love our Cormorant, and every day feel glad I built her. Feel free to ask me any specific questions you have as you go along. If it gets too esoteric we can move it to e-mail.