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Old 06-05-2017, 15:55   #1
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Sailing around the Sarasota area?

All of my sailing has been done in the Pacific NW, and the US/BVI's.
I am now thinking of spending the winter months away from the cold and rainy PNW. Sarasota seems like a place we might like. We will try it for one winter in a rental, and if we like it, probably buy a condo. My question is, does anyone have experience sailing around that part of Florida, and can you tell me what I might expect in comparison to the areas I am familiar with. I have always been a gunkhole sailor, and have no great desire to go blue water cruising. Don't like to get more than two days from a bar stool, although now that I am 70, it's more for the characters we meet, than for the spirits we meet. It is possible to get a condo with a dock, or slip suitable for up to a 30 footer, but I would like to decide ahead of time if this is something we would enjoy. We currently have an Islander 36.
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Old 06-05-2017, 16:38   #2
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Re: Sailing around the Sarasota area?

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Old 06-05-2017, 16:43   #3
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Re: Sailing around the Sarasota area?

Lots of folks here with W-SW FL experience who can chime in. I used to live in Bradenton. Great cruising ground from Tarpon Sprigs all the way to the Keys. Some options further N too, but coastal waters start getting very shalllow.

A good mix of more urbanized areas, like Tampa Bay, and more isolated, like Ten Thousand Islands area.

More urbanized areas do come with more crowds of course and anchoring restrictions (big long running battle in FL) though.

Several threads already here related to this subject...give em a search too.
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Old 09-05-2017, 05:43   #4
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Re: Sailing around the Sarasota area?

West Fl is great for hopping around and doing some casual cruising. Many great anchorages with access to shore/bars/restaraunts. Big Pass into Sarasota is somewhat sketchy with shifting sand but managable. You can also go north in the ICW into Sarasota Bay, past Longboat and AMI into Tampa Bay very easily.
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Old 09-05-2017, 06:22   #5
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Re: Sailing around the Sarasota area?

Great area for sailing. The only concern is that there is a lot of shallow water around here. Sarasota Bay, in particular, tends towards the very shallow. On the other hand, the good news is that the bottom is mostly soft sand, so if you run aground -- especially at sailboat speeds -- you rarely do any damage. Bottom line: I would not want a boat with a draft greater than 5' in this area; less would be better.
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Old 09-05-2017, 07:15   #6
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Re: Sailing around the Sarasota area?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Movinon1 View Post
All of my sailing has been done in the Pacific NW, and the US/BVI's.
I am now thinking of spending the winter months away from the cold and rainy PNW. Sarasota seems like a place we might like. We will try it for one winter in a rental, and if we like it, probably buy a condo. My question is, does anyone have experience sailing around that part of Florida, and can you tell me what I might expect in comparison to the areas I am familiar with. I have always been a gunkhole sailor, and have no great desire to go blue water cruising. Don't like to get more than two days from a bar stool, although now that I am 70, it's more for the characters we meet, than for the spirits we meet. It is possible to get a condo with a dock, or slip suitable for up to a 30 footer, but I would like to decide ahead of time if this is something we would enjoy. We currently have an Islander 36.
We relocated to the area from SoCal in 1993 and don't regret it in the least. The Sarasota area is vastly different than California or the PNW (we're from San Francisco and still members of the Richmond YC there and did live and sail in the Seattle area in the mid-70's for awhile). The sailing is largely in "thin" water, as previously mentioned, but once one becomes accustomed to the exigencies of that, not bad. Although Sarasota proper and the surrounding bay are attractive, the outlying areas have much more to offer while the "City" is easily reached. Unfortunately, the City itself is becoming very over-developed, with high-rise and densely packed condo's sprouting like weeds and destroying the charter of the town that made it so popular to begin with. During the "season", from mid-November to just after Easter, the City and nearby Keys become densely packed with "Snow Birds" and tourists, so much so that we largely avoid the area save for the beach-club at the Ritz on Longboat Key, where we have private access. Getting too or from can be a real trial, however, even using the back roads that most visitors didn't know about until Automobile GPS systems became ubiquitous. Given the foregoing, you might want to consider the Bradenton/Manatee County area as a nearby alternative unless you're prepared for the mob scene.

Your Islander is a good boat but with 6' of draft, you will be somewhat limited, particularly on Sarasota Bay. Moreover, access to the Gulf from Sarasota proper is very limited and a long way away. There are several passes, but they shoal quickly and unpredictably and can be very problematic, even for "locals". Friends of ours that are "old hands" in the area and very experienced with the passes piled up on the shoal that's formed across "Big Pass" a few months ago in their shoal draft version of the Tartan 40 and ended up spending 2 months, and thousands of dollars, at the local boatyard repairing the consequent damage. They had been through the same area only a few months earlier and were following their "track" from the earlier trip. The shoal that tripped them up hadn't been there earlier.

We keep our boat in a Marina on the Manatee River, which gives us good access to south Tampa Bay and the Gulf without much difficulty despite our 6.5' draft. We have visited Sarasota proper on occasion but some of the channels too and from are very narrow, demanding close attention, and bridge passages can be a trial with the nut-case power boaters and jet skiers zooming around without regard to the limited maneuverability of a sailing yacht in close quarters.

For more you might want to take a close look at the interactive cruising guide that you can find on "Active Captain". If you aren't already registered, doing so is free and there's a wealth of information.

FWIW...
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Old 09-05-2017, 07:31   #7
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Re: Sailing around the Sarasota area?

Everything svHyLyte said about the area is spot on. Bradenton Yacht Club is a nice facility and holds (or used to, anyway) beer can races on Thursday nights through summer. Sarasota Bay is more of a transit situation, as noted by svHyLyte, but Tampa bay has plenty of deep water. There are many restaurants/bars with docks that will accommodate a 40ft sailboat with ease, and certainly dinghies.

Sarasota also has the Sarasota Sailing Squadron.
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