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stan7339 · 17-11-2015, 09:23

I have a potential job offer in the Tampa area and need to know if there is reasonable marinas for live aboard.

denverd0n · 17-11-2015, 10:50

There are several. Considering that the "Tampa area" could include anything from about Tarpon Springs down to Bradenton, can you narrow down what part of the area you want to be in?

stan7339 · 17-11-2015, 12:00

It is on the MacDill Air Force Base.

avb3 · 17-11-2015, 12:59

St. Petersburg Marina allows liveaboards. There may be others, but I am not sure of any close to McDill

Davy J · 17-11-2015, 13:00

The city of Tampa doesn't have many marinas period and I'm not sure of any that are great for liveaboards. Your best bet is probably the St Petersburg Municipal Marina or the Harborage Marina. On the other side of the bay is Land's End Marina in Apollo Beach. Everything else that I'm aware of will be a longer commute.

denverd0n · 17-11-2015, 14:05

None that I know of that are going to be really convenient to MacDill. St. Pete municipal and The Harborage are in downtown St. Pete. Island Estates Yacht Club is a private marina in Clearwater that allows liveaboards and often you can find slips for rent on Craigslist. I don't think the Clearwater Municipal Marina allows liveaboards, but it wouldn't hurt to check.

Good luck.

stan7339 · 17-11-2015, 14:24

Thanks for the great response. I have to leave family to work in the area for a few years until my wife joins me and of course sells our house. We sold our power boat last spring and have been looking to purchase a sailboat at 35' in length. We figure from what we have seen so far, that is the least amount we could live in. We have been looking for a while now and because of changes in life we may purchase the boat earlier than expected in order for me to have a place to live while I work in the area. The marina's shown are in a great spot and look like really nice . This forum seems to have a lot of nice people who help out quite a bit. I really appreciate the assistance and may be down that way soon looking for my new home. Would be nice if the boat of choice where already at one of the locations that were mentioned. Well thanks again

jcapo · 17-11-2015, 14:40

I was at Island Estates for 4 years in the early 80s commuting daily to Tampa. Traffic may be horrid these days.

Tampabayfireman · 17-11-2015, 19:17

We had a couple that worked at mac dill for the last couple years and didn't have much trouble with traffic from the municipal marina in St Pete. Jump on 275 n to gandy and it dumps u right by the base. Call the marina and get on the list for a slip as there is a wait most times. Also. Check Tampa area Craig's list might find a few gems for a live aboard

Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

cpa · 17-11-2015, 20:03

2.5 miles to Macdill AFB:

The Marina | Westshore Yacht Club | WCI Properties

I keep the boat here. Pretty laid back marina. The staff and facilities are great. The rates are reasonable. St. Pete is a much better location for sailing, as the water is fairly shallow in this area of the bay. The marina is pretty full at the moment. Not sure about a wait list. Good luck.

pesarsten · 17-11-2015, 20:48

It might help to know what type and size of boat you have, Tampa bay is shallow and can be challenging with a deep draft.

FYI.... AAFAIK, Most of the municipal marinas will have waiting lists. I don't know a lot of the Tampa marinas as I am in St Pete. Your better access to the Gulf will be on the south end of Pinellas county ( St Pete ) . I know that Maximo ( now IGY) allows liveaboards but they may be making changes in the near future. also check Pasedena Marina ( not MarineMax ), and possibly O"Neils by the skyway. Loggerhead by the skyway is pretty useless with a low bridge and shallow channel.

Depending on your travel times, traffic can be a problem, most of the Clearwater marinas will have a long commute to Macdill, the ones by the skyway are at the interstate so better for traffic. There are several marinas at the Gandy bridge that I don't know much about but can get info if you need.

PM me if you have someplace in mind and I'll try give give you some insight but without knowing about you boat it's pretty tough.

Paul

denverd0n · 18-11-2015, 06:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcapo

Traffic may be horrid these days.

No "may be" about it. Traffic IS horrid! Google maps says one hour from Island Estates to MacDill. Yeah, maybe at 4am. During rush hour I would expect it to take a bare minimum of an hour and a half; any accidents on the route and you can at least double, maybe even triple, that.

From downtown St. Pete the route is easy enough, but it will also take quite a while in rush hour traffic. Again, Google maps says 40 minutes, but at least double that for rush hour.

My advice would be to start with a cheap apartment near the base while you scope out the area and find something more permanent. Wherever you decide to end up, go there very early in the morning a few times and see what the rush hour traffic is like getting to the base. My guess is that you'll be surprised and quite disappointed with how long it takes.

A pet peeve of mine, but the roads around here are awful, and public transportation is useless. None of the local communities want to cooperate with any of the others to establish an area-wide transportation plan, and every attempt to pass a tax to improve public transportation gets voted down. Civic leaders talk about wanting to make this a "world class" metropolitan area, but it is never going to happen so long as transportation options are so lousy.

Dave22q · 18-11-2015, 08:44

Tampa traffic is awful. The advice to rent near the base is good. If you still want to buy include the Morgan 33 out islander in your search. The 12' beam makes it roomier then many 35s and 37s. Length is not a great predictor of living space.