Andy & Mara—
If I
recall, you’re moored at the Cortez marina and I suspect the only reason you’ve motored down to
Sarasota Bay is to avoid having to go through the Cortez or Anna Maria Island Bridges. For what it’s worth, the south Tampa Bay area between the mouth of the Manatee River, the Skyway Bridge and Egmont Key is a much nicer sailing venue than
Sarasota Bay with much more room and things to see/places to go. There is no reason to be apprehensive about the bridges. The bridge tenders know what they are doing and are generally very accommodating so long as you don’t ask for openings where bridges are limited to schedules as are the Cortez .and Anna Maria Island Bridges. We sailed a
Cal 2-29 for 20+ years, the last 10 right here in the Bradenton area, and transited those bridges many times.. Simply approach the bridges slowly and call the Bridge
Tender on Ch# 9 and tell them you’re looking for the next opening. They tell you when. If there’s a lot of traffic, which there can be at times, let the bridge
tender know you’ll wait for the traffic to clear before going ahead and then simply loiter, idling in circles about 75 yards away from the bridge, biased to one side or another of the channel to allow traffic to pass. We listen for transmissions from other yachts and occasionally will speak with them to coordinate our movements. Most people are very accommodating.
Except in very windy conditions, when you’re not likely to be out and about anyway, hard sheeting your main .will improve your stability. The
Cal is light and will bounce around a bit in a chop and can be difficult to steer unless you’ve got the main up and hard sheeted and you keep some way on the yacht to ensure you can maintain steerage. At bridges, and in proximity to any hazard, steerageway is imperative. From Cortez to Anna Maria Island Bridge is 3 miles and the bridge openings are 30 minutes apart so, once you’ve cleared one or the other, maintain 5 knots or so to make the next opening. In either case the Bridge tender on the subsequent bridge will know you’re coming.
The Long
Boat Key Bridge is another animal and can be a pip. It’s narrow and the currents can be fast on either an ebb of a flood. We will not go through that bridge except at high
water slack or on a flood (so long as the wind’s not easterly with any speed). On an ebb, one can get pretty good “standing” waves on the Gulf side, particularly if there’s any west in the
wind. And, the Gulf Side channel has migrated south and is not where it appears on the
current charts. (Once one’s a bit past marker #2, one needs to
head off at about 210º (M) to avoid the shoals that are extending south into the channel.) This situation has been reported to the CG and the
Florida State Authorities, and supposedly they were going to remark the channel, but I don’t know whether that’s been done or not. Frankly, however, unless you’re headed to Venice or points south, there’s no reason to go through Long
Boat, and, particularly not if your objective is Sarasota as both New Pass and Big Pass are foul and not a place for a
newbie so there’s no reasonable way into Sarasota from the Gulf. If you want sea time,
head north and sail up to an around Egmont. You can
anchor out on the Bay side just south of the Pilot’s pier so long as the wind’s westerly or head back down to the Manatee River and
anchor in the cove just east of DeSoto Point or, better, across the channel on the north side of the River. It’s a great stop.
FWIW…
). Also, it's nice to thank the bridge tender once you're through the bridge. The best bridge tenders on the AICW are at Daytona Beach. The ladies there really know their stuff. The old guy at Titusville is very nice too. The worst ones used to be at Surf City Bridge and Socastee Bridge. They put a high-rise in at Socastee (SC) but the locals complained so much they resurrected the old bridge so now, even though the high rise is there, you still have to wait for a bridge opening. Ah, bridges, you gotta love them!!
)
We would love to get together (assuming we can GET where we need to go). Can we still PM you? 
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