Starting out in Florida?

[NakedCity]

This lifetime Floridan and NE Florida resident recommends Tampa / St Pete for the beginning of your adventure. This was really the "sailing" center of Florida in the heyday of sailing. Many used boats available, a beautiful protected bay to learn your boat on, an abundance of marine services, and probably most important of all , way more friendly to people with $5000 budgets than SE Florida.

When you feel ready for that Bahamas trip , cut across the state thru Lake Okeechobee to Ft. Pierce and 60 more miles and you are there.

[GeneM]

I have a boat near Cape Canaveral in Harbortown Marina - Merritt Island. It's a good alternative to South FL. There are good suppliers and less expensive than South. Check out the Ft. Pierce area too.

[sailmc]

Originally Posted by Ellevan

Wow, already a great response. Thank you all. I'll take a look at some charts of the areas mentioned and also what the online market is like for the boat we'd be looking for.

Let's say we did start on the west but then after months of practice or even the next year decided to head over to the Bahamas. What's the process of getting over to the east coast to a good crossing point? How long would just getting around the southern tip take? Can one cut through Key Largo or do you have to go further around?

Are there many marinas that allow you to live aboard in the areas mentioned or is this commonly discouraged?

What's the weather like October-February? Or maybe I should have started with...When is hurricane season??? Definitely not something I've ever had to worry about up here.

You have received good advice about Ft Lauderdale but those directing you away from SE Florida have forgotten about the 150 miles of the Florida Keys. If you buy the size boat you are indicating it will or should have a shallow draft. That will open up hundreds of places for you in protected waters.

[Sand crab]

Here's a decent boat in Mississippi right near the Fla panhandle.
https://htcca.co.uk/topic/ocean-winds-33-for-sale/

[Mainstreet]

As a fellow Canadian who did what you’re planning, I would suggest looking in the Vero Beach, Fort Pierce, Port St Lucie areas of southeast Florida. You’ll find lots of boats in very close proximity. Because Fort Pierce Inlet is the safest and best inlet for cruisers returning from the Bahamas, you’ll find a large concentration there. Riverside Marina is a huge boneyard of previously cruised boats. Some are bargains some not but well worth the visit. RIVERSIDE MARINA - OFFICIAL SITE

This area is where the “economically normal” cruisers exist. Not many fat cats there and prices reflect that

[The Perfessor]

I agree with Sanibel Sailor. Especially if you're looking to get your feet wet (haha; nautical joke), the gulf is a great place. I've been in Ft. Myers two years with a 43' C&C, and it has been great. Previously, I was sailing Lake Michigan; cold water for sure. The gulf is warm, lots of places to sail, great people. My condo complex is geared towards boaters and the wealth of knowledge is crazy good.

I will say I don't have experience on the east coast of Florida, but I do hear a lot that the only destination is the Bahamas. Also, I have heard that boats take a lot less abuse on the gulf side, though I have no personal experience to prove that either way.

Good luck and welcome. rjw

[atlroofman]

Originally Posted by Ellevan

Looking for some advice on beginning my first sailing/cruising adventure in South Florida. I live on the west coast of Canada but I'm interested in getting away for the winter months with my partner next fall. It rains here nearly 8 out of 12 months, the water is beautiful but frigid, there are far fewer sailboat choices and resources, and the winds are confused and light during the nicer months... Still an amazing place to explore no doubt and I'm sure one day we'll set up here.

The idea is to either just wing it and find a boat after arriving in South Florida while renting a room, or to find an online special and then have a destination. From what I've read Ft. Lauderdale is a pretty boatcentric spot. I'm talking about a 25'-30' beginner cruiser with a little work needed. Is this realistic? I mean we're both pretty adventurous and spontaneous, willing to struggle a bit and be thrown into it.
What attracts us to that area are the sheer number of boats, the many experienced sailors around, the warmth, and of course the eventual ability to sail across to the Bahamas and beyond after much learning and practice. We would of course have to head back to Canada at or before the 6 month mark, but this would work really well for our seasonal work schedules. If we had found a boat that we wanted to keep we would look for storage on the hard. I see many young people on youtube getting small boats and having great success this way in the SE, but I don't think I've seen anyone just show up from elsewhere and make it happen. Is anyone on this forum from the area and willing to share their experience or simply their advice? Are there any Canadians reading that have done this themselves?

Come to the Miami boat show feb 14 to 18th come with a printed card with your contact information and the type of boat you want, then just hand them out to every person in the industry that is intrested (brokers and others).
Line up some boats before hand to look at and check them out while you are here.(2 birds one stone) I have a condo here and there are all kinds of boats for sale that are not listed but people in the industry will know of them or know sombody who is (thinking ) about selling there boat.

[sanibel sailor]

Be prepared for lots of brush-off's from salespeople due to your price range. Might get lucky however. Be sure to check hotel prices beforehand. Might eat up a good chunk of your budget in South FL in winter.

[Salmoneyes]

Full disclosure, I did not read all responses. Maybe Im repeating what others have said..
I lived in Sarasota for a couple years and I would suggest the west coast of Florida for beginner sailors.
Additionally, things to know.

Buying a boat and registering it in Florida requires the payment of taxes.

There are great deals on boats in Florida because the insurance companies are denying certain coverage for damage to boats during the hurricane season (wife is an agent for 20 years, and the costs are going up with coverages going down)

Selling a boat in Florida gets even harder, for the reasons listed above.

We are hauling our boat from Oregon to Corpus Christi for $8000.00. She is a 47' footer overall and 20 ton. We saved over $2000.00 by reducing the overall height of the boat to a maximum of 13 feet. (no pilot car, and cheaper permit)

Oregon has no sales tax on boats, and boats are cheap here. I think when people sail up from Southern California to the San Juans, they get the snot beat out of them by the North Pacific and some give up and sell their boat. When we started shopping, it was comical how advertised price would get drastically reduced when sellers realized I was not interested. I ended up buying our boat for less than half of asking price when the seller realized I wanted the boat but did not like the price.

Just my thoughts on the matter, and Im sure these kinds of scenarios exist all over. Just remember, if you are a serious buyer, and have the resources, you are in a position to negotiate advantageously.

[Glansing]

Great thread. Here is a different direction, but similar. I am trailering my Hunter 240 to South Florida for two weeks in early May. I am most interested in great snorkeling on reefs, with the sailing being secondary. Are there reefs in SW Florida, or just sand, islands, and shallows? Dry Tortugas has my attention for snorkeling, but SW Florida looks best for my king of sailing. Is it ridiculous to consider sailing direct from Everglades City to Dry Tortugas in early May on a Hunter 240?

[CaptFigmo]

Hang out around Little Shark River.
Peaceful Cheap Historic ��

[CaptFigmo]

Hang out around Little Shark River.
Peaceful Cheap Historic ��

[sailores35]

I live in Ft. Myers Beach. I would recommend the SW coast of Florida over the East coast. You can sail from Tampa/St. Pete all the way to Marco Island with almost all of it either in the Gulf or ICW. You can daysail all the way to Marathon in the Keys. Draught is not nearly as big a deal as some will say. For starters find a 25-30 footer and go for it. I have done numerous trips to the Keys, Bahamas and spent 16 seasons in the Eastern Caribbean and for cruising stateside none is better than SW FL. Also not to be picky, but the Bahamas are not in the geographic Caribbean, culturally yes.

[tomfl]

Florida has more coast line than any other state except Alaska. In some areas boats are almost completely absent while in others there are so many boats places to anchor are very hard to find. Marina prices (not to mention marina rules) also vary widely. The East Coast of South Florida is the most expensive by a wide margin. The big cities on the West Coast are also expensive. Both of these places also tend to have the most restrictive rules about live aboards. The Northeast Coast has a lot going for it in terms of sailing and facilities at reasonable prices. The Panhandle area varies widely with built up areas and small fishing towns. The Florida Keys are different from every other place; in fact they celebrate seceding from the US every year and declare themselves the Conch Republic.

I went to high school in Miami sailing on my Dad's boat and racing one designs there, went to USF in Tampa and raced on the sailing team there, law school at FSU and sailed and raced there, also raced in Jacksonville, retired and lived in the Keys on my boat. While all these areas have pros and cons there are also big differences. The entire East Coast has barrier islands with inlets that can make getting from the bays to open waters interesting at best and a total disaster at worst; not something I would advise for noobies.

The West coast has a lot of shallow water but is easier to sail. While the Keys have the best easy sailing many folks who live there call Key West Key Weird for a good reason. The Panhandle has the best beaches in the state; beautiful white sugar sand that stretches for miles. It is also probably the lowest cost; as well as the coldest in winter.

What would concern me most is your budget does not seem realistic. You can find plenty of threads here about how buying the cheapest boat is not a good idea. It is possible to find bargains in any part of the state; but at $US5,000 you will be looking long and hard. Another issue is a 30 foot boat gets really small really fast. While there is not a lot of rain in the winter it does rain and staying in a small dark cabin with poor ventilation is not a lot of fun.

My suggestion is join a local sailing/yacht club, meet the members, check out their boats, spend a three day weekend on one, go sailing, ask about prices, crew in local races, sit in the club house and shoot the bull. Once you have done that for a season you will be better able to answer a lot of your questions about how realistic your plans are.

Obligatory vid of me returning to the wheel after a trip to the head sailing from the Keys to the Panhandle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRSXoTdkXjk

[Leolotowycz]

With 8' draft one is going to have a hard time in Florida. My boat is 3-9 with the keel up.