ill be in Ft. Myers from the 29th to jan 7th. i was hoping to rent a cat from either someplace on the beach or somebody on craigslist. is this a good idea? hows the water and wind around this time. i dont expect to be wearing flip flops and tanning. any information would be great thanks

--
Nacra 6.0 NA
Ogden Dunes, IN
--

jealous.. no I do not have any info tough.. but why not sail on your vaca.. probably better off renting down there

For Hobie rentals (I think they have Waves and Getaways) try these guys right on Ft Myers Beach:

http://www.holidaywatersportsfmb.com/

The average highs in December and January are in the low 70's. Many days are warmer of course even up into the low 80's. We pretty much sail year around. Even on some of the "worst" days, a wet suit makes it doable. I am in Tampa and it's currently 70 with mostly cloudy skies and winds out of the east at 10 kt. Ft Myers is usually a couple of degrees warmer then we are. It's tough putting up with this weather.

Enjoy your visit and I recommend you do bring those flip flops.

--
Dave Wilson
Hobie 16, Hobie 14
Tampa, FL
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i sailed my cat yesterday in the gulf (clearwater). mid 70's and decent air. water temps in the low 50's. sailed in shorts and t shirt (downwind), hat and fleece upwind

sailed on wed on a mono. sun and 60's ... froze my ass off at sunset. bring a wetsuit with those flip flops

thanks a lot Dave. i called them they have a getaway for me. and Andrew, low 50's really? i didn't think it ever got that cold down there. other than last winter

--
Nacra 6.0 NA
Ogden Dunes, IN
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we had a major freeze here most of the last week. this December has been brutal ... probably only 2 or 3 days has it broken into the 70's. Crazy! we had mid 80's in nov after thanksgiving, and 40's as the high 3 days later. This week is predicted to be nice, sunny, windy and in the 70's (for highs) here in the tampa/clearwater area... i am going sailin'



Edited by MN3 on Dec 19, 2010 - 12:24 PM.

Just hold on and this week should bring back the 70s. I moved here because it was too cold in Atlanta. Can't dream of ever spending a winter further north than Tampa now.

hello

we're thinking of trailering Miz B (F-27 trimaran) down Tampa way for the New Year. Any suggestions as to:
-decent launching with trailer storage
-kewl gunkholing

we belong to a yachtclub so we prolly can get reciprocals

any help appreciated, we hope to leave tomorrow am
thanks
tami

The most obvious that comes to mind is Davis Island Yacht Club (http://www.diyc.org) right here in Tampa. It is primarily a sailing club with only a few token power boat members. Davis Island is in the north end of Tampa bay right off downtown Tampa and the club is at the southern tip of the island. There are pretty nice public boat ramps adjacent to the club itself. Another is Gulfport Yacht Club (http://www.gulfportyachtclub.com) located on Boca Ciega Bay in southern St Pete. They are an all sail club with lots of beach cat size sailboats. They also have their own boat ramp. Both should have good trailer storage and both are very casual.

Weather should be pretty nice over the weekend.

--
Dave Wilson
Hobie 16, Hobie 14
Tampa, FL
--

Thanks!

tami,

How long does it take to rig Miz B? How do you step the mast with it being so big? I saw the boat at Big Lagoon last summer and I have to say she was a beautiful boat. Enjoy the sail, I wont be back on the water for a while.

Thanks for the compliment, av8er.

Mast is stepped on the water with the aid of a rather long gin pole.
pic of ginpole
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tamishel/5305346390/sizes/l/

We can rig in 2 hr if we're working at it. Please understand that the boat isn't stock, and our rig time is longer than if the boat were original

tami

Thanks for the compliment, av8er.

Mast is stepped on the water with the aid of a rather long gin pole.
pic of ginpole
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tamishel/5305346390/sizes/l/

We can rig in 2 hr if we're working at it. Please understand that the boat isn't stock, and our rig time is longer than if the boat were original

That is quite a gin pole. What makes your boat take longer to rig than a stock F-27? I was reading on another website and someone said they could go from trailer to sailing in 30 minutes and I didnt know if that was possible.

What makes it take longer... mostly it's anal retention:
f'rinstance (details would take too long) we take the shrouds completely off the mast, we loosen our aft lacings, have a sprit with bobstay and martingales, lots of little things like these that end up cumulatively eating up time.

My ex-boyfriend had an F24 so I can from experience say yes, you can rig a stock Fboat in about 30-45 minutes.

Like a good absinthe, it's about the ritual, I guess you can say

You may want to check out the South Shore option of Little Harbor. It's away from the light polution of the city but then again, it's away from the city and city life. Neet resort with a hotel beach bar and stuff. Only 18 miles to the Skyway bridge which is a nice loop if you come back via the pass near Tera Vrede. 8 miles across the Bay to St. Peat pier.

Hi everyone, and thanks!

Here's how things went....

Upon the above as well as other advice, we decided to try Davis Island YC. So we're towing the boat, on our way there, and I decide maybe it's a good idea to call up the YC and let 'em know we're coming.

Not so much.

I call, introduce myself, and ask for the dockmaster. I am told his name and number, and then in a snide, tight voice, "What can WE do for you?" I reply that we're driving from Mississippi with the boat and she interrupts: "Mississippi! NO! We don't have reciprocal privileges with Mississippi!" (this is not in a nice tone, you understand.)
"Well, we also belong to New Orleans Yacht Club."
Pissy: "We don't accept ANY reciprocals from clubs not in Florida. You can't stay on our dock."
"Ma'am, my boat is 20 feet wide and I doubt it would even fit. All we want to do is launch, but I get it, it's okay. Thanks."

So I call the dockmaster, who is nice, but who also suggests that I get a letter from my club sent over requesting the reciprocal. I tell him that we're on the road but thanks anyway, we'll manage.

So be advised, despite the nice DIYC website which talks all about 'fostering relationships amongst sailing clubs' or some such, these people ain't too fookin' friendly.

So, I talk to a friend of mine from the area who tells me to go ahead over, since there's some public docks right there on the island. We do.

We arrive, and find a nice public launch with a big parking lot, and across from it is an old seaplane basin full of moorings with liveaboards. So we get down and look around, and a couple of the liveaboards come over and we chat. They were just nice as can be and gave us the skinny on the ramp, parking, and the little basin.

The seaplane basin has a ramp but it's super shallow because it's for, um, seaplanes, but it would make fine launching for beachcats on wheels. There's beach there too certainly for day use and if you're nice to the liveaboards (who have a penchant for Yuengling btw) you might be left alone to leave your beachcat on the little beach for a day or two, but I'm not absolutely sure about that. Apparently the seaplane basin and its beach are city, and the ramps and its parking lot are county, and the rules differ between.

We launched next morning. Although the dock is very protected from wash, it isn't well maintained and the barnacles are quite cruel, so bring lots of fenderage.

We set off to a 10kt breeze from the ESE headed for the Manatee River area, and despite the dire warnings from everyone, we managed not to find any shoals. Based on what folks had said I had worried about having to stick to the channel but upon studying the chart found that there was decent water most everywhere across the bay. The breeze was all thermal, for it laid once we got to the midbay but we motored on.

We spent New Year's Eve night at Bird Island next to Rattlesnake Key in Terra Ceia bay, just above the Manatee River. What a nice place. Quiet, lots of bird life (hence the name, duh) and even porpoise around the boat all evening. I wish the water had been warmer 'cause I bet the snorkelling around the mangrove roots is interesting. That, and I think the water was prolly too cold for the manatees.

Got up next am and set out under screacher to head back, and despite the prediction of more of the same light winds, we got 12kt winds pretty early on. The rig isn't backstayed so I worried the headsail alone might offer too much load, so we headed up, rid the screach, and hung the main once under the bridge. The wind continued to build, and shortly I had so much weather helm I worried about the rudder with just the main up, and we were getting boatspeeds in the 12-13kt range under main only, so I knew it was blowing. I called for jib to balance helm, and reefed the main. We're out of practice reefing so we screwed around a few minutes doing the reef. When we set the sails and I headed off she took off like a raped ape and I knew the forecast was way off. I looked around and saw white horses everywhere and we were getting 13s, 14s, 15s with the reefed main and jib. One gust took me up to 17 freakin' knots, this with our cruising crap on board and that reefed sail. I'm not sure what it was blowin' but it had to be at least low 20s to do that. -huh- 10 kts my ass... damned forecasters

We came round the corner back into Hillsborough Bay, and just like a switch, the wind turned off. Well not off, but to something like 5-10. It was a bit of a relief to go back to relaxed mode, after all it is cruising, right? We anchored for that last evening in the seaplane basin and met some more of the folks living on the hook there, all of whom were just as nice as can be.

Despite DIYC, we'll be back. Joe Bob sez check it out.



Edited by tami on Jan 03, 2011 - 02:32 PM.

Sounds like a pretty good end to a pretty bad start.
Glad yall enjoyed it.

Well next time we'll have to meet up with some of y'all locals and all go sailing...