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Alabama/Florida Gulf Coast this winter

 
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LesR



Joined: 05 May 2010
Posts: 162
City/Region: St. Louis
State or Province: MO
C-Dory Year: 2007
C-Dory Model: 25 Cruiser
Vessel Name: Intuition
Photos: Intuition
PostPosted: Tue Nov 04, 2014 11:34 am    Post subject: Alabama/Florida Gulf Coast this winter Reply with quote

The Admiral and I have an opportunity this year to spend December and January away from home, and are planning to spend most of those months on our boat along the Gulf Coast. I'll still be "working" so we expect to spend most of the time in a marina with side trips on weekends.

Based on my initial planning, it looks like The Wharf in Gulf Shores and Pirates Cove in Panama City offer good monthly rates (and seem well-rated on Active Captain), so I'm thinking of spending a month in each location.

Any other recommendations for marinas that would be good for a month's stay in this area? Please recommend any other not-to-be-missed day or overnight trips.

Les
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thataway



Joined: 02 Nov 2003
Posts: 20779
City/Region: Pensacola
State or Province: FL
C-Dory Year: 2007
C-Dory Model: 25 Cruiser
Vessel Name: thataway
Photos: Thataway
PostPosted: Tue Nov 04, 2014 4:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The thing to remember is that this part of the Gulf Coast is 4 seasons. Last winter we had 17 degrees one night--and ice on the ICW and Bayous.
Climatology for Orange Beach in Jan: Daily Max is 57.5 Daily Min 43.5, Monthly Avg 50.5, Water 55 degrees.

I am about 15 miles by water from the Wharf. It is a fun place--never really got off the ground, because of the recession. Some of the eateries may be shut down for the winter. There is a new large West Marine not too far away. It is certainly well protected, and lots of good things to do in Orange Beach--and Even Pensacola. I would offer to host you--but we go to the Keys for the winter. Although Orange Beach and Pensacola Beach (Perdido Key etc) are mostly summer destinations, they do have a fair number of snow birds who come down for the winter months.

I have never stopped at Pirates Cove Marina in Panama City Beach. It is pretty well out on the peninsula. Not sure what is around. I am sure that you would have a great time there.

If I had the time to spend, I would head a bit further South-maybe drive a day or two more, but end up somewhere South of Tampa East Coast,/Datona Beach West Coast--or even another day, and end up in the Keys--where the winters are truly great.

Have fun, and if you are in Orange Beach before Jan 12, give me a shout.

_________________
Bob Austin
Thataway
Thataway (Ex Seaweed) 2007 25 C Dory May 2018 to Oct. 2021
Thisaway 2006 22' CDory November 2011 to May 2018
Caracal 18 140 Suzuki 2007 to present
Thataway TomCat 255 150 Suzukis June 2006 thru August 2011
C Pelican; 1992, 22 Cruiser, 2002 thru 2006
Frequent Sea; 2003 C D 25, 2007 thru 2009
KA6PKB
Home port: Pensacola FL
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ken35216



Joined: 12 Mar 2013
Posts: 569
City/Region: Destin, Florida
State or Province: FL
C-Dory Year: 2017
C-Dory Model: 25 Cruiser
Vessel Name: Lady Onyx
Photos: ken35216
PostPosted: Wed Nov 05, 2014 4:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Palafox in downtown Pensacola is one of my favorite places. Easy walk to many restaurants and many historical sights. Their mayor is a young guy (like 30) and is making the downtown area really cool.
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thataway



Joined: 02 Nov 2003
Posts: 20779
City/Region: Pensacola
State or Province: FL
C-Dory Year: 2007
C-Dory Model: 25 Cruiser
Vessel Name: thataway
Photos: Thataway
PostPosted: Wed Nov 05, 2014 10:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the plug for downtown Pensacola--We have monthly "Gallery nights" which have become real "happenings", and go on until midnight as a street party on all downtown Palafox Street.

Ashton Hayward is young at 45….not 30. He is going a good job--but not all of the down town revival is due to him. Far more to Quint Studer, who has invested many millions of his money--there are also several others who have invested many millions in new buildings, new up scale restaurants, music venues etc, many of which predated Mayor Hayward. The city government was changed from a Council/city manager, ceremonial mayor to a elected strong Mayor type, so Mayor Hayward has been getting a lot of credit.

I would recommend the "Palafox Pier" as at least a few day stop in an exploration of the Gulf Coast. Unfortunately many cruisers do not seem to want to take the time or go the extra 6 miles off the ICW to visit downtown.

Pensacola was one of the European first settlements (1559-1561), predating St. Augustine. However, the first colony did not endure, and permeant settlement did not occur until 1695. Still a very old city by any measure.
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LesR



Joined: 05 May 2010
Posts: 162
City/Region: St. Louis
State or Province: MO
C-Dory Year: 2007
C-Dory Model: 25 Cruiser
Vessel Name: Intuition
Photos: Intuition
PostPosted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 10:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the suggestions. Based on this feedback and my vacation schedule, we're going to cruise from Demopolis to Panama City in early December, and then stay in the Panama City area for the remainder of month. After we shuttle back to Demopolis and pick up the truck and trailer, we plan to drive down to the Tampa area for the month of January.

We plan to go to the Keys when we have even more time. We're currently looking at staying near Clearwater/Dunedin in January and are open to any suggestions for short trips or "don't miss it" sights in the Tampa area.
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ken35216



Joined: 12 Mar 2013
Posts: 569
City/Region: Destin, Florida
State or Province: FL
C-Dory Year: 2017
C-Dory Model: 25 Cruiser
Vessel Name: Lady Onyx
Photos: ken35216
PostPosted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 12:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My two favorite places in that area (Tampa/St Pete) are Anna Maria Island and the St Pete Municipal Marina, in downtown St Pete. Tons of restaurants and things to do in the SP marina within walking distance.

Last edited by ken35216 on Tue Nov 25, 2014 12:42 pm; edited 2 times in total
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ken35216



Joined: 12 Mar 2013
Posts: 569
City/Region: Destin, Florida
State or Province: FL
C-Dory Year: 2017
C-Dory Model: 25 Cruiser
Vessel Name: Lady Onyx
Photos: ken35216
PostPosted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 12:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

12/3 till after Christmas I'll be cruising from St Pete to Ft Myers and back. I'm excited!!!!
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gulfcoast john



Joined: 14 Dec 2012
Posts: 989
City/Region: PENSACOLA
State or Province: FL
C-Dory Year: 2010
C-Dory Model: 255 Tomcat
Vessel Name: Cat O' Mine
Photos: CAT O' MINE
PostPosted: Wed Nov 26, 2014 6:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

LesR,
I'm sure you have already researched that there is a long section of Tenn Tom with no or no reliable gas between Demopolis and Mobile.
That Lock is a HUGE one, plan ahead.
Concur with a couple of days at Palafox marina, Pensacola.
Visit Joe Patti Seafood and stock up. Bring steamed lobster, Royal Red shrimp and hot gumbo back to your boat.
See my post/pics of Crooked Island off Panama City. Consider an overnight there if the weather is nice.
Explore Shell Island for sure...no venturing into the Gulf required. It will almost surely be warmer than St Louis.
St Andrews city Marina, Panama City has a great ramp, great lay-to floating cement transient doc, great staff...but best if you have your truck there for getting to the shopping etc.
Ken,
We're trailering to Longboat Key Moorings Marina Nov 27, arriving Nov 28 pm, for 9 to 10 days of 5 star (per Active Captain reports) resort marina fun, come by! This will be our first time in 22 years that we have had 2 full weeks off together. I hope everything falls into place. Today the trailer lights were FUBAR after working perfect after I replaced a fender light last week. Finally cut out the whole new plug set and replaced it with the old one. No go. Then found a 15a fuse under the truck hood was blown, blew again with new fuse. Cut the wire to the new marker light and the fuse didn't blow so hope that's the culprit as we're hoping to make 600 miles to MacDill AFB tomorrow.
Cheers!
John

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John and Eileen Highsmith
2010 Tom Cat 255, Cat O' Mine
Yamaha F150, LXF150
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MilesandMiles



Joined: 04 Oct 2010
Posts: 335

State or Province: MN
C-Dory Year: 1992
C-Dory Model: 22 Cruiser
Vessel Name: MilesandMiles
PostPosted: Sun Nov 30, 2014 6:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

We're spending the winter in Callabelle/Appalatchcola...both are nice little towns with multiple marinas and places to keep and use your boat. Lots of fishing too.
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ken35216



Joined: 12 Mar 2013
Posts: 569
City/Region: Destin, Florida
State or Province: FL
C-Dory Year: 2017
C-Dory Model: 25 Cruiser
Vessel Name: Lady Onyx
Photos: ken35216
PostPosted: Mon Dec 01, 2014 12:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

gulfcoast john wrote:

Ken,
We're trailering to Longboat Key Moorings Marina Nov 27, arriving Nov 28 pm, for 9 to 10 days of 5 star (per Active Captain reports) resort marina fun, come by! This will be our first time in 22 years that we have had 2 full weeks off together. I hope everything falls into place. Today the trailer lights were FUBAR after working perfect after I replaced a fender light last week. Finally cut out the whole new plug set and replaced it with the old one. No go. Then found a 15a fuse under the truck hood was blown, blew again with new fuse. Cut the wire to the new marker light and the fuse didn't blow so hope that's the culprit as we're hoping to make 600 miles to MacDill AFB tomorrow.
Cheers!
John


Where are you keeping your truck and trailer? I was planning on staying at that marina a couple of nights heading south and again on my way back north. I'll keep my eye out for you!

Right now, if all works out, I'm planning on storing my truck and trailer at Harborage Marina at Bayboro in St Pete.

I've always stayed at Marina Jacks (6-7 times) and loved it but looking forward to trying out Longboat key moorings.

Cheers too!
Ken
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mwilson



Joined: 08 Feb 2007
Posts: 109
City/Region: missoula
State or Province: MT
C-Dory Year: 2000
C-Dory Model: 22 Cruiser
Vessel Name: STORMY
PostPosted: Mon Dec 01, 2014 2:47 pm    Post subject: Gulf coast Reply with quote

Thanks for this thread we are planning to be in gulf shores jan- ? And planning some trips south from there so appreciate the info. We're hoping the road conditions allow us to get from montana to some clear roads in January. Maybe we will run across some of you.
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gulfcoast john



Joined: 14 Dec 2012
Posts: 989
City/Region: PENSACOLA
State or Province: FL
C-Dory Year: 2010
C-Dory Model: 255 Tomcat
Vessel Name: Cat O' Mine
Photos: CAT O' MINE
PostPosted: Thu Dec 11, 2014 8:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote


We just finished Step 1 in the Winterization Process, which is to trailer the boat to south Florida for a couple of weeks. We chose Moorings Marina at Longboat Key Club Resort and had a great time using Cat O' Mine as a floating RV while taking advantage of the resort amenities. It's a very well maintained, lush and expensive place with 24h gated security at both marina and Gulf hotel sites. $2.85/ft with a min 35 ft fee ($100/night) plus a mandatory $20/night resort fee. They honor the 10% discount advertised on Active Captain for Boat US members but only if you mention that. Marina has heated pool and hot tub as does Gulfside hotel site 3 miles south with free van transport on call (tip the kid) there or as far south as St Armands Circle. Boutique shopping and restaurants, for $28 at highly rated (Trip Advisor) Shore Diner I got 3 shrimp and 2 scallops. In Pensacola for that price we get 5-6 times the amount of food and 1-2 meals of leftovers.
The nearest ramp for a 25' is 3 miles south at Ken Thompson park (6am-11pm) and that's iffy at med tide. I had to get out and push...you can see on my Moorings subalbum I grated off the port skeg antifouling. Moorings won't allow boat trailers and no storage areas were willing to store short term, but finally one owner referred me to her employee who let me store it by his house 10 miles away for $5/night (he got a $30 tip). The logistics were complex...trailered to the ramp, disconnected the rig, drove the truck to check in at Moorings then back to the ramp to launch the boat, disconnected the empty trailer, Eileen drove the truck back to the marina while I drove the boat there, docked the boat and drove back to the ramp to tow the trailer to Skip's house...but it gave us our fav combo at a marina...the boat plus the truck for independent transportation. On the last day we explained how trailer boating works and Moorings sent the van for us at the ramp.
The resort gives a card to record all purchases at bars, the restaurants etc...no cash or credit cards...you pay at the end like a cruise ship (gasp, I didn't know beers were that much, although they came in a cute painted bucket of ice). Coolers/food/bev not allowed at pools or beach, but we discretely snuck in food/bev and the staff didn't say anything. There is a gourmet Publix 2 blocks away. We had big breakfasts out ($7-$9), Publix chipoltle chicken salad on crackers lunches and Publix seafood toaster oven dinners on the boat. Staff was shocked at checkout we had nothing on our card...I believe we were the first. Although we were about the only trailer boat in the marina, they put us right in front of the Portofino restaurant and close to the bath house. Marina is far from ICW wakes with minimal wind exposure. Lots of cool yachts including a 64 ft 2010 Nordhaven for sale for $2.5M, which sounds like a really good price to me. Ken35216 came in the day we were leaving and they put him next to us, so they're not pushing us to the back out of sight. Avoid H dock slips 1-5 where winds push the floating sea grass/debris. Call on arrival VHF channel 8 and the uniformed marina staff will come out (24h) and help you dock, secure your lines to the clean fixed docks (tides 24") and connect your shore power for you if you need that sort of help. We didn't, we just did it all wrong (our way) as usual. Super clean private showers. Resort fee covers tennis at both marina and gulf side, (not golf), bikes, 2 beach towels each per day, gulf beach lounges and umbrellas, fab fitness facility we didn't use, 1.5 mile gulfront uncrowded beach, power, cable, on-call van transport, pumpout at gas dock. Early checkout allowed. This is not an overnight good deal, plan on 3 full days minimum.
Every day was sunny with highs of 78 to 81 degrees. No guarantees on weather, but plan B was to move on to Marathon though that's another driving day. Grand total diesel fuel was under $300, boat gas under $6. 10 nights on the boat was our longest outing yet and we don't see any limit now except for our work schedules.
We felt this experiment went well, compared to renting a hotel there or flying to the Caribbean. Marina slips were widely available on short notice (even in Marathon and Key West Garrison Bight). You can change plans quickly at no charge. It's under 2 days tow for half the country.
We then completed Step 2 in the Winterization Process, which is to drop the boat off at a Yamaha 5 star dealer with a long list of the things I'm too dense to know how to do correctly and then Step 3, go back to work to pay for them.
Cheers!
John
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thataway



Joined: 02 Nov 2003
Posts: 20779
City/Region: Pensacola
State or Province: FL
C-Dory Year: 2007
C-Dory Model: 25 Cruiser
Vessel Name: thataway
Photos: Thataway
PostPosted: Thu Dec 11, 2014 10:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Or go down to Marathon, and rent a mooring for $110 a week, ($22 a day). That includes a parking place and dinghy dock, but water is $.05 a gallon extras.. Use the left over money to get a first class meal at the Barracuda Grill (my favorite) or Plaza Grill (Marie's favorite). There are also Marinas, like Black Fin Resort for $2.00/ foot (by length--not minim)--David D (Wil-C's favorite. Lots of other places.
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