Florida's East Coast?

K

ken35216

New member
Hi everyone,

I've done Ft Lauderdale to Destin FL, on the northern gulf coast, including the Keys, done Ft Lauderdale to Key West and back a couple of times, the Northern Gulf Coast hundreds of times (it's where I keep my boats), and I've done Florida's west coast from St Pete to Ft Myers on different boats once a year for the last 25 years including down to Key West and the Dry Tortugas. I love it down there and know it very well.

I have a couple of weeks in May and was planning on towing my new C-Dory down to St Pete and do what I always do, which I love!

Then I started thinking about Florida's east coast. Is it better/more fun/more interesting etc. than the west coast?

I did some searching of the C-Brat data base and could not find much.

Thoughts and options on Florida's east coast would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Ken
 
Thought about a one way trip from just above Jacksonville to Ft Lauderdale. If I did that trip then I could say I've done the entire coast line of Florida.

Thoughts on this trip?
 
Ken....don't forget the St. John's river. I've spent lots of time on the St. John's and still have much more to explore. The area south of Palatka all the way up river to Lake Harney is loads of fun to explore with lots of wildlife and side rivers to explore. And you don't have any real tide or salt to deal with. We will be hosting a CBGT at Hontoon Island State Park in March. Come on over and visit "The River of Lakes". You'll be "hooked"!

Tom
 
I suppose one should put the Jacksonville to Ft. Lauderdale on the "bucket list"...but I agree with Tom, the St. Johns is far nicer C Dory cruising.

My impression is that Ft. Lauderdale is very much big boat and big money. It is interesting to see the various boats and go back thru all of the canals....but to me,(I don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings), Miami,// Ft. Lauderdale is another big city. Not many places to anchor --even fewer now...Very, very expensive mooring...Some nice and expensive waterfront restaurants. Very crowded waterways. The waterways are generally crowded. Transient slips start at $2 a foot a night and can go up to $4 a foot a night..

As you go up the coast, you have some very expensive developments, pretty neat homes. As you get up North of Stuart, it becomes more boater friendly. The area around Melbourne, and the cape is interesting.

If you are going to Jacksonville, then go on up to Amelia Island, and then up to Georgia. I prefer this area to the S. part of East Coast of FL. Also St. Augustine is a fun area to visit.

I have never had a desire to go back to that area, and have been up and down that coast 4 times. The East coast, St. John's and keys offer better cruising in my mind.
 
I second the vote for the St Johns River. There's not a part that doesn't have something to offer; friendly marinas, incredible wildlife, lots of anchorages that make you feel like you're a million miles from civilization, clear springs, large and small lakes, side trips on the Ocklawaha, on and on.
 
It's a neat trip up the east coast of Florida. For starters, There's the Cape (Kennedy Launch Center.) We stayed in Titusville with the manatees. Also Visit Daytona Beach; you can visit the beach and imagine it when they raced there or visit the racetrack. Stop in Vero Beach, on the city's moorings or at their docks and visit with all the northerners down for the winter. and then it's a short run to St Augustine and the St Johns River, mentioned above.

A trip up through Georgia will show you the swamps and you can stop at Savannah. It's a great trip and every town has somebody who developed part of our Constitution.

Here's a reference: Our Journey's trip up the East Coast.

Boris
 
If you don't like crowds come on up to the southern part of Georgia's coast. My wife and I are headed to Jekyll next week in our RV and the CD19. We will keep the boat at the marina at Jekyll and park the RV at the north end of the island. We will take day trips down to St Marys and up to Darian. The rivers and marshes are great bird watching. I plan a long run up the Altamaha . Cumberland Island is a favorite stop.
 
Having never been in any of this area, unless a conference hotel in Orlando counts, I have a couple of questions.

1. What kind of precautions or prevention does one need to take against "bugs"? What's there, and what works? Are there better or worse or "no bug" seasons?

2. What in the way of wild life is there that you would need to be careful about? I don't think birds would be an issue, but I have heard of bears (yes in Florida), of wild pigs, gators, rodents and snakes. What kind of prevalence do these critters have in, for instance, the St Johns, or the trip across from west to east through the waterway.

Up north, the bears don't bother me, but I can always have plenty of space between me and the shore line when anchored, AND I don't have to worry about snakes dropping out of the trees or climbing the outboard overnight.

I'm not much of a fan of sharing space with little (or BIG) wiggly things in my boat.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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The Georgia coast is absolutely gorgeous, a person could spend months exploring the sinuous ICW and river systems and barrier islands down here. There's no shortage of bugs though. 2 are especially annoying. There's the Asian tiger mosquitos that are like a flying hypordermic needle the size of a quarter, and can bite right through your clothing. My least favorite is the sand gnats. They show up in swarms along the coast and before you notice them, you could have hundreds of them on your legs. Their bites are really itchy, but they're harmless. They are also small enough to go right through your typical bug screen. We use a solution called "No Natz" that works pretty well, also Avon skin so soft will prevent their bites. The thing about the gnats, is they don't like hot weather. They like weather in the 70s, and even a light breeze you don't see them. They're almost non existent in the summer.

There's wild hogs, and alligators but nothing to really worry about. The hogs are fearful of people, lots of hunters. I wouldn't let a small dog roam around though the hammocks and edges of swamps because of the alligators. A person should probably be mindful of cottonmouths too if exploring on foot in the wetlands.

When your out on a boat, theres not much of the larger critters to worry about. That's a lot of negative stuff, and its such a great place to visit. We liked it so much we packed up and moved there, and had a pretty sweet thing going in the PNW.
 
hardee said:
1. What kind of precautions or prevention does one need to take against "bugs"?
2. What in the way of wild life is there that you would need to be careful about? I don't think birds would be an issue, but I have heard of bears (yes in Florida), of wild pigs, gators, rodents and snakes.
Harvey
SleepyC :moon

Harvey, I just don't worry about those kinds of things. We have "no see-em net" (army surplus) on the forward hatch, and forward opening windshield center window--and that keeps most of the severe bugs out.

We use insect sprays Back woods "Off"--seem to work most of the time. I guess I am getting old and tough, since none of these really seem to bother me...At our house, we have a full enclosure around our pool--about 60 feet long, 40 feet wide and most is two stories high. So this part of our "back yard" is pretty much bug free. The screens on our camper back and the window/no-see-em screens keep most of the flying bugs out of the boat. We walk around the rest of our lot (about half an acre beyond the house and pool cage--and don't seem to get bit. Our house sits on a canal off a bayou. The canal is about 60 feet wide. On the other side of the canal, is over 1000 acres of pine forested wetlands, which belongs to our utility authority. It is a "no hunting" area, so we probably get more animals than the average "city dweller"

We have seen a couple bears in the area, but they are wuzzs in comparison to the Alaskan Brown Bear. On a few occasions, I have carried my bear spray . We have seen a couple of the Florida Panthers--similar to the mountain Lions of the west. A couple of bob cats have been seen in our neighborhood--killed one cat. The occasional Coyote comes around. We have seen a beaver almost every night in the bayou in back of our house recently. The gators are hibernating currently. Maybe that is why we are seeing the beaver and a river otter more frequently now. We have a fairly good sized female gator across and up a few hundred feet from our house, and she does not bother us. Had a armadillo borrowing in our yard a couple of years ago, when we were gone. Most of the hogs in our area, are not near where we are, but not too many miles away they are hunted to help the farmers out. Can be destructive to crops.

Birds--I have been dive-bombed in a number of places--including in S. Florida. We have a couple of Ospreys nearby and there is about a 3 year old eagle.

I grew up around rattlesnakes, so I always keep an eye out for snakes. Some years we seem to have more cotton mouths than other years. Only saw a couple last year. We do have the occasional rattlesnake-we put "Snake-a-Way around the yard--especially toward the water, since more come from that area--and watch Angel, to be she does not encounter a poisonous snake.

When we travel on the boat, I usually have the bear spray, and at least a 9 mm hand gun--a .357 may be aboard also. However it is a bit hard to hit the mosquitoes! They are too fast. :o
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thataway":3jzotcd5 said:
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When we travel on the boat, I usually have the bear spray, and at least a 9 mm hand gun--a .357 may be aboard also. However it is a bit hard to hit the mosquitoes! They are too fast. :o
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Thank you for the good belly laugh! :mrgreen: I recently added a smaller 380 Remington - might be right for those flying bugs.

The no-see-ums can be nasty, but generally just around dusk. The worst mosquitoes we have encountered while boating were not in Florida, but in one place in New York State. Unlike Dr. Bob, we did hand-to-hand combat with the flying vermin after some got in after a thunderstorm. As far as the Florida cruising, in the winter, we have been cold there more often than having a bug issue - dress for the conditions, be it chilly weather or mosquitoes. None of this would keep me from enjoying the great cruising that Florida has to offer.

The times we have been to Florida, we were excited about the great cruising/touring, not concerned about critters or beasts. We even liked the city cruising - the Miami International Boat Show is amazing! Park the boat in Ft. Lauderdale and take the Jungle Queen for a tour around the canals. Key West isn't a big city, but it can be congested - and Mallory Square for sunset is ultra-touristy but a lot of fun. If you miss the "Duval crawl," you have missed a part of what makes Key West a destination. The Bass Pro Shop in Islamorada (Keys) was the very first Bass Pro I had been to, a long time before every big city had one - go there by boat for an even more authentic (?) shopping experience. We hitchhiked with Brent and Dixie to the Nautical Flea Market in Islamorada in February and had a great time!

Florida has great cruising opportunities. The PNW is still my favorite place to cruise... in the summer. Hard to beat what Florida has to offer all year, but especially good for escaping the frozen northland in the winter.
 
Sand flies (no-see-ums) can be a problem in spring along the southeast coast. There's even a town named "Sand Fly" in Georgia near Savannah. They fly through regular screens as though they weren't there. In the spring I've had them on the St Johns, and though bug sprays like Off work on mosquitoes, no-see-ums treat bug repellent like candy. The worst place I've ever been for mosquitoes is on the other coast of Florida, in the Everglades. When the sun sets you'd better be under cover there!

With simple caution, like not putting your limbs in places you can't see, and watching where you step, snakes are not a problem. Usually, if you see one at all, it'll be just after rounding a bend in the river, and they'll be heading away from you as fast as they can go.

Gators also aren't a problem, unless you do something really stupid like ignoring the No Swimming signs and go skinny-dipping at midnight. I've gone waterskiing on the St Johns (at noon :-).

If you're camping, the raccoons will be your biggest hazard, not bears. They'll get into almost any container, even chewing into water containers.
 
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