Moving boat from St Simons Island to Miami, thoughts?

Richie89

Active Member
Aug 20, 2012
599
Miami Beach, FL
Boat Info
450 Sundancer
Engines
Twin Cummins 480 Zeus
i won't be stopping for sight-seeing until at least halfway down, but any not to miss places or marinas along the way? Especially looking for marinas near restaurants and night entertainment. Will be cruising all day, and enjoying nights in locales.
 
I can't help you with the trip but it does sound like a fun time. Have you calculated the route, verified the best fuel stops, etc? I would reach out to Tusty to get his advise. Good luck, have fun and take pictures!
 
I know you have hit most of the spots in NE Florida but if I had a few days to spare I would hit Fernandina Beach and St. Augustine again. Yuo just can't beat the marina being in the heart of downtown.

For me, anything south of there is not of much interest. Stuart was a nice place to visit though.
 
Richie,

Are you moving the boat to So. Fla permanently or just taking a trip?

Don't overlook the Port Canaveral/Cocoa Beach area for a stop. It is a cool laid back place and the local are some of the nicest folks you will meet on the water. There are several restaurants/bars on the water overlooking the canal and Sea Ray's Yacht factory at Sykes Creek is just across the bay and accessible by water with an invitation and directions.

If you are moving the boat permanently, then there is a whole laundry list of things to know.
 
Original plan was to come back to Ga in Sept, but thinking the move might be permanent. So any other info greatly appreciated. Have a reservation for Haulover Marine Center for racking!
 
thanks cod, exactly what i'm looking for. it looks like i can drop anchor out front and dinghy in for night fun. good anchorage?
 
I've only docked there twice, never anchored so unfortunately can't answer...... I see on Active Captain there is an anchorage very close. Just watch the depths, I remember fairly shallow water approaching the marina. Fun place, The docks could use some upgrades, at least when I was there a couple of years ago. Safe travels.......
 
We like New Smyrna Beach Marina. Short walk to a nice little town. We really like Ft Pierce City Marina. So much we are taking our boat there again for Jan-March.


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good night life in the cove in canaveral (forget marina names) or harbortown canaveral has cheap gas and a new bar/rest but nothing else close by (uber to the cove?) as frank said, coco village is really nice too (there are municipal slips or an ancorage/moorings there) - sunset bay or pirates cove in stuart are nice - palm harbor marina in west palm (you pass right by) is steps from citywalk and a really nice facility - the square grouper at castaway marina in jupiter is an easy stop (there is a great ancorage just north of there that the locals call devils point) bahia mar in ft lauderdale is 2hrs or so north of haulover if your staying inside.....e mail me if you need any more - the trip inside from boynton inlet to ft lauderdale is a real *****......plan the bridges as you will be too tall for a few of them....(much quicker outside, but this time of year prob too uncomfortable) plan the timing and location of fuel stops too. wish i was doing the trip with you! you will have fun! did you check on insurance yet? prepare for sticker shock!
 
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thanks, great info so far! i applied for a temp registration in FL for more than the allowed 90 days. i'm testing the water to see if i will remain there permanently. insurance will more than double, even tho boat will be racked there. looking forward to exploring the Keys more, and the Bahamas. plus Miami Beach is our favorite city, i just need to learn all the ways to safely leave the dinghy there. been doing research with some luck, but not a lot.
 
thanks, great info so far! i applied for a temp registration in FL for more than the allowed 90 days. i'm testing the water to see if i will remain there permanently. insurance will more than double, even tho boat will be racked there. looking forward to exploring the Keys more, and the Bahamas. plus Miami Beach is our favorite city, i just need to learn all the ways to safely leave the dinghy there. been doing research with some luck, but not a lot.


Most dry stack marinas have facilities for storing customer's dinghys, PWC, etc. There is a lot of space under the boat racks and most operators pour concrete under some of the racks to allow for storage on dollys. The problem, you will discover, is the soot from the diesel exhaust on forklift trucks, so you will need to address some sort of cover for the dinghy and perhaps the big boat. The cost for a dinghy is usually discounted for storage customers. I keep my boat at the Sea Ray dealer's marina and had a PWC in storage with them for several years. They keep a few PWC's for the general public on a space available basis, the cost is $150/month. As a regular storage customer, my cost was $300/year.
 
When I had a boat in Adventura, we kept the dinghy in a nearby rack storage. Frank has a good point about the soot, amazing how dirty the boat can get inside the building. Different than a northern dry storage in that the fork lifts are running inside every day year around.

Mark
 
i can store dinghy inside boat, i was referring to leaving the dinghy unattended somewhere on South Beach while we are at dinner. I will be chaining at one particular marina until i figure out better options. Dinghy theft seems to be a favorite past time down there.
 

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