8 day cruise from St Petersburg to Captiva

Todd320

Todd320

Well-Known Member
Jul 21, 2016
1,508
St. Petersburg, FL
Boat Info
2007 Sea Ray 320DA
Engines
Twin V-drive 5.7L 350 Horizon
Just woke up in my own bed after an 8 day cruise, some pics below.. Stops in Sarasota (Marina Jacks), Don Pedro Island, Tween Waters Marina, and Pelican Bay. Monday was a washout from Sally, but Tuesday was overcast and made for a nice cruise down to Don Pedro. Generator (Kohler 5ECD) had zero issues, port engine died once (back up and running in 15 minutes, fuel pump relay died after 3 years). Head system was the main issue, just needs new duckbills probably, pump ran continuously unless I turned it off, which I did.
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Looks like it was a great trip Todd. Where did you stop when you were at Don Pedro Island? Pelican Bay is our favorite anchorage.
Thanks for sharing.
 
Great pictures, sounds like a wonderful trip.

Did you go down the ICW or did you run portions outside?
 
FootballFan said:
Great pictures, sounds like a wonderful trip.

Did you go down the ICW or did you run portions outside?
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We ran ICW on the way down, too rough, and the long stretch, Sarasota to Don Pedro was Tuesday, and overcast so made for a nice cruise. On the way back, on Saturday, it was smooth on the Gulf so we ran outside from Stump Pass to Longboat Pass. Just a slight roll on the water.
 
DB360 said:
Looks like it was a great trip Todd. Where did you stop when you were at Don Pedro Island? Pelican Bay is our favorite anchorage.
Thanks for sharing.
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Pelican Bay was empty, one other sail cat there. I’ve heard that is not the norm.

Regarding Don Pedro, We stayed just around the corner of marker 5.
The second pic is looking south-ish, and marker 5 is about 200 feet beyond, depths are around 7 feet. I took my boat up to the sticks, and it was 5 feet there. Don’t recall the tides, but only 2 feet tides max usually.
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Did that power cat keep up with you?
 
Pelican Bay is one of my favorite places. Short dingy ride to Cabbage Key and Cayo Costa State Park. Great sunsets too.
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DB360 said:
Did that power cat keep up with you?
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When I would fill up with gas, he would catch me! I was fretting it when the fuel pump relay died, thought for sure he would pass while I was replacing, but he was stuck at a bridge. Bridge operator was trying to convince him he had enough clearance, never heard that before, and the bridge was tight, not much room left to right...
 
fr8dog said:
Pelican Bay is one of my favorite places. Short dingy ride to Cabbage Key and Cayo Costa State Park. Great sunsets too.
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We stayed one night, and ran over to Cayo Costa for a few hours the next morning, beautiful... we passed Cabbage Key, but did not go, I’ve heard the restaurant is a must, but we had pretty much all meals planned for the trip.

Sunset was not bad, but those pesky thunderstorms blocked it in the distance...
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Cool trip thanks for the pics. Pelican was very shallow for us like Carter we had 2’ under the boat then went to cabbage key.
 
The Aquila draws 3.8’, do you draw 4 or 4.5’? This the route we entered, hugged the coast to get in. Zero waves, most boaters obey the signs and just slow speeds through, so little to no wake. Seemed like I was always in 7-8’ until I anchored temporarily close to shore... Don’t recall the tides though, and did not check depth the remaining time we were there...

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Todd320 said:
When I would fill up with gas, he would catch me! I was fretting it when the fuel pump relay died, thought for sure he would pass while I was replacing, but he was stuck at a bridge. Bridge operator was trying to convince him he had enough clearance, never heard that before, and the bridge was tight, not much room left to right...
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Let me guess, the bridge you are referring to was Boca Grande?

That bridge always questions the request for an opening. If I remember correctly (this covid thing has kept us on the sideline) that is the bridge where the highest clearance is right up next to the rails on each side.
 
Todd320 said:
The Aquila draws 3.8’, do you draw 4 or 4.5’? This the route we entered, hugged the coast to get in. Zero waves, most boaters obey the signs and just slow speeds through, so little to no wake. Seemed like I was always in 7-8’ until I anchored temporarily close to shore... Don’t recall the tides though, and did not check depth the remaining time we were there...

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Todd, my specs say 4.5'. I bet I'm heavier than spec, so I've got my offset set for 5.5' as I have "no guts"! I get nervous when it says 1'!!

I need to go to Cabbage Key, tie up, and take the dingy over there on a survey run (it has a depth finder)...
 
carterchapman said:
Todd, my specs say 4.5'. I bet I'm heavier than spec, so I've got my offset set for 5.5' as I have "no guts"! I get nervous when it says 1'!!

I need to go to Cabbage Key, tie up, and take the dingy over there on a survey run (it has a depth finder)...
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You and me both, Aquila headed into the fuel dock as I was leaving, thinking I would just pass him in this skinny channel, nope, I backed up and hung out until he was on the dock, then I left. Only took a minute, but did not want to run aground in the outside portions of the channel with a 20’ wide boat heading down it!
 
carterchapman said:
Todd, my specs say 4.5'. I bet I'm heavier than spec, so I've got my offset set for 5.5' as I have "no guts"! I get nervous when it says 1'!!

I need to go to Cabbage Key, tie up, and take the dingy over there on a survey run (it has a depth finder)...
Click to expand...

Hey Carter,
Agree with Todd on the track to get into Pelican Bay. But I understand the need to be sure. The bottom around here can be unforgiving!
 
Thanks for sharing. Brings back great memories. We love Cayo Costa, Cabbage Key and all the areas around Captiva! We go there every November (unfortunately not sure about this year yet) on land in South Seas Resort and rent a small runabout for 3 or 4 days. Always hit Cabbage Key and Barnacle (Phil's) on North Captiva. I also agree with Todd's path into Pelican Bay. I took the small runabout into there last trip following that route and don't recall low readings. However, most of the area from Sanibel to Boca Grande can get skinny water real quick outside the channel, and even in the channel sometimes....
 
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