Belleair Beach to Baltimore a 30 day adventure

Big Daddy II

New Member
Jun 12, 2010
95
Belleair Beach, Florida
Boat Info
480 Sedan Bridge 2004
Engines
QSM11's
We finally left on our 30 day adventure to Baltimore and back . We plan on arriving May 6 to catch the Rays vs. Orioles series at Camden Yards. It may just be the most expensive trip ever to a ball game! We estimate we will travel 2800 total miles and use roughly 3000 gallons of fuel. Seriously, we do have other reasons for making this long trip. My wife Susan and I grew up in Maryland,we got married in Annapolis, I worked for the Orioles during school(selling beer), a lot of our family still live in the area and our daughter goes to college in Baltimore. When we moved to Florida 26 years ago we knew that some day we would return by boat to Baltimore and the time seemed right to do it now. We will be traveling between 75 and 150 miles per day and we have no reservations, so we will just look for nice stopovers depending on weather conditions and any mechanical issues. We will do the northbound route entirely ICW and return outside starting in the Delaware Bay, possibly coming inside around North Carolina. Today we left about 11AM and made it to the Franklin Lock which is about 10 miles east of Ft. Myers. The 2 outside locks have limited openings due to the dry season and lower lake level. They open at just 7AM, 1PM and 7PM. If any fellow boaters have any recomendations of marinas or must see places, please let us know. Our 7 year old Golden Doodle "Buddy" thoroughly enjoys boating and is usually found on the bridge with his face on the air conditioner.
 

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Sounds and looks like a great trip so far! Please keep us updated on the trip with lots of pics. We plan on a trip to Stuart in the near future.

Thanks
Jim
 
Sounds like a great trip, don't forget..Lots of pictures.
 
Have you been to Oriole Park Camden Yards yet? If not you are in for a treat, still the best ball park in the league even though it is going into it's 20th season. I probably didn't buy any beer from you at Memorial Stadium, back the you could bring your own beer in. Had to be in a thermos and would be warm and flat by the 2nd inning.......aah, those were the good ole days, Orioles were great back then.

John
 
Is that across from Gators on the Pass I see in the in the first photo? Very cool trip!
 
I will be keeping a watch on this thread! It looks like we could be in for some good pictures!

Doug
 
Sounds like a great trip. We did a similar trip last year. watch for skinny water in GA and SC. SC will be slow going through most of the state. We had no problems making reservations on the go. take lots of pics.

the Waccamaw River SC is awesome. I would plan to stay in there if I were doing it again. There's a nice marina in the heart of the river, for the life of me I can't remember the name. but it was a big transient marina so you can't miss it. That whole river area is just incredible looking.
 
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Have you been to Oriole Park Camden Yards yet? If not you are in for a treat, still the best ball park in the league even though it is going into it's 20th season. I probably didn't buy any beer from you at Memorial Stadium, back the you could bring your own beer in. Had to be in a thermos and would be warm and flat by the 2nd inning.......aah, those were the good ole days, Orioles were great back then.

John

I agree about Camden Yards. My father and I had partial season tickets the first 3 years that it opened. It is so different going out there now a days, every game back in those days was pretty much sold out! Definitely not the case now!
 
I bet I bought beer from you at Memorial stadium back in the day!!! Good times - Safe travels - take lots of pics and bring some of that crystal blue water with you to the Chesapeake Bay!!!!
 
Looks like a great time! have fun be safe and let us know how you guys are doing!!
 
:smt119Ahhh, I love the Inner Harbor Baltimore Marina!!! Used to do the trip from chesapeke city to baltimore on weekends!!! Fells point was crawling distance to the marina!!
 
We stayed the 1st night at Franklin Lock Marina. Price was right $24 if I had a gold card(senior) it would been half price. Left about 10 AM went thru Ortona and Morehaven Lock and got 310 gallons at Roland and Martins marina. Crossed Lake Okechobee-water level about 10 feet but had some shallow areas. Entered the St. Lucie waterway at Port Mayaca Lock. We continued to the St. Lucie Lock but it only opens 3 times a day. We had to wait 2 hours for the 7PM opening. Continued to the Sunset marina in Stuart where we arrived in the dark. Looks like a real nice marina as I am docked next to A 90 FT Custom sportfish. We will leave in the AM for probably Cocoa Beach. Very few boats coming across the state in the waterway. Usually 3-4 boats in the lock at the limited openings. Hope it rains soon or they will limit the openings even more.
 

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Very cool pics! Looks like y'all are having a great time! I want to go across the state one time. How long does it take? Could you start early am and be to the other side that night? Did you see some gators?

I might be out on the ICW Saturday. We hang out at Ponce Inlet and Disappearing Island!
 
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Great trip!!! :smt038

Have fun, post lots of pics and thank you for sahring your adventure!!!
 
Thanks for posting, I love following these "boat trip" threads.
 

Wow, what a great adventure. Keep the pictures and the stories coming, so we can virtually enjoy it....LOL

I’m sure that this time of the year it should be easy to find places to stay without advanced reservations.

Good luck and have fun.
Alex.
 

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