Crooked Island, Panama City, Fl

[Hampton]

Flew over Crooked Island yesterday (as with most days). Water was perfectly clear. Here's the skinny:

High tide, calm water - not much to worry about, go slow and should have no problems.

Low tide &/or rough waters:
Parallel the barrier islands at least 1/4 mile out. From PCB pass (NW), pass the Crooked Island trees and look for the sand to end. Drive forward another 1/8 mile or so past the end of the sand. Turn in to point 100 feet to the right of the end of the sand. The sand to your far right will be about 1/4 mile away (the other side of the Crooked Island Pass).

As you head in, you will not be perfectly perpendicular to either the barrier islands or the coast line. You will be angling in slightly from the SE (overshoot the entrance a little from the NW before heading in). About 1/4 mile out, you will cross over an outer sand bar which may take your depth down to around 8 feet or so. This sand bar arcs around the entire pass with a radius of about 1/4 mile - you can't avoid it.

Once over the 25' wide bar, you will re-enter deeper water. Continue to point 100 feet to the right of the sandy beach. You will be safe. Your heading should be about NE, but drawing a line with a heading closer to North than you would be if you were on a path perpendicular to the coast.

Once inside, you can either hang an immediate left and stay close to the pass, or you can continue on a Northerly heading to the middle of the sound, turn NW, and pass the trees to your left and then begin to turn W and SW (arcing around the trees 1/2 mile out) to reach a beach on the NW side of the trees.

This link is very, very accurate right now. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=s&ie=UTF8&ll=30.018868,-85.539207&spn=0.053211,0.105143&t=h&z=14

Have fun!

 

[fwebster]

Even with John's careful instructions, the Crooked Island cut can be tricky. Inside the outer sand bar the bottom on either side of the cut shoals differently depending upon recent winds and seas. The Google map link shows a path with one slight bend in the cut. I've see it zig-zag in 4-5 turns to get past the shoaling. You absolutely must be able to read the bottom 1/4 mile in front of your boat......a nice bottom machine won't help since about all it tells you is "I went too far".

If you've never made the cut before, then it is best to follow someone in who has on your first trip.


note: The Google maps image is at leat 9 months old........I scrolled west to find my boat and it appears in my old slip, one I moved out of last June. Take John's description from yesterday as the most accurate.

 

[Aarrhh & Aarrhh]

Thanks John! Are you going to try to make a pass just before the Crooked trip this year?

 

[SeaRide]

How do the crowds compare to Shell Island on the weekend? I would assume Crooked Island is a bit off of the beaten path. So the rental canbote crowd would be hard pressed to find the island. Right????

 

[fwebster]

Not a place for the light on experience or for small boats since there are 12 miles of open ocean just to get to the cut. Most people you see there are folks who stay a night or 2 when they go.

The other complicating factor is the drone launches from Tyndall. The range extends over the cut into Crooked Island Sound and is closed when a done launch is scheduled. That means you need to be there as early as 8AM (but usually 10AM) to make it in before the range closes and it also means you stay put and cannot leave until the range is opened again which can be as late as 4:30PM. When the range is open, you cannot stop or anchor east of th e tree line....you must be west of trees on the first point. There is no scooting around the rules on this one either......the AF chase boat (about 60 ft., white hull; orange superstructure) will come get you and escort you away if you get in the restricted area.

 

[Hampton]

Thanks John! Are you going to try to make a pass just before the Crooked trip this year?

Yes, I will. I may even get a picture.

Frank's right about the timing of the satellite image. The sand has filled in from the tip of the "Crook" to the trees, but the pass is very similar.

Also, we lost all of the new sand dunes and vegitation that were right on the water on the inside of the "island", West of the trees. This happened during that storm last Summer. There is a very limited amount of beach with dry sand on the West side of the trees right now, depending on the tide, but you can't drive a jet ski over the sand right now like you could last fall - it's filling back in.

I hate it when you have to trudge through 100' of 6" deep mucky water to get to dry sand.

I'll also get a drone launch schedule for our outing this year, and if anyone else needs one for upcoming events, let me know. I'll see if the info is releasable, but I'm sure it is.

 

[fwebster]

Tyndall Marine Operations announces the drone schedule a day in advance, at either 4 or 4:40PM on VHF-16 or you can call the base on a land line and ask for Marine Operations. They are always glad to give you the schedule since it may save them having to run you down on the water.