I am Jealous

[Kurt]

The wife and I spent this past week on the gulf coast of Florida. Mostly Destin but we went down to Panama City Beach one day to go to Shell Island. I saw so many newer model Sea Rays, anything from big Sundecks to 48 foot hardtops. I was impressed to see many Sea Ray dealers still going strong.

It was so nice to see how nice the beaches still are after all the hurricanes over the past years. We watched Dolphins and their calves play along the coastline daily. It was truly a treat. The seafood was great as well. We ate at a restaurant in St. Andrews bay called "Dockhoppers" and watched the boats come in and out of the bay. It made me realize how ready I am to move back to Florida after grad school.

I have one question regarding anchoring. I saw many boats anchored at the bow and the outdrive stuck in the sand to stabilize the boat in the wind. Is this standard practice? I cannot imagine doing this. I mean an extra line and anchor is about $100, a repair to an outdrive is expensive. I cannot see taking the risk especially in high tide and winds as I witnessed.

At any rate I have a new goal to shoot for and the "Emerald Coast" looks like it. :thumbsup:

 

[Bottom Line]

Kurt...you better go ahead and buy your house/condo now, while the real estate is half way affordable. We love the Destin/Ft. Walton Beach area. As a matter of fact, I wore a tshirt today from The Back Porch in Destin. Welcome back to reality. That area is an awesome area.

 

[sprink56]

Kurt...you better go ahead and buy your house/condo now, while the real estate is half way affordable. We love the Destin/Ft. Walton Beach area. As a matter of fact, I wore a tshirt today from The Back Porch in Destin. Welcome back to reality. That area is an awesome area.

I used to think it was really special too...untill I came down here in January of '76...never went back. Our water temp here is never under 70 when in Jan/Feb/March in Destin or PC it will be in the 50's. I still own a condo in Orange Beach, Alabama though.:thumbsup:

 

[Kurt]

Kurt...you better go ahead and buy your house/condo now, while the real estate is half way affordable. We love the Destin/Ft. Walton Beach area. As a matter of fact, I wore a tshirt today from The Back Porch in Destin. Welcome back to reality. That area is an awesome area.

The Mrs. and I had a rough night the night we we went to the "Back Porch" or what I remember of it. It reminded me that I am not 21 anymore. We played like kids in the sand without a care in the world. I did not drink a drop for the rest of the trip.

Anyhow I still think it is possible after I get finished with Nurse Anesthesia School. There is a new hospital in Sandestin. The wife has a pretty good resume as well. It looks like mac and cheese and ramon noodles for us over the next 3 or so years while I am in school so I need a good goal. We have no kids except Freddy so he better get used to sand.

 

[SeaRide]

Kurt,

I agree with everything you said. As a kid, we vacationed in Destin in the late 70s and through the 80s. I have since returned with my kids over the last couple of years. Last June I trailered the boat and spent some time in the waters of Destin and PCB. I also met up with an old highschool and college friend of mine. He brought his 24' Cobalt. The kids loved the crystal clear waters and sugar sand beaches. My young daughter spent most of her time collecting/playing with the hermit crabs. Baytowne was a great place for the kids and adults. ACME Oyster House was very good.

I did not notice many if any of the locals using their outdrives as stern anchors along Shell Island. Most people would stern in using their bow and stern anchors. However, my buddy with his Cobalt uses this method at all of the time. He did this at Shell Island during an outgoing tide and it took about five of us to push the boat off upon departure.. I did notice several people using this method in Destin just south of the bridge, west side of the inlet(see my sig. pic.). The outgoing current moves along at a pretty quick pace so some bow their boats into the beach and bury their sterndrives. I still dropped the anchors. Those who anchored either bowed in their boats near the beach and dropped a stern anchor up stream or they dropped anchor with the bow into the tide and then dropped a stern anchor. Along the east side near the restaurants, eveyone simply beaches their boat. FYI this was during a weekday. Weekends around this area must be are a complete zoo.

I personally thought that PCB was the better area for boating as there is more space to drop anchor and the kids truly enjoyed exploring Shell Island. My buddy preferred Destin and the Crab Island area. I did not use my sterndrive as an anchor as this can only lead to more stress on your sterndrive components and transom. The impeller will also suck up a bunch of sand.

 

[Scottzzzy]

It is certainly gorgeous in PCB. I have always wanted to trailer the boat down there and take a cruise. The MM sales guy told us most stop in Lake Eufala to run the salt water out on the way home too. I'm afraid I would not want to come home!

Lots of good memories on those beaches! (GRIN)

 

[SeaRide]

For those who do trailer their boats to the area, consult the locals (Frank W, Stihlbolts and Hampton come to mind) in the area. For example we stayed at Pinnacle Port, located between PCB and Destin. I picked this condo for reasons of familiarity (my parents had friends who owned a unit in 80s we used it once.), it is more secluded from other units so the beach isn't so crowded and most importantly they had plenty of parking space for the boat/trailer and a wash down area. Frank made a very good suggestion for our next trip - use Treasure Island Marina's dry stack service so you do not have to trailer locally. You would also have the ablity to use their wash racks.

 

[fwebster]

Only tourists in rented boats and folks who haven't a clue anchor and use their outboards/outdrives to hold the stern. There are so many ways that can damage the boat it isn't (or maybe it is) funny.

I suspect you see that going on in Destin around crab island because it is too crowded for a stern anchor and that is about the only place you can anchor near a beach in protected water there. We are blessed to have a couple of barrier islands and ,therefore, far superior boating in Panama City, if you are not a fisherman. Even on the busiest weekends, we can find a spot to anchor properly.

 

[Kurt]

We took the ferry over to Shell Island and covered ourselves in 30 sunblock and walked for about 3 hrs looking for shells. We saw 2 separate groups of dolphins playing about 30 yards off shore I swam within about 10 yards of them it was pretty cool. We walked around MM there at Treasure Island and then went down to the docks. I saw an Amberjack Sea Ray there I loved.

Most of the boats I saw anchoring and "drive digging" were in the Destin inlet jeddy and west of the bridge. Even though I thought these people were stupid for doing this I was still jealous that it was not me there with my Sea Ray.

Frank, what is with all the giant highrise hotels? I do not remember them being there 4 years ago. It also looked like a ghost town in PCB. I guess the economy hit hard there as well.

 

[chuck1]

It is certainly gorgeous in PCB. I have always wanted to trailer the boat down there and take a cruise. The MM sales guy told us most stop in Lake Eufala to run the salt water out on the way home too. I'm afraid I would not want to come home!

Lots of good memories on those beaches! (GRIN)

Yep, that is what we did on the way back from the CSR group gathering back in 06. Frank and Richard gave some great boating tips for the area. Wish I could head back today!

I've heard there is some great real estate deals in the PCB area right now.

 

[fwebster]

Condos........Panama City "got discovered" and soght after for much the same reasons you like the area. Unfortunately, the developers went nuts buying everything and the city got $ signs in thier eyes on tax revenue. Too many developments were permitted at the same time. Skip forward 2.5 years and all those developments that started at the same time, finished and closed at the same time. That started the downward pressure on pricing since we had a tremendous over supply for the demand. The credit issues everywhere also affected secondary home and condo sales as many buyers who could get financing a few years ago, can't get it today's market. So yes, you can get great buys now..........and we have a CSR member who is quite likely the most knowledgable and trustworthy person in real estate in the area....search for "DavidS".

As far as the area being a ghost town.........not even close. You just happened to stumble onto the locals best kept secret. Go to the beach between the end of Spring Break about 4/15 and Memorial Day and, except for 30,000 of your closest friends on Harley Davidsons the first weekend in May, you have the beach to yourself. I live 12 miles west of the Thomas Drive area where we keep our boat. It took me 15 minutes to get to the boat last week......after next weekend, it'll take 45 minutes to an hour.

 

[Scottzzzy]

I live 12 miles west of the Thomas Drive area where we keep our boat. It took me 15 minutes to get to the boat last week......after next weekend, it'll take 45 minutes to an hour.

I saw somewhere where they have nixed the bikers week in Myrtle Beach just because of this kind of problems......:huh:

 

[fwebster]

We don't really have problems with the bikers, other than the gawd awful noise. It remains a mystery to me why Harley owenrs are given a complete pass on noise ordinance enforcement, or where in the hell they find to go on those things at 3AM.

Traffic wise, "Thunder Beach Bike week", as its called, is no worse than tourist season......in fact, its a little better since they ride around trying to impress each other and stay away from the water front where we tend to be.

 

[chuck1]

Frank, just bring down one of your tractors from the farm and you can clean the bikes off the street. (Grin)

 

[NautyDog]

I'm in Pensacola / Gulf shores and love it! I lived all over Florida, so I do miss the great winters in SoFlo (South Florida), but the "Emerald Coast" (or Redneck Riviera) is great because it's more laid back and much cheaper. When I first went down there, I thought it was too boring, but after spending some time, I changed my mind. IMO, it has better protected cruising grounds, very few no-wake zones, and just as many bars / restaurants on the water. Plus so many islands and beaches to anchor on (try that in Fort Lauderdale). The waters are calmer and the fishing is better too (IMO). As for diving, there's an aircraft carrier and other amazing planes & wrecks to dive. Plus, there's no where near the crowds, traffic and congestion as say Tampa or SoFlo.

I would never say it's "better" than Tampa, SoFlo, Naples, etc, but I like it just as much in it's own way. One more jewel that makes Florida amazing (and overcrowded).

As for your question...

I have one question regarding anchoring. I saw many boats anchored at the bow and the outdrive stuck in the sand to stabilize the boat in the wind. Is this standard practice?

You are sort of right - it is the standard practice to anchor at the beach stern first, but we all use two anchors. The exception is smaller boats that just go bow first in the sand and use a rear anchor. It's not uncommon to see stern drives get stuck in the sand when the tide runs out (usually after too many beers). This is usually the renters, newbies and people who don't care about their boat.

I think everyone was correct when they said there's just so many things wrong with using your stern drives. For those who run their engines or generators while anchored, keep in mind that you could block or clog your water inlets (with sand, seaweed, grass, etc). Not only would you ruin your stern drives, but you could blow your generator as well.

 

[Kurt]

As far as the area being a ghost town.........not even close. You just happened to stumble onto the locals best kept secret. Go to the beach between the end of Spring Break about 4/15 and Memorial Day and, except for 30,000 of your closest friends on Harley Davidsons the first weekend in May, you have the beach to yourself. I live 12 miles west of the Thomas Drive area where we keep our boat. It took me 15 minutes to get to the boat last week......after next weekend, it'll take 45 minutes to an hour.

I told my wife from my previous experience living in South Florida that we had to go before Memorial Day. I just don't have any desire to move back to South Florida. It was just becoming to overcrowed and don't take this the wrong way but I like English as a primary language.

As for the condos, I would rather live in a small decent house rather than a new condo full of people all the time. I counted the rooms of some of those huge resorts, there were at least 500 rooms in some. BTW it takes me 45 min to go 40 miles to my dock but I have no Shell Island or dolphins just rednecks and catfish.:lol:

 

[Hampton]

We just spent the whole weekend at Shell Island on Shell's Island. We had a blast. We are truly blessed. Crooked Island next weekend.

 

[Aarrhh & Aarrhh]

I was there with John and we had a great weekend!!! When we anchor up we use 2 sterns to hold the boat during wind shifts.

And speaking of dolphins!!

 

[Kurt]

Did you have to post those pics? That is all I needed to see now that I am home in 60 degree weather again.

 

[Aloha II]

I boat along the MS Gulf Coast and you learn very early sand and outdrives don't mix! when I first started boating, i chewed up two impellers. I learned how to change them and how not to run shallow. We were in Sandestin last July (Bay Town) and had a blast! We are cruising to Destin from Long Beach, MS first week of July.