Manta Rays around Egmont Key

I was going to say when the water is crystal clear like that you can see a long way down and it looks like they are close but I'm sure you wouldn't do that to your boat :grin:

I've seen 20-30 ft to the bottom when the water is clear like that and it looks like you could just reach down and touch it.

The picture of the turtle looks like the size I saw but I saw his whole body and it was that copper/coral color it was nice better then a plain ol green turtle.

The Eagle Ray looks small. The ray I saw was atleast half the size of the boat.
 
water rat said:
yellowjacket - nice photos! thanks for posting. The mom and baby dolphin are great.

Where do you normally boat? We are in Apollo beach and go to Egmont or Ft. Desoto quite a bit.
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Thanks.

Depends on who's with me as to where I go. With the fam, usually to Caladesi, or to someplace like Longboat Key Moorings for a weekend.

With some buddies, I usually point straight west, and stop when my friends lose their patience, which seems to be around 2 hours (about 40-50 miles).

We are homeported in Dunedin. I don't come up to the Bay very much, because it's a 3 hour ride from where I am. That, and the shipping channel markers confuse me.

I have to bring the boat around to Marine Max on US 19 for some work. I hate that trip.
 
ylwjacket said:
Thanks.

Depends on who's with me as to where I go. With the fam, usually to Caladesi, or to someplace like Longboat Key Moorings for a weekend.

With some buddies, I usually point straight west, and stop when my friends lose their patience, which seems to be around 2 hours (about 40-50 miles).

We are homeported in Dunedin. I don't come up to the Bay very much, because it's a 3 hour ride from where I am. That, and the shipping channel markers confuse me.

I have to bring the boat around to Marine Max on US 19 for some work. I hate that trip.
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That's a long trip from where your at (I remember seeing your boat when I was at the Marker 1 MArine party) You planning on staying there or will you be moving?
 
Here is a photo from the Wakulla River...
 

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Awesome thread! We just got back from visiting FL, rented a house just off the south end of the Skyway, and will be down permanently in January. Can't wait to boat in these waters!
 
Morph - depends on what happens with the marina. With slips selling for 365k, it depends on what the rates do when new people buy them.

MM is taking over management of Marker 1, and will soon have a service facility, complete with a lift that is large enough to haul my boat out. So, it would be convenient to stay, that's for sure.

Sorrento - welcome to the neighborhood. Our winters a bit more mild than what you're used to - welcome to year-round boating!
 
Ylwjacket;

If you ever need a hand bringing you're boat up the bay let me know; as I live up on channel A I know the upper bay real well Day or Night.
 
Sorrento 25 said:
Awesome thread! We just got back from visiting FL, rented a house just off the south end of the Skyway, and will be down permanently in January. Can't wait to boat in these waters!
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Congrats! Lot's of cool wildlife to check out down here - rays, dolphins, turtles, manatees, pelicans, etc. You need to bring your camera when you take the boat out!

Let us know when you're down here permanently - maybe we can meet up for a day at Egmont!
 
The Gulf side is relatively "shallow" compared to the Atlantic. You need to be careful when boating around the gulf - lots of shallow areas near shore, but tons of fun!

Were you looking for deeper water closer to shore? Just wondering what the frowny emoticon was for.
 
The Bay itself is skinny water, depending upon where you are. I think the average is something like 12, but it's much deeper in places.

The intracoastal is very shallow. Get out of it, and you will ground (in alot of cases - depends upon your draft I suppose).

Offshore, you have to go about 25 miles to get to about 70 feet of water, and about 50 to get to 150. Although shallow, there isn't much that we miss because of it. We still have our share of fish (something like 95% of the grouper in the US comes in through Madeira Beach near St Pete).

It's not so bad, once you learn your way around a little.
 
I just have an irrational fear of prop/outdrive damage. :) Most of my Great Lakes boating experience (not much) has been in waters where depth and grounding are almost an non-issue, and I was surprised how shallow the water was when I started sniffing around on the GPS near Tampa. I'll definitely post when I'm settled in and the boat is ready to get wet.

Does anyone have any experience launching from the ramp next to Regatta Pointe Marina in Palmetto? This looks to be my best launching location. I only saw it at low tide and it looked very shallow. I assume you plan your boat launching times around the tides too???
 
We keep our boat in rack storage and Land's End marina in Apollo Beach. We don't have any tide issues there... There are quite a few places to launch your boat in the tampa bay area! I would start a new thread for that, though, people will be looking for manta ray photos here!
 
ylwjacket said:
The Bay itself is skinny water, depending upon where you are. I think the average is something like 12, but it's much deeper in places.

The intracoastal is very shallow. Get out of it, and you will ground (in alot of cases - depends upon your draft I suppose).

Offshore, you have to go about 25 miles to get to about 70 feet of water, and about 50 to get to 150. Although shallow, there isn't much that we miss because of it. We still have our share of fish (something like 95% of the grouper in the US comes in through Madeira Beach near St Pete).

It's not so bad, once you learn your way around a little.
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there are parts of the bay that are over 20 ft. one time dropped my anchor and could not even touch the bottom.. just to see if my gps was correct.. The gulf if you stay in the lane OR use your gps you will not ground. I learned the hardway that a gps is one of the best things i have purchased to protect my boat!

-c rock
 
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