Still planning instead of sailing

The basic plan of our next sailing trip is to leave on the Gulf side of the Okeechobee waterway, then sail east. When we got tried of that, or got to Lake Okeechobee, we’d turn around and head back.

Way back when I was in NH planning this, the original idea was to get dropped off on the Atlantic side then picked up on the Gulf side. Good plan, except my ride fell though.

The problem I’ve been left with is finding a good boat ramp where I can leave the truck and trailer for a week or more. Florida has a zillion boat ramps and marinas. Most ramps are for day use only. Unfortunately, many marinas either don’t have ramps, or lack truck and trailer storage. One marina was willing to rent me space for the truck, but not the trailer. What good is that?

I did find one nice ramp that allowed overnights, but only for 72 hours -not nearly as long as I’d like. Their web site said they’d make exceptions, but once I got them on the phone, they claimed they never did and never will.

The funny thing is, I know a guy who has a place on the Gulf side, near a nice boat ramp. He has plenty of room to store a truck and trailer. Unfortunately, it’s pretty hit or miss contacting him. Right now it’s a miss -he’s not in Florida right now.

Back to the drawing board. Between a decent Florida boating guide, and the Active Captain website, I’ve a whole new list of places to call. It’ll come together.

The temptation is just go sailing in places where we’ve sailed before. We’ve found some nice places the last two winters, but there’s too much we haven’t seen yet. It’s too early in the process to pick favorites.

Some day I plan on having a larger boat and staying out longer. By then I should have a much better idea of where to go.

-Sixbears