any tampa area people.... mini iboats weekend?

[phatmanmike]

helli, i live in largo. i love my boat, its a 1984 20' mako. i love boating, and i love making friends. lets do all of these at once.<br /><br />anybody around tampa/pinellas area wanna get together just for boating, hanging, camping, cruising, what ever-ing?<br /><br />my family and i like to camp on shell key, just off fort desoto at the south end of pinellas county. mainly cause its free and is only 5 mins boat ride back to the boat ramp if ya ferget anything. <br /><br />i aint much a fisherman, but that dont mean i wont go just for the ride.<br /><br />anybody close by have any other ideas, lets go burn some gas!!!! its patriotic!!

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: any tampa area people.... mini iboats weekend?

I live in St Pete. Go to Shell Key all the time. Any excuse to get on the water is a good excuse in my opinion!

 

[ruizsantana]

Re: any tampa area people.... mini iboats weekend?

Hey, <br />My wife and I are just moving to Tampa, and looking forward to meeting some boaters!!!. If you want to rendevouz send us a note when you plan to be out there. (that's if you don't have anything against I/O's)...<br />New to the area so need pointers!!! Been to Egmont and loved it...

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: any tampa area people.... mini iboats weekend?

We go out as often as possible. Egmont is pretty nice, but there is much to see and do in this area. Do you do any SCUBA? There is a good artificial reef program in the area that is readily accessible. Also great for fishing. Shell Key is minutes from Egmont, you can camp on the island. Just a little north there is Caldesi, and Anclote Key.

 

[ruizsantana]

Re: any tampa area people.... mini iboats weekend?

Thanks,<br />We know all the charts by heart... just have not BEEN anywhere... we're moving to Tampa in three weeks so that's when we'll start exploring every weekend. Don't fish, but certainly willing to start trying the SCUBA! Tell me more!

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: any tampa area people.... mini iboats weekend?

Check out this site. It has lots of information regarding the reef program, as well as all of the GPS coordinates. If you guys are not certified divers, there are lots of great dive shops around here that will get you certified. There are lots of great trips to the Keys for some really beautiful reef diving. Artificial Reef Program

 

[BIGALF]

Re: any tampa area people.... mini iboats weekend?

If you haven't joined the local Power Squadron yet do so. This is a good group of boaters that meet usually once a month for dinner and also have boat outings though out the year. They have boating classes that everone should take. A good way to meet boaters. No boat is to big or to small to be welcome in the group.<br />Also check out Burnt tore for boating. This is down by Fort Myers and it is a great place for boating.

 

[ruizsantana]

Re: any tampa area people.... mini iboats weekend?

Thanks BIGALF.<br />Both my wife and I completed the Power Squadrons 7-week boating course in MN recently - as we prepared to our move to Tampa and our boat purchase. We have our certificates with us and expect to join the local chapter as soon as we have time to track them down!

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: any tampa area people.... mini iboats weekend?

St Pete Power Squadron <br /><br />Power Squadron Locator

 

[ruizsantana]

Re: any tampa area people.... mini iboats weekend?

Thanks for the links... but is the St Pete squadron different from the Tampa one? See web address below.<br /><br />www.tampaps.org<br /><br />If they're not the same, is there an advantage of one over the other?<br />Any members out there?

 

[phatmanmike]

Re: any tampa area people.... mini iboats weekend?

saint pete is closer t the water and all the COOL places. tampa has to travel outa the stinky bay to get to saint pete.

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: any tampa area people.... mini iboats weekend?

The bay does have a certain odor by late summer doesn't it?

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: any tampa area people.... mini iboats weekend?

Going camping with boating friends May 19-21 on Shell Key. Going to be doing some fishing, kite tubing, kneeboarding, and wakeboarding. If anyone is interested in stopping by, let me know and I'll tell you where we will be.

 

[phatmanmike]

Re: any tampa area people.... mini iboats weekend?

hey studly, what kinda boat you got? you ever go offshore? <br /><br />i want to go, but id rather have a companion boat for safety reasons.

 

[ruizsantana]

Re: any tampa area people.... mini iboats weekend?

hey,<br />at just a little over 1 mpg I can't go too far!<br />If you see us around in our Doral 'Andreita 2' do say hi...

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: any tampa area people.... mini iboats weekend?

I have center console and frequently go 25+ miles offshore for diving and fishing. Let me know, I am always looking for a good excuse to get out!!! Even a not so good excuse will work.

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: any tampa area people.... mini iboats weekend?

Just did an overnight trip on Shell Key. The weather was perfect! Not too hot, had a nice breeze and it cooled off as the sun went down; we had a nice campfire. Only negative thing about the whole weekend was when we went out on the boat and left the campsite to do some fishing, a group of 16-20 year old boys, pretending to be fishing, were in our campsite within 5 minutes of us leaving. They were actually up near our tents when we noticed a couple of them hanging around the shore and headed back to the campsite. Unbelieveably they just casually walked away AFTER we pulled up and anchored. We were really looking forward to an evening cruise/ fishing excursion. We ended up doing some wade-fishing near the campsite and it was all good. Just sucks to have to have an unwelcome invasion in the back of your mind. Looking forward to the next trip though.<br /><br />We got up this morning and did some kneeboarding and kite tubing, very refreshing to wake up and take a cool dip in the bay!

 

[KRS]

Re: any tampa area people.... mini iboats weekend?

Place signs that read "mine field" around, and be sure you look a little crazy.

 

[phatmanmike]

Re: any tampa area people.... mini iboats weekend?

studly, we also went to shell key on sunday, the part with all the drunken azzholes at the north end. no camping, just hanging out and swimming with the kids and freinds.<br /><br />last november, 2005, when we last camped on shell key, we had our stuff stolen from our boat when we were sleeping as did a few other boats anchored up near us by the shore.<br /><br />we had a brand new 80" ski tube stolen, we hadnt even used it yet, and two other boats had a bunch of rods/reels stolen. <br /><br />i think that with shell key being so close to shore, and being really easy to get to, any 14 year old kid with a canoe could go on a stealing spree and be back home before you even notice.<br /><br />next time we go camping, were gonna go on anclote key off of tarppon springs to the north. its a much bigger island being 4 miles long and 1/2 mile wide, they have camping areas with grills and porta potties, and its over 5miles from land making it a lil harder for these punk thieves to come steel our zhit!<br /><br /> anclote key state preserve <br /><br />mike

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: any tampa area people.... mini iboats weekend?

Mike, thanks for the link. We will definitely plan a trip to Anclote key before too long. Looks really pretty there. <br />Shell Key is just so close to home, but Anclote isn't that far away.