There is a good possibility I will be spending 2007 in St. Pete Florida. I will be looking for a rental, 1 year lease with a pet and I hope to have have my 38' boat with me. Don't need water front but at least want to be close to a ramp. Anyone have suggestions? I am looking forward to boating in that area.

We have a nice 1 BR condo at 345 Bayshore in Tampa - it overlooks the water but no docks. There are a few high and drys in the area that you could store your boat at. 345 is an upscale highrise and our unit is on the 9th floor. Building is pet friendly. May not fit the bill for what you are looking for, but you never know....

Let me know if you want more info.

Anywhere in St Pete is close to a boat ramp. We just spent Christmas and the next day there visiting my parents. I do miss the boating there.

Boat Ramps are one thing. But being able to use them without a 2-3 hour wait on weekends is another.

Some of them can get REALLY backed up, as advised by friends who moved down that way. They drive clear to Hudson to use a private ramp, just to avoid delay.

On the busiest boating days of the year, you can ALWAYS get a parking spot at Ft Desoto Park. They have a huge parking lot, I think it's 16 launch slips, and if the parking lot fills up, they let you park along the road for as far as you are willing to walk. It is far and away the best boat ramp I've ever seen in the entire state. It was just completely rebuilt about three or four years ago. Parking is the main problem at most of the ramps.

That's absolutely rediculous. It'd take damn near two hours to drive to Hudson, and the water is shallow as hell around there, not to mention, there's really no place to go.

My post was not on a specific area. The friends I mentioned live over in Lutz, so I am not sure which boat ramps they have tried, but when they moved down there they were very surprised by the congestion and delays.

I was relating my comments to St Pete, where I lived for 33 years. If I lived in Lutz, I'm not sure where I'd launch. Probably at Gandy Bridge in Tampa.

If you lived in Lutz you'd probably take 54 over to New Port Richey and launch around there.

Looking in the n.e. region of St. Pete east of 275 around Gandy rd somewhere. The boat ramp isn't that important at this time I can figure that out down the road.