Boating in St. Pete
 

I'm headed to St. Pete for spring break this year and do not know much about the area for boating. Any good marinas? Spots to not miss? Cool restaurants? I would like to keep my boat in a marina all week that is close to St. Pete Beach.

thanks for any heads up?
Ron

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

Lot's to do there. Fever Mike will be chiming in soon!

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

Get ahold of Nick, AKA, CigDaze here on the board. He lives in that area and has all the knowledge that you could possibly need. I have a place down in St Petes Beach but rarely get down that way anymore. You can call me if you would like to and Ill help you out the best I can. It truley is a great area to boat around in

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

518 361-6521

Bob Scanlon

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

Terra Verda Marina can handle performance boats and step bottoms if that is what you have. They are right there in St. Pete. There are lots of good resturants from simple and beachy to high end all up and down the beach for miles. My personal fav's are:
Guppy's
Salt Rock Grille
Lobster Pot
Snappers
Billy's Stone Crab
Frenchy's in Clearwater
Daquiry Deck
Carino's Italian Cafe
Gigi's Italian
Island Way Grille
Sea Critters
The Pub

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

Do you have sea strainers in your boat? There is a lot of sea-weed in that area; and you are going to want them.

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

Yes I do, but thanks for the heads up. I've got a 46 Cig with 1075s. I heard there are a lot of shallow areas too, a lot like the Keys. Somehow I tend to find those more than I want to. ;-)

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

Yes there are lots of shallow areas but if you stay in the channel or have someone with you that know the area you will be fine. I was all over St. Pete last week and no sea grass. That only happens at certain times of the year or after a huge storm.
If you have any questions about the water in the area let me know. Get a chart and watch the tides! Follow the chart or follow your chart plotter. If you would like me to show you around your 1st time out I'd be happy to.
I have never run a ground...I just know the area.

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

Yea I'd be his tour guide too! Bring that bad boy to Lake Lanier this summer and I'll show you how to get to cocktail cove and we won't run a ground - haha.:D

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

All great, here's a few more
Gators
Shepphards
Shell Island
Undertow (definately)

Tierra Verde Marina is really nice. If you're going to spend most of your time on the boat, you can stay at the Holiday Inn Sunspree and have your boat with you. Feel free to PM me if Fever Mike is too busy to show you around. I'm not far away and easily have my arm twisted to run down that way.

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

If you want to cross Tampa Bay, Rattlefish is a a really good spot with best docks around for water front food. ,

Caladesi State Park is also nice spot. I have been here for couple years and boat alot in the area and sea weed is rare, like someone said it is weather/storm thing).

What are you looking for? Best food, best beach, best party scene? That will help narrow it down.

Ditto, the water is shallow but is also well marked, at least in ICW. As you will see on a chart, there are numerous inlets to the gulf and I would that Bounces Pass out of Ft Desoto is one to avoid because sand shafts..all the time and channel is moving target. Everything else is well marked. Undertow and Shepherds are best spring break beach bars in my opinion.

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

Yes stay away from Bunces pass! Rattle Fish is were I go for lunch or dinner on the boat all the time. In your 46 Cig from St. Pete you can get there in 20-30 min easy. Caladessi is very nice and a nice 30-40 min trip for you with great docks. This is a public island.

Also Sarasota is near too plus across Tampa Bay and up the Matatee River (well marked, very wide and deep) is a resturant with big floating docks called Mangroves with awesome food.

Someone mentioned Shell Island. It a nice place to beach the boat and hang out but it gets crowded with drunk people and with a boat as big as yours I would not tempt it. It is super shallow around there so you must know where you are going and be an expert at handling the boat in tight areas.

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

We love St. Pete!
I think everyone that goes to Shell Island gets grounded at least once. I could see Shell Island from my parents place on Tierra Verde and it was funny to watch the craziness. Fun place to party though with some nice whale tail's.

Get a chart plotter if you don't have one.
Stay in the channels, a foot or two outside
of the channels and you may get grounded.

Always love to party at the Undertow...
can't get there by boat though.
Billy's has great food.
Hurricanes, kind of a tourist joint but has a great view.

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

I have lived on the beach/Tierra Verde for last 25 years. Send me a pm & will give you my cell & will tell you what others have not. serious shallow and beach issues!! Don't get me wrong though-easy to handle & awesome fun & don't miss it!!

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

Wow, thanks everyone. Sounds like there will be plenty to do down there. I do have a chart plotter and I am sure to make good use of it. I will placing some calls here soon, thanks for the hospitality. I will be there starting March 30th and staying thru the next weekend.

Ron

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

Hey Gang. Hi Ron.

I'm getting in on this kind of late, had to take a day off from OSO for jury duty yesterday. :mad:

Anyway, I thing you're going to love it down here. It's one of the greatest places to boat if you ask me. So much water, so many places to go, and such great weather.

Aside from a few exceptions, there's not much to worry about as far as water once you're a good 3/4 mile offshore. Approaching land, and weaving your way through the intercoastals and bays can be a bit of a pain sometimes. If you're uncertain about an area, never leave the channels. I run in some channels which turn into canals (dry sand on either side of you) during a good low tide.

Some of my favorite spots are the rattlefish grill, the Wharf, The sandbar(Tierer Verde marina), Gators, and Mar Vista on longboat key.

I'll PM you my number, give me a shout when the time nears. I may be in Key West that week, but if not I can hook up with you.

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

Don't know if you need a place to stay or not, but someone mentioned the Holiday Inn Sunspree. We've stayed there 3 or 4 times and it's a great place to stay especially if you have a boat in tow. There's a large field with plenty of room for a truck/trailer and they have a hose on site that you can use once the day is done to wash/flush the boat. Rooms a nice and they have a tiki bar on the beach and 2 pools plus a small marina. Rates are reasonable too and the boat ramp is across the street. ;)

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

Where are all you St. Pete guys when we have OPBA events?

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

I just had Lee send me a membership application and plan on getting active with the group.

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

Ya know the problem with OPBA?!?!?!:mad: I PAID my $money$ back in late August to join the club and I STILL have not received any newsletter about any events, emails or my member card so I can get fuel discounts on the water. What a RIP OFF this club seems to be! I have called and emailed many times Ron Long and Michael E. and they said they were trying to get my members hip taken care of but now they are no longer officers and can't help me.:mad:

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

Mike, it's the same problem every year. Nobody wants to be an officer in the club, but everyone wants to say how it should be run. Poor Mike has been drafted as Pres for the last four or five years. It's a damn thankless job, and nobody wants it. It seems to be getting worse. We had a lot of fun with the Opba when we lived there. Have you ever attended a meeting? If they ever have another one, you should attend and then air your disgust with the club. It's about a full time job to run it, and most people have to use that time to make a living.

Back to the original question, the Tampa Bay area is the best place in Florida for boating in my opinion, and I've been to just about all of them.

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

Hi Cuda, I would attend a meeting if I new when there was a meeting. I get zero corospondance from OPBA...zero nada nothing! I am pretty pizzed off right now because I paid money to join and got nothing out of it.

Can anyone from OPBA help resolve this?

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

whiners!:D
Time to join again, it's a new year!

The last five years, Kathy was president, Ron Long was president, Scott McQwen was president, and Mike E was the
most.

I just got a e-mail about the elections.:evilb:

Have fun in St Pete !:evilb:

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

No way I am going to re-join...I never got anything for the money I paid last year! Basically I got Ripped Off!:mad:

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

They work very hard to put on a nice event and you
looked like you were having a good time! :D You joined
during the last event of the year.

We have never had a "card" just mention the OPBA
for gas discounts.:D

Hello to Lisa.:drink:

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

I'm not whining. Mike has been president every year since I joined in 03. Kathy lasted about two months, I don't think Scott lasted much longer, or if he did, he wasn't involved much, Ron has never beeen president in that time. Everytime someone else doesn't do the job, Mike has been pressed into service.

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

I tried the OPBA web site to get more info about a week ago and it was down.

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

Mike Erturk told me there is a card...and I have an email with him saying he will get a card out to me. Terrea Verde will not give gas discounts with out the card. Filling up a boat with 400 gallons of gas I need every discount I can get.
I am not whinning but when you are told you will receive things for joining and you do not get those things I call that being ripped off. I was not told that the money I paid was just for the Poker Run and that I would have to re-join just 4 months down the road.

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

I don't think my 47 MPH bow rider/wake board boat would be fit the OPBA criteria. :-)

Heck even the "slow" groups on the fun runs are 50. WAO in my 20 ft. boat to follow the tail of the fun run is not that appealing.

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

A friend of mine is selling his house in Sarasota - www.219Marino.com Sorry to spam but he needs to sell.

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

Fever Mike- Sorry to hear of your troubles. Give me a call and I'll make arrangements to get your dues back. To everyone else: Yes the OPBA has been a little disorganized the last couple months. Lee and I ( along with a lot of others) are working hard to strighten everything out. We will be holding our 3 big Poker Runs and a lot of other events this year so bear with us and use this cold spell to get the boats ready for some excitement.

Thanks,

Todd Samuels
OPBA Membership Director
727-647-8722

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

Good luck Todd, it was a great club when we lived over there.

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

I will keep watching. I hope to do some runs this year.

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

Thanks Cuda. And it still is a great club. I've got a lot out of it over the last five years, now I'm putting something back in. Our runs are a blast , our parties are legendary and our members great people. Unfortunately organizing all of it is a lot of work and we burned some people out and left a few loose ends. We have new blood taking the helm and Lee is up to the challenge. anyone in the Tampa Bay area that does no know about us is welcome to give me a call to find out more.

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

Gator-We'd love to have you come down.

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

Mike,
I'll give you a PM or an e-mail for the next meeting. Most meets are the last Thurs. of the month. We are also hoping to move the meeting place to more of central location to the surrounding areas,thus making it easier for people to attend.
I'm glad to see Todd on board, he's motivated to get OPBA back on top. As Cuda said ...some folks are kinda burned out. I look at the membership fee as an dinner out with the wife, $100 ain't too bad even if it's just for 1 Poker Run. OPBA still has some of the cheapest Poker Runs & it includes a kickass 5 star X-mas party.
See ya on the water
John

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

Hey don't let that stop ya. There are some big cruisers that run with us. There are several boats that run a little under the 50mph cruise. There's always a group that runs for the fun of it. Try a fun run sometime, the Pub Run comes to mind. Run from Tierre Verde on the outside to Johns Pass & up the ICW to The Pub or just meet everyone up therte for lunch. Coastguard has in the past been kind enough to do the free safety inspection, get your yearly decal while having lunch.
PS : We run a CC & the vareity of boats has changed.

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

Christmas Party? WOW never even new about that either! I know it's only a $100 but after a while of giving people a $100 here and there in the marine industry you get sick and tired of being taken advantage of. It's more the principal to me...I paid my money which I work extremly hard for being a comissioned salesman and want to get something out of it for a change.

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

I just got a call from Lee the new President of OPBA and he is going to help me out and get my situation solved. Lee is dealing with a mess right now and he wants to do the right thing and grow the club. It's nice Lee took the time to call me and straighten things out. All I need to do is fill out the new form and send him a copy of my cx'd check.
If anyone is having problems with signing up with OPBA here is Lee's number 727-215-7193

Re: Boating in St. Pete
 

John - moving the meetings to a more central location is a GREAT idea - its truly the only thing that has kep me from being active with OPBA - while I love The Pub, Gators, etc., its just too far of a drive from my house to make a Thursday evening meeting and then back home at a reasonable hour. In the interim, Rattlefish would be a good spot or Bahama Breeze, Crabby Bills, etc. Another though would be to have a Saturday morning meeting at a restaurant/bar on the water and then head off to Eggmont, etc. afterwards. Just a few thoughts. Looking forward to a great 2007 for the OPBA.