By the way, introduce yourself to the marine protrol as soon as you get there. they appreciate knowing who you are. They never bothered us after we told them who we were.

Where is the water patrol at?

They hang at the Hyatt marine area. You will see them. I called ahead and they came by a saw me at the dock.

Where did you actually stay there?

We have stayed at the Hyatt in Sarasota a couple of times and we stayed in the Holiday Inn in Bradenton. Both have a nice marina behind it with slips. Its no longer a Holiday Inn, its called Cay Clubs. I think they are in some kind of finanical trouble. The hyatt is much nicer and pricey. I have not been there the last couple of years so I am not sure what the best thing to do.

We rented a house on a canal on Anna Maria Island.

Better have good gps/depth finder to get in and out of bay! lots of low water.

Do they have marked chanels?

Yea, the couple times I have been there the channels are well marked, just dont go blast around outta the channel exploring. The whole area here is rather shallow (outta channels)

I'm heading down there at christmas with the wife and kids for a week. We are actually staying in Holmes Beach.

Any local places to rent a deck boat ro soemthing large enough for 7-8 to go exploring?