I had a place there 15 hrs ago and loved it!

The better you learn your charts, and the area, the more you’ll like it.

At your door step: Sanibelle where the tourists go, Captiva, N. Captiva, and KayoCosta plus many more.

Learn the waters and you’ll think you’re in heaven.

PS, understand too, the Caloosahatchee River goes from Ft Meyers across the state to Port Saint Lucie.

Dont get much better.

Thanks for the offer Formula 292. Once I splash, I'll reach out. I'll start with the Navionics on an iPad, but I am sure once I realize I cannot see anything on the screen with the sun above, I'll have to bite the bullet with a chart plotter.

Thank you Joe. I may take you up on it. If anything, get you out on the water.

Sonic, charts indeed! There seem to be years worth of destination exploration trips in the area.

If I may, I kind of need some referrals:
- Any recommendations on which charts to get for the area?
- Stitching person? Need about 24" worth of stitching on sun pad.
- Gelcoat nick/scratch repair. Real minor stuff.
- Acid wash/buff/wax/seal. Preferably while on blocks so they can get to the rear pad and transom areas which need it most. Have gotten a few quotes but the seem super-high even compared to Miami area...

I could do the last two, but I just don't have the bandwidth right now and I'll never splash waiting to get to it... Thanks in advance.

Oh... And I am strongly considering removal of the Silent Thunder box as first official mod. With a bone stock 502 and the short tailpipe with flaps the setup is not that obnoxious.

But just in case, are there any noise restrictions for boats in the area?

I do not have the silent thunder box either. But I have two small blocks. They are rather loud. Not too bad at idle. Not aware of any noise ordinance nor had any complaints.

There’s several of us in the cape. I’ve been here 10 years. Go right to a plotter. You’ll want/need it. I use the simrad go7. Some like the garmin. Either will do the job. Also get on the ft Myers offshore Facebook page. Lots of good boating people down here

Thanks for the suggestions. Simrad units are definitely nice and I may bite the bullet since by the time one adds the tablet, stand, case, charging, and related "support" for a tablet based system, the price-points end not far apart.

A few days ago I joined FMO but have not yet seen a response. Also joined the FMO FB. Looking at the poker run pictures, very few boats under 30 participate! Lots of BIG go fast boats...! Maybe I'll add a 3' beak to qualify as a 30 footer

I figured cheaper to get a Garmin plotter (my personal favorite) than to smack my out drives. Worked good so far. Only hit once but I had no business being there. No damage fortunately.

I went to one of the ft Myers offshore events to see how many and what kinds of boats showed up. Most of the boats were more expensive than my house!!!
been meaning to actually meet them but the covid crap started up.

Agree, F292The challenge with the dedicated plotters seems to be premium for larger screen size. I'd like to have a 9"+ sized screen, and they quickly creep-up in price. And if I may ask; the sonar side of the systems seems to be optional in most. I presume this gets mostly used for finding fish? Is it also valuable for more accurate depth/contours, etc? To use this, will I need to have a transducer-type contraption installed somewhere through the hull?

Absolutely, serious hardware at FMO runs. But I'll venture to speculate perhaps not as intense as the Florida Powerboat Club runs around Miami...

Pablo

I bought a Garmin 742 CV it fits great next to my compass and under the windshield. If you’d like to see it I’ll shoot a pic. I do not use the depth finder function I use it only as a chart plotter however I do have a separate depth finder on my boat so I just use them both together didn’t really need to get finer since I’m not fishing and it shows plenty enough contours to get around

Thanks. I took some measurements today and it is a good spot indeed. I'll decide over the next few days...