Gulf Coast of Florida

[pissativlypossed]

Taking a vacation (already into Americanisms) in Florida, Sarasota to be precise, in a couple of weeks. Would like to charter a boat whilst there, anyone got experience of this area?
What qualifications and evidence of such are required and are there any vagaries specific to this area or the USA in particular? VHF procedure etc?

 

[kcrane]

What qualifications and evidence of such are required and are there any vagaries specific to this area or the USA in particular? VHF procedure etc?

We chartered a Lagoon Power 44 for 2 weeks in late June, cruised up and down the Keys out of Miami. I'd recommend you contact Andy at Ocean Marine Group, I can provide an email if you can't find them on the web. Andy is a charter broker. He found and organised our charter and is very diligent (no connection, just satisfied customer).

There was the usual deposits (paid in advance which actually makes it easier) but also a several page contract which was negotiated before we went. The owner did agree to moderate the more onerous clauses.

No particular qualifications beyond ICC - and I'm not sure that was the owner's or a legal requirement. VHF pretty much same as ours, but there is much less radio traffic than the Solent (no bad thing). Markers are reversed, but you get used to it very quickly and there are lots of them. No coastguard activity to speak of.

The waters are very shallow. We relaxed when we got away from the coast and above 20ft of water. We began to think of that as deep.

Destinations depend of course on what you are looking for. We like spending the night in a European harbour (Greece, Turkey, Spain, Croatia etc). You are usually backing in to an old harbour wall, locals walking up and down, a dozen places to eat within sight of the boat etc. The Keys was not like that. Mostly dull middling marinas, berthing charges were outrageous, £62 for one night at a marina and £55 against a boat yard wall. The cat was not charged extra BTW. The food was generally disappointing unless you like large quantities of mediocre quality.

Haven't posted pictures to this system before, but if it works, here is a storm front as we approached Miami.

 

[KCook]

If you just want a small boat for the day, that would be considered a "rental" instead of a charter. For rentals there are virtually no qualifications, though they will hold your credit card hostage until you return.

Charter qualifications will be up to the charter outfit. Here are links to some more 'boards that may help -

http://my.boatus.com/forum/forum_topics.asp?FID=121

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f15/

http://www.thehulltruth.com/index.php#regional-boating-fishing-groups

Kelly Cook