Admin Bill, I know! I know this is an over-sized post, but I just don't know how to answer this particular question any more succinctly... "Apologies" in advance... Ann and Harry, There is a lot to see in Florida. This will be my thumbnail input. I am not a fan of big cities, which you will observe. Strongly suggest you get local AAA travel/touring guides to supplement your boating/cruising guides. The best of the cruising guides for touring (my opinion) are the books by Claiborne Young, as he does by far the best job with local history and highlighting POIs and attractions. Bicycles will help you a lot in Florida. This is not high rise country; everything tends to be spread out. Here goes; just highlights, starting from the GA/FL line, clockwise: Fernandina Beach - very nice 1920s era waterfront city; easy access from mooring field/anchorage and city marina. St. Augustine - must see for history of the region; local tour company and good city bus available; alligator farm and lighthouse museum available by bus; A1A Ale House across from the city marina is excellent; easy access from mooring field and city marina. As your very first activity, take a tour of the city to see what's there; then, plan for what you want to see in more detail. Daytona - very nice waterfront area; nice museum. Titusville - Kennedy Space Center; also, can visit the "Mouse House" from here, if so inclined; ask about Dixie Crossroads if you like shrimp/seafood. Cocoa, Melbourne, Vero Beach, Ft. Pierce and Stuart - nice weather; no particular touring recommendations. Lake Okeechobee vs. The Keys - both are interesting, but very different from each other. Lake O route cuts through "working Florida" sugar cane and farm country. The route transits through some old - and not particularly prosperous - towns (Clewiston, Moore Haven, Labelle); nice people, but not really tourist country. RR bridge on the route limits max air height to about 50'. The Keys are generally wealthier, tourist economies, and there's more chance to run into crowds and snarley people. Much to do from a tourist perspective. Gilbert's, Lorelai's and Alabama Jack are sorta famous local tiki-hut eateries (vs. restaurants) with evening musical entertainment. Skip Miami/Ft. Lauderdale; big cities Great harbor spots in Biscayne Bay, south of Miami, at No Name Harbor and Boca Chita Key, but avoid both on weekends; they are very popular and very noisy. Arrive early in the day for best spots. Both are anchorages and have few, if any, services. Pump out at No Name is all. Key Largo is a good stop for touring. All Keys towns have attractions to take money from tourists. Bicycles helpful here. Suggest you consider staying at Marathon and then visiting the lower keys by car. Visit No Name Pub on Deer Key (will need a car or a ride to do that). Visit Key West by car. Take the fast day-ferry to Ft. Jefferson at Las Tortugas. You can do Key West and the Tortugas with your own boat, of course, but Key West is very expensive and crowded for marinas in season. Bicycles will help a lot in the Keys. If you take your own boat to the Tortugas, read the cruising guides and prepare carefully. There's no water, no dockage, no trash disposal and it's a no discharge zone. Add to that, Las Tortugas is 60 miles offshore, and the weather (prevailing winds) can be several weeks from travel-window to travel-window, so advance planning is essential. Only anchoring is possible there. Heads - but not showers - are available on the dock during daily hours when the park is open. Cruising from the Keys to the South West Coast, a couple of options. From Key Largo, can follow the "Yacht Channel" through Florida Bay to the SW Coast. The Yacht Channel carries in the range of 5-1/2 ft for many miles, so draft is definitely a passage consideration. Tides in Florida Bay are 6" or less, so they won't help, but they don't hurt, either. This route bypasses Marathon and the lower keys. Or, can go from Key Largo to Marathon, and then north to the SW Coast. No water depth problems from Marathon north; Or, can go from Key Largo all the way to Key West, and head up to the SW Coast from Key West. This option involves open gulf waters, and attention to weather and prevailing winds is necessary. At trawler speeds, this is a long crossing depending on destination port. Via the Yacht Channel, first landfall is a delightful anchorage at the Little Shark River. No place to land, but a great, calm anchorage to over-night. Great area to go dinghy-exploring. Take a GPS; don't get lost. Between the Little Shark River and Marco Island along the SW Coast is the 10,000 Islands region; superb cruising grounds and remote anchorages! Especially so at Panther Key and Indian Key. Definitely go up the Barron River to Everglades City. Stay at the Rod and Gun Club (aka, the Sportsman's Club). No credit cards; cash or personal checks only! Great, if small, local heritage museum. Truly a glimpse of Old Florida. More great dinghy exploring. From Everglades City, you have two options. You can run north to Marco Island/Naples/Ft. Myers offshore, or you can go inside at Coon Key Pass and through Goodland to Marco Island. Inside is shallow, like the Yacht Channel, but much more interesting if draft permits. The nav. markers change side immediately East of the highway bridge at Marco Island. DO NOT MISS THE RED TO THE SOUTH AND EAST OF THAT HIGHWAY BRDGE! It's hard to see against the shoreline, but it's essential to not spoiling your day. The SW Coast (Marco Island, Naples, Estero, Ft. Myers Beach) towns are nice for tourists; the best is Ft. Myers Beach, where there are moorings and marinas. The ICW in this area carries 6', and 6" tides. Nice anchorage at correctly charted entrance to Rookery Bay. Ft. Myers is a big city; gets "honorable mention" for the Thomas Edison Homestead and Museum. Sanibel/Captive are snooty. Pine Island Sound is home to Cabbage Key; Jimmy Buffet's "Cheeseburger in Paradise" inspiration; must visit at least once. Buy a tee shirt to prove it. Charlotte Harbor towns of Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte are nice. Punta Gorda is "doable" with a bicycle; Port Charlotte not so much Skip north to Sarasota; other than St. Augustine, only Florida "City" I recommend; symphony and Ringling Circus Museum; museum is a must see; Marina Jack is a good - if expensive - facility; offers a courtesy shuttle to the museum, Publix, West Marine, Walgreens, etc. Skip Tampa/St. Pete/Clearwater; big cities. Tarpon Springs is a Greek settlement with superb Greek food, sponge diving/waterman's economy, and tourist flavor; very fun place. There is no passable ICW between Tarpon Springs and Carrabelle around the Great Bend. You must run offshore in the Gulf in this area. From Tarpon Springs north around the Great Bend, again, research carefully using the cruising guides; these are small communities, large, open, shallow waters and few safe harbors. Crossing directly from Tarpon Springs to Carrabelle/Apalachicola is a 170+/- mile, overnight, 45 mile offshore run in 60 ft of water, at trawler speeds. Attention to weather and prevailing winds is a must. Seas are short period and can be uncomfortable over 20 kts. Carrabbelle and Apalachicola are nice, small towns with mostly fishing and farming economies. I'm not familiar with what's available in the panhandle towns, but Panama City, Destin, Ft. Walton Beach and Pensacola are all available from/via the Gulf ICW. Others on this list can comment on them. This is - at best - my, opinion-based, thumbnail. Do your homework with the cruising guides. Now, please tell me about the MA, NH, ME Coast. We plan to make our first visit there this summer. Your opinions and advice would be most welcome! Jim Peg and Jim Healy aboard Sanctuary Currently at Charlotte Harbor, Punta Gorda, FL Monk 36 Hull #132 MMSI #367042570 AGLCA #3767 MTOA #3436

Jim provided some great info about cruising around Florida. Here's our thoughts in answer to his question about cruising to Maine. We've been downeast to Maine twice in the past few years and love it. It's still our favorite cruise, but we've never been to the Gulf Coast or the inland rivers. There is a never ending array of great harbors and towns to visit. If you prefer to anchor rather than spending time in marinas, you have many options to anchor or take moorings throughout Long Island Sound, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts (including Martha's Vineyard, Buzzards Bay, Cape Cod Bay and Massachusetts Bay), New Hampshire (Portsmouth area and Isle of Shoals), and Maine. Don't forget to add New Brunswick, Canada, if you have the time - you'll get to experience the real down-east Maine east of Bar Harbor along the way. Our blog and website (shown in our signature, below) have information and photos from both of our cruises to Maine including a spreadsheet for each cruise listing where we stayed, distances, etc. There are way too many places to list them all in an email - that would be like trying to describe cruising the entire ICW. But, don't miss cruising Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island (you can forget Newport but don't miss Bristol, in our opinion), Martha's Vineyard, Woods Hole, Plymouth, Boston (stay right downtown on a mooring and walk the Freedom Trail), Rockport (MA), Isle of Shoals (NH and ME), before even getting to Maine! I've just listed the extreme highlights, in our opinion. All the major cruising guides will lead you to many more; the choices are incredible and you'll have to decide which places to visit on the way out and catch others on the way back. If you go to our blog, click on the cruises for 2006 and 2008. <><><><><><><><><><><><>Mozilla Thunderbird<><><><><><><><><><> Bob McLeran and Judy Young Manatee Cove Marina MV Sanderling Patrick Air Force Base DeFever 41 Trawler Melbourne, Florida Blog: http://mvsanderling.net/Blog Web: http://cruising.mvsanderling.net/ On 3/21/2012 6:05 AM, Jim Healy wrote: > > Now, please tell me about the MA, NH, ME Coast. We plan to make our first visit there this summer. Your opinions and advice would be most welcome! >