[Rhodes22-list] Punta Gorda/Port Charlotte

[Julie Thorndycraft]

Dave,
We chartered a sailboat from Yachting Vacations based at the Burnt Store 
Marina a few months after the hurricane hit. The area was severely damaged 
by the hurricane but the boats in the fleet survived fairly well. We were 
sailing between Christmas and New Year's and there were plenty of sailboats 
out - however, there were always more powerboats than sail. SW Florida is 
skinny water sailing so any boat that draws more than 4 - 5' will have 
problems periodically. It is an area that we would consider for 
retirement/sailing as there are plenty of islands to explore and it has easy 
access to the Keys and beyond. It would be an excellent sailing area for a 
Rhodes.

Julie
s/v Blue Loon


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <DCLewis1 at aol.com>
To: <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Saturday, March 04, 2006 7:52 PM
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Punta Gorda/Port Charlotte




Folks,

Back on Feb 9 I posted a request for input regarding sailing/retirement
locales.  A number of people responded.  Several people suggested  Punta
Gorda/Port Charlotte (PG/PC).

We visited PG/PC about 2 weeks ago on a swing down the east coast and I was
surprised.

- There was 1 power boat in the PG marina, no sail boats.  For  practical
purposes it was empty.
- I asked at the Chamber of Commerce (CoC)  about the lack of boats and was
told the marina had been closed for 2  years.  It has to be dredged.  I was
told the plan was to open it next  year - but the lady didn’t sound 
convinced of
that.
- We went to PG Isle to  assess their beach and see the boating.  The beach
was minimal and clearly  there was still a lot of debris from the hurricane
that hit them 2 years  ago.
- While at the PG beach we saw one sail boat (~30') motor out of a  canal,
appear to run aground, turn around, and motor back into it’s canal.   As I
recall we saw no sail boats off shore out to the horizon.
- We drove  over to the PC beach.  Same story.  Somewhat bigger beach, but a
lot  of debris in the water.  We saw 1 sail boat on the horizon.
- We asked  the PG CoC people about keeping a boat at PG.  They said that if
you wanted  to do it NOW that you’d have to go out to the Burn’t Store 
Marina
- which is  about 15 to 20 minutes out of PG.  The marina may be in the next
county, it’s sure not in PG proper.
- The Burnt Store Marina looked to be  active, quite a number of boats and
sailboats.

But my problem is PG/PC.  This is their high season, I’d expect to see  a 
lot
of boats.  We saw basically none.  The PG marina is closed and  has been
closed for a couple of years.

Was the PG/PC sailing ground basically wiped out by the hurricane that hit
them?  It sure didn’t look active to me.  What have I missed?

Dave
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