Here are some photos from our February cruise to Venice,
St Pete Beach, Isla del Sol YC, Long Boat Key, Sarasota Bay, Cabbage
Key, Useppa Island and Pine Island Sound.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/hoonos...bum?.dir=/d25d

We made the trip north from Cape Coral in two days, overnighting at
the Crows Nest Marina in Venice. After 4 days in St Pete Beach at
Isla del Sol YC, we enjoyed a nice leisurely cruise south on the ICW
with stops at Long Boat Key, Sarasota, Cabbage Key/Useppa Island and
several anchorages in Pine Island Sound. The cruising guides all
refer to this area as paradise and it's not difficult to see why.
Best of all, it's almost in our back yard.

Once again we were reminded how inadequate and out of date the charts
are for western Florida. The channel leading east to Isla del Sol is
totally unmarked but has over 10 feet of water. The chart track shows
zero feet. Pine Island Sound is a little better but not much. There
is a popular anchorage behind the north end of Cayo Costa Island that
is unmarked and uncharted except for a 3 foot sandbar at the entrance.
After noticing quite a few good sized boats there, I checked it out
last weekend with the small boat. There is a minimum of 5 to 6 feet
if you can find the right track going in.