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Vic Smith

On Thu, 25 Oct 2007 00:32:55 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 24 Oct 2007 18:00:57 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

Anyway, I'm thinking about going at least 20 miles inland from the
gulf, probably north of Tampa, but not really sure.
The housing price/insurance difference by staying away from the salt
will buy a nice boat and years of marina space.

Up there in the Keystone area norh of Tampa you can get on a lake but
that can get pricy. I bet you can shop right now tho. I have a good
friend up there. My daughter and SIL bounced around Florida a lot when
he was a park ranger. I agree it can be nice up in the pan handle but
you do get "seasons" and they seem to get more storms.
They were in Pensacola, Port St Joe (Mexico Beach) and down the road
in Naples. Then he wen off to Ft Lauderdale to "undevelop property for
the city and now he is wih water management in West Palm Beach.
Okeechobee may be their next stop. That is a step back in time but
there is a huge lake to boat on also plenty of water to manage.
Alas, much like the lake at the top of this thread, not as much water
as there was a while ago. Again "mis" management of the water was the
biggest problem and again they blame the COE. COE paniced after the
2005 storm season and drained the lake. It never filled back up.

I really haven't had any interest in FW fishing since I first tried
salt, and have no interest in lake living. I'm pretty set on living
away from water and using the house/insurance price difference for the
boat and berthing it. But I almost never say never.
I saw a 3 BR house - maybe condo- for rent in Cape Coral, with davited
dock, on a canal edging the Caloosahatchee, at jaw-dropping cheap
yearly rate.
Can't remember exactly, but it was about 1200 a month.
Seems silly to me, but they're even renting brand new homes off the
water for 850 or so. Don't know how long that'll last, but the
speculators are sucking it up right now.
The Crystal River area I visited was nice though, inexpensive for my
needs, and Kings Bay is a short drive. It's a ways to the gulf on the
river, but doable enough if you aren't in a hurry. I'm not.
Might even find the river satisfies me without getting to the gulf if
the fishing helps it along.
Still have to look north, and maybe even on the east coast.
I'm planning a trip soon to look around. There's just too much I
don't know about Florida.

--Vic