I see a whole lot more
around Ft. Myers Beach in Florida.

It is the perfect boat if you hang out in the bays but there are still plenty
of guys who run out to the artificial reefs in them.
I am not talking about sailing to CanCun or Key West. I assumed we were just
talking about a short ride a few miles out in the gulf on a calm winter day.

Greg,
I agree completely. Furthest out I usually went was about four miles
because that afforded us privacy. Never felt comfortable enough to try
diving the barges which I was told were about ten miles out. In calm seas
they're great, in a three foot chop they're wet and cold. In the bays you
can't get more bank for the buck. BTW - Happy holidays to you and yours.
Paul

"Greg" wrote in message
...
I see a whole lot more
around Ft. Myers Beach in Florida.

It is the perfect boat if you hang out in the bays but there are still
plenty
of guys who run out to the artificial reefs in them.
I am not talking about sailing to CanCun or Key West. I assumed we were
just
talking about a short ride a few miles out in the gulf on a calm winter
day.

I don't know what you be smoking, but around here, the water is 80' deep a
couple of miles out in the gulf, and 20 or so you hit the 50-fathom curve.

Its ~70 miles to the Desoto Canyon, which for all intents and purposes is a
bottomless pit - 2000+.


I suppose it all depends on where "here" is but if you look on the chart you
will see that 6 miles out from Big Carlos Pass is about 30 feet and that is
twice as far as we were talking about.
Guys who go out 70 miles in 24' center consoles wash up on the beach in Cape
Canaveral, what's your point?

If Big Carlos is kicked up I run into the beach on the south side, run just
outside the Lover's Key swim markers and cut through behind the bar.

Greg,
Can't quite picture this, are you returning through the next inlet south
of Big Carlos Pass going towards Bonita? Or are you still returning through
Big Carlos Pass but hugging the south (Lover's Key) shore? BTW - my wife's
family live at Bay Beach on Estero.
Paul

"Greg" wrote in message
...
If Big Carlos is kicked up I run into the beach on the south side, run
just
outside the Lover's Key swim markers and cut through behind the bar.

It sounds like he's sneaking into the North portion of New Pass (Southern
tip of Lover's Key).


"Paul Schilter" paulschilter@comcast,dot,net wrote in message
...
Greg,
Can't quite picture this, are you returning through the next inlet
south
of Big Carlos Pass going towards Bonita? Or are you still returning
through
Big Carlos Pass but hugging the south (Lover's Key) shore? BTW - my wife's
family live at Bay Beach on Estero.
Paul

"Greg" wrote in message
...
If Big Carlos is kicked up I run into the beach on the south side, run
just
outside the Lover's Key swim markers and cut through behind the bar.

When Big Carlos is rolling it is virtually always at the western tip of the
bars that run parallel with the pass (on both sides). The same is true in New
Pass.
If you run south of the pass, into the beach and run north just outside the
swim markers then cut into the pass near the beach you will run behind that
bar. They don't have that point marked as a swim area.
There always seem to be big rollers about a half mile straight out from the
pass. This trick gets you past them. You can also run north inside the bar but
the hole is smaller and shaols up in different places. I don't go that way
often enough to track it. When I go out it is usually just to avoid the traffic
in the channel behind Lovers Key. In the winter I will just run the inside by
Mound Key and duck out the south Weeks channel.
Did you ever check out the aerials on the FGCU web site? the 1999 pictures,
printed in black and white are pretty good for finding the deep spots.
I link them here
http://hometown.aol.com/boatestero

Greg,
Thanks, fantastic web site. I printed out a few of the different year
photos. I'll show them to my wife's parents when I go down in the spring.
It's cool to see the changes over the years.
Paul

"Greg" wrote in message
...
When Big Carlos is rolling it is virtually always at the western tip of
the
bars that run parallel with the pass (on both sides). The same is true in
New
Pass.
If you run south of the pass, into the beach and run north just outside
the
swim markers then cut into the pass near the beach you will run behind
that
bar. They don't have that point marked as a swim area.
There always seem to be big rollers about a half mile straight out from
the
pass. This trick gets you past them. You can also run north inside the bar
but
the hole is smaller and shaols up in different places. I don't go that way
often enough to track it. When I go out it is usually just to avoid the
traffic
in the channel behind Lovers Key. In the winter I will just run the inside
by
Mound Key and duck out the south Weeks channel.
Did you ever check out the aerials on the FGCU web site? the 1999
pictures,
printed in black and white are pretty good for finding the deep spots.
I link them here
http://hometown.aol.com/boatestero