On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 05:49:40 -0700 (PDT), sailmonstermomma
wrote:

What kind of boat and what is your draft ? *

Both passes are dangerous on an outgoing tide against a westerly
swell.

1975 Catalina 27 3'6" draft

The charts show almost enough depth. I'd try and scout it out with a
smaller boat, depthsounder and GPS before risking the sail boat. A
lot of the FL west coast inlets have uncharted shoaling and frequently
look nothing like what you expect. Local buoys and nav markers are
generally correct however.

New Pass had a 3 ft shoal reported in 2004 but you might be OK at mid
tide on a calm day. Most of the locals use the pass at Longboat Key
but that has its tricky aspects also.