Low Cost Sailboat and Large Cruiser Waterfront Homes
Not everyone wants a “Mcmansion” on the waterfront. Some boaters just want a home for the boat or a place to rest their head in between long distance blue water adventures. The other case is where you have a northern house but want to winter here, needing a smaller more modest home and a place to berth your vessel.
Charlotte county Florida offers the sailor lots of low cost options for the sail boat enthusiast or larger cruiser/sportfisherman! There are several lesser known locations that many realtors and local residents will tell you are not for sailboats. I am going to share with you locations that will accommodate deeper draft and keeled vessels, boats with a mast and boats that have significant beam such as a cat hull or multi-hull style boat. Not all of these locations will necessarily accommodate the combination of deep draft, unlimited mast height and extra wide canal systems.
Here are locations to consider:
Harbour Heights: This neighborhood is east of Rt. 41 and Rt. 75 bridges on the Peace River. The bridge height limitation on Rt. 41 is 45 feet MLW. Your water depths generally are 5 feet in the canals but there is some variation depending on location. There are some sailboats that draft 5 feet in these canals. They have a soft bottom and I have seen some on an extreme low tide listing as their keel makes bottom contact. Canal widths for the most part are less than 100 feet. I am not aware of any covenant that governs how far your boat may enter into the center of the canal. I think that a shoal draft keel is probably your safest bet here. Often there are formidable cabin cruisers in some canal systems that draft a fair amount of water.
Alligator Creek: There are several neighborhoods that are south of Rio Villa Drive in Punta Gorda. The western boundary is Almar Drive and the eastern boundary is Rt. 41 Tamiami Trail. These neighborhoods include:
Windmill Village (modular homes): A great neighborhood, offering a true community experience. Some homes with waterfront and others with access to Free docking at the neighborhood marina. Some shallow water and narrow width waterways however smaller sailing vessels will work just fine here.
Charlotte Park, Section 3 & Rio Villa, 1st Addition: These areas offer near direct access to Alligator Creek. A combination of block built Florida style homes with a few modular homes mixed in. The waterways in many locations are over 6 feet at the dock. You can find homes in here starting at $169,000. There is fairly quick access to the harbor as well. Wider beam boats will have to evaluate each location to see if it makes sense. The price point here is very reasonable and you are close to town.
Pelican Pointe: A very nice community of waterfront modular homes. Quick access to Alligator Creek. Good water depths at your dock too.
Sebastion Harbor, Sea Lanes: This neighborhood is the eastern most. A very stylish Florida neighborhood with conventional built homes. There is excellent water depth in many locations however a narrow exit from the neighborhood to Alligator Creek. The passageway to the deeper waters of the creek will limit many sail boats and the width is also a consideration. One of the longer boat rides to the harbor at around 35 minutes however there is no mast height limitation.
Seamans Point: A very beautiful, small gated neighborhood off of Almar Drive, closer to the harbor. Some have creek docks and some the back side canal. Depths vary depending on location but generally 4-6 feet. If right off the creek you might have some shoaling against the shoreline. On the canal side of this location there is good water depths at the dock but the entrance into the creek is shallow.
Pirate Harbor: This is the southern-most waterfront neighborhood in Charlotte County. It is small and charming with the appearance of the Florida Keys. Largely the waters are shallow however you will see some significantly larger vessels in the neighborhood. There are sailboats to 35’ and power boats to 40’. They have to watch their tides to go into the harbor. Harbor access is quick and in general many of the canals have plenty of water depth. The channel into the harbor is the mitigating water depth that eliminates most sailors and large power boat owners from considering this neighborhood. There is a plan that is nearly fully approved to dredge the channel to the harbor which will be a game changer for sailors and larger boat owners. No matter what happens the average canal width is 80 feet so that will always be a limiting factor for size of vessel.
