Many sailors lust for the gorgeous Caribbean waters and thoughts of a highly livable craft cloud our vision with dreams of weeks, months or years of sailing. Island hopping and open water solitude drive our land based dreams of having a comfortable place to live and sail. Which leads many of us to thoughts of owning a Catamaran Sailboat.
Fortunately, there is no better place for a catamaran sailboat skipper to dock his boat than southwest Florida. Here we have great weather, reasonable prices on homes and land and waterways that will accommodate your craft with reasonable proximity to blue water.
The biggest concerns in this order are 1) having adequate canal width for safe navigation and also meeting the city or county ordinances of how far your boat can protrude into the canal system from your dock. 2) having sufficient mast height clearance from 45 feet to maybe 80 some depending on the vessel and 3) having adequate water depth at all tide phases, in particular, low tides in the worst of conditions (full moon, northeast winds).
The above constraints narrow the available waterfront homes considerably however there will still be plenty of great options. In regards to the first point being “her beam”. Larger vessels will have 25 feet and more in beam. The general guideline but not always is that your vessel cannot protrude into the canal system more than 25% from the seawall. There are variances depending on the configuration of the canal, location on the canal and a handful of other variables. But overall we start by thinking about the 25% rule. By example, a typical canal in Charlotte County, Punta Gorda Florida is 100 feet. The City of Punta Gorda in this case specifies in their codes that from the centerline of the canal, 25% from that to either side must be left open for navigation. A catamaran with 25 feet of beam will need a dock and if the dock is 5 feet wide then you are now at 30 feet of exposure into the canal and over the specified limit.
In the real world you might get by with this depending on your location, neighbors and vessels moored on your canal, but I will always guide you to a location where there is no worry. Fortunately, there are canal systems that are 110 feet wide and wider. There are ends of canals that are perfect, tip lots with larger water frontage with a radius that allows for a cat and other intersecting canal scenarios that will make a nice home for you boat. I have a list of canal widths that I have measured myself and will be happy to guide you to the right home with no surprises!
Onto the mast height issue, point number 2. For Charlotte County the neighborhood of Punta Gorda Isles has no bridge restrictions. There are neighborhoods on the Peace River that are advertised as sailboat waterfront neighborhoods but have a limiting bridge restriction of 45 feet at mean low tide.
Point number 3 is water depth concerns. For the most part, this is a minor concern for a catamaran hull even if loaded down with water, fuel and provisions heading for a long adventure. The Punta Gorda area has plenty of water in their canals and exit systems to Charlotte Harbor which leads to the Gulf of Mexico. Mono hulls have to be more mindful of depth of course, and a general guideline for a mono hull is not to exceed 6’ in draft and less is better. The mitigating water depth is in the exit systems: Ponce de Leon Inlet and Buckley’s Pass (currently under construction). The city maintains these water ways to 6 feet mean low water. I have sold homes to sailors that had sailing craft with 6.5 feet of draft and they would depart on higher tide phases and never had a problem. Even if you bumped bottom, our bottoms are soft mud, not coral or rock like the islands, so no worries.
One catamaran customer of mine looking to buy a home was concerned that just plain navigation in the canal systems themselves would be a daunting task. When viewing an aerial view of the canal systems in Punta Gorda they look narrow and concerns with getting by docks and moored boats would be a challenge especially with an approaching vessel. First, an aerial view does make things look tight but the reality is different. Something to realize is that despite plenty of homes, more than 50% have no boat at their dock. Of the remaining 50%, 25% are used only on holidays and when company comes to town. Of the remaining 25%, 15% is for show and never used, leaving 10% of us that boat frequently. The summation is that boating traffic is extremely light and folks in our friendly town work together on land and sea. No worries on navigation in canal systems!
The last thing I wanted to point out is there is a huge sailing fraternity in our area. There are many clubs or organizations and some just for catamaran sailors. It’s a great resource and easy to make friends when you have the same interests. These same sailors can share a wealth of knowledge in getting around the islands, where to go or not go, navigational considerations, the best restaurants, shelling beaches and mooring sites.
Call The Captain! if you are thinking about buying a home for your boat 😊
