Boat waiting on ship in stream-daylight service per day. Boat transferring laborers to and from ship in stream for leveling To quarantine ground_- $15.00 15.00 5.00 10. 00 10.00 10.00 Towboats are not available at this port, but one or two motor tenders can be secured for towing service. Quarantine is handled by the health officer who meets ships in port by special arrangement. Both the Customs Service and the Immigration Service have an inspector in port. Facilities for oil bunkering are provided at the pier, but about 6 days' notice is required to secure a supply. There are no facilities for bunkering coal. Artesian well water is piped to the head of the pier. Water for both boiler and drinking purposes is brought to South Boca Grande by tank cars. Gasoline, provisions, and some supplies are available. The railroad operates a machine and blacksmith shop capable of handling some repairs to vessel machinery. There are no other repair facilities at this port. The Port Series, volume No. 8, gives further detailed information regarding the port of South Boca Grande. (See p. 4.) An automobile ferry connects with the State highways to the northward, and there are hotel accommodations at Boca Grande. Boca Grande is a winter resort and fishing station on the railroad 2 miles north of South Boca Grande. A small wharf, extending into Charlotte Harbor 2 miles north of the wharf at South Boca Grande, leads to the town. South of this wharf at Boca Grande is a small landlocked lagoon, in which small craft can find anchorage in depths of 4 to 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 m), mud bottom. It is reached by a narrow dredged channel 6 to 7 feet (1.8 to 2.1 m) deep, about 200 yards south of the wharf. This channel is marked by a beacon on the south side at the entrance and by range beacons at the inshore end. These are maintained by private interests and during the winter season are lighted (Boca Grande Yacht Basin Lights). From this lagoon, an inside passage leads to the northward. There are boat landings and storage facilities both in the lagoon and along this inside passage. Gasoline, rain water, ice, provisions, and some yacht supplies are obtainable. The business district of the town is about 1/2 a mile from the wharves. There is a post office, seasonal and year-round hotels, telephone and telegraph communication, through train connections and an automobile ferry to Placida connecting with a State highway. There is a small marine railway in the lagoon which can haul boats up to about 40 feet long and 32 feet (1.1 m) draft. Minor repairs can be made. Matlacha Pass and Pine Island Sound are described under a separate heading preceding. Gasparilla Sound extends northward from Charlotte Harbor for about 712 miles, between Gasparilla and Little Gasparilla Islands and the mainland; it is navigable for vessels of 4 to 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 m) draft having local knowledge, but there is no through channel to Lemon Bay. A railroad trestle with two draw openings, each 50 feet wide, crosses the sound north of Gasparilla Island. Gasparilla Pass, through which passage may be made to or from the Gulf, usually has a depth of 6 feet (1.8 m), but it is unmarked. Both the depth and position of the channel are subject to frequent change. Gasparilla Sound and Pass are frequented only by fishermen and small coasters who have local knowledge. There is a good small boat anchorage inside the north point to the westward of Bird Island. The deep water is along the shore of Little Gasparilla Island. Bokeelia is a post office and small settlement on the northern end of Pine Island. There is a wharf, to which a draft of 6 ft. (1.8 m) can be taken. Gasoline, oil, and some supplies can be obtained, but there is no fresh water available. A road connects with the southern end of Pine Island and with the mainland and there is boat service to Punta Gorda and the settlements on Pine Island Sound by boats on the fish runs out of Punta Gorda. There is also boat service to Useppa Island during the season. Miakka River empties into the northern end of Charlotte Harbor from northward. A depth of 9 feet (2.7 m) can be taken into the mouth. There are no towns along the river, and it is used only occasionally by small vessels of 4 to 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 m) draft. A railroad bridge and a highway bridge cross the river about 3 miles above its mouth. Thirty-six hours' notice is required to open these bridges. Peace River empties into the northeastern corner of Charlotte Harbor from northeastward. It is navigable for a draft of about 5 feet (1.5 m) as far as Hull, a distance of about 15 miles above its mouth but caution is required to avoid snags in the upper portion. Punta Gorda is a small city on the south bank of the Peace River near the head of Charlotte Harbor. It has both rail and highway connections with points to the north and south as well as to the interior of the state. A draft of about 8 feet (2.4 m) can be taken to the municipally owned pier. The channel to the pier is marked by a line of beacons. Vessels can anchor off the town in depths ranging from 6 to 9 feet (1.8 to 2.7 m). Gasoline, fuel oil, fresh water, provisions, ice, and marine supplies are available. Storm warnings are displayed from a tower on the waterfront. Punta Gorda is the largest commercial fishing port south of Pensacola, and boats on fish runs connect with various points on Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound. There are several marine ways capable of hauling boats up to about 65 feet long, 5 feet (1.5 m) draft and 50 tons capacity. Both deck and machine repairs can be made. There are also boat storage facilities. A conspicuous concrete bascule bridge crosses the river 1,500 yards above the municipal wharf. The draw has a horizontal clearance (9) CHARLOTTE HARBOR, DIRECTIONS 115 of 75 feet and a vertical clearance of 14 feet (4.3 m) when closed. Just above the bridge, there is an aerial power cable having an overhead clearance of 90 feet (27 m) above mean low water; about 500 yards further up-stream there are the remains of a former concrete bridge. At Cleveland, 3 miles above Punta Gorda on the same bank is a marine railway of 100 tons capacity capable of hauling vessels of 6-foot (1.8 m) draft. The channel from Punta Gorda to Cleveland is well marked. The controlling depth in the channel from South Boca Grande to Punta Gorda was 91/2 feet (2.8 m) in 1933. About 6 feet (1.8 m) can be carried to Cleveland at high tide. A tall water tank at Punta Gorda can be seen from many points on Charlotte Harbor. Storm Warnings are displayed at Boca Grande and Punta Gorda. Hospital. The nearest general hospital is located at Arcadia, Fla., and the nearest marine hospital is at Key West, Florida. There is a relief station of the United States Public Health Service at Tampa, Fla. Supplies and Repairs.-See South Boca Grande, Boca Grande, Punta Gorda, and Cleveland. Tides and currents.-The main rise and fall of the tide in the harbor varies from 1 to 12 feet, but the variations in the water surface due to the force and direction of the wind are as much as 4 or 5 feet at times, obliterating all traces of the normal tidal action. The tidal currents in the entrance channel have considerable strength, especially the ebb current, which is said to attain occasionally an extreme velocity of 3 to 4 knots, dependent also upon the force and direction of the wind. DIRECTIONS, CHARLOTTE HARBOR Coastwise courses and distances to Charlotte Harbor entrance are given on page 63. Position 5. On both sides of the entrance there are shifting shoals extending in a general southwesterly direction for 31⁄2 miles. Their shoaler parts are usually marked by breakers. Near their western edges the shoals rise abruptly from 4 and 5 fathoms (7 and 9 m) of water, and the lead gives but poor warning of their proximity in approaching them. Boca Grande Channel, the main channel, has a natural depth of 17 feet (5.7 m) for a width of nearly three-eighths mile, and a depth of 26 feet (7.9 m) in a dredged channel 300 feet wide. It is marked by buoys and lighted ranges. A draft of 25 feet (7.6 m) can be taken through Boca Grande Channel, but strangers are advised to take a pilot. It is well to keep at least 5 miles offshore until Charlotte Harbor Entrance Lighted Bell Buoy is sighted, or steer for Gasparilla Island Light, or for the chimney and water tank at South Boca Grande, bearing 47° true (NE. 1 N. mag.), and stand in on this course until up to the entrance buoy. Then follow courses listed below. The Inland Rules apply inside Charlotte Harbor Entrance Lighted Bell Buoy. To go to Punta Gorda.—From Boca Grande Entrance, head about 150 yds. to northward of Bn. 8; Course 72° true (ENÉ. % E. mag.). Bns. 8 and 10.-Pass about 150 yds. to northward. East of Bn. 10, head % mile south of Charlotte Harbor Light. This will lead through two dredged cuts, one immediately east of Bn. 10 and the other 1 mile west of the light. Bn. 5.-Pass to southward. There are dredged cuts to the southward of Charlotte Light. Use chart. Bn. 7.-Pass 100 yds. to south and east. Mangrove Point Light. Pass 100 yds. to eastward: Course from Bn. 7, 355° true (N. 5% W.). Course to Bn. 7, 175° true (S. 5% E.). The Pilot Rules for Western Rivers apply north of Mangrove Point Light. Peace River Light.-Pass 400 yards east and north. East of Peace River Light.-Head to the northward of the draw in the bridge until past Grassy Point and then for Bn. 2A marking the entrance to the dredged cut to the municipal pier; a draft of about 9 feet (2.7 m) can be taken to this pier. Vessels can anchor in the deeper area between Bns. 2A and 4. A break in the shoal along the north side of the Boca Grande Channel forms what is known as the Swash Channel, a narrow passage about 6 feet (1.8 m) deep, close to the southern end of Gasparilla Island. This channel is used to a considerable extent by small local craft and is said to change but little. However, a stranger should attempt it only when the sea is so smooth that the shoals can be clearly seen. 10. CHARLOTTE HARBOR TO TAMPA BAY (Charts 1255 and 1256) From Charlotte Harbor to Tampa Bay the coast trends about northwest by north, and is a nearly straight sand beach, broken at a few places by small inlets. The shore is low, and wooded nearly to the water's edge, and has but few prominent features that can be recognized from offshore. The buildings at Boca Grande, at Sarasota, and at several of the inlets can be made out; there are three tall buildings and a water tower at Sarasota, a high water tank at Venice, and an uncompleted hotel on Quick Point opposite Sarasota which can be seen from some distance offshore. Some tall palmettoes, with a hotel and several buildings at Maria, near the northwesterly end of Anna Maria Key, are also good landmarks. The coast is clear, except in the vicinity of the entrances to Charlotte Harbor and Tampa Bay. Back of the coast line are shallow bays and lagoons which can be entered with light-draft vessels by the various passes and inlets, but there is no continuous inside passage even for the lightest draft. Knight Pass, 11 miles above the entrance to Charlotte Harbor, is a small and difficult entrance to Lemon Bay, a comparatively unimportant body of water, filled with shoals. Bocilla Pass is reported closed. Venice Inlet (locally known as Caseys Pass) has a depth of about 22 feet (0.8 m). A large bathhouse marks the north point at the entrance and there is a high water tank at Venice about a mile inside the inlet. In 1935, a course of about 108° true (ESE. 5% E. mag.) lead through the entrance channel. Inside, the channel is crooked and difficult for a stranger. The towns of Venice and Nakomis are located inside the inlet. A depth of about 212 feet (0.8 m) can be carried to the landings off these towns. This inlet is the southern entrance to Little Sarasota Bay. Its improvement to provide a channel 8 feet (2.4 m) deep and 80 feet wide, protected by two converging jetties, was authorized in 1935. Little Sarasota Bay, Sarasota Bay, and Sarasota Pass are connecting bodies of water, or lagoons, extending from Venice Inlet to the lower part of Tampa Bay, and are separated from the Gulf by a line of narrow keys. These waters vary in width from a few hundred feet to 3 miles and are very shallow. Cuts have been dredged through the shoals to give a depth of 3 feet (0.9 m) from Venice Inlet to Sarasota, and 7 feet (2.1 m) from Sarasota to Tampa Bay. In 1935 there was but 4-5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 m) through the shoals inside Longboat Inlet. The channel from Sarasota to Tampa Bay is well marked by beacons and is easily followed. A drawbridge crosses the extreme south end of Sarasota Bay to the north end of Sarasota Key and another crosses the bay from Sarasota to Sarasota Beach on the Cerol Isles. The draw in the latter is one-third mile west of Cedar Point. Both draws have a horizontal clearance of 55 feet and a vertical clearance of about 10 feet (3.0 m) when closed. |