Cayo Costa option
 

Snookerd, My Post #18 was what I know about a reasonably priced hotel within a few minutes of Fort Desoto. There are other reasonable priced hotels in the St. Pete/Clearwater area, just not many nearby Fort Desoto - if that is the chosen location. I think the one Ken stayed at before is in Treasure Island which is probably 15 miles north of Ft. Desoto.

As we all know, Fort Desoto is a great campground with an epic boat ramp, but in some recent posts I get a feeling that some of our SeaCraft He-men, after taming the oceans all day, want to find a mint under their pillow at night and not a palmetto bug! (woosies). Plus Don wants a bar that serves drinks with umbrellas in 'em. They'd look funny stick'in out of a Masons Jar.

Danny, I think there are many more Mom and Pop places down in the Charlotte Harbor/Pine Island area to investigate for a gathering that would be relatively near Cayo Costa State Park, for those die-hard campers who like to sleep on picnic tables in tropical storms - just for practice!

If you haven't voted yet, don't mash the button on your keyboard 'till we get back with 'ya. It's sooooo close!

Ken,

You already HAVE the ultimate motorhome for these gatherings, that 27' SeaMaster! Just finish it up and you'll have plenty of comfort!

Seriously, I'm amazed that more folks besides Dave, Connor, Capt. Lloyd and Gillie haven't figured out that sleeping aboard a Seafari or even a Sceptre has many advantages compared to a tent! I had a dry, bug-free comfortable bunk, head and a full galley all close at hand that required minimal effort to prepare for the trip. All I had to do was load a sleeping bag plus a couple of coolers with ice and groceries and we were good to go! All you need besides that is a pair of Daisy Dukes shorts to facilitate trips ashore to join the gang without getting your britches wet!

I don't care either way.....the main point is to try to be centralized as much as possible. I think the more we stay together the better the trip. How else can I get samples of the motley crew's plunder and share mine? I may just convert my Sceptre Into a tent! Great comments Denny!

Hotel near Fort Desoto
 

It looks like 6.5 miles from Fort Desoto to the Magnuson Hotel Marina Cove (www.marinacoveresort.com) at the north end of the Sunshine Skyway. Check it out. A little No Wake Zone on each end, but other than that, "Spool 'em up" (http://tinyurl.com/med973u).

I didn't vote, nov 7th Ill be chasing whitetail in Ontario, yall have fun, I make one of these some day

The Seafari Hilton will be quite comfortable at either location! We've been to Ft. Desoto several times and it's nice, but I'd sorta like the adventure of trying a new place so I voted for CC. It's also a bit closer, and I'd like to check out Terry's digs there! Got to explore some of the beach and Pelican Bay anchorage when Harry and I met Connor over there on our S. Fl. Circumnavigation trip http://www.classicseacraft.com/commu...avigation+trip a few years ago, so would be neat to see more of the island! If ol' buddy Harry can join me, we might come over by water across the Okeechobee Waterway!

Staying centralized is probably a toss up. Desoto has the considerable advantage that you can drive to the site. CC, if you are not going to camp, has closer places to stay. Terry's channel is a little less than a mile(mostly slow if you don't know it) after that, its less than 2 miles to Cabbage Key and not more than 6 to Bokeelia or Pineland. Camping in the official site on CC is about 7 miles or walking distance if you want to bend the rules. There are probably some places to stay on North Captiva, less than a mile. Nice thing about Terry's channel, after you have been in and out a couple of times, its easy to get out in black dark, so its no problem staying late. Terry, of course, has a bunch of room at his place. Don't expect mints under your pillow.

Dang Conner, Don't use science, math, geography AND logic all in the same paragraph - you confuse us Democrats.

It seems that Cayo Costa is now tied with Fort Desoto for the lead! Who would not go because it's too far south??

Not me! I would book a room though.