MichaelEnderson

I am new to boating and have made a few sole trips around the bay. I have a 17ft with a 70HP johnson. I am wanting to take my boat out to see the Air Show this Friday but i am not sure about running the pass to the gulf and then down to the beach. I was wondering if anyone could tell me if you can see good from the sound side and if I do go thru the pass and hit the gulf what would be the best boat launch to make this as short of a trip as possible. I live near gulf beach hwy and old gulf beach hwy and normally use the boat launch on old gulf beach hwy but I am not sure how far or long it would take to get thru navy point and then to the beach. If anyone else is planning to take their boat out friday I would like to tag along in my boat as I have not been thru the pass and would like to have someone to help just in case of a problem or i can't get home.

floater

we usually get on the soundside behind hooters and you can see everything that they see on the gulf side except foe when they fly low along the beach you loose them for a few seconds behind the condos but the sound side is probally the better side cause you can get out in the shallow water and swin or whatnot they have a bufferzone in the gulf which is patrolled by the coast guard ,you can put in at shoreline and only have like a mile to the soundside behind hooters

Danno

The last couple of years we have anchored East of the EPA building in the Sound. You see all of the low runs as well as a good number of turns happen overhead. We have had ice from the wing actually fall into the boat.

MichaelEnderson

Thanks for the input guys this will be the first airshow for me at the beach and the first ever for my sons and I just want to be safe and be able to see the show .:usaflag

Telum Pisces

The sound is going to be your best bet. X marks the spot where most boats anchor. I go inside little sabine and I can see the entire show just fine.

jsaddiction

If anyone is interested the hazard zone or the off limits to recreational boaters zone will be as follows

1. draw a line perpendicular to the beach line from the water tower. The line should stop 1500 ft off the shoreline.

2.A 5 mile radius from that point will be off limits to recreational boaters.

like everyone has said you can get closer to the show by anchoring up in Little sabine.

johnsonbeachbum

jsaddiction, has the safety zone been expanded to be larger than stated below?

Here are some boating rules for viewing the Blues show this weekend:

Boating:<UL><LI>The Pensacola Beach Gulf Pier will close from 11:30 a.m.?3 p.m. <LI>Boats in the Gulf of Mexico are not allowed to enter a safety box of a half-mile South, 1.5 miles west and 1.75 miles east of the Coast Guard cutter. If the referred area is not cleared, the performances will not take place due to security measures. (This equates to aradius of not more than 1.75 miles east-west. They don't say how far out the cutter will be so the southern most point is based on where the cutter is located.)<LI>The entire area from approximately Deer Point in Gulf Breeze to east of Quietwater should be treated as a ?No Wake-Idle Speed Only? area. <LI>The northern 60 feet of the Quietwater pier will be a ?no mooring? area. This allows a place for boaters to load and unload passengers, and provides emergency personnel a spot for waterside patients to be brought ashore. <LI>Inlet to Little Sabine will be outbound only beginning 2:30 p.m. <LI>There will be several Boating Under the Influence checkpoints. </LI>[/list]
http://www.visitpensacolabeach.com/w...showsafety.asp

true-king

The off-limit zone is marked by bouys though, right?

nextstep

mike e those other post gave you some good info. make sure to get there VERYearly and leave late. the gulf can get pretty bumpy in a 17 footer. even though you are close to the beach you are looking at a 10 mile ride from the pass. suggest you take a few shorter trips out before you go that far ie mass. or bouys or 3 barges and always check the weather and remember in the summer it can change in a minute. one year a storm blew up right after the show finished and a couple of boats sank. not trying to scare you just gotta be careful. good luck and have fun. i wouldnt mind if you tagged along but we are planning to go in the gulf and then leave the show and catch that big limit on snapper that ought to take all of about 30 min.

nextstep

thats a 10-4 true-king