Tried to get a handle on just where the Florida and Alabama 9 Nautical Mile lines actually meet so I could show that on my GPS/Sounder. Tried to Google search for the information but couldn't get a definitive answer. Then I found that the Florida Constitution actually sets the longitude line as an extension of the on land state boarder boundary as 87 degrees, 31 minutes, and 06 minutes. I converted that to Degree Decimal format so that half of the coordinates is -87.51833333. Then I used Google Earth and marked that longitudinal line extending offshore. Now for the next part you need to remember that a land mile is not the same as a nautical mile. A nautical mile is defined as being 1.1508 statute (land) miles so 9 nautical miles is actually 10.3572 land miles. I used the ruler tool in Google Earth to draw a circle with a radius of 9 NM and placed the center of the circle at the shoreline so that the radius line extended out perpendicular from the shoreline to the point on the circle, the radius line and the longitude line all came together. The coordinates at that spot which I call "The Florida Alabama Peg" are:
Latitude = 30.125580 and Longitude = -87.5183333. Remember that the Longitude is absolute because it is set by the state constitution. The Latitude is only as precise as my ability to use the Google Earth circle tool but I'm confident that my Latitude is within plus or minus 50 feet on the Longitude.
Latitude = 30.125580 and Longitude = -87.5183333. Remember that the Longitude is absolute because it is set by the state constitution. The Latitude is only as precise as my ability to use the Google Earth circle tool but I'm confident that my Latitude is within plus or minus 50 feet on the Longitude.