Dunedin Causeway

Andrew (MN3) sails there 100 days a year, along with a few other good people. Look for them right by the place that has rental boats, forget the name of it. Seems like a great setup, they just park/back down the beach, & leave boats mast up,(with a permit) a few nights a week.
They camp/consume refreshments on one of the islands, sailing inside, or out on the open chuck.

How's everybody there after the Hurricane? Hope you guys are fine

i return to tampa today -
get dog from boarding - cry over bill,
clean up yard
asses house for damage
kiss and hug both catamaran for a few hours - and hopefully sail sat

reports from all the cat sailors i hang with are pretty good

I sail there a few times a year, if it's a weekend I usually launch to the north of the causeway, to the south there are so many paddle boarders/jet skiers/motor boats milling around Caladisi it can be a little hairy getting gulf side. If it's good conditions it's pretty much a guarantee to see a Gcat 5.0 or 2 out. It's their birthplace after all

to the south there are so many paddle boarders/jet skiers/motor boats milling around Caladisi it can be a little hairy getting gulf side.

don't those guys know the rules regarding blowboats?
Up here i just hold my heading,(as per the rules even with floatplanes), everybody else diverts.
Out of politeness I've changed heading to prevent a big cruzer from having to divert, but if i hold heading I've never run into a situation where the powerboat didn't modify heading.
I actually like the jetskiis, if i ever get into trouble one will stop by & ask if I need help.

Edited by Edchris177 on Sep 14, 2017 - 10:25 PM.

don't those guys know the rules regarding blowboats?
Up here i just hold my heading,(as per the rules even with floatplanes), everybody else diverts.

almost no SUP, kayaker, small boater knows the rules around here - most are renters from out of town

to be honest, i am not sure what rules apply here:
I know power boats have to yield to a sailboat (under sail, with no motor running), and the sailboat has right of way to sail it's course if it is being properly sailed in a channel, BUT

does a sailboat under sail have right of way vs a SUP? or kayak? we DON"T if they are parked,

AND you can "be right" - and you can also be "DEAD right" (and die or get hurt) .... i don't need to be either .
(Ed you know i am not directing this at you - this phrase has stuck with me for over a decade since i read it)

but if i hold heading I've never run into a situation where the powerboat didn't modify heading.

yea but around here, they will cut it real close and you will be in a world of wakes - in air it's not so bad but in super light air ... it can really kill your ability to keep momentum and not get stuck in dead/irons

I actually like the jetskiis, if i ever get into trouble one will stop by & ask if I need help.

ditto - many times, one time the other cat i sailed 15miles south in the gulf did a harizon job on me, and then didn't go to where we agreed - i capsized a few miles out of sand key pass in a heavy big boat area, and a guy jumped off his ski (noone was with him) to help right my cat by jumping up and grabbing the righting line with me ...

I was just about spent when he showed up from my multiple attempts (i didn't know to set my anchor trick at the time)

Edited by MN3 on Sep 15, 2017 - 12:39 PM.

Happy to report the causeway is still there
and has a beach

Happy to report the causeway is still there
and has a beach

Good to hear... and Hurricane Pass is still a "Pass".

Edited by Edchris177 on Sep 17, 2017 - 11:09 PM.

I know this is an old thread, but I am new to the area. I just towed my new to me Hobie 16 down from Ohio where I owned it for 6 months without ever sailing it 🙁 due to Covid/work/lack of places to sail. I have her stored at Clearwater Sailing Center as I really like it there. But the causeway/Honeymoon Island are just down the street from my girlfriend. She said she ran into a group of cat sailors who launch from the beach. (she sails a Laser/Sunfish and anything else she can get her hands on) Was wondering if it was anyone here. I am thinking by the end of the summer I may be doing some trailer launching and the causeway seems a great spot.

There are only 2 people who still sail regularly these days
Rey and Ron - they both sail 2-3 days a week but not as much on weekends anymore. Ron is retired and Rey works remote that allows him to get out a lot - they are both very friendly

they are not online at all. Feel free to walk up to anyone rigging -most local sailors are happy to talk to other cat sailors or the public. I am the grumpiest 🙂

I unfortunately did not sail a lot last year due to covid restrictions in the spring/ lack of good weekend weather in the summer/and fall - but hope to sail much more this year - we will see how the weather is this spring and fall - i am not that interested in putting my mast up during the summer storm season but i have a buddy who pushes me to every time he goes out

the causeway does not allow overnight parking without a permit. Permits are cheap - $10 for a 3 day/2 night stay or $100 for an annual - limited to the same 2 night deal. this is not enforced but we fought hard to stay on the beach and i ask that you please respect it by getting sed permits (available at the dunedin rec center on michigain) if you do plan to step your mast and leave it overnight or for a few days (tree augers and tie downs (available at Ace hardware) are highly suggested in storm season - i can tell you we have had to go recover flipped boats on the causeway many times and pop up storms are the regular here in season)

MN3 wrote: There are only 2 people who still sail regularly these days
Rey and Ron - they both sail 2-3 days a week but not as much on weekends anymore. Ron is retired and Rey works remote that allows him to get out a lot - they are both very friendly

they are not online at all. Feel free to walk up to anyone rigging -most local sailors are happy to talk to other cat sailors or the public. I am the grumpiest 🙂

I unfortunately did not sail a lot last year due to covid restrictions in the spring/ lack of good weekend weather in the summer/and fall - but hope to sail much more this year - we will see how the weather is this spring and fall - i am not that interested in putting my mast up during the summer storm season but i have a buddy who pushes me to every time he goes out

the causeway does not allow overnight parking without a permit. Permits are cheap - $10 for a 3 day/2 night stay or $100 for an annual - limited to the same 2 night deal. this is not enforced but we fought hard to stay on the beach and i ask that you please respect it by getting sed permits (available at the dunedin rec center on michigain) if you do plan to step your mast and leave it overnight or for a few days (tree augers and tie downs (available at Ace hardware) are highly suggested in storm season - i can tell you we have had to go recover flipped boats on the causeway many times and pop up storms are the regular here in season)

Thanks for the info. I was out of Clearwater Sailing Center this weekend, it was awesome. I do need to get my trailer registered so I can move the boat around. I will say it is so convenient to just use there boats! But I really want to sail around some of the islands like Caladesi, I think one tree island will get old soon enough.

We'll be there for the regatta mid-May 🙂

I think I'm finally ready. The weather is looking good enough that tomorrow (Dec 19, 2022) I plan on taking my Topcat out for her maiden splash. Assuming nothing goes wrong with the drive, I expect to be on the beach at around 11:30 or so.

Wish me luck!

brrrrr hope it went well

The maiden trip went well, thank you. Luckily, Ray was there. He showed up just as it was time for me to raise the mast. He tried to coach me through it but I wasn't able to do it on my own, so he helped me with it. When it came time to lower the mast, both Ray and my wife helped. I'm going to have to either build up some muscles, work out a hoisting/lowering device/system.

* Time was running short so I only rigged the mainsail. I left the jib and spinnaker in the boat box.
* The daggerboard like rudders are a bit finicky and will take some adjusting. I couldn't get one of them to lock in the down position. The other locked down fine, but the line to raise it wasn't working (it automatically raised when it hit bottom so that's something. The nice thing is that the boat sails fine with the rudders up without any weather helm.

glad it went well

I was out on Jan 30th for my second sail in the new boat. I was thinking that with it being Monday, the beach crowd would be light, but I was wrong. I was the only catamaran, but there were tons of kayaks out and lots of people just sitting around.

This time, I got the main and spinnaker rigged, but I didn't actually unfurl the spinnaker during the sail. I tried a few different ways to raise the mast, but ended up needing help from the plentiful friendly strangers. Next time, I plan to have a gin pole ready to try out.

I know two people can rig the boat in less than 40 minutes, but it takes me 2 hours to do it by myself (plus a helper for the mast.) It's only my second time rigging the boat so expect I'll be able to cut that time down quite a bit. I was spending quite a bit of time reading the manual on how to rig the spinnaker this time. (I attached several parts upside down and had to take them off and re-attach.

If it helps, I have moved to attaching the gin pole to the trailer rather than the mast. My trailers have a square tube for the fwd mast post. I attached a heavy duty block on the end of a galvanized pipe and dropped it down into the mast post. It doesn't have to be too high to get a good angle to raise the mast. That and using trapeez wires to secure the mast side to side, it turns into a one person job.

You're in the neighborhood of Clearwater Community Sailing Center, a worldwide catamaran sailing hub. Robbie (RedGearRacing) operates from there. He's a gem.

If/when you get bored of the setup, I believe the Community Center there is a great option to store mast-up. The launching spot is into the inner bay, super safe and friendly in most/any conditions. And you can sail to the gulf side easily.

Many sailors come there to practice and train. From complete newbies to olympic & sailgp level.

If you can get any coaching from Robbie – or anything you can learn from the experienced sailors hanging out there – it's gold.

Thanks Martin. I've been a member of CCSC for almost 30 years. It's a great place and I love it. (Hell, my wife and I got married there!)

I used to own a Taipan that I stored mast up at the center and went to Robbie every time something broke (which was often.) This time around I'm trying something different (no more rats living in my sail-box.)

Edited by danielt1263 on Feb 02, 2023 - 10:07 AM.

Cool - congrats! I didn't realize you were a CCSC old hand.

(We visit the area once or twice a year, to train with Robbie and/or race in events. Our bay is very nice here in Miami, but doesn't have the organized catamaran racing you get there.)

A great day on the water April 1st. I rigged my boat but was a bit nervous about wind strength when someone came up and complemented me on my boat. I asked him if he wanted to go out and he said yes. With the additional rail-meat I was ready to go. We almost pitch-polled during one spinnaker run. My "crew" decided he only likes going upwind. 😆

There was also a Getaway (with some 6-8 people on board!), a Hobie 16 (a big guy who was single handing the thing. I was impressed.) and Ray (but I didn't see him. He showed up after I was on the water and wasn't back by the time I left.)

There was even a Laser and a Foiling Kite board on the water.

April 22.

A guy from Com-Pac Yachts and his young daughter was out with a little 8-10 foot catamaran prototype. They were doing some feasibility testing for a possibly new product. The boat had a tornado on the sail.

There was also a Hobie Tandem Island tooling around.

Ray's boat was there as usual, but he never showed up.

And me of course. I was supposed to meet MN3 at 10am but it didn't work out. I flew a hull a couple of times on the upwind, but not very high. I still haven't tested to see if I can right the boat after a capsize...

Sorry I couldn't make it - looked like good wind.

No problem. We can try again sometime.

One thing that surprised me was that when I got back to shore it was high tide and my trailer was in the water. Fortunately I had anchored my wheels to it rather than just setting them nearby. De-rigging the boat was quite a pain because there was nowhere to beach the boat...

Yup new moon tides are pretty high

I actually got my powerboat in today at 9am (lowtide) and it was higher than some high-tides are around here. I lasted about 30 minutes on the water - it was too choppy for me so i packed it in.

If you park on the causeway close to Glenn's (high and dry restaurant and rental shack) there should be enough room for your car and trailer regardless of the tide and when you get back you can pull your car/trailer up 30' or so to give yourself more room (of course you will probably need to ask a few people to get out from infront of your trailer). ya gotta get there pretty early to beat all the yakers

This is a great resource for tides and current wind conditions- https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/noaatidepredictions.html?id=8726706&legacy=1
I keep it bookmarked on my phone for on the fly checks of tide and windspeed

Another good tip is to look at where the seagrass line is - that is where the tide is gonna be at some point next high tide

the cat with the ronstan sticker on the sailbox was mine

Edited by MN3 on Apr 23, 2023 - 08:25 PM.

I had a good day on the water today. I was trying to sail from Dunedin Causeway down to the SR-60 bridge (upwind). I got about half way when the wind almost completely died on me. I put up the spinnaker and drifted back toward the causeway then the breeze picked back up. Overall, the breeze was pretty light.

Top speed almost 9kts with a4 kt average.

sounds like you were hit with the sea breeze and a wind shift - and probably some windage from an island or land
was it at 11:24?
https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/met.html?bdate=20230513&edate=20230514&units=standard&timezone=LST%2FLDT&id=8726724&interval=6

Yea, that sounds about right. I think it hit me before that. It started at something closer to 10:30 - 10:45. But yea a definite wind shift.