Shallow-water Beach Cruising in a Small Sailboat

After waking to a pink-and-blue sunrise over Florida’s west coast, I reach for my backpacking stove and coffee cup and prepare a fresh brew. Sitting inside my Sea Pearl 21, with my head partly outside the canvas cabin and dodger covering the forward cockpit, I study the route ahead. A consistent 15-knot wind from the east should carry me to the Marquesas Keys, roughly 20 miles past Key West, in about four hours. Those four hours will take me across remarkably clear water, passing over fan corals and scattered conch shells while stingrays and small sand sharks slip away as I move through the waters known as the “Lakes Passage.”

A journey like this is possible because the Sea Pearl is a largely open fiberglass cat ketch equipped with leeboards, allowing it to sail in water less than a foot deep. Designed for beach cruising and camping aboard, this type of boat can reach shallow cruising areas that remain inaccessible to conventional sailboats equipped with fixed keels.

Less Is More

I began sailing small boats with very shallow drafts after spending 30 years owning keelboats. While those larger boats kept me restricted to the marked channels of the Intracoastal Waterway, the surrounding estuaries and shallow inlets constantly tempted me to explore them. Eventually, I bought a sailing dinghy so I could venture into the marshes and winding mangrove passages that cover much of Florida’s coastline. I would tow the dinghy behind my larger “mother ship” to Cayo Costa, anchor there, and then use the little sailboat to investigate the shallow water around the island.

A month-long trip from Florida to Maine with my friend Bob Wood aboard his 17-foot Mud Hen sharpie showed me how much more interesting sailing could become with a shallow-draft boat that could be trailered and quickly assembled. I also discovered the enormous advantage of being able to transport a boat to distant cruising areas without spending days sailing there. For someone who was still working and had only a limited amount of vacation time, that flexibility made perfect sense.

Not long after that trip, I sold my deep-draft sailboat and purchased Whisper, my Sea Pearl 21. Suddenly, destinations such as Charlotte Harbor at the upper end of Gasparilla Sound were only about two hours away by trailer instead of requiring three days under sail. That extra time gave me more opportunities to watch the seagrass moving with the current, observe crabs crawling along the bottom, and explore narrow mangrove waterways. My sailing territory immediately became much larger. The enormous shallow-water areas along Florida’s west coast were now open to me. I had sacrificed some comforts and the status associated with owning a yacht, but what I gained in exploration was far more valuable.

Since those early adventures, I have trailered Whisper to many destinations, from the North Channel of Canada to Pensacola and Key West. The North Channel of Lake Huron was especially remarkable for someone from Florida who was used to level, sandy coastlines. The mountains rising to the north appeared to be covered in snow, although they were actually formed from pale quartz crystals. The only genuine fjord in North America, where sheer walls climb hundreds of feet on the route toward Mary Ann Cove, showed me that a small boat could be equally capable in deep water and extremely shallow areas. It felt like a sailor’s paradise, and I wanted other people to experience it as well.

After returning from that journey, I decided to create a group of sailors who shared the same interests. We called it the West Coast Trailer Sailing Squadron. In the beginning, most of our boats were Sea Pearls, Dovekies, and other shallow-draft designs, including Hen Boats built by Florida Bay Boat Company and Nimble Boats. Eventually, we welcomed any boat capable of being launched from a trailer and sailing directly onto a beach. As the group developed, its fleet came to include everything from larger sharpies to individually built experimental boats.

Thin-Water Adventures

Ida Little and Michael Walsh’s book, Beachcruising and Coastal Camping, became something of a guidebook for us. We also discussed visiting many of the shallow-water regions of South Florida that we had previously been able to admire only from a distance. If Ida and Michael could spend months living in the Bahamas aboard a sailing canoe and a Hobie Cat, I figured I could certainly explore the Ten Thousand Islands south of Naples, as well as the Florida Keys and Everglades National Park.

In their book, Ida and Michael describe places they call “beachorages.” These are tiny islands or sand formations that sit only slightly above the water at high tide, offering shelter from waves and allowing boats to settle onto the bottom when the tide falls. Many extremely shallow boats are designed to rest securely on their hulls in locations like these. Instead of worrying about accidentally grounding, I could now deliberately look for places where my boat could settle safely. Sheltered from waves coming from the prevailing wind, I could sit beneath the shade of a solitary palm, relax in a beach chair, read, or examine my charts before settling down for the night. As the tide returned, the gentle movement of the water beneath the boat would signal that it was time to move into deeper water for a morning departure.

I also discovered that shorebirds can provide useful clues when navigating large areas of shallow water in Florida Bay and other southern waterways. When herons and egrets are standing in the water while hunting finger mullet, the visibility of their legs can indicate that the bottom is becoming shallower. Along with watching for changes in water color, I could also judge depth by sound. A kick-up rudder might make a light ping when it encounters a shell, while a leeboard can produce a scraping noise as it moves across coral sand.

Navigation markers are commonly placed along preferred routes through shallow-water passages, but an extremely shallow boat such as a Sea Pearl does not necessarily have to follow those established channels. Staying strictly between daymarks and buoys can also mean sharing the wakes of much larger boats. In some parts of Florida, fishermen stand in water around 20 yards offshore while wading for fish. Rather than disturbing them, I often sail between the fishermen and the beach. Doing so occasionally earns me curious looks and friendly waves. With a shallow-draft boat, opportunities for discovery are everywhere, and even an ordinary day sail can turn into an expedition.

Most beach-cruising boats provide relatively open living spaces. There are no permanent fixtures dictating where the stove, water containers, toilet, or sleeping area must go. A level floor makes things easier, but the basic approach is similar to backpacking: keep equipment compact and lightweight, and use nets beneath the deck or boxes beneath the floorboards for storage. A canvas dodger for shelter, a self-inflating sleeping pad, durable water containers, a portable toilet or bucket, a few basic cooking supplies, and a compact stove are enough to begin. Figuring out how to organize and store everything requires some imagination. As you gain experience, arranging the boat becomes part of the enjoyment.

Small Boats

As the Squadron continued to expand, its members began bringing a much wider selection of boats to our trips. Some were designed with more amenities, including the 17-foot 6-inch ComPac Suncat. It has a shallow keel and centerboard, along with a compact cabin containing two berths. Owners of smaller Hunter sailboats with retractable keels or centerboards also joined, as did sailors using West Wight Potters and trailerable MacGregor boats. These designs are better described as pocket cruisers rather than genuine beach cruisers, but by following the example of extremely shallow boats such as the Dovekie and Sea Pearl, they can visit many of the same waters. At times, however, they need to take a longer route around shallow stretches of seagrass.

Following the economic downturn in 2007, interest in home-built boats increased considerably, and organized gatherings for builders and small-boat enthusiasts became more common. Many yacht manufacturers had stopped producing smaller boats, choosing instead to concentrate on larger vessels that offered higher profit margins, while some companies disappeared entirely. As a result, sailors throughout the country began constructing their own boats from wood and epoxy using plans and building kits. A number of these designs have demonstrated impressive speed and seaworthiness in challenges such as WaterTribe’s Everglades Challenge, as well as in sailing raids and informal mess-abouts held around the country. Although these activities remain largely outside the attention of traditional yacht clubs, their popularity continues to grow. For instance, the small Florida coastal community of Cedar Key can attract about 110 small boats to its Small Boat Meet on the first full weekend of May. There are no scheduled races, contests, or organized activities. Instead, participants sail among the islands, meet one another, and spend time talking about boats.

Close Encounters

As I continue toward the Marquesas, three other Sea Pearls and a sailing canoe join me. Together, we leave the shallow Lakes Passage and cross Boca Grande Pass. The pass is considerably deeper, and the strong wind is blowing directly against the fast-moving current. We endure a rough five-mile crossing before finally reaching the calm shallow waters around the Marquesas.

On the western side of the island, we find a pleasant beach where we pull in to rest and swim. I am preparing to jump into the cool, transparent water when Paul Waggoner suddenly calls out, “You’d better not dive in right now!” I turn and look behind the boats, where an eight-foot bull shark is slowly patrolling the water.

That is one of the remarkable aspects of beach cruising and camping: the experience puts you incredibly close to the natural world. Sometimes, it brings you closer than you might expect. For a shallow-water sailor, every outing can bring a new encounter and another unforgettable adventure.