Cedar Key small boat meet 2026

[Doug SC]

CB, I came across this post and was wondering if you might be planning on doing it this year. That is if the wind is favorable. I plan on heading down Wednesday or Thursday and may have a friend along. Where will you launch from if at Cedar Key?

"The PLAN:
Since I regard the big Cedar Key ramp as little more than a deathtrap, and the small Cedar Key ramp a Mast-Killer, my plan was to launch at Horseshoe Beach, roughly 26 miles north of Cedar Key, on Friday.
Spend a leisurely day Friday, on either a close or a broad reach in around 10 - 12 knots of wind, making for a nice day's cruise. Overnight at Ateseno Otie Key and be already there and waiting when the Saturday Stragglers come over to the island. Sail over to Cedar Key Saturday evening for dinner at Capt. Tony's, then overnight in the bay, somewhere. Sunday morning, sail once around Atseno Otie Key and pick a good beaching spot and meet up with the other CKSBM sailors and overnight on the beach or my cabin, depending on the weather.
Monday, sail back to Horseshoe Beach on a broad reach, or a run, then drive home.
Then I checked my Android app: Windy."

[Charles Brennan]

Doug SC, Firstly, I would LOVE for y'all to come on down to Cedar Key for the Small Boat Meet! 
You and any other TSBBers (are ya listening, Capt. Kidd?!?)    are INVITED!! 
Long-time readers of my posts are aware of my penchant for using:
The PLAN:
vs
The REALITY:
And how the two, always end up being diametrically opposed. 

That Horseshoe Beach to Atsena Otie Key post, was a classic example.
20 nautical miles as the crow flies, a course plot of 26 nautical miles from perusing the charts; about like a day on the Florida 120, no? 
EXCEPT!!!   
Light winds of an average 6 - 10 kts. on my nose practically the whole way there, until about 3 PM to 6 PM, when the winds veer from the west. 
And get lighter. 
It would have been a hard slog in Urchin, a boat I was more than familiar with and I'm not about to try it    in a boat that I'm not even sure I know how to tack effectively, yet.  The reality would have been closer to two days of tacking, rather than one and far more character-building,  than I need in my life right about now. 
(Visions, of arriving an hour and a half, after everyone had already left.) 

So, I am ABSOLUTELY going to the Cedar Key Small Boat Meet, even if I have to ROW!! 
And I may have to do just that, as my new trolling motor is on back order and I'm not sure I will get it in time for the Meet.

Cedar Key has two ramps:
Case 1: Gulf Ramp.
Tough to use single-handed, since there's no adjacent dock, or cleats to tie off with.
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So you have to temporarily tie your boat to the trailer, shinny over the trailer, then get up onto the bow, go aft and get your motor lowered and started, go forward again and untie your bow line, pull it aboard, then quickly move aft and motor around to the dock that is just east of the ramp.
There's a lot of wave action there and you'd better have your fenders already deployed, before you even get NEAR    that floating dock.
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THEN, run up the ramp, go get your tow vehicle and park it and after parking, come back down to the dock.
Motor clear of the floating dock and all the aggressive fishermen, raise sails and you're on your way to Atsena Otie Key, less than a mile away! 

Case 2: Inside Ramp.
Very calm, docks with cleats on either side of the ramp and ideal for any boat, whose air draft approaches 4 feet above the water, on account of a low fixed bridge, between you and the Gulf.
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Launch a small sailboat there and you IMMEDIATELY    would have to de-rig and put the mast down to shimmy underneath that bridge.
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The day I launched the Irish Pennant, I had no plans to sneak under the bridge; my intent was to simply to tool around, in the harbor. I did not know how impossibly shallow and muddy (and gooey!)  the whole center of the harbor is.  To take a small boat (of any type) to the bridge, you have to hug the southern docks (far left on the pics above) to avoid the shallows and then get under the bridge.

Once under and past the bridge, the water opens up into another small open body of water.
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In this pic, the bridge and harbor is directly behind me.
Still a lot of primordial ooze, so your best bet is to motor onto the sandy beach in front of the condos.
Then step your mast and rig the sails and now you can head due south to Atsena Otie Key.
Due to the close proximity of the Key, some small boaters simply motor all the way over to Atsena Otie and then step and rig once they are on the beach, over there.  The main reason for doing so is because of boat congestion; lotsa boats, not a whole lotsa beach.

Either ramp is doable, witness all the sailboats that use it every year:
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Where will you launch from if at Cedar Key?

Well . . . . . . the standard TSBB answer is: It Depends. 
Still feeling a little snake-bit, after launching the Irish Pennant at the inside ramp and having all those difficulties.
OTOH, I now know a WHOLE lotta things NEVER to do again, over there!! 
Still playing with what after all, is a brand new boat and one that I'm not very familiar with, yet.
I might very well take it out under the bridge, with the mast lashed to the hull, or something.

I CAN use the Gulf ramp, I just don't like it.    (Spoiled by decades of south Florida ramps.) 
And having a severe case of Boat New-itis presently, I'm leery of beating the boat to death at the dock in the wave action, while unattended.  The Gulf ramp is fine, if you have one guy who can stay with the boat, idling just off shore from the ramp, while another guy drives off with the tow vehicle, then returns to get picked up by the guy in the boat.
That's almost exclusively, how all the power boat fishermen do it on that ramp.
Either ramp is doable, I've been there for 7 of the past 9 years with a couple year hiatus in the middle for Covid; witness all the sailboats that use it every year:
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I expect it will be like most things, trailer-sailor oriented:
Arrive.
Evaluate.
Execute.

Hope this helps,
Charles Brennan

[Riley Smith]

I've run the catboat with mast and rig laid down and lashed, to the Labrot House to get under the railroad bridge. It's about 2-3 miles and isn't a big deal. I rigged up on the beach in front of the house. The boat is very stable with the rig down and all you have to do is make enough room for yourself among the stuff. Oh, and lower the centerboard. It's nice when you get there and a good sailing place for my boat. (On high tide). Once, my neighbor Richard got a pic of the boat with his drone and I chased him down and got a copy. One of my favorites of the boat.

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[Doug SC]

CB I can bring an electric motor if you need it. It is an E-lite which is good for about 5 miles. I also have a solar/DC charger that will charge it from a 12V battery or a solar panel that I would also bring along.
I sent a PM with my phone number if you would like to contact me by phone.

[Ed]

I know that several people have launched at Shell Mound Park for the CK. Check the tides but it is a lot quieter water and certainly not 26 miles away. Here is a link to the Levy County page: https://www.saltchef.com/catch_fish/FL/Levy/boat_ramps.html#shell_mound_park_boat_ramp&gsc.tab=0

[Charles Brennan]

Ed, That is very cool!! 
I already knew about the #4 bridge boat ramp and fishing pier.
Which looked to my eye when I was there, like the best way to get stranded in the gunk, that you could do in a boat.   
But I had no idea about the Shell Mound Park ramp! 
The challenges are similar (i.e. beating into the prevailing winds), but 6 miles is a lot more doable, than 26 miles!
Will have to check that out.

Thanks,
Charles Brennan

[Doug SC]

Thank you Ed. I may see about camping there before the weekend.

[Doug SC]

Well as things seem to go lately, I might not make it down to the Cedar Keu Small Boat Meet. SC doesn't require a tag or title for a boat trailer. It dawned on me this morning that FL does. So, I went down to our county DMV office to get a tag. Not that simple of course. I had to have law enforcement verify that the VIN number on the trailer matched the one I filled out on the form. This form is needed to accompany the form for a title for a vehicle without a title. They both have to be mailed to the DMV home office together. Once they send a title back, I can apply for a tag. So, it's up in the air or more like I'm caught in the doldrums with the wind taken out of my sails. However, I can instead head to the SC coast for some sailing and camping. 

[Ed]

Doug SC, it isn't very far to kayak to Atsena Otay, where everyone hangs out.  Old Fenimore or one of the other local hotels, that didn't get hit from the last few hurricanes are pretty nice.  Plenty of campgrounds, but call before you go, just in case.  Once on the water there are always opportunities for ride alongs from Atsena.  We went several times without a boat and sailed plenty.

[Doug SC]

That's not a bad idea ED. I have a sea kayak I built a number of years ago so I will keep that in mind. The thing is I have a sailing friend and a sailboat ready to go. I am hoping to get the tag, but if not, I think we will sail up here. It's good to have the kayak option though. Here are a few photos of that kayak.

My son helping out.
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One of the wood burnings I did on the kayak
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Doing an end pour
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Finally finished the varnishing
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On the beach
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On the water
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Beach camp
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Playing in the surf
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[Charles Brennan]

Doug, Ed speaks truly.
One year, when I had Urchin all apart for painting, I went there on my kayak, Mango Smoothie.
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At the kayak staging area on Cedar Key:
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And on Atsena Otie Key:
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One final thought:
I know a guy on a SCAMP, that would be happy to give you a ride. 
Maybe even tow your kayak across!! 
Or more importantly: BACK!! 
Everybody's a Hero in the morning; coming back against the wind, into a chop, after paddling all day is another issue, entirely! 

Keep it in mind,
Charles Brennan

[Doug SC]

I have a question. Is camping allowed on the island?

Thank you Ed, and CB for the encouragement. I crew with Bill on his Flying Scot when racing at the club, and we planned to come down together. If I don't have the trailer tag in time, we will most likely sail at the coast here. We are doing an overnight on Lake Monticello, SC tomorrow to iron out any bugs. I will run the kayak idea by him and make a decision, but we are wanting to put my Scamp in at the coast for several days of sailing. The FL 120 may become the alternate plan for us. We don't want to miss to many Saturday races at the club.

I like the name Mango Smoothie. While working together on the kayak and listening to the radio there was a report of finding Blackbeard's anchor. My son and I were joking about whether or not the kayak would float or sink when it was finished when we heard this reported. We both laughed and decided to name the kayak "Blackbeard's Anchor". Although, given my appearance "Whitebeard" might have be more appropriate. Blackbeard is reported to have hidden in Bulls Bay and attacked merchant ships heading to Charleston Habor where I have often paddled in both locations.

[Charles Brennan]

Doug, Nope.
Atsena Otie Key has a Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge designation, so overnight camping there is prohibited.
Most all the little clumps of island out and around Cedar Key, are so designated.
I generally anchored out 1 foot off-shore  and stayed aboard my boat.

There is the Shell Mound campground for primitive camping and there are a handful of RV campgrounds with varying levels of amenities. 

Hope this helps,
Charles Brennan

[Doug SC]

I can anchor out in the Scamp but not the Kayak. I mailed the forums in to DMV.

[Captain Kidd]

Charles, let me tell you where I am on CK. In short: I'm on the fence. Here is my thinking process.

1) we have a family vacation first week of June in Florida. Our first one EVER with both daughters and all grandkids.

2) I had a vision of doing a signature cruise in Disciple Ship to mark my 70th birthday. As nice as CK would be, it wouldn't check that box.

3) First half of May is very busy for me.

What evens the scale?

4) I really, really want to shake your hand and meet Irish Pennant in the flesh. Meeting Doug would be a nice bonus.

I'll make my decision tomorrow.

Here's a personal question: any chance you'd like to do the Panhandle 180 sometime (or something comparable)

Some of my options:
The OBX 130 is later this summer. It's a long way, but there are a couple long cruises being held by the CanAm  group (north channel, thousand islands) or something on my own though my wife really wants me sailing at least in tandem.