Chitwood charters



Take a Grand Banks Vacation!

Grand Banks yachts are at home in a community that is a colorful composition of culture, leisure and arts. This theme is carried out through the Hyatt Sarasota Marina where Chitwood Charters is located. Situated within the downtown and cultural center of the community, the marina is adjacent to a new, modern library and the renowned Van Wezel Performing Arts Center, which is dramatically designed as a sea shell and draws national and international talent. The Florida West Coast Symphony Orchestra and Sarasota Civic Center form the balance of this waterfront complex. Chitwood Charters, featuring the Grand Banks for captained or bareboat cruises out of the Hyatt Marina, completes this cultural composition on tranquil Sarasota Bay. Sarasota is easily accessible through its newly designed airport that is serviced by four major airlines.


Chitwood Charters' fleet of luxurious grand banks
trawlers is featured docked here at the Hyatt Sarasota.

Sarasota Bay, twenty miles south of Tampa Bay, is protected from the Gulf of Mexico by the barrier islands - Longboat Key, Lido Key, and Siesta Key - which are interspersed by two gulf-to-bay inlets, both leading into downtown Sarasota via the Intracoastal Waterway. This area, if you will notice, is the inside cover to Chapman's Piloting, Seamanship and Small Boat Handling. Chitwood Charters is located in the Hyatt yacht basin due east of Marker #12.




A typical breathtaking view in front of the
John and Mabel Ringling mansion in Sarasota!

The connoisseur will appreciate the close proximity of accessible waterside restaurants and lounges. At the northern end of Longboat Key is the famous Buccaneer Restaurant Marina. A salty seafood restaurant know locally as Moore's Stonecrab, is a few minutes further north. A dockside pen is the home of GiGi, the pet porpoise who "communicates" with people on the dock by its own language of whistles and bleeps and that universal language, a big smile.

For the southbound yachtsman, less than a day's journey will take you into the fabled waters of Charlotte Harbor and the Pine Island Sound, which is a seascape of clear water, white sand and shell-laden islands with lush subtropical vegetation. Some of these islands were once the sanctuary retreats of Caribbean pirates. Gaspirilla, a large island forming the north shore to Boca Grande Pass, which is now famous for tarpon fishing, is named after Jose Gaspar, a notorious pirate who reputedly kept women in bondage on Captiva Island (hence the name) to the south.

The southwest coast of Florida offers a wide variety for the cruising yachtsman, from the plush marina at South Seas Plantation on Captiva Island to the quaint island marina at Cabbage Key and its "Dollar Bill" bar. South Seas Plantation has complete marina facilities and million-dollar yachts are common at this island paradise. With 18 tennis courts, swimming pool, bicycle rental, jet skis, golf course and miles of ever-changing beaches, this resort deserves more than a casual stopover!

Departing southward from South Seas, you will pass the verdant Sanibel Island, known world-wide for its exotic shelling, and onward to the "navigational crossroads" near Ft. Myers, which was the home of Thomas Edison.

From Ft. Myers, the Caloosahatchee River meanders inland, leading into the Okeechobee Waterway, which crosses the state of Florida and exits at the east coast and the Atlantic Ocean at St. Lucie Inlet.

The captain's other option at this pivotal point is to depart Ft. Myers through San Carlos Bay and sail southward past Naples, Marco Island and the intricate Ten Thousand Islands area toward the emerald-like islands of the Florida Keys.

Whether it be the bountiful cruising waters, the posh marina resorts, the quaint island retreats or a private fantasy in a blue lagoon, you will be able to fulfill your dreams in this cruising wonderland.

Chitwood Charters has provided Grand Banks admirers the opportunity to see this beautiful west coast of Florida via the Grand Banks. These Grand Banks have been completely outfitted with quality merchandise to please the most discriminating yachtsman. You are invited to "make your own memories" aboard the little ship, Grand Banks...the luxurious way to see sunny Florida!


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