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DISCLAIMER
Sarasota Yacht Club and/or its officers and/or members offers this information on this site solely for the entertainment and review by its readers, and does not offer any claims concerning its reliability for navigational, educational and/or safety purposes.
The information provided is not intended for navigational use and should not be relied upon for such purpose. Always navigate by reference to a current navigational chart or map. In no event shall Sarasota Yacht Club have any liability arising out of any navigational use of any of the information provided. |
Big Pass Information
Big Pass Information as of April 3rd, 2012. The course remains unchanged from February 17th, 2012. The course heading out starts 90 yards WNW of Red BP 8 at 27°16.673'N 082°34.336'W and runs .35 nm in a straight line on a course of 198 M to a point off Can 5. Then proceed for .27 nm to a point in deeper water at 27°16.069'N 082°34.485'W between Can 1 and Nun 2. The reciprocal courses are 16 M to Can 5 and 18 M to the starting point. The course appears to have a controlling depth of about 6.0' at MLLW but the slot is increasingly narrower. Traverse this route slowly on a rising tide, mid-tide or above depending on your draft.
I have included four pictures of the route. The first is an overview and the next three show increased detail of the start, middle and end of the route. The red solid line is the route. The pictures are offset so you will have to use the route line to align the pictures. Use this information to make your own decision whether to attempt Big Pass or not. As with any course, changes including shoaling have occurred and will continue.
The coordinates were taken with GPS/WAAS, but your readings could be different. Please note that the actual MLLW may be less than the predicted MLLW on any given day. To see how the tide is running you can check St. Petersburg or Port Manatee for an approximation.
For the latest weather conditions you can check http://www.srh.noaa.gov/tbw/html/tbw/ and click on the area of the map in which you are interested.In addition, be aware that when the wind has been blowing strongly with any northern or easterly component within the past day or two, that the water tends to get blown out of the pass thereby lowering the water level. Finally, if there is a swell running remember that the trough will be that much lower. Changes, including shoaling, can and will occur.
The following LAT/LON list has been updated by Sarasota County on 12/5/11 indicating the new location of the Big Pass BP-1, BP-2 & BP-5 navigational aids. BP-7 & BP-9 have been retired.
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Marker |
Position |
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Marker "BP-1" |
27°16.078'N 082°34.526'W |
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Marker "BP-2" |
27°16.050'N 082°34.468'W |
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Marker "BP-5" |
27°16.323'N 082°34.441'W |
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Marker "BP-8" |
27°16.676'N 082°34.301'W |
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Marker "BP-9" Missing - probably will not replace |
27°17.096'N 082°33.974'W |
| Marker "BP-16" |
27°18.313'N 082°33.650'W |
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Not for navigational purposes |
Flat Earth Society Big Pass Course as of February 17th from the Gulf of Mexico to near SYC sign :
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Waypoint |
Position |
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Deeper Water |
27°16.069'N 082°34.485'W |
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BSP 5 |
27°16.330'N 082°34.425'W |
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BSP Point |
27°16.673'N 082°34.336'W
27°16.770'N 082°34.272'W |
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BSP 9 |
27°17.057'N 082°33.930'W |
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BSP 11 |
27°17.250'N 082°33.830'W |
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BSP 13 |
27°17.550'N 082°33.700'W |
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Near SYC Sign |
27°18.277'N 082°33.633'W |
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Not for navigational purposes |
Detailed View
Mike Solum & County Coastal Resources staff repositioning marks in Big Pass
