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 June 12, 2013. Due to the heavy weather Mark BP5 has been swept away and the shoal has encroached moving southeastward. This has been reported to the County and we will have to see if it makes sense to replace it as this is the fourth time that marks have been lost in this area. Mark BP3 has survived and BP 1 & BP 2 are on station. The course heading out is now 189M and starts two boat lengths WNW of Red BP 8 at 27°16.253'N 082°34.371'W. It runs .42 nm to a boats length off BP3 and then .33nm on a course of 196M to a point in deeper water at 27°15.929'N 082°34.439'W between BP2 and BP1. The course appears to have a controlling depth of about 5.5'at MLLW. Traverse this route slowly on a rising tide, mid-tide or above depending on your draft. 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.
I have included four pictures of the route. The first is an overview and the next three show subsequent sections. The solid red line is the route. The pictures are offset so use the route line to align the pictures. Use this information to make your decision whether to attempt Big Pass or not.
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 4/25/13
Marker | Position |
Marker "BP-1" | 27°15.948'N 082°34.449'W |
Marker "BP-2" | 27°15.921'N 082°34.407'W |
Marker "BP-5" Missing | 27°16.254'N 082°34.374'W |
Marker "BP-8" | 27°16.676'N 082°34.301'W |
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 June 12 from the Gulf of Mexico to near SYC sign :
Waypoint | Position |
Deeper Water | 27°15.921'N 082°34.421'W |
BSP 3 | 27°16.250'N 082°34.371'W |
BSP 8 | 27°16.676'N 082°34.325'W |
BSP Point | 27°16.770'N 082°34.272'W |
BSP 9 | 27°17.057'N 082°33.930'W |
BSP 11 | 27°17.250'N 082°33.830'W |
BSP 13 | 27°17.550'N 082°33.700'W |
Near SYC Sign | 27°18.277'N 082°33.633'W |
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Not for navigational purposes |
