Vinoy Basin Anchorage – one of my favorite stops
Located in the heart of St. Petersburg Florida is one of our favorite anchorages, the Vinoy Basin.
Approaching St. Petersburg from Tampa Bay you will see the Pier sticking out in its colorful upside down pyramid. At night the place is lit up with some really nice effects. The building changes colors and is always alive with activity. Downtown is just as pretty. The buildings are illuminated and the streets busy, yet peaceful enough to enjoy.
Vinoy Basin looking out towards the entrance
When you approach the basin you will slide along the right side of the Pier and pass the small beach on the left. The entrance is well marked and plenty deep. I’ve never had a problem with shallow water here. Sailboats with 6′ drafts will find the entrance easy to navigate.
Once inside the basin the water is an average of 10′ deep. I like to take the first left into the basin and anchor along the seawall. The bottom holding is tricky here, as in the entire basin. The bottom is covered with silt and takes a little work to set the hook.
We came in and dropped my Danforth anchor with about 50′ of 10mm chain. The Admiral backed down on the engine and we got a pretty good set the second time. The stern was pointing at downtown and we had plenty of distance from the wall.
The Admiral had a hankering from ice cream, and who was I to argue. We dropped the dink in the water and loaded up the outboard and other necessaries. We started up the new video camera and went on a short tour. This little camera is waterproof, so no worries there. 
It was decided that the best plan of action was to motor up to the pier and get ice cream there. We could visit downtown a little later. The weather was so perfect that we dare not waste any time on the sidewalk. Ice cream and a dinghy tour was the plan of the day.
The opposite side of the Pier has public (free) docking. The docks are in poor shape so don’t leave your dink there without proper tying up. Use caution as sharp pieces of rebar are exposed in some areas. I remained with the dinghy while the Admiral ran into the building for the snacks.
One of the treats here is a never ending dolphin show. The frequent the waters of the pier and are usually feeding somewhere in the area. I can’t recall a time that we came out this way and didn’t get a dolphin show. They slap the water to stun the bait fish or jump and land sideways stunning the food. They are always interesting to watch.
When we came back the wind had shifted 180 degrees. It was enough to break my anchor loose from the silty bottom. The AbbyGale drifted towards the seawall but stopped when the keel kissed the soft bottom. You won’t smack the concrete here as the rising bottom will stop the boat first. One of the advantages to this corner.
We moved the big boat away from the seawall and reset the anchor. We did get a better set this time as full reverse didn’t move us an inch, and the wind was expected to stay in the same direction the rest of the night.
There is a wonderful little dinghy dock in the basin (opposite of the marina) where you stick a few dollars in the honor can to tie up. From there it is a very short walk to enough restaurants and shopping to satisfy any ships crew.
It’s truly one of my favorite stops. If you see us here, stop in and say hello. Below is a nice little video of the anchorage coming out into the bay. There are some dolphins feeding again as well.
Enjoy!
Filed Under: Travels
About the Author: I'm a retired deputy sheriff turned sailor and author. Please feel free to leave comments and suggestions for anything you might like to read about. Hopefully I'll see you out on the water!