Camping on Florida's Beaches - Segment 3

Setting up Camp

This is an important step and should be thought out.  If you have more than one tent going then placement will help with many things.

Arranging your tents

1. 
   
   Scout your area in advance. If you can go to the area and see whats there you may have a better chance of finding a good smooth spot to put your tents up.
2. TIDES. Make sure if you setup close to the water that you don't setup in a tidal area that will be under water when the tide is high.
3. Mangroves and No-See-Ums. If you setup near the water and there are no mangroves too close you will be much happier. HOWEVER they will still be there. Make sure your tent is zipped up about 2 hrs before sunset to seal it off from the little critters. Also if you can sleep with a pair of light long pants, and a light long sleeve shirt this will keep the critters off most of you and if you sleep with a sheet as a cover you can use that to cover all the way up while your sleeping. trust me this will make you more comfortable.
4. 
   
   Find the direction of the wind and depending on where your Camp Fire will be place your tents Up wind of the fire so they don't get smoked out.
5. 
   
   Place a Tarp on the ground towards the front of the main entrance so that you have an area in front of the tent that will have less sand on it and give you an entrance area.
6. 
   
   Setup a Clothes Line so you have a place to hang shirts or towels. Two long poles with a string in between them and then two support strings staked at 45degree angles should hold the line. Make sure your stakes are in the groud  good and hold the weight of what your placing on the line. Long Sand Stakes are better if you have them.
7. 
   
   Your tent should be free Standing and only need stakes to ensure the wind doesn't blow away your tent. Put your rain cover on so you don't have to worry about it later on. This also will help with Hunidity over night.
8. Keeping Sand out of the tent is a chore. The best bet is to have a bucket of water that you can step into and then step out onto a towel or directly into the tent without any sand on your feet. this will eliminate about 90% of the sand in your tent.
9. For your beach Fire you don't really need to dig a pit BUT it does help with containing the area. However starting the fire can be tougher if you dig it so deep that you don't have a good wind flow to it.

These are a few Camp Setup things to think about and may help you out with your comfort while camping on Floridas beaches.

See Florida Boat Beach Camping - Segment 4

Camping on Florida's Beaches - Segment 2

SEGMENT 2 - Prepare for the elementsPreparing for the worst case scenario will mean you are ready for anything.Thunderstorms pop up quickly in Florida and having a Phone or A radar on your boat or listening to the Weather on your UHF radio will give you that heads up to know when your going to get hit by rain or a storm.

 Taking care of your boat. Sense your on the shore you should take some precautions that will help your boat ride out the storm safely.

1. PLAN AHEAD FOR WEATHER. If you know there is a 75% or more chance of Heavy Thunderstorms and Strong winds you should not be camping.
2. Secure everything on your boat and lower your antennas and fishing poles.
3. If you have the ability to place your boat outside of the waves that are hitting the shore do that. If not then try to loosen your aft anchor enough to allow your boat to float freely on the foward anchor.
4. In essence leaving enough scope on your forward Anchor and then letting your aft anchor go slack should give the boat free reign to be in deeper water and the aft anchor will be your connection to your boat.
5. Since you are camping you should be in rather calm water BUT if you are facing open waters and your boat is near the beach ensure you have enough scope on your forward anchor to stay far enough from shore. If your worried about the boat riding the thunderstorm out attempt to move it to a leeward area.
6. If you have to power your boat up and ride out the storm then you should seriously think about NOT STAYING for camping if it is going to be that type of storm.

Next think about your own comfort.

RAIN

1. Your Clothes should stay on the boat in a dry area until it is time to go to bed OR when you know there is no weather threatening. This ensures that your clothes do not get soaked and you have dry clothes to wear.
2. Stay inshore enough to be out of any potential Lightning and if you think there is lightning around and you could be threatened by it try not to be the tallest thing on the beach.
3. Try to stay out of the water take shelter in your tent if possible.
4. One important thing about packing is to pack in a Plastic Storage Container with a lid that way your equipment and other items are in a secured place and they should stay dry as well. You can then leave them in the rain and they should stay dry. Make sure the lid seals well and if possible place one of your tarps over all your gear in the containers to further protect it.

WIND

1. Wind can pick your tent up and throw it down and make a mess of things. IF you think that there will be Strong winds during the day try to not setup your tent until later in the evening when the wind will surley die down.
2. Long Tent Stakes will help if you want to setup in the wind but there is only so much you can do.
3. Secure all your items in their containers as if for rain and you can keep things under control.

SUN and HEAT

1. Drink Plenty of water (Stay Hydrated) 
2. Wear a hat to help with the heat from the sun.
3. Swim and have fun.
4. Wear your sunblock at least to block the harmful UV rays. 

See Florida Boat Beach Camping - Segment 3