The municipal yacht basin, just south of Moore Creek, has a marked approach channel from the Intracoastal Waterway. The entrance is immediately south of the bridge. Extreme caution should be exercised as strong crosscurrents exist. The overhead power cable crossing this channel has a clearance of 85 feet. In 2010, the reported controlling depth in the channel was 7 feet. Berths, gasoline, diesel fuel, ice, water, electricity, pump-out station, and limited marine supplies are available. The yacht basin is controlled by a dockmaster.
The facilities of a yacht club and a marina are on the south side of the Fort Pierce entrance channel, immediately westward of Faber Point. The yacht club has about 92 open berths with a reported depth of 6 feet in 2006. Gasoline, diesel fuel, water, ice and electricity are available. The marina has berths, electricity, water, ice and pump-out station available.
A dredged channel marked by daybeacons leads from the Intracoastal Waterway to Taylor Creek. In 2010, the reported controlling depth was 8 feet to the railroad bridge. Marinas in Taylor Creek have berthing with electricity, gasoline, diesel fuel, water, ice, a pump-out station and wet and dry storage. Hull, engine, and electronic repairs can be made.
Navigation:
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Fort Pierce Inlet is 62 miles southward of Cape Canaveral Light and 33 miles northward of Jupiter Inlet Light. Care must be exercised in entering due to the strong currents. In southeasterly weather with an ebb tidal current the entrance is rough.
Several high rise condominiums, 1 mile north of the entrance, are prominent. A state park is located on the end of the north jetty.
Also prominent are 210-foot meteorological tower 7.2 miles south of the entrance, two 200-foot cement silos within the harbor, and the concrete towers of a nuclear powerplant about 7.6 miles southward of the entrance. The meteorological tower is marked by a fixed red light about halfway up and a flashing red light on top.
A Federal project provides for an entrance channel 30 feet deep, and an inner channel and turning basin 28 feet deep. Depths in the channel may vary considerably between dredging operations. Two rubblestone jetties with revetment extensions protect the entrance. The channel is marked with lighted ranges and lighted buoys.
There are a number of shoals and wrecks in the approaches to the harbor; some of them are marked. A fish haven, about 1.7 miles long, from 0.8 mile to 1.2 miles offshore, is about 2 miles northward of the entrance. In the entrance channel, shoaling tends to build southward from the north side of the channel just inside the jetties, abeam Coon Island, and in the turning basin. Local knowledge is advised to determine the extent of shoaling in these areas.
