South Gandy Channel leads along the S side of the fill at the W end of Gandy Bridge to Snug Harbor, where small craft can find good anchorage from storms. Open and covered berths with electricity and open and covered storage are available at several marinas. A full service boatyard is available with wet and dry slips to 85 feet; 88-ton lift. Gasoline, water, ice, and marine supplies are available. The controlling depth in South Gandy Channel to the marinas is about 7 feet.
Along the E shore of Old Tampa Bay, N of Gandy Bridge, are several small craft basins; most are privately marked and maintained.
Navigation:
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Old Tampa Bay, the NW arm of Tampa Bay, is separated from Hillsborough Bay by Interbay Peninsula. Old Tampa Bay is 12 miles long and ranges in width from 2.5 miles at the entrance, to 6 miles; about three-fourths of the bay area has depths ranging from 6 to 17 feet. A branch of the main ship channel leads through the shoals at the entrance to Old Tampa Bay to the wharves and turning basin at Port Tampa. A Federal project provides for a depth of 34 feet to and including the turning basin. The channel is well marked by buoys and lighted ranges. Spoil banks border the E side of the N-S reaches of the channel; several spoil islands 5 to 10 feet high are just S of Port Tampa.
A swash channel from Port Tampa parallels the SW shore of Interbay Peninsula at a distance of about 0.6 mile. The channel is marked by daybeacons and has a controlling depth of 7 to 8 feet.
Port Tampa is an important shipping terminus on the E shore of Old Tampa Bay just inside the entrance. The elevators, oil tanks, and the long slip are conspicuous from Tampa Bay as are two high radio towers near the W end of Gandy Bridge Causeway and the stacks of the powerplant on Weedon Island. The terminal facilities at Port Tampa are at the entrance and along both sides of a long dredged slip. These facilities were described under Tampa wharves, earlier in the chapter.
Gandy Highway Bridge (U.S. Route 92), crossing Old Tampa Bay about 1.5 miles N of Port Tampa, has three fixed spans with a clearance of 43 feet through the opening about 1 mile W of the Interbay Peninsula shore. A bicycle trail and fishing pier parallel the highway bridge.
