Headed In: Florida

The Florida Passport stamp book (55 stamps on 11 region pages: Mile Marker 0, Coral Castle, Weeki Wachee mermaids, a spring swim, Skunk Ape HQ, the time zone line, free OJ at a Welcome Center...). Each stamp is earned only by standing there with the free Headed Back or Headed In app. Give a position for the closest stamps, a page (road, bay, sarasota, southwest, miami, keys, space, central, nature, northeast, panhandle) or a name. Use it for Florida bucket lists, road-trip stops, or 'what should we not miss'.

florida_passport

Public boat ramps anywhere in Florida (FWC inventory, about 1,600), closest first, with the county, and the live wait at the ramp and trailer parking when boaters have reported it (Tampa Bay so far).

boat_ramps

Things to do in Florida (Tampa Bay, Miami, Naples-Fort Myers, Sarasota, the Space Coast, Jacksonville-St. Augustine, the Panhandle, Central Florida (Orlando, The Villages, Ocala), plus weird and worth-the-drive spots statewide): local picks for food, beaches, outdoors, only-in-Florida oddities and worth-the-drive spots, closest first (give lat/lon), with community thumbs and live crowd/parking/water/red-tide reports when available.

find_places

Short true stories pinned all over Florida, closest first: Name game (why a town is called what it is: Pass-a-Grille, Kissimmee, Key West...) and Weird Florida (Koreshan hollow-earth camp, the world's smallest police station, Robert the Doll...). Each has a teaser, the spot and a map link; the whole story opens in the Headed Back app at the place. Great as road-trip stops.

florida_stories

Golden hour, blue hour, sunrise and sunset for any spot (today and tomorrow, local time), which way the sun sets, what's next and how long until it, and a guess at tonight's sunset (could be a good one / clean and clear / iffy / probably gray) from cloud layers here and 25 miles toward the sun. For photographers, creators, sunset cruises and beach plans. Gives one sentence to say out loud.

golden_hour

Our two free iPhone apps. Headed In (boats) is the float plan: a back-by time, and a boater's people are alerted if they're overdue; for outings on the water. Headed Back is road-trip games and trivia (the license plate game, Swamp Ape Millionaire, trivia, critters caught only at real places, The Daily Humidity), with no check-in; for road trips with people in the car.

safety_apps

Active Atlantic hurricanes and tropical storms from the National Hurricane Center: wind in mph, category, movement, whether the 5-day cone covers a Florida place or the spot you give, when the center passes closest, coastal watches and warnings, and a boat tie-down list (or a 7-day stock-up list with land=true) when a cone touches Florida. Info only; follow the county's orders.

storm_watch

Is a Florida inlet or pass stacking up? The old rule of thumb, worked out hour by hour for the next 12 hours: an outgoing tide running out into an onshore wind stands the waves up. 35 inlets and passes on both coasts and the Panhandle (Haulover, Government Cut, Port Everglades, Boca, Jupiter, Sebastian, Ponce, the St. Johns jetties, East Pass, Boca Grande, Gordon Pass, Big Pass, Longboat...). Says if it's rough now, when it eases (the next low or the wind), or when it turns rough later. Give a position for the nearest ones, or an inlet name.

inlet_watch

Lightning near a spot in the US right now, from NOAA's GOES-East weather satellite: the nearest strike in the last 15 minutes (distance, direction, how long ago), counts within 10 and 30 miles, and the 30-minute rule clock. Gives one sentence to say out loud, e.g. 'Lightning 6 miles west, 3 minutes ago.' Use it when someone on the water, at a ballgame, a beach or a campsite asks about storms or lightning.

lightning_near

What it's like right now at a pick or boat ramp (reports come mostly from Tampa Bay so far): how busy, parking, bugs, water, red tide, the wait at the ramp and trailer parking, from anonymous reports in the last 3 hours.

live_conditions

Public marina fuel docks in Florida, only ones confirmed recently (gas, diesel, pump-out), closest first, with the phone number. Distances are straight-line, not by water. No hours or prices (call ahead).

fuel_docks

Message in a bottle: real drift bottles people tossed from Florida's shores with the free Headed In / Headed Back apps, moved every 3 hours on the real ocean currents and wind until they wash up on a real beach. Answers 'any bottles washed up near me?': the beaches near a spot where bottles washed up, how many, miles away, the longest drift and days at sea, how many times found, and how many are adrift right now. Never the note, a name or an exact spot: those are only read in person on the beach in the app. Gives one sentence to say out loud.

message_bottles

NOAA's marine forecast and tides for anywhere in Florida waters (Gulf, Atlantic, the Keys, Biscayne Bay, Lake Okeechobee): advisories, the next periods in NOAA's own words, and the nearest tide station. Give a position, or a ramp name from boat_ramps. Returns NOAA's own words; it does not say whether it's safe to go.

marine_forecast

A link that opens 'Plan a day' in the Headed Back (land) or Headed In (boat) app on the person's phone, on a mood (beach, Old Florida, rainy day, wild Florida, weird and cool, road trip) and a start time. Use it at the end of a Florida day plan.

open_plan_in_app

Red tide (Karenia brevis) near a spot in Florida from FWC's own water samples of the last 8 days: the closest sample sites with FWC's words (not present/background, very low, low, medium, high), the sample day and miles away. Give a position, an FWC sample site or boat ramp name, or nothing for the statewide picture. Gives one sentence to say out loud. Never says a beach is safe.

red_tide

Rocket launches from Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral, Florida, in the next two weeks: rocket, mission, pad, day and Eastern time, Go / Hold / Scrubbed status, weather odds when posted, the live stream link, and where to watch on the Space Coast (Playalinda Beach, Jetty Park, Cocoa Beach Pier, the Kennedy visitor complex). Gives one sentence to say out loud. Use it when someone plans an Orlando or Space Coast trip or asks if there's a launch.

rocket_launches

Florida sandbars and raft-up spots (44, from Tampa Bay, Miami and the Keys to Naples, Sarasota, the Space Coast, Jacksonville and the Panhandle: Beer Can Island, Haulover, Elliott Key, Keewaydin, Crab Island...): what each is like, the map, and the next big day there (Boca Bash, Boater Skip Day, the Columbus Day Regatta raft-up), worked out for any year. Give a position, a sandbar name, or big_days: true.

sandbars

Short walking, biking or boating story trails in Florida (St. Pete, Tampa, Miami, Biscayne National Park, the Keys, the Everglades, Panama City Beach, Lake Okeechobee, Ocala National Forest; real places, a puzzle at each stop), played in the Headed Back / Headed In app.

story_trails

What's on in Florida in the next two weeks: festivals, concerts, farmers markets, boat-show and holiday events, library and park events, from about 30 cities' and counties' own public calendars (Tampa Bay, Orlando area, both coasts, the Keys, the Panhandle). Closest first within a radius when you give a position, soonest first. Each event links to its official page.

whats_on

Wind Phone booths around Tampa Bay: quiet public places to call someone you lost, after the Wind Phone in Ōtsuchi, Japan.

wind_phones

Which side of the plane to sit on: for a flight between two US airports (all of Florida's plus the big ones with nonstops to Florida), the big sights you can see from the window in flight order (Lake Okeechobee, the Sunshine Skyway, the Vehicle Assembly Building, the Seven Mile Bridge, the Outer Banks, Manhattan, the Grand Canyon...), left or right side, about when, the states under the route, and tips for getting GPS to work in airplane mode. Use it when someone picks a seat, asks what they will see from the plane, or asks why their GPS dot disappears in the air.

window_seat