To backtrack a bit – On Thursday the 13th we got to see some boater friends from our home marina: Tom H. of “Glissade” (Judy was out sick) and Kurt and Jan of “Aftershock”. We took in some of the sights of Naples and the live music along Third Street. It was so pretty with the lighted trees, colorful flowers, lovely fountains, the beautifully dressed people and the smell of money in the air! I overheard someone say they saw a pair of shoes for $1000 so we only window shopped. I would have felt like Julia Roberts' Vivian in Pretty Woman in my jeans and faded sweatshirt!
We left Naples about 9am the next day. Since sunrise isn’t until about 7:45am with the time change, it’s a little harder to get going early in the morning.
We were able to sail some heading south past Marco Island with a light southeastern breeze. Four knots and dropping wasn’t cutting it so the engine started up again and we motor-sailed. Later the wind came directly out of the south and temps were in the mid 70s but 3 miles off shore the air felt cooler at times. I went from jeans to shorts and back again a couple of times.
We’re now hearing the Coast Guard from Miami on the marine radio. We’re seeing fields of crab pots again that we need to avoid.
We anchored around 4:30pm. After being in the same area for so long, it was a novelty to spend 7 ½ hours on the water. We set anchor in Russell Pass, that’s near Everglades City. We anchored near Dan and Judy on m/v “Fanta Sea” who were in the slip next to us in Naples. We first met them back in Pebble Isle in TN. We set the anchor in 13ft of water (deep for these parts). Paul put out 100 ft of rode with 70 ft of it chain. We’re now in the Ten Thousand Islands portion of the Everglades National Park. The green arrow marks our anchorage.
We left Russell Pass with a destination of Little Shark River, about a 35-mile trip. Nothing real eventful about the day; a little sailing but mostly motor-sailing; our anometer (wind speed indicater) still isn’t working. Paul went up the mast in Cape Coral to check it out but couldn’t locate a problem. Little Shark River felt more like we were in the Everglades, which we were. Very humid and a little buggy with the return of “no-see-ums”; nasty little things that bite with no warning as you really don’t see or hear them, you just feel a bite and the next day you itch! It felt like boating in the “old days” – no cell phone coverage, no internet and just one TV channel (from Miami now). We think there was a manatee or two here but didn’t get a good view; just saw a snout come up for a breath a couple of times. There were nine boats anchored that we could see. This was the peaceful view ahead of us at sunset.
We put out a small stern anchor to keep from swinging around in the current, that turned out to be a mistake! Somehow it got snagged on something in the 13 ft. of water. As hard as Paul tried to free it by pulling the line then pulling it with the motor on the dinghy, it wouldn’t budge. So he had to cut the line and the sea god Neptune got our anchor; luckily it was a cheapie and we didn’t feel too badly.
The stars were amazing when I peeked out thinking it was the middle of the night; turns out it was 6am. I’ve never seen the Milky Way so clearly; now I don’t feel so cheated not seeing any stars during our Gulf crossing because of the cloud cover.
We left the anchorage just before 8am with Boot Key Harbor at Marathon our destination. Once we got back to the Gulf our heading was 179 degrees or almost due south with temps in the mid-80s and humid. Really no wind to speak of; all the sailboats we saw were motoring today. We encountered a lot of crab pot fields again. The depths were no more than 14 ft. all the way to Marathon. When it got to 11 ft. you could see the bottom. It felt almost like we were in a glass-bottomed boat. We saw jellyfish, unusual plant life and 3 large sea turtles. This shows how flat calm and hazy it was.
We went under what is it’s the world’s only 7-mile bridge! Marathon is the largest city in the Middle Keys and supposedly got its' name from the construction workers task of building this huge bridge across a huge expanse of water - a marathon. It's since been replaced by a new taller bridge but the original one is still in place and is a popular spot for fishing and diving. It's a 45-mile drive by car from here down to Key West.
After we passed under it we were officially in the Atlantic Ocean for a bit. Next there was the 26-ft Boot Key Bridge which opens on request and we were in Boot Key Harbor. We called ahead to the city marina for a mooring ball assignment. They have a mooring field with about 200 mooring balls; a community unto itself with many live aboards. Once again we were assigned a mooring in the outer reaches so it was a LONG dinghy ride to the marina. It’s $20/day for the use of the mooring ball which includes use of the marina facilities, their dinghy dock and a weekly pumpout. Also, water for your boat costs 5 cents a gallon.
We took the dinghy to the Dockside Bar & Grill for something to eat and ran into another Looper couple, Ed and Connie from “Sea Estate”, who are on their way back from Key West. We first met them back in October at Pickwick Lake in TN and last saw them in Mobile, AL so it was fun to catch up with them. Their home port is Caseville, MI.
Monday was super windy, just about the opposite of the earlier dead calm picture. We were glad we got here when we did. The dinghy ride over on Monday was kind of exciting with all the spray hitting us (me on my back and Paul in his face as he was driving). Not so fun but the same thing will probably happen tomorrow as it’s supposed to continue to blow. Here’s the dinghy dock at the city marina. Soft dinghies on one side and hard ones on the other. You get an ID tag for your dinghy and even your bicycle if you leave it there. They have quite a system for keeping track of who’s paid up. The building on the right is the dockmaster's office, laundry, showers, tv, book exchange, etc. It's a lot like a warehouse inside - nothing fancy. The luxurious Cape Harbour Marina in Cape Coral is but a fond memory now!
I'm writing this on Tuesday at the library. We dinghied to a West Marine dock then I walked to a salon to get my hair cut. My lack of a sense of direction prevailed and I managed to turn the wrong way and walked about 40 minutes the opposite direction of the library. A kindly female sheriff's deputy gave me a ride as I was trying to call a cab. The adventure continues!
It's still blowing hard out of the east/southeast at 20 to 25 mph and we're all getting a bit tired of it. We'd planned to be here until Thursday, then head on south to Bahia Honda State Park but we'll have to wait and see what the weather situation is.
A HAPPY AND BLESSED EASTER TO ALL!
No comments:
Post a Comment