Key Hopping

Jan. 13-16

Days 63-66

We have had an enjoyable week investigating some of the Keys as we have traveled toward the lights of Miami.  Visiting Key Biscayne National Park was high on our list of required stops before we left for the Bahamas.  Upon arrival at the park areas that are only accessible by boat, we discovered that we were the only people interested in touring the park, at least at this time of year.  The ranger stations at Adams Key and Elliot Key were deserted.  We had the place to ourselves (except for the bugs).  I am sure if you are here in the summer when all of the tour activities are available, there may be more to see.  A short ride up to No Name Harbor in Bill Baggs State Park has proved to be our best stop this week. There are wonderful walking trails, interesting wildlife, a very peaceful (although someone was enjoying a rather rambunctious birthday party until rather late last night) anchorage, all within site of the lights of Miami.  We hope to make the run to Bimini early Sunday morning, so this may be my last post for awhile.  I will continue to update when I am able to access wifi.

                                           One more to check off my list.

The grounds on Adams Key are exactly what I have always envisioned a tropical island to look like.  Of course there were no hammocks in the trees or servers to bring a nice cool beverage.

We sure didn't have any problems finding an available table for our picnic.  We had planed a walk over to the beach on the ocean side of the key, the bugs changed our minds rather quickly.

Evidently hurricane Sandy did a lot of damage here.  All of the docks appear to be brand new.  At least there were plenty of parrot fish, barracuda, and birds enjoying the park.

Cape Florida lighthouse stands at the southern point of Key Biscayne.

There are several different types if Iguanas that call Bill Baggs home.  They were all out basking in the sunshine as we enjoyed our walk around the park.

Not a great picture, I have still not been able to get closer than this to a manatee.  This guy kept surfacing by our boat, enticing me to see how close he would let us get in the dink.  You have to be very patient because they can stay down quite awhile between breaths.

Jess and I took a nice walk along the beach this morning.  This is supposed to be one of the top 10 beaches in Florida.  I don't know who is doing the voting, but it sure doesn't compare to our Alabama beaches, or the ones along the panhandle.

Traveling the Keys

January 5-12

Days 55-62

We have spent this week making our way up the Keys toward Miami.  Our first night out we dropped anchor in Tarpon Belly Key.  Took the dink for a nice ride around the island, but the shoreline was so rough that we decided not beach it.  The wind came up during the night, pushing us a little too close to the shore. The low tide caused us to have to hang around a little longer than planned on Tuesday morning.  It did give Jess a chance to clean a few spots on our starboard side, and apply a new coat of wax.  Unfortunately, (only from my point of view), we floated off the bottom before he had a chance to clean and wax the port side.  Not quite sure why, but he never seems to get around to cleaning that side.  If I ever post pictures of Bama Dream you can count on them always being from the starboard side.  When we again had water under our boat we headed for our night's anchorage on Molasses Key, just under the bridge at Marathon. There is a very small beach here, so we were able to go for a nice walk, mostly on top of the exposed old coral bed.  Had fun searching the tidal pools for all sorts of left behind creatures.  Weather reports didn't look good for the next couple of days, so we headed for Long Key hoping for as much protection as possible from the 30+ knot winds that were forecast for Wednesday night and Thursday.  They were right on target with the forecast!  One of our sun pads actually blew off during the night, so before leaving on Friday morning we spent 2 hours in the dink searching the mangroves along the shore.  Success!  On to John Pennekamp State Park to enjoy Key Largo while we wait for a favorable weather window for a trip across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas.  When we make it to the islands we may be off the grid for awhile.  Will update as often as possible.

 Most people think we are roughing it.  While we were anchored at Tarpon Belly Key we met this group of young people spending a week on these two very small sailboats.  Privacy was not their priority, but they were certainly having a great time!!

Our anchorage at Molasses Key.  Didn't take too long to walk the length of the beach here.  That has been one of our disappointments, mangroves are everywhere, but beaches are actually few and far between in this area of the Keys.

Found this guy hiding out in a tidal pool patiently waiting for high tide.

Beautiful sunrises and sunsets have become common place on this trip.  It doesn't matter how many we have witnessed, I still grab the camera to record each stunning event.  Met someone along our  travels that plans to have a photo project done at the end of their trip just of the amazing sunsets they have experienced along the way.

We shared our bow with this visitor for quite awhile as we made our way through the choppy waters of the Hawk.  Jess enjoyed his company until he realized how much cleanup was going to be required.

 Had a wonderful meal at The Fish House with Mary and Roger from TaTa.  We are making plans to cross over to the Bahamas together when we get a favorable weather window.

Don't know what we would have done without our trusty wagon.  We have made 2 trips to Publix to provision for our trip to the Bahamas. 

Kayakers enjoying a trip through the mangroves at John Pennekamp State Park, as we make our way through the winding canal back to open water.  This is definitely one of those places we would like to come back to.

 

Key West and the Dry Tortugas

Dec. 18-Jan. 4

Days 37-54

What an amazing two weeks!  Jess and I arrived in Key West after another rough open water crossing across the Florida Bay.  We have decided that we much prefer the river systems and the ICW to the rough seas of the open ocean.  Luckily after a few days at a marina we recuperate and are ready to take off again.  Our daughter, Melinda, her husband, Dave, and their three boys, Ethan, Brady, and Griffin joined us on the 20th in Key West.  This is a very lively town, with beautiful architecture and new sights to see around every corner.  We have been lucky to get a spot at Key West Bight Marina for a couple of days to soak up the atmosphere before heading for the Dry Tortugas National Park. A night on anchor at Boca Grande Key allowed the boys to try out their snorkel gear and catch their first fish of the trip.  The seas were a little rough for our run to Ft. Jefferson, but we made the 60 miles with enough daylight left to take our first quick look at the fort.  Jess has decided that he will never eat crab again if that will help put the crabbers out of business.  Dodging crab pots has become a way of life.  The next week was spent, fishing, swimming, snorkeling, beach combing, and checking out the history of Ft. Jefferson.  We all had a fantastic time!  On the 29th we made the 70 mile trip back to Key West.  After the exhausting day we checked with the marina to see if they had room for us for at least one night, so that we could get laundry done and restock the larder.  We had already been told they were booked solid for New Year's week, but our timing was perfect because they had a "no show" and we were able to get a slip for the whole week. We celebrated New Years on Duval Street along with thousands of other people, checked out the southernmost point, went to the Eco Discovery Center, ate some great food on the wharf, watched a very disappointing ballgame, and walked many many miles.  We hated to see our family leave us for home on Friday, but they had to get back to their everyday lives and it is time for us to continue our journey.

Just one of the many Key West style homes. Very little mowing takes place here as most of the yards are covered with an amazing display of flowering shrubs, cacti, and trees that are only found in this region.

Key West is known for its vivid sunsets.  The Sunset Cruises that leave the docks every evening are very popular with the tourists.

Ethan wades out into the crystal clear water with his snorkeling gear.  This was the first time the boys had been snorkeling and they mastered the technique with very few issues.

As the sun sets on Boca Grande Key, Griffin pulls in the first catch of the day with a little help from his dad.

There was no end to the variety of fish the boys pulled out of the ocean.  Brady was thrilled when he landed this beautiful Black Grouper.

One of the several Goliath Groupers that took up residence under our boat when we anchored in the waters by Ft. Jefferson.  Jess had a hard time taking for granted that there were 300 lb. fish under his boat.

Float planes made several trips a day ferrying tourists back and forth from Key West.  The ferry Yankee Freedom arrived every morning, except Christmas, with about 150 people, but, other than a few campers, when they left at 2:45 we pretty much had the place to ourselves.

Yes, Santa had no problem finding the boys even this far away from civilization.

We were all excited when Dave hooked into a BIG one, only to be disappointed when we discovered it to be one of the Goliaths.  He had fun for a few minutes anyway.

The frigate birds were like kites when the wind was just right.  They floated over the fort and rarely ever had to move their wings.

The magnitude of the fort is amazing when you consider its remote location. Just acquiring the building materials for the structure must have been an engineering nightmare.

The cast iron lighthouse at Ft. Jefferson is still functioning. 

                    

                   This huge cactus covers the front of the gun powder storage chamber.

 The boys caught supper one night off the pier.  Ethan proudly adds another Mangrove Snapper to the cooler.

Finding coconuts on the island was the easy part.  The boys begged Granddaddy and their dad to crack them open, which turned into the hard part.  Two great minds working together finally accomplished the task, and everyone sampled the liquid and the meat.

        The old lighthouse at Loggerhead Key.  This 150 ft. structure is no longer in use.

                                       The Roulier family enjoying a visit to Loggerhead Key.

                          Just one of the many stunning sunsets at Dry Tortugas National Park!

      

Melinda heading off to check out a windjammer wreck.  She and Jess had an awesome time snorkeling amongst the ruins.



               Using my underwater camera, Melinda took some amazing shots of life under the sea.

Our second day on Loggerhead Key provided Jess and I time to walk all the way around the island.  It was an absolutely beautiful day, and the scenery couldn't  have been prettier.

As we trekked around the island we met Ray and his wife, Bonnie.  They are both retired teachers who volunteer to spend a month every winter on Loggerhead performing a variety of tasks.  They were very happy to give us a tour of the facility and a history lesson to go with it.

Dave, Ethan, and Griffin take one last snorkeling expedition around the base of the fort.

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             The coral reefs along the edge of the fort walls provide homes for many different species.

 

           
                                  Our last sunrise as we prepare to leave the Dry Tortugas.

Bama Dream as she pulls anchor and heads out into open water for her trip back to Key West.  Thanks to Destinies for sending us this picture.

I don't know why, but we were all excited to get off the boat and have some restaurant food for a change. 

Christmas lights are everywhere around Key West.  Even the anchors near the wharf are decorated for the holidays.

New Year's night on Duval Street is the place to be in Key West.  Streets were blocked off and characters of all sorts were having the time of their lives!

This pelican patiently posed for me while the boys were fishing off the pier on the southern side of the island.

An old fort has been turned into a beautiful botanical garden by members of the Garden Club.  This Stangler Fig tree was just one of the unique flora here. 

                    The iguanas in this tree outside of the gardens were quite entertaining.



The boys (with a little help from Dave) surprised us with an awesome dinner that we enjoyed as we relaxed outside.

          We had to make a special trip to get the picture that no one can leave Key west without.