Fred and Dave walk the moat at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas
After making the Dry Tortugas our goal for several visits to the Keys, we had pretty much written it off as a possibility once we switched to Orion Jr. But this year we finally made it, although we had to jump ship to do it, joining Pat and Fred on Marianna for the week to travel there and back. It was a fun trip and one we were unlikely to make without joining forces. Once back in Marathon, we set our sights on making tracks north, although the weather had other ideas. After waiting over a week on weather, we finally dropped the mooring and headed north into the Everglades. On Easter Sunday, we completed our transit, arriving in Naples on the west coast of Florida. And we had picked up a passenger along the way. Sue, our friend from Hampton, was on board, escaping the chill up north and seeing what it's like to cruise on Orion Jr.
Fort Jefferson
The Dry Tortugas
The Dry Tortugas are a few small islands that lie about 70 miles due west of Key West, the westernmost of the Florida Keys. They are in middle of a National Park and contain an historic fort and some beautiful coral reefs. The park is accessible only by boat or sea plane. Reports of its beauty and history made it an appealing cruising destination that had kept eluding us. When we were offered a berth on Marianna to make the trip, we jumped at the chance to go and finally see it for ourselves.
The Dry Tortugas are a few small islands that lie about 70 miles due west of Key West, the westernmost of the Florida Keys. They are in middle of a National Park and contain an historic fort and some beautiful coral reefs. The park is accessible only by boat or sea plane. Reports of its beauty and history made it an appealing cruising destination that had kept eluding us. When we were offered a berth on Marianna to make the trip, we jumped at the chance to go and finally see it for ourselves.
Marianna under sail en route to Key West
It took some planning to bring the 2 crews together on one boat, but we pooled resources from Orion Jr, did some common provisioning, and then planned the routes to handle the weather that seemed to be coming our way. Our plans called for us to leave as soon as the Marathon Seafood Festival ended, but the weather made us delay our departure until the following Thursday. As we woke to a churning harbor, with Marianna swinging on her mooring, we pretty quickly had to admit that we wouldn't leave today. After a week of “wait one more day”, we were becoming a little concerned that it wasn't going to happen this year either. But when we woke up Friday morning, the winds were up, but would be mostly behind us, so we decided to go. Within a short time of leaving Boot Key harbor, Marianna was under full sail, and we were blasting our way toward Key West, topping 8 knots as the wind blew us west . By early afternoon, we had dodged a couple of cruise ship to anchor off Fleming Key at Key West.
Passing Fort Jefferson as we enter Garden Key anchorage
We made it an early night, since Saturday's run would be more miles and we wanted to leave early enough (around 4:30 am) to ensure we arrived in daylight. The forecast called for lighter winds, which turned out to be the case, but not quite as good for just sailing. Once we left the protection of the Marquesas, we were facing seas that would have been too much for Orion Jr. We were glad to be on Marianna. Just past noon, the fort came into view. We saw sea planes coming and going, and the Key West ferry as it headed in with the day's visitors. By mid-afternoon, we were pulling into the anchorage, joining a couple of other boats there. Our nearest neighbor was on 2 anchors, which led us to deploy a 2nd anchor as well. By nightfall, 3 other boats had arrived, but the anchorage seemed to have room for all of us. We made a quick trip ashore to look around before returning for supper and an early night. It had been a long day.
Looking north over the fort's powder magazine, never finished
The next morning we headed ashore to spend the day checking out the fort. By 10am, the ferry arrived and we joined the guided tour, led by a knowledgeable and articulate tour guide from the boat. We learned a lot about the fort's history and conditions for the soldiers, prisoners and slaves that labored to build it on a barren island in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. The big question that we had was why build a fort here? What we learned was that the island guards a unique anchorage that has provided shelter for big ships for centuries. The strategic importance of this location was formally recognized shortly after the War of 1812, when the need for stronger coastal defenses prompted the buliding of forts along the East Coast. Protecting this anchorage for use by the US Navy and, equally important, keeping it out of the hands of enemy ships, was the main purpose for building Fort Jefferson on such a remote and isolated part of the Gulf. The fort was never finished and never saw any battles, but its presence served its purpose, despite its peaceful tenure. Remaining in Union hands during the Civil War, Union soldiers guilty of desertion or other offenses, were imprisoned here, doing hard labor in constructing the fort. That included 4 of the conspirators in the Lincoln asassination, including Dr. Samuel Mudd, who had treated John Wilkes Booth's broken ankle.
Loggerhead Key Light
Although we snorkeled just off the fort that afternoon, we had heard there were more spectacular reefs off Loggerhead Key, a couple of miles west, marked by a lighthouse. So, we hoped to spend our 2nd day there. When Monday dawned cloudy, we checked the weather with Chris Parker and found we were facing squalls in the afternoon. If we managed to get to the island early, we might get some time on the reef before we had to leave. We beached the dinghy on the southeast shore and made a short walk across the island to the northwest shore, where the best reefs were reported to be located. Luck was not with us this day, however. It wasn't long before we head thunder, causing us to scurry to the lighthouse for shelter from the rain. It became clear that the break after the stom would be brief, so we made tracks back to the dinghy. By now, the waves were up and breaking on shore. In order to get the dinghy underway, we pulled it up near the end of a nearby pier. Although the ride back to Marianna into the winds and waves was soaking, we managed to reach Marianna before another storm arrived. But for the next 24 hours, storms kept rolling through. The bad weather drove many more boats to seek refuge in the anchorage. By nightfall, we could count 18 boats at anchor.
Another storm approaches
The weather delayed our departure for a day, but by the time we headed out on Tuesday, we were seeing much lighter winds for the trip back. It was a motoring trip back to Key West, and we chose to travel back north of the Marquesas. Since Wednesday's weather was supposed to have winds on the nose, we opted to put as many miles in before nightfall, opting to anchor just south of Stock Island a little east of Key West. Sure enough, more storms arrived just before midnight, but the winds ended being in a favorable direction for most of the next day. It was almost unheard of – having favorable winds to travel both to and from the Dry Tortugas. Shortly after Marianna was back on her mooring, we were offered a large bag of ice, which allowed us to celebrate a successful trip with ice cold drinks in Marianna's cockpit. Now both crews could check another item off our list.
Company Comes to Orion Jr
Just before leaving for the Dry Tortugas, we had a call from our friend Sue from Hampton, whom we had invited to visit us this winter. She was interested in coming for a visit, and we invited her to come and help us take the boat back to Labelle. She agreed to join us and arrived a couple of days after we returned from the Dry Tortugas. We had never had a guest on the little boat, so we had to work out a few solutions for privacy and sleeping quarters. Cathy had made a curtain back in 2011 to separate the V-berth from the head, giving a small amount of privacy to a person using the head when we are sleeping forward. We had never used it, but we pulled it out and it went into place fine.
Dave worked on a solution for a more comfortable berth, taking a piece of plywood and cutting it to fit the gap between the two settees in the Main Saloon. After a few coats of polyurethane, it was ready to become part of an expanded berth, using the settee cushions and back rests to make a pseudo-bed. More room to spread out, with somewhat lumpy support. Not perfect, but better.
Just before leaving for the Dry Tortugas, we had a call from our friend Sue from Hampton, whom we had invited to visit us this winter. She was interested in coming for a visit, and we invited her to come and help us take the boat back to Labelle. She agreed to join us and arrived a couple of days after we returned from the Dry Tortugas. We had never had a guest on the little boat, so we had to work out a few solutions for privacy and sleeping quarters. Cathy had made a curtain back in 2011 to separate the V-berth from the head, giving a small amount of privacy to a person using the head when we are sleeping forward. We had never used it, but we pulled it out and it went into place fine.
Dave worked on a solution for a more comfortable berth, taking a piece of plywood and cutting it to fit the gap between the two settees in the Main Saloon. After a few coats of polyurethane, it was ready to become part of an expanded berth, using the settee cushions and back rests to make a pseudo-bed. More room to spread out, with somewhat lumpy support. Not perfect, but better.
Dave and Sue raise the main as we travel off the Everglades
When Sue arrived, we planned to head out within a day or 2 for the West Coast of Florida. However, that turned into a week of waiting for an unseasonably strong cold front to pass. In the meantime, we showed Sue Marathon, and involved her in the planning for the trip. We managed to get some snorkeling in and Sue even dove on our boat and Marianna. Finally, on Saturday, the 30th, the weather was right to move. We headed out, waving to Pat and Fred as we left. (They were held up by the same weather until the next day.) The winds were still up, but once we cleared Moser channel, we put up the sails and used them all the way to Little Shark River. It was quite a good sailing day.
Easter Sunrise off Little Shark River in the Everglades
The next day, which happened to be Easter Sunday, we planned a long day to take us to Goodland. That had us pulling anchor in the dark and seeing the Easter sunrise off Little Shark River. We used the wind a little, and were able to motor sail, averaging 5 knots. That meant it might be possible to make it all the way to Naples, over 60 miles away. With our speed staying up, even after we entered the pass behind Marco Island, we decided to press on, and arrived at the Naples City moorings just as the sun set. It was an impressive run, and it was good to have the biggest travel days behind us.