Sailing Manatee: FT. MYERS BEACH TO KEY WEST

Wednesday October 28, 2015

We left out of Ft. Myers Beach mooring field as early as we could. We went straight to the fueling dock to fuel up and fill the water tanks. They opened at 8:00 am, but we were greeted by Josh, an employee earlier, at 7:30. We took care of Manatee and left the fuel dock by 8:20 am. We motored into a rain storm. The winds weren't too bad though and we really really wanted to continue on down. The winds were 12-15 kts out of the south with just a little bit of west to them so we were able to raise the main and staysail and motor sail. We planned to stop in Marco Island, but after an 8 hour day of choppy seas and in and out of storms, we approached Naples and decided to duck in there for the night. We found a sweet little spot just off the channel between Marker 4 and 5 and anchored in about 7 feet of water, not far from the mangroves. We had just enough time to cook up some dinner and rest before going to sleep.

Choppy Seas, stormy skies

As we were cleaning up the cockpit and securing things for the night, we looked up to see another boat come in from the gulf too. They also anchored right off the channel, but in a different spot. It was our neighbor from the mooring field, a 46 foot sailboat named "Good Morning Vietnam". They were heading south to Marathon as well.

We awoke the following morning to clear skies and quiet wind. We had a quick bowl of cereal and got under way. We were out the channel and in the gulf by daylight. The channel was very narrow, with a rock jetty to the south and a shoal to the north so shallow that waves were breaking on it! But we navigated between the navigational beacons without problem, unlike our friends in "Good Morning Vietnam". We later talked to them at the next anchorage and found out they ran aground on that shoal. The gulf was like a lake now, smooth and calm. But NO wind. We had to just motor on down. The next stop was Little Shark River on Cape Sable. We really don't like that spot, it should be renamed "bug and no-see-um harbor." The bugs come out in full force at dusk and dawn. However there is no other place to comfortably anchor between Marco Island and Marathon. You really can't or shouldn't do an overnight even if you wanted to (and I didn't want to) because you have to navigate around the crazy amount of crab traps the whole way down.

Sunset in Little Shark River

"Good Morning Vietnam" heading out of Little Shark River

We anchored and immediately got in the dinghy to run over and visit with our neighbors for a beer and snacks. During the day they had hailed us on the radio asking specifics about the anchorage and its water depths and invited us once we got situated. We had a very nice visit but got rudely interrupted by swarms of bugs at dusk. So we hurried back to Manatee and got down below and sprayed the screens to keep those tiny no-see-ums out! With literally no breeze, it was a hot muggy and buggy night.

We again got up early and headed out by sunrise. It was another quiet and calm day on the gulf. We motor sailed the first half on a 5-6 kt wind out of the East but ended up dropping the sails. A couple of dolphins played in the bow wave for what seemed like a long time. I have become a "Dolphin Whisperer", as the dolphins roll and look at me and jump for me as I talk to them. They definitely seem to respond to me, if I stop and look elsewhere, they swim away. When they come back they stay and play for lengthy periods of time.

Dolphins playing in the bow wave, what fun!

We passed under the 7 mile bridge at Marathon and after looking at the charts, decided to find an anchorage rather than going to the mooring field. We found a sweet spot, between the bridge and Molasses Key. We had to carefully navigate through a skinny channel between very shallow water, but did so successfully. The water was so clear and inviting, we took a refreshing dip as soon as we anchored, in 8 feet of water.

Sunset over the keys

Tomorrow its on to Key West!

Saturday, October 31, 2015

We motor sailed and dodged crab pots all day. We took the Hawk Channel and tried to head out into deeper water to avoid the crab pots, but quickly found a strong head current slowing us down. So we returned back in shore and continued to Key West. It was a beautiful day on the Atlantic. We tried to fish, but there was so much weed and crab pots, it was too much to keep checking the lines. We finally got down to the end of Florida and rounded the point around 3:00 pm. We slowly made our way around the tip to the gulf side, passing Mallory Square and the huge cruise ships. There were tons of sailboats anchored out off Mallory Square. We opted to continue past all that and headed around Fleming Key to the Key West mooring field and picked up a ball. It was too late to get in the dinghy and buzz over to the Marina office to check in, so we just secured ourselves and enjoyed cocktails in the cockpit! Ahhh, Key West, crazy Key West. Glad we are out on a boat on this Halloween night with Fantasy Fest going on in town!