3/19/22. Back to Tarpon Basin

 It’s back to Tarpon Basin to ride out another big blow and another trip to the grocery store. We motor sailed back up the channel.  We do a lot of running around the bay, but even then, it's relaxing to be practically alone in this vast space.  We rarely encounter another boat and if we do, it's another cruising sailboat enjoying the same things we are.  The winds were fair for now, 15-20 kts out of the SE.  The upcoming Saturday evening/Sunday morning wind forecast was for 20-25 kts with gusts 28-30.  

The waters were once again clear and several colors of blue.  Here you can see the deeper water in the channel. It should be easy to stay between the red and green markers!  We got back to our usual spot in the anchorage around 2:30 pm and relaxed a bit before the breeze picked up.  

Rick re-joined us and asked Ed to help him dock at Gilbert's to get fuel and water.  Ed didn't mind.  By Sunday morning the winds had died down a bit, enough to go early to Gilberts in Wind Gypsy and later get to Publix for re-provisioning.  

Sunday morning calm

Sunrise over Key Largo

This little guy is so used to people coming off their dinghy at the landing, he didn't even scurry off

He seemed to enjoy the company

Re-provisioning all done, back to the boat for a good night's sleep.  Our plan is be here Wednesday, as it's "Pump-Out Day" and Thursday head back North.  Yes, I mean back to the mainland.  We'll do a couple more "day trips" around the bay until then and say good-bye to the aqua waters for this season.  We'll make our way slowly North, exploring new places to anchor and watch for our weather window to go "outside" (in the Atlantic) from Cape Florida to St. Lucie Inlet.  We don't have to be back to Stuart until May, so we will continue our cruising season North of Stuart along the Indian River for a month.  

I

3/22/2022 Good-bye to the Keys for this season. No words, just a few pictures of my favorite sights

 

3/25/2022 Barnes Sound

We also usually go right through the Barnes Sound and Card Sound without stopping before heading North into Biscayne Bay.  In times past, the wind was always blowing hard as we pounded into it. The winds today however were out of the south and southwest, giving us a nice run through Jewfish Creek and across Barnes Sound. We had spotted a nice looking spot to anchor just north of the Card Sound Bridge but as we approached we realized underwater cable lines were in the vicinity and we just didn’t like the looks of the spot. So we turned around and found a great spot on the southeast side of the bridge. It was nicely tucked into the shoreline, away from the channel. The coastline offered great dinghy and/or kayak exploring opportunities.

 

We anchored here for a night and then found an even better looking spot the next day, around the corner outside Steamboat Creek. We decided to hang out here for a few days as we waited for a good weather window to go up the coast from Biscayne Bay to the St. Lucie Inlet. It would be much more enjoyable than hanging out by No Name Harbor.

      Ready to start our day of exploration

We brought our garbage bag, thinking we may be able to dispose of it at the kayak landing area. We came across a couple of garbage cans, strategically placed by a landing, along the side of Card Sound Rd. It’s pretty great for Monroe County to make available garbage cans like this, I hope it helps to keep people from littering.

 

There was even a great spot to pull a dinghy up!

We spent most of the morning in the dinghy, some parts were shallow enough to have to walk the dinghy through the skinny parts. We love having this hard shell dinghy rather than an inflatable, we would never be able to explore like we do with a boat that could pop if we ran it up again mangrove roots, oyster beds etc.

Since we were paddling and not using the motor, we were able to sneak up on this beautiful heron. He was way up the creek from us, but I had the telephoto lens on the camera and was able to catch a few shots of him before he realized we were there.

The mangrove shoreline 

Cormorants everywhere

From a distance it took us some time to figure out what this was in the trees. Can you tell? It was a highway cone, stuck on a tree branch, perhaps marking an obscure entrance to a small creek

Osprey with his dinner

The mangrove roots had a totally different plant growing from it under water, I was so amazed I had to get a picture. Nature is truly remarkable.

Frigate bird in flight, fishing

Back on Manatee and the rest of the day we just watched the magnificent skies.

3/16/22 Back to the aqua waters of the middle keys

March 16, 2022

We left Tarpon Basin around 11:30 am and motor sailed to the Manatee Keys, a short way south and west. 

Sunrise in Tarpon Basin

Tarpon Basin to Manatee Key

Manatee Key

My kayak trip around Manatee Key

Manatee Key anchorage 

Pretty cloud formations 

A look from our "living room"

                                                                                          Sunrise

Moonset

March Full Moon

The following morning, we motored around Florida Bay to once again top off the batteries. We’ve had very good solar days but the batteries still needed a boost. We moved over to Bottle Key for a new view.

Ahhh, the colors are so beautiful

Another kayak trip around the island

Mangrove Nursery

A Little Blue Heron stretching his neck to see me

An abandoned Osprey nest

Ed's catch, a Barracuda! They just love those lures!

Not sure if its visible.  Under the water is a small turtle, about the size of a dinner plate.  This guy was swimming by and got spooked by me and my kayak.  He quickly swam up into the mangrove roots and froze.  I watched him for several minutes and I could see him stretch his neck out to see if I was still there, but didn't move any other part of his body.  I finally felt bad and left him be.

This crab WAS chasing another, but he stopped to check me out

A rather large lobster got caught out from beneath his hiding place. 

Just a neat looking old Mangrove root

When the winds are blowing 15-20 kts, I get a ride to and from Manatee

Sunset to close another day