recent Marqueses keys visitors

[Ixneigh]

It's cooler and dryer in the keys then in homestead. Plus I'm used to the heat, live without ac.
Before I left today, from fat deer key, I looked at a run down park and free ramp just south of fat deer. The ramp is steep but in good repair. Plenty of water. Has a finger pier. Exposed to the north. I did not check for signage but there were no trailers early in the morning. The park is fine to walk dogs. There is not much nearby, though except a Tom Thumb and an ice vendor.
I sailed downwind slowly, letting the boat steer herself, after checking the ramp scene. On the gulf side of the seven mile bridge there are some islands with charming names like friend key, cocoanut key, and east Bahia Honda key. I've always wondered about them, and now I shall wonder, and gaze longingly at them on the charts, no more. More aptly named, squawking cormorant key, reeking mud key and there's nothing here to interest a human being key, respectively. I did see some people diving at east Bahia Honda key, but did not check that out. After sating my curiosity in that area I sailed over to the Ohio Missouri key group. I've been here before but on the ocean side, where there's really no place to park in easterly winds (unless you have local knowledge) however, the gulf side of this area is very nice in east through sw winds. I am parked tonight off to the side of the pass between Missouri and Ohio keys. There is some current of course but the M is a doll compared to my keelboats in current. The bridges over the pass are very low, small boats only. There is a resort on Ohio key, so the area looks like it could be busy, and there were several boats and jet skies around earlier, but in the evening they have subsided. it's possible to take the paddle board to the abutment of the old bridge, and walk dogs on a nice grassy area, or even walk all the way across to Ohio key. Lots of trash cans on the bridge, that is now also used as a fishing bridge. I will report on the resorts hospitality to boaters tomarrow when I go over looking for a cold drink. This area is easy to wizz by on the highway, but I think its one of the prettier areas of the keys. The east end of Bahia Honda has a lovely sand beach, Ohio key on its ocean facing (and resort free) side has hard pan shoreline with tide pools and crevices at low tide. The water is nice and clear. I found some baby conch on the grass flats near my boat. So happy to see them. If the weather stays pleasant I may explore the area more extensively on the paddle board before going over to the content keys area. I also want to take some pictures of the old bridge.
Ix

[Sumner]

.....before going over to the content keys area. I also want to take some pictures of the old bridge.
Ix

Keep the trip report coming . I'm following you with OpenCPN and making notes on your report. As I said before I'm really interested in the areas before and after Content Keys,

Sum

===================================
Our MacGregor 26-S

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

[Sumner]

....We have decided to either stay at the Marathon City Marina or at the Marathon Marina and Boat Yard. Any one who would like to voice their opinion on either one would help us make our decision.

I'm not familar with Marathon Marina and Boat Yard, but we did put the Mac on a ball at Marathon City Marina when we rented a car and drove over to Ft. Myers Beach to look at the Endeavour. It is a great facility, the largest and best equipped that we have seen to best. Did we like it and want to rush right back? Not really, but I've meet people who have spent weeks/months there and really like it. We just like a quiet anchorage by ourselves if possible.

Does you boat have a pump-out? If not I'd call and see if that is still required. We had to sign a paper saying we would have one installed within a week or we could be fined. We don't need one with the wag bags/double doodie bags, but that made no difference to them. We left before the week was up. They told us it was a requirement for not only there but the whole Keys Sanctuary. I think they are wrong on that after trying to research the subject as best I can, but you are probably not going to get them to change their mind if that is still their policy.

One way to maybe get around that is....



... to not tie up to a ball and anchor in the shallow water at the very end of the harbor. We did that the first night and would do that if we went back with the Mac. You can then pay them to use the dingy docks.

Another option for the car thing is that if you can find a ramp to put in then go to city marina and anchor or get a ball. Go ashore (you will have a dinghy with you?) and spend $5.00 on a cab and go get your car and take it to the marina for your use. This is if you can have the trailer there or at the ramp or someplace else.

Another option is that bus rates up and down the keys are quite cheap. So you put in someplace where you can possible leave the trailer further up the keys and then take the bus north from Marathon and retrieve the car.

Do you really need the car there? Some places you can walk to and a cab is/was only $5 anywhere and you could take the bus down to Key West or some place else.

We enjoyed the ....



.... anchorage on the west side...



...tucked in behind Fanny Keys ...

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... 11-17.html

...but it could get a little rough with west winds, but with the Mack you can anchor just behind one of the keys. Two anchors helps on a Bahamian moor to keep you in one place there since you don't want to move much swinging around as it is tight in there,

Sum

===================================
Our MacGregor 26-S

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

[Ixneigh]

Re pooh bags...I was boarded in key largo and they were fine with it. They wrote tickets to others who had improper heads...

I stayed at the Ohio key group today. The resorts marina is nice. There is NO ONSITE trailer storage. If you rent a site you can store the trailer there. Some people do that. This resort is used by mainland Florida residents who take the trailers home after launching here. They have non marine fuel and a limited bait shop. After buying a dive flag there I spent the rest of the day diving under the bridge looking for railroad artifacts. I found spikes, spacers, rail sections and rod.and cable. Also about fifteen pounds of lead sinkers. The sinkers are fair game, don't know about the railroad spikes. Don't tell on me! There are lots of fish around the abutments. There was a metal cone or crate that had a lionfish in it. I've never seen one before, and I came close to inadvertently touching it. It was about ten inches long, and very pretty. Invasive though. There was a guy swimming near me out specifically to kill them with a gig. They eat the baby groupers, he told me. The current was strong, and once it began to turn, I could pick up all the sinkers. I did not have my fins on. Won't make that mistake again. There were also lots of baby queen conch. If you are a good swimmer be sure to take a peek here. I checked out the ocean side, visited my most favorite little island in the keys, that rock right off Ohio key Oceanside. Don't miss it. Its what I envision when I see all those tiny keys that most of them.turn out to be just mangroves. The ocean side of this area is very rocky. Don't come too close unless there is no wind. If you get too close and can't put the motor down, you'll get blown tight up on hardpan coral.
Later had strong winds from the north and heavy rain. Anchor held but I had the engine down just in case. Stinging rain, no vis, shoals and bridge behind me. Still think 70 feet of chain is overkill? It ain't enough...btw, I yanked my rocna clean out in similar conditions. Firm grass bottom and a lot of wind.
my plan for tomarrow is to leave early for the content key group. The boat and all my deck clothing is washed now. Hopefully thats the last of the squalls
Ix

[Sumner]

Re pooh bags...I was boarded in key largo and they were fine with it. They wrote tickets to others who had improper heads...

I stayed at the Ohio key group today. The resorts marina is nice. There is NO ONSITE trailer storage. If you rent a site you can store the trailer there. Some people do that. This resort is used by mainland Florida residents who take the trailers home after launching here. They have non marine fuel and a limited bait shop. After buying a dive flag there I spent the rest of the day diving under the bridge looking for railroad artifacts. I found spikes, spacers, rail sections and rod.and cable. Also about fifteen pounds of lead sinkers. The sinkers are fair game, don't know about the railroad spikes. Don't tell on me! There are lots of fish around the abutments. There was a metal cone or crate that had a lionfish in it. I've never seen one before, and I came close to inadvertently touching it. It was about ten inches long, and very pretty. Invasive though. There was a guy swimming near me out specifically to kill them with a gig. They eat the baby groupers, he told me. The current was strong, and once it began to turn, I could pick up all the sinkers. I did not have my fins on. Won't make that mistake again. There were also lots of baby queen conch. If you are a good swimmer be sure to take a peek here. I checked out the ocean side, visited my most favorite little island in the keys, that rock right off Ohio key Oceanside. Don't miss it. Its what I envision when I see all those tiny keys that most of them.turn out to be just mangroves. The ocean side of this area is very rocky. Don't come too close unless there is no wind. If you get too close and can't put the motor down, you'll get blown tight up on hardpan coral.
Later had strong winds from the north and heavy rain. Anchor held but I had the engine down just in case. Stinging rain, no vis, shoals and bridge behind me. Still think 70 feet of chain is overkill? It ain't enough...btw, I yanked my rocna clean out in similar conditions. Firm grass bottom and a lot of wind.
my plan for tomarrow is to leave early for the content key group. The boat and all my deck clothing is washed now. Hopefully thats the last of the squalls
Ix

Nice report sounds like you are having fun.

On the bags we were also boarded at Key Largo, Marco Island and by Long Key by different agencies and none of them had a problem with the bags. It was only the people at Marathon City Marina and their policy that was a problem. Maybe that has passed but if we would of stayed we would of had a problem. Did you get a ball there?

Sum

===================================
Our MacGregor 26-S

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

[Ixneigh]

No I did not stay there. I like to anchor out if I can.

I left the Ohio key area early and made for big Spanish channel after looking over the gulf side of Bahia Honda. Another so so place to anchor. If you look at the charts there are two tiny creeks here that must only be accessible by dinghy because I did not see them.
The winds were light from astern and it was slow sailing through the channel, with a knot of current sgainst me. There were a lot of squalls so I drug my feet to let them pass then used the motor. The channel is well marked. At the end I turned south west towards the content key group. The chart mentions a passage but its very shallow and hard. Brown coral bar type of hard. The vis was bad because of clouds. It was also the bottom of the tide. Since there was no obvious safe entrance a carried on to the Sawyer key group farther south. Here there is an open entrance to cudjo channel. The marks aren't there. The garmin 76c guided me in, although vis had improved. I parked in the little alcove that shows three feet. The tide was dead low. There are some coral heads not charted on my charts. Big ones. Just below the surface at low tide. I took the paddle board and walked around on the exposed stoney shelf that juts off the charted island, the squiggly little line denoting riprsp reef or ledge. There were all sorts of cool tidepools here. The dogs loved it. As the tide began to come in, I felt that that little spot might become surgey. It appears pretty well protected, by all the shoals, but my instincts told me to go farther down cudjo channel to Tarpon belly key. There are several other larger, boats here. Unless you have spastic little dogs who's high point of the day is peeing on a rock theyve never peed on before, tarpon belly key looks appears non event. The anchorage is pretty protected. But has current.and is a little bouncy in moderate east winds.
Content keys looked appealing with their sandy areas and rocky shorelines. There could be a way to get in there, but I need a full day there to look. My plan is to walk the dogs early and decide if I want to do that tomarrow or the next day. I'm.leaving this area on Friday since the winds are fkrcast to be northerly. All of this area needs good weather unless you want to ride for miles in the dinghy. I had noled that I could find areas that were either deeper, or not shown on the chart but so far the chart has been pretty accurate except for a few coral heads. Note that I am unwilling to traverse shallow areas at high tide. At high tide these boats could go nearly everywhere back here, but help will be expensive. If it can even get to you, if you screw up. Even if you use content key as a day anchorage and returned to more protected areas for the night, its still worth the time. Sawyer key was quite interesting. Even these cool very large, barnacles on some of the rocks. The tide pools will.keep you busy too if you like that kind of stuff.
Ix

[Sumner]

No I did not stay there. I like to anchor out if I can.

I left the Ohio key area early and made for big Spanish channel after looking over the gulf side of Bahia Honda. Another so so place to anchor. If you look at the charts there are two tiny creeks here that must only be accessible by dinghy because I did not see them.
The winds were light from astern and it was slow sailing through the channel, with a knot of current sgainst me. There were a lot of squalls so I drug my feet to let them pass then used the motor. The channel is well marked. At the end I turned south west towards the content key group. The chart mentions a passage but its very shallow and hard. Brown coral bar type of hard. The vis was bad because of clouds. It was also the bottom of the tide. Since there was no obvious safe entrance a carried on to the Sawyer key group farther south. Here there is an open entrance to cudjo channel. The marks aren't there. The garmin 76c guided me in, although vis had improved. I parked in the little alcove that shows three feet. The tide was dead low. There are some coral heads not charted on my charts. Big ones. Just below the surface at low tide. I took the paddle board and walked around on the exposed stoney shelf that juts off the charted island, the squiggly little line denoting riprsp reef or ledge. There were all sorts of cool tidepools here. The dogs loved it. As the tide began to come in, I felt that that little spot might become surgey. It appears pretty well protected, by all the shoals, but my instincts told me to go farther down cudjo channel to Tarpon belly key. There are several other larger, boats here. Unless you have spastic little dogs who's high point of the day is peeing on a rock theyve never peed on before, tarpon belly key looks appears non event. The anchorage is pretty protected. But has current.and is a little bouncy in moderate east winds.
Content keys looked appealing with their sandy areas and rocky shorelines. There could be a way to get in there, but I need a full day there to look. My plan is to walk the dogs early and decide if I want to do that tomarrow or the next day. I'm.leaving this area on Friday since the winds are fkrcast to be northerly. All of this area needs good weather unless you want to ride for miles in the dinghy. I had noled that I could find areas that were either deeper, or not shown on the chart but so far the chart has been pretty accurate except for a few coral heads. Note that I am unwilling to traverse shallow areas at high tide. At high tide these boats could go nearly everywhere back here, but help will be expensive. If it can even get to you, if you screw up. Even if you use content key as a day anchorage and returned to more protected areas for the night, its still worth the time. Sawyer key was quite interesting. Even these cool very large, barnacles on some of the rocks. The tide pools will.keep you busy too if you like that kind of stuff.
Ix

Great write-up. Sounds like the type of place we would like to see. I'm not too interest in Content Keys as that doesn't look like a viable place to anchor with the Endeavour. I liked the info on Cudjoe as that looks interesting and the other place would be Johnston Key Channel and Jewfish Basin a little further to the west. It looks like you could get into Johnston from either the Gulf or via Cudjoe. The Endeavour has a 4'-6" draft. Harbor Channel just off of Big Spanish also looks interesting.

I see that the tidal range in the Big Spanish Channel area can be quite large for Florida, up around 5 feet at times. Did you notice that there and if so was it the same in Cudjoe which is nearby? Were the larger boats you saw down Cudjoe sailboats?

How are you posting? Do you have a computer tethered to a phone? If so how has coverage been in that area and with which carrier?

Thanks again,

Sum

===================================
Our MacGregor 26-S

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

[Ixneigh]

Returned to marathon today. Long day of combo motor and sail as wind provided. They keep changing the forecast. Tarpon keys has some neat canals cut into the main key. They aren't on my chart. The ends are either shoal or debris strewn. There are places around them if you posted the tides, where you could sneak in a Mac for more protection. The cudjo.channel is bumpy for small light boats. Big heavy keelboats will be fine with it. Warning. The coral heads shown on the edges of the channel are actually in deeper water. They are huge. Stay right in the middle of the channel until you can go over in the dinghy or carefully with someone on the bow. I sidled over there casually to have a look thinking they were probably areas of hardpan that dried at low water. No they are coral heads. Use your eyes in here just like the Bahamas. It was dead high tide when I arrived at the content keys and at that stage I could have gotten my boat up inside, but there were already lots of people about, and I did not want to sit through a tide cycle there. The tide range appeared to be about three feet judging by marine life growth. I would have to have perfect weather in order to feel comfortable sitting at anchor here. The cel signal is marginal but at tarpon belly I had three bars.
Sailing back down big Spanish channel was a delight, and the boat steered most of it. I sat on the bow and let the lonely mangroves roll by. I passed the place where I had greatfully dropped the hook to shelter from a strong norther on my little cutter some 25 years ago. near big pine key, a series of thunder heads sprung up. A consult of the weather app gave me course and speed, so I hit the gas and moved around them. Two cloud to water water spouts dropped down out of that as well as lightning. I noticed that it was in the same exact area as the squall that got me at Ohio key. This area may get more then its fair share. After the squalls faded, I kept on motoring as the winds became lighter and lighter. I ended up off marathon at sunset in flat calm conditions. Very pretty with the clouds in blue purple and orange hues as the sun descended into.the picture perfect tropical sunset. I anchored after dusk at bamboo key. The forcast has the winds easterly at 15_20 saturday so my intention is to return home while they are still light. Probably make idlamorada tomartow. There are some worthwhile things to see there at any rate.
Ix

[Sumner]

Thanks, I'll make note of all of that for when we get down there. Sounds like you have had a great trip,

Sum

===================================
Our MacGregor 26-S

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links