Florida Keys & Dry Tortugas

[PecosBill]

Going to Florida this fall and plan on sailing the keys and to Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas weather permitting.

Any advice where to park the truck and trailer while cruising for extended periods of time?

Dan

[Chopper Pilot]

I have not done that one yet, so please get a nice camera and plan on making it a documentary for us all. On youtube, the bonnie Blue went down there and recorded some, you should, if you can, help us all out

[bahama bound]

On our bucket list for this year ! Still wish we could get a group of Macs to go !

[PecosBill]

I have not done that one yet, so please get a nice camera and plan on making it a documentary for us all. On youtube, the bonnie Blue went down there and recorded some, you should, if you can, help us all out

Got three cameras lined up. All HD 720 or better. Gonna sail Lake Michigan this summer and test them out, and me and the boat! LOL Dan's big adventure, never sailed before. Always been as power boat guy. I think I'm gonna like slowing down. Got shore power and will be looking for some exciting locations to "camp out" at. Enjoy the local flavor and hopefully some good food, and make friends. Just bought the boat. It is in heated storage now and won't be able to get to it until the end of April or first part of May. Oh well, waiting is half the fun.!!

Dan

[fishstalker7]

Hi all,

I'm putting together two trips to the Dry Tortugas (DT) this year and may be able to help with some logistics...particularly after the first trip (solo to scout for 2nd family trip). The first will be in the early August/mid-September timeframe (hurricane season allowing...which is usually not bad until mid-September/October) and a 2nd in the November/December timeframe.

The first trip will be in the wet season with warm weather, but calmer winds/waves typically with periodic thunderstorms and less crowds. A weather decision will be made about 2-3 weeks prior based on tropical systems "in the box" to adjust dates by a week +/- or cancel. I will likely launch and stage from Key West for this trip to maximize weather window to DT (for family scouting purposes). If weather was really good (light hurricane season forecast now), there is a small possibility (10%) of starting this trip from a west coast of Florida location (Ft Meyers to Naples area) and doing a long sail straight to the DT. Though I will be solo...families welcome (my kids can't come due to scheduling).

The 2nd trip will be in the dry season, but with higher wind/wave possibilities and bigger numbers of visitors/boats anchored. This trip will go and launch in middle Keys or Key West (final stage point) and have a contingency Keys trip planned to go Key West to Marathon area if weathered out from DT run.

Both will target 7-10 day trip plans.

If you're interested, the dates for both can be adjusted within those months pretty easily?

Fair winds,

David

[Ixneigh]

I may be up for one of those DT trips.
Ix

[Retcoastie]

Parking ------ Hmmmm

Some folks have made the trip from the marina on Ohio Key. That has been some years ago so their parking rules and prices may have changed. Memory may kick in and the name of the marina may come back to me, in which case I will post it.

There was a hardware store on Stock Island that had a large, little used, fenced, lumber yard that would allow you to park a trailer only for $10 a day. Again memory fails on the name. I got the info from Oceanside Marina. They told me then I could park my truck in their lot but not the trailer and suggested I get in touch with the hardware store. That was race week when they were really busy. Perhaps you could call with your dates and they might have the room to allow you to park there, using their launch ramps of course.

Key West City Marina has plenty of parking. I never used them so no idea of the fees.

If you have military connections, NAS Key West had a ramp at Sisbee Island. The ramp at Boca Chica is unusable.

Let us know what you find, please. Others may follow.

Ken

[Obelix]

The Dry Tortugas are on our bucket list for next year.
All updated info about marinas, storage and so on would be highly appreciated.

Obelix

That is, if hopefully Vic's AP is available by then
Did you read this, Vic

[fishstalker7]

For the good of the order...

I spoke with Terri at the City Marina at Garrison Bight (305) 809-3981 today. A very nice lady who lived on and served the DT in the past. They have a $10 ramp fee payable in and out. Parking is as available/no reservations with a $10 per day/per vehicle (truck plus trailer equal 2x vehicles). A slip runs $54/night with electric, water, and pumpout for a 26' vessel. There is an 18' bridge clearance between the ramp and Garrison Bight slips (can reserve a slip), so masts would have to be rigged, cradled and slip-raised. She said most of the marinas and boatyards in the area charge more than $20/day parking (truck and trailer). In August and November, she did not think availability of parking would be a problem (no reservations), but there are problem times of the year so you may want to check your own trip times.

If you pull in, rig/launch and slip that night to provision, the ramp fee and parking fee for that night only are waived under the slip fee. So a ten day trip with a slip night on both ends would run $108 (slips) plus $160 [8x$20 (truck and trailer)] for total of $268. As this information is free and believed to be accurate...you get what you paid for and no guarantees are implied or warranted.

I will be doing an onsite inspection of this info and the facilities on a non-sailing trip to Key West in the 1st half of May...so I can verify then the accuracy and/or group coordinate. I will also be calling some other resources between now and then to find other options, but this seemed the easiest plan of action to have it all in one place and supplies handy.

As to my trip planning, some dates were coordinated today and it looks like the first trip will be from 14-23 August and the second trip 20-30 November (11 days to avoid holiday traffic Sunday). Unfortunately, it does not look like I have as much flexibility to move those around as I hoped due to other staff vacations and having my office covered, but there might be a little fine tuning possible?

My general plan is to do a 7 day trip with 3 days for weather:
Day 1, arrive to Key West to rig, secure truck/trailer, slip boat and top off provisions.
Day 2, depart to Marquesas (20 miles)/overnight.
Day 3, move to DTNP (50 miles).
Day 4, visit Fort
Day 5, snorkel park area
Day 6, visit surrounding Keys
Day 7, depart DTNP Key West (70 miles full run back)/slip that night
Day 8, de-rig/trailer home OR do extra Keys exploring around Key West to Marathon to use weather days

Days 6,9,10 are weather days. If weather is exceptionally clear/steady, then a day 7 in DTNP.

Trip plan maximizes weekends/Thanksgiving time and runs a Friday off thru the 2nd Sunday on calendars (November trip has 11th travel day (Monday)/one extra day in DT to avoid holiday traffic).

Hope this is helpful...fair winds!

David

PS...here's a good website with some other resources I'll be working thru for parking/launching/recovery ops...http://www.keywesttravelguide.com/trave ... oat-yards/

[Divecoz]

I will keep an eye on this thread as I too hope/desire to make this trip.. I "Think" I can down load the tracks to get inside the Marquesas which is very tricky.. I will depart from Charlotte Harbor.
Richard

[fishstalker7]

As an update...the August DT dates may be changing to roughly a week earlier than my previous posted dates...contact me if you are lurking and considering going in the same time slot and I'll lock it down.

[bahama bound]

Keep us posted ?

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

Did this trip ever happen? I heard they have closed the ramp at Oceanside so I wonder where most Macs are launching at in KW these days?

[bahama bound]

Think we were talking about it in Feb or march ,spent the last month doing a ton of work to our mac ,actually heading to the keys for a month with the kids leaving Charleston s.c this Tuesday !!!! Also trying to get a Bahamas trip going .i know of a single woman going to do Bahamas in in January on her m .and I think may be hitting exumas as well .

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

Where do you plan to launch from?