Doin' The Upper Keys in Feb.

[Gazmn]

For the month of February, I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on a house rental in either Key Largo, fairly close to Pennekamp; or Islamorada - oceanside.

Key Largo is about $1400 more 4BR 2.5Ba but in the place I'd like to be: Location, location, location.

Islamorada is a nicer remodeled home 2BR/2Ba. Both have docks. Isla's gonna be a bit tight b/c Landlord's boat is on lift out there. Leaves me about 22'
We're trying to work something out. I have 1400 reasons to make this work...

So I'm hitting site up for local knowledge & thoughts.
Which would be better for Mac between the two?
Where could I cross over for Gulf side sailing, snorkeling, etc [ With mast up]
& other things to do or see

Also, is anyone gonna be around the Upper Keys in Feb?

Or, interested as crew or a house share?

Anyone

[bahama bound]

We just did that month at hawks cay and I just can not rave enough about it ,they have villas that have seawalls to tie the boat up 10 feet from your porch ,5 or 6 pools .marina alone was 900.00 for the month but that included all resort amenities and truck and trailer parking ,Bahia was only like 22 miles south and pennecamp was like 40 miles north ,great sailing ,coffins patch reef was right there ,got lobsters .....man ,my wife even said she would bring the kids home and let me stay down there for another 2 months ,she said I just looked so happy and at peace she just did not have the heart to make me leave .we had some damage to the house from the storms that required one of us to come back to Charleston .

[Norca]

I am planning to launch Nor-Ca from South Dade Marina on the 30th of January, no fixed itinerary yet, but we will be in the neighborhood until early March,
Maybe we'll see You there?

[Sumner]

So are both locations on the ocean side?

Just north of Islamorada there is Snake Creek Bridge (ActiveCaptain--Shall open on signal, except that from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., the draw need open only on the hour and half-hour.) That would give you access to the Gulf Side. You also have the high Channel Five fixed bridge a little ways to the south to cross back and forth to the Gulf. The Gulf side might give more sailing on more days due to the prevailing easterlies and more protected. The exception would be fronts coming through but by March you should be getting past those.



We really liked the Keys from that area north on the Gulf side. I liked the mix of open water....


http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... 11-23.html

.... cuts between open water and....


http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... 11-23.html

.....the Islands that started to appear west of the Keys.

Up in the Key Largo area to get back and forth without lowering the mast I think your only option is back south to Snake Creek or quite a ways north to the cuts north of John Pennekamp like the one I went through going to the Bahamas, Anglefish. The current can rip going through those and I could of timed that better at Anglefish. If you are on the ocean side either place if might be a long day getting to the Gulf Side and sailing there and back to the ocean side in a day. Personally due to the more protected water on the Gulf side and the diversity on that side I'd rather be there if I had the choice. I think you would have more days you could be on the water weather/wind wise, but that is my personal preference.

Have fun whatever you end up doing and check more on places to pass back and forth as I might not have all of that right ,

Sumner

============================
1300 miles to the Bahamas and back -- 2015

The MacGregor 26-S

The Endeavour 37

Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

[Gazmn]

Up in the Key Largo area to get back and forth without lowering the mast I think your only option is back south to Snake Creek or quite a ways north to the cuts north of John Pennekamp like the one I went through going to the Bahamas, Anglefish. The current can rip going through those and I could of timed that better at Anglefish. If you are on the ocean side either place if might be a long day getting to the Gulf Side and sailing there and back to the ocean side in a day. Personally due to the more protected water on the Gulf side and the diversity on that side I'd rather be there if I had the choice. I think you would have more days you could be on the water weather/wind wise, but that is my personal preference.

Thx for the trek & info Sumner. It brought back memories to my '09 Key Largo trip Gulf side. It was a lot of shallow water, following the markers with wind on the nose

I think if I go further South I'll have more gulf /ocean access i.e. 7 Mile Br. & I can access some of the gulf's diversity.


Bahama B's Hawk's Cay may be my carry away from all of this. Twice, I rented a house & then didn't boat nearly as much as I should have. Got too comfortable.

Hopefully I can catch up with Norca, esp should he travel further south. Which is a lot easier to do on US1 than in Blackwater Sound & Florida Bay.

It's $1750 for a month in Hawks Cay, Bahama - unless you can tell me the secret word to get it closer to your $900. Either way this is probably the way to go... Duck Key, oceanside

[Norca]

Gazm, we have no itinerary yet, probably we will just go wherever fancy and the wind takes us,
but as we have 5 weeks available it is quite likely we will head sout toward Marathon at least

[Gazmn]

As we get closer, I'll PM you, Norca with my contact info. See if we can't meet up. While I'm gonna set up a Topic on the Miami Boat Show, I plan on going there too.

[bahama bound]

That's what they quoted me too and during the conversation they said said 900.00 because the marina is over half empty ,place was fabulous though ,gym ,pools .the girl we talked to was Beverly seiling her email was Beverly.seiling@hawkscay.com or 305-743-9000 ,option 1 or 2 !

[Gazmn]

That's what they quoted me too and during the conversation they said said 900.00 because the marina is over half empty ,place was fabulous though ,gym ,pools .the girl we talked to was Beverly seiling her email was Beverly.seiling@hawkscay.com or 305-743-9000 ,option 1 or 2 !

They already have my credit card & reservation at above price. I talked to the dock master, Ed 2x who is using one of the temp slips for me 'cause we're not wide beamed. That & since this is during their peak season I'm probably stuck, but I'll ask nicely when I get there.

[Ixneigh]

There was someone else who was supposed to be in the area early Jan. He called me for a get together but then I never heard from him again. It was windy that week.
Hope nothing happened to him
Ix

[bahama bound]

Ed was our buddy ,great guy !

[Gazmn]

Hey Bahama,
Where & how did u shower? While I have one on board, I'm not exactly looking forward to that

[bahama bound]

Man they have super nice bath houses at the marina all are private rooms with showers and toilets and spotless ,beautiful pools and hot tubs ,you get free Starbucks coffee in the morning ,we took fold up bikes that I bought off Craigslist really cheap to get around the resort but its all short walking distances.but i gotta say food at the marina was really expensive ,my kids could have kept us with plenty of fish from right of the dock ,water sooo clear ,most of what they caught was snapper ,great guy named mike lives there on a benneteau named barbara jean took us out sailing !

[Norca]

As we get closer, I'll PM you, Norca with my contact info.