East end of Long Key

[Ixneigh]

This is one of my favorite places because it affords three things that I look for while cruising: privacy, shelter and a place to land the dogs.
This area has all three. And what passes for a beach, here in the keys.
Your target is the tongue of slightly deeper water that works its way nearer the shore from markers one and two. You can find these markers on the ocean side of channel five bridge.
Do not rely just on the gps, although mine has been pretty good. Go in slow and keep your eyes open. There is an unmarked wreck in the water as you get closer to shore but it's visible, as are the surrounding flats, if you have good light which you should. You can get a bit closer to shore then you might think and the bottom is soft and grassy. There is also a wrecked boat on the shore itself. Since this spot is so deep into the flats you are protected even from winds out of the east. Although this requires good visibility to get to, once there I happily spend the night, or several, and don't much worry about weather, squalls and things like that. Holding is muddy grass. The water is so shallow you can set the hook from the dinghy or even walk out there if you don't sink in too much. Ashore is a beach, seaweed and dead sponge strewn. Perfect for dogs. On the other side of the beach it's all low swamp and mangroves. So the land here really just consists of the beach. And this is not your sugar sand beach either. It's a courser coral sand. Its doubtful you'll see anyone here except flats fishermen. Maybe a few kayakers. It's too shallow for anyone else. The bugs were moderate when I was there but not as bad as Elliot's key. Long key bight proper is a sheltered anchorage if you work your way in as far to the south as possible. The bigger boats stuck to the deeper water in the middle but macs can go farther in and have calmer water in strong easterly winds. There's not much else there. No land, all mangroves. You can dinghy around the end of Long Key to get to the beaches I mentioned earlier. If you go into the bight far enough you'll have protection from most weather, even if it does look a bit exposed, because it's shallow at that end.
The current in Channel five is strong. If it's been really windy, the water hereabouts may be too cruddy to read well. So do be careful if you're heading for that beach. Ideally the flats, which bare at low water, should be easy to see and the tongue of deeper water equally apparent.
Ix

[Sumner]

Good info in these Key's posts, thanks. One of the difficult things to find in the Keys is places where you can go ashore without having to pay, so that info is really good.

We had considered Long Key Bight if for some reason the wind shifted to the west but on our trip north out of the Gulf side of Marathon it stayed out of the east so we were able to anchor on the Gulf side of Long Key ....

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... 11-21.html

One....



... could of taken a dog ashore where we anchored, above...

We also stayed at....

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... 11-22.html

....Shell Key, but south of where you stayed there....



....but, you can't go ashore, with or without a dog there. If I go back I'll probably try your anchorage north of Shell Key,

Sumner

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