Well, we’ve made it to the southern most point of our Great Loop journey....Key West! It feels like a milestone. From here our travels will be northward heading for the next several years. Additionally, this marks the end of what we would consider the Gulf of Mexico and GICW (gulf coast inter coastal waterway). From here we will be venturing out into the Atlantic Ocean as well as its inter coastal waterway.
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| Chicken for dinner? 😮 |
We slept peacefully and arose shortly before dawn. The plan had been to prep for the days trip out into the Atlantic where we would take Hawks Channel all the way down to Key West. This route would have had us running on the east (outside) of the Keys all the way down. However, after carefully evaluating a combination of forecasts (weather/wind/waves) we decided the ‘inside route’ which kept us on the Gulf side of the islands would be best for us and our light, shallow draft boat. We had “planned” to fuel up and pump out waste tanks right a 7am and immediately get out onto the trip. Again though the weather has other plans for us and we held up at the marina for a few hours to wait and see what the weather was going to do. We prepped everything to go including making our float plan this time by informing our emergency contact as to our departure/arrival times and planned path.
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| Water was pretty flat leaving Marathon |
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| Skies were looking a bit ominous though |
Departing Faro Blanco at a little after 11am the skies were grey but the waters were smooth. We made good time cruising at about 17mph. It is a very neat cruise through all off the many islands of the keys. Water conditions remained very favorable the entire 61 mile trip today. A good portion of the time we had ominous looking skies off to the Southwest. We did have a period of about 30-45 minutes where the rain came down in torrents so we slowed down considerably and went down below to drive from the interior helm.
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| The skies opened up and gave Aquaholic a good rinse down |
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| To the salon helm we retreated.....windshield wipers slappin to the rhythm of the song on the radiooooo |
As we got nearer to Key West the charted path brought us through a series of very narrow marked channels that gave us a nice view of downtown. The water was now crystal clear giving us a perfect view down to the bottom of the 6-10 ft deep channel that wound its way through the waters leading us to our marina location. We did have a 'near grounding' experience as we got very near to the marina when we accidentally went to the wrong side of a channel marker at a location where it had us do a hairpin turn. The boat slowed to nearly a halt in the water less than 2' deep and we kicked up lots of sand for a hundred feet.....the props likely needed a good cleaning anyhow, lol.
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| US Army special forces training center. They had a boat with several guys doing training dives right outside the channel in this spot |
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| Narrow Channel |
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| But very easy to see when you are in the channels since you could see the bottom the entire time. Pic doesn't do it justice |
As we were backing into our slip, fortunately on very calm waters with almost no wind, we looked down into the clear waters and instantly saw dozens of HUGE tarpon greeting us by swimming around directly behind the boat. These things are beasts....some have to be as large as 6' long or more. Pretty crazy. Too bad there is no fishing allowed in the marina 😂
Sunset Marina is part of an apartment complex in an area about 3 miles east of the busiest/action packed parts of Key West. We chose this marina because they quoted us VERY reasonable rates on both slip rental and fuel. After checking in we did discover that the rate quoted over the phone to Renee was misquoted/misunderstood and it was actually more than we expected but still one of the more reasonable in Key West. We had chosen to go ahead and get the weekly slip rental (Wednesday-Wednesday) because by doing that you essentially break even at 4 days. Additionally, Renee has to take the proctored final exam for her math theory class on Saturday morning and we want to ensure we are at a marina with good WiFi and calm waters for her to be able to do that. We will not likely stay here the entire week because we will need to start our trek north to stay on a reasonable schedule. However.....as we are looking at 'Windy' app forecasts as well as the weather forecast the conditions over the next 4-5 days look less than favorable for travel anyhow. We had 'planned' to do the outside Atlantic route back up to above Marathon when we depart but we may have to reconsider this depending how things develop over the next several days.
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| View from the upper floor of Sunset Marina Clubhouse |
The weather appeared like it was going to remain decent for at least several hours before more rains were predicted to move in. So, we fairly quickly jumped on our bikes and rode the ~3 miles over into the heart of downtown. Key West older historical streets and homes are beautiful and fun to look at. We set our GPS/maps to bring us to 'The Dirty Pig' a restaurant owned by Ben, a good friend of ours who moved down here almost 10 years ago. We had not eaten anything since early this morning and our tummies were ready for some good food. We stood outside of The Dirty Pig talking and catching up with Ben for some time before going on in and enjoying some of the best BBQ we have ever had! Absolutely delicious ribs served up with great sides (collard greens, smoked backed beans and corn bread). Well done Ben and staff....well done!
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| Stage at 'The Dirty Pig' owned by a good friend of ours, Ben. No live music on tap yet since just reopening recently. |
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| Read the sign....that is the caption silly |
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Very hungry after a full day of cruising and biking
Renee only let Erik have one bone of the full rack! not really..... |
We left our bikes in a gated area behind the restaurant and set off on foot walking through the neighborhood, then along the 'Harbor Walk' and to Malory Square. A fair number of the shops and most all of the restaurants were open. The crowds were very light. The very cloudy skies kept temperatures reasonable but also made for a very unspectacular sunset again this evening :-( It is fun and interesting to walk around and people watch in Key West.....definitely lots of varied people here.
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Erik seems to think we might need yet another boat
This one would be a good option
30 ft Chris Craft open bow had beautiful lines and classy, plush seating
We may start a Go Fund Me Page :-) |
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| Historical Marker sign says this is one of the oldest building in Key West built in 1856 |
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One of many huge old estates
a good number are now hotels or bed and breakfasts |
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| Feed me! |
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| Another beautiful old home....there are tons of them |
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| Several cool looking old sailboats that typically go out for sunset cruises....when the sun is out |
We rode back to the marina and our boat at about 8:30pm and were both very tired. Showers...coffee...bed, you know the routine by now right? We thank God for a safe trip down here today with calm waters and hard raWe ins to wash any remaining salt from the boat for us :-)
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