Ferry Ride to Dry Tortuga National Park
Depart Key West: 8:00
Return to Key West: 5:30
Distance: 125 nautical miles round trip
To get to the ferry by 7:00, we got up at 6:10. Since breakfast and lunch would be provided by the ferry service, we only had to get dressed, grab our equipment / supplies for the day, and get going. When we got to the ferry terminal and checked in, we discovered that boarding did not commence until 7:25, so we would have been fine to be late. However, boarding was on a first come - first board basis, so I was glad we got there earlier than others.
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| Yankee Freedom III Ferry to Dry Tortuga |
It took a while to get everyone boarded, and we left the dock around 8:00 a.m. Shortly after leaving port, Captain Meg came over the intercom to announce that we would be encountering a squall that should last ten minutes or so. She recommended that anyone on deck who did not wish to get soaked should come inside the ferry until the storm passed.
Shortly afterwards, the rain came down hard.
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| Downpour! |
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| Storm Clouds Behind us now |
As Captain Meg predicted, the squall was short-lived. After that the skies cleared, and the weather became ideal and remained that way for the rest of the day.
Mostly we saw lots of open water, but the cruise director, Jeff aka "Hollywood", pointed out some sites of interest on the 2.5 hour trip to the island.
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| Dive Boat searching for gold and relics from a long-ago ship wreck. $500,000 worth of goods have been found so far, but an estimated $600,000 in artifacts are believed to still be out there yet to be found. |
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| The Marquesas islands on the way to Dry Tortuga |
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| Hospital Island - served as a "hospital" to care for the sick away from Fort Jefferson |
We met a few people on the boat and chatted with them to pass the time. Finally, after more than two hours of travel, we got our first glimpse of Fort Jefferson aka Fort Jeff. (A trip of this distance would be a full-day ride on our own boat, and we would need a three-day window of good seas -- a day out, a day to tour, and a day to return.)
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| Fort Jefferson coming into view in the distance |
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| Getting closer ... |
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| Fort Jeff - under constant repair due to age and the harsh elements |
We arrived at the fort at 10:30 and disembarked ten minutes later. Upon hearing the options for guided tours, we opted for the 11:00, twenty-minute history of the fort presentation. The 1.5 hour tour of the fort did not fit in with our snorkeling plans. Before the 11:00, we took a quick walk around the moat wall to get the lay of the land.
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| Dry Tortuga Anchorage (where we might have stayed) |
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| Fort Jefferson defenses |
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| Fort Jefferson Moat |
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| with Frigate Birds flying overhead (they have a 7-foot wingspan and weigh only 3.5 pounds) |
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| Moat on one side, ocean on the other |
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| Whoops! Time to turn around. Hurricane Irma took out a 40-foot section of the moat wall. |
The fort is under continuous repair. We saw fallen bricks and debris everywhere. Some sections of the moat wall, although standing, are in bad shape. Watching the water on both sides of me, I tread carefully in the poorer quality sections of the walk. With a large section missing, we had to turn around and go back the way we came. We hurried back to attend the 11:00 presentation.
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| "Hollywood" preparing to give his presentation. I'm the one in the blue hat looking for a seat! |
Before heading back to the ferry for lunch, we stopped into the visitor center / gift shop. The park system has a "no take" policy, so any shells that are found must remain on the grounds for other visitors to see. The gift shop had a shell display.
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| Look! Don't Take! |
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| Shells on display at visitor center |
Lion fish are an invasive and dangerous species. A sign at the park notified visitors to report any sightings in the area.
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| Hey! I found a lion fish - in the visitor center! |
After our quick look at the visitor's center, we headed back to the ferry for lunch. The buffet offered a reasonable variety for a ferry. Clark made himself a turkey on whole wheat sandwich, and I had tuna on marbled rye bread. Because Clark expected to get hungry later, he also made himself a peanut butter and jelly to eat on the ride back to Key West. As luck would have it, I had a baggy in my backpack that he could use to keep his stash fresh until later.
After eating we walked over to the beach to check out the lay of the land for snorkeling. Clark took some photos along the way.
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| Sign for docking - Dinghys left and Seaplanes right |
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| Seaplane docked at Dry Tortuga |
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| Fort Jefferson |
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| Important Coal Refueling Station for steam-powered warships Only thing remaining now is a concrete slab! |
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| Placard with Aerial view of fort Fort Jefferson is one of the largest U.S. forts |
We rushed back to get our snorkeling gear and change into swim suits and wet suits. Clark brought a watertight pouch for the camera to take pictures under water.
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| on the beach |
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| Evelyn snorkeling! |
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| Coral |
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| More coral |
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| Brain coral and small black and yellow fish |
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| Blue and gold fish by the fort wall |
At some point, my gut told me we had been out there long enough, and we better call it a day. Before climbing out of the water, however, I asked Clark to unzip my wet suit. He did and I peeled it off! As I felt the cold water caress my body, I sighed a deep sigh and said, "Free at last!" I took a few minutes to enjoy the water before climbing out. The ferry said the water was 72 degrees, but Clark also saw a sign at the park saying 74 degrees. Whatever it was, it felt lovely to me!
I needed a wet suit, but perhaps not one as thick as the one provided. I was too hot! Every time some cold water sneaked into the suit while I was swimming I was pleased! Clark, on the other hand, said that his short-legged wet suit, although thick and long-sleeved, was not quite sufficient to keep him warm. He got a leg cramp as a result of the cold water on his legs.
When we got back to our bags and checked our watches, we found it to be a little after 2:00. With so much equipment to stow, I knew I had my hands full to make the 2:45 boarding time. Our equipment was covered in sand that had to be rinsed off at the saltwater rinsing stations. Then we had to make our way to the fresh water station to rinse ourselves. The changing rooms only had two stalls, so I had to stand in line for my turn to change to street clothes.
Besides all that I had to figure out how to get two wet wet suits stuffed into our carrying bags. I thought the bags were heavy before we soaked the wet suits in water. Ha! Little did I know. Clark brought his weight belt for diving and carried 23 pounds of weights in his backpack to use while snorkeling. I am sure they gained a bit of weight by being wet as well. Needless to say we staggered onto the ferry with all our stuff about 2:40! We were not the last to board!
On the ferry ride back, we saw most of the same sights as on the way out. Clark took photos both going and coming, so I had many to choose from for the blog.
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| Cruise Ship in Key West, Florida |
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| Sail boat in Key West waters |
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| Returning to Key West |
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| Crazy-looking boat called CruisinTikiKeyWest |
We docked next to the Yankee Freedom III's sister ship which travels from Key West to Fort Myers.
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| Coming in to dock at 5:30 |
After disembarking we walked directly to the dive shop to return my wet wet suit to get rid of that weight asap! From there we walked the short distance back to the boat and started the ugly process of unpacking all our equipment and rinsing off any residual sand that came back with us.
While I pulled leftovers out of the fridge for dinner, Clark captured the night's sunset picture for the blog.
After such a long day, we had no more energy left in us and retired to bed at an early-for-us time.
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