Boating with Sunset Delight: 2021: Key Biscayne to Marathon FL

29 November 2021

Depart: Outside No Name Harbor Anchorage 8:25

Arrive: Islamorda Barley Basin Anchorage 4:15

Distance: 60 nm

Conditions: Sunny, 70s

When we woke, we could see the early morning sun reflecting off the Cape Florida Lighthouse. It was a great way to start the day!

Off in the distance we could see the Miami skyline.

Although many boats left at sunset yesterday, a few stayed to keep us company over night.

As we headed out the channel, we got a clear view of the lighthouse one more time before we turned to the southwest.

Cape Florida Lighthouse

Our route today took us through Stiltsville. Of the original 27 buildings in this "village", only 7 remain. The first was built circa 1922 to provide a place for gambling which was legal only if one mile off shore.

One is clearly beyond repair

Jimmy Ellenburg House
unofficial Mayor of Stiltsville

After Stiltsville, we continued on our way through Biscayne National Park which is 95% water. After one last peak at Miami, our view therefore consisted of only water and clouds until we got into the mangroves of the Florida Keys where the view changed dramatically.

Last look at Miami

Mangrove-lined ICW

Mangroves along ICW

We passed a sunken sailboat that we have seen many times. It seemed to have a new addition in the masts.

Seems this boat truly has a
"crow's nest"!

We saw little boat traffic. Although we did see some folks enjoying a parasail ride.

Fun in the Keys

Clark originally planned to take us to a mooring ball at Lignumvitae Key State Park. However, we were both ready to stop earlier in the day. Clark wanted to make some phone calls before 5:00, so we bailed out and dropped anchor at Barley Basin at Islamorada. It took a full 20 minutes to scout out the basin to find a place to drop anchor that would not have us running over a fish trap. It was worth it though to cut an hour off today's travel time. Hallelujah!

Clark made his phone calls, and I solved some puzzles on my tablet for fun. Then we saw the sun set.

Clark checked for television options and found only two Spanish speaking stations in the area. Since neither of us are fluent in Spanish, we streamed the news on Clark's iPad and then turned to reading as tonight's entertainment.

30 November 2021

Depart: Islamorada Barley Basin anchorage 8:30

Arrive: Marathon anchored outside of Faro Blanco marina 12:35

Distance: 31 nm

Conditions: NE wind, 60s -> 70s

With a short travel day today, we took our time getting underway, i.e. we ate breakfast before pulling up the anchor. We had a cloudy morning, and the NE wind made the air feel a bit nippy.

Just a bit cloudy today!

Other boats at anchor nearby

View of Islamorada from boat

As I piloted the boat out of the anchorage, I had to watch the depth and fish traps carefully to make sure we did not get into any trouble. I was happy when Clark finally came up to the helm and took over. From that point on, I just had to point at the traps to assist in navigation. Some not-so-savvy fisherman put down a bunch of patriotic trap markers with the blue side of the red, white, and blue facing up. They were nearly impossible to see.

Blue on blue - real smart!

Only visible when the white part bobbed in the water

Besides the "invisible" blue ones, we had lots of other colors including red ones and green ones - it looked like Christmas!

When we were not studying the water looking for inconspicuous traps, we could enjoy the colors of the water in the Keys.

Our travels today paralleled Route 1 through the Keys. As we passed the bridge at Channel #5, we still had clouds covering the sky.

On the port side, we had Route 1 and on the starboard side, we had the Everglades National Park. When we were in the park waters, there were no traps as they are not allowed.

We arrived in Marathon just after noon and headed towards Faro Blanco Marina. Our plan was to drop anchor outside the marina and take the dinghy in to visit our boater friends there. As we traveled this way, a number of dolphins decided to come to play along side the boat. I counted at least 5 chasing us. I was not fast enough with the camera to catch the one that liked to jump right out of the water beside the boat. He did it once before I was ready with the camera and then one more time later that I just did not expect.

Best shot I could get of these fast moving guys

It felt strange and made me a bit sad to be drop anchor outside of Faro Blanco instead of heading in for another year in our familiar slip. As planned, we dropped anchor where we had a close up view of the marina instead.

We saw some folks enjoying a parasail ride here too.

We wanted to say hello to the folks on "Latitude Adjustment" and "Morning Star". When we texted the folks on "Latitude Adjustment", we found out that they too were anchored outside Faro Blanco because they were testing repairs to their auto pilot. We heard nothing back from a text to "Morning Star". Given that, we decided to "chill" for a while and go visiting later in the afternoon.

Around 3:30, we got in the dinghy and went to visit our friends. "Latitude Adjustment" was back at dock and the folks on "Morning Star" had woken up from their afternoon naps. It was nice to reconnect after a summer apart.

We left on the dinghy to head back to "Sunset Delight" just after 5:00 to be on board before sunset. As we left the marina, we got some "looks" from the guardian pelicans at the entrance to the marina.