3 December 2023
Depart: Dry Tortugas anchorage FL 8:00
Arrive: Marquesas Keys anchorage 1:45
Distance: ~ 44 nm
The Marquesas Keys are positioned between Key West and the Dry Tortugas. Unlike either of those places, there are no buildings or people residing here.
We wanted to have time to explore the Marquesas Keys via dinghy, so we got going and ate breakfast underway. All the fishing boats had left at dawn. Clark wanted to run the generator for a while before we got underway to help charge the boat batteries.
 |
| One last look at Fort Jefferson |
We had calm waters all the way today. Traps littered our path as we made our way east. Some of them had 3 or 4 floats attached. We saw one that had Red / White / Blue floats. The one pictured below "takes the cake", however, for the most floats we saw attached to a trap line.
 |
| Multiple floats on the trap - wonder why so many |
Clark was anxious to explore the Marquesas Keys. He has wondered what it was like here since we took the ferry several years ago to the Dry Tortugas. Then, we passed by here but there was no stop to look around. As it turns out, there is not really much to see in the Marquesas. Some islands covered in green stuff.
 |
| On the dinghy to go exploring |
The only living things we saw were a couple of egrets sitting in trees "fishing".
 |
| Egret hiding in the greenery |
When we anchored, Clark chose a spot he thought would be calm. Unfortunately, we experienced quite a bit of rocking. Clark thought it might be because of wakes from boats way off in the distance somewhere. If so, we hoped it would pass with time.
Lowering the dinghy was a little tricky as it swung to and fro a bit more than usual as we brought it down to the water. (The dinghy is very heavy and lowered to the water via a crane mounted on the top of Sunset Delight.) Clark heard some muttering from me as I attempted to keep the dinghy from crashing into the side of SD as it was lowered to the water.
When we returned from our dinghy excursion, however, we encountered a significant amount of trouble getting the dinghy back into its proper resting spot. As Clark tried to lower it into place (positioning must be rather precise to lock it in place), the dinghy started to swing. Like a pendulum, it picked up momentum and became more and more unwieldly. The more it swung, the more it swung.
I tried to help control the erratic motion of the belligerent dinghy but was fearful that I would end up taking a tumble off the boat in my efforts to control its behavior. I grabbed a line and held on as best I could, but otherwise, I stood out of its way.
Meanwhile, Clark was trying to control the stern of the dinghy while also trying to use the controls to precisely lower it into its proper seating. I heard a crunch, and Clark yelled, "Oh no!" I was praying that crunch had not resulted in some damage to some part of Clark's anatomy. He was fine. The dinghy - not so much - it now had a ding in the fiberglass. It managed to get itself somewhat wedged on a holding bracket. Clark got it free, where upon it started to swing wildly out of control once more.
I heard another crash, and another yell from Clark, and wondered yet again about Clark's physical wellbeing. Again, he dodged the bullet, but not so the dinghy. Once again it smacked into the holding bracket and jammed itself in place. This time the drain plug took the hit and the metal of the plug bent. I pictured broken arms, legs, or at a minimum some fingers with all this crazy activity. We were very lucky to come out unscathed. The dinghy can be patched much easier than we can.
Once we had the dinghy secured in place and took a minute to get our heart rates back to normal, we decided to pull up anchor and move a little closer to the islands for the night to try to cut down on the wake motion. Unfortunately, we did not see a significant improvement as a result of the move.
4 December 2023
Depart: Marquesas Keys anchorage 8:00
Arrive: Marlin Bay Yacht Club, Marathon, FL 3:45
Distance: ~ 60 nm
Once again, we got underway and ate breakfast once moving. Other than looking for traps, we had calm seas and not much to claim our attention on the waterway until we neared Key West. Then we saw some activity on the water.
We saw the "Carnival Dream" cruise ship heading into Key West.
Later, Clark spotted a houseboat being towed by Tow Boat US.
We passed by the entrance to Stock Island where we had enjoyed the visit with our friends Bev and Dave. Clark said we had wind coming in the next day, so we were going all the way to Marathon today.
From the Florida Straits, we could see "Fat Albert" as we passed by Big Pine Key.
 |
| "Fat Albert" Blimp |
 |
| Bridge by Bahia Honda State Park |
When we got to the 7 mile bridge, we saw Fred-the-tree on the old span of the bridge. Fred is fully decorated for Christmas. Elves climb up onto the bridge and put on the lights.
 |
| Picture of Fred (picture posted by fans on Facebook) |
To get to the Florida Bay side of the Keys, we cut through Moser Channel.
Surprisingly, it was a little foggy in Marathon. We had clear skies all the way from the Marquesas Keys to here.
Once through the 7 Mile Bridge, we saw the familiar sights of Faro Blanco lighthouse, etc.
We arrived at Marlin Bay at the same time as S/V Pangur Ban (name taken from an old Irish poem about a cat) and waited in queue for them to tie up before entering the outer basin where we will be docked for the next 3 months. Two female dockhands greeted us to help us tie up.
It took us almost 90 minutes to get ourselves situated. From experience we know we have to have our lines "just so" due to expected shifts in the strong winds. Unfortunately, we had trouble remembering how we had them last year and ended up redoing the lines multiple times. By the time we were done, I was hot, sweaty, thirsty, and grumpy.
Once we had our lines adjusted to our / my satisfaction, we walked around to see who was here already. We saw a few people and boats we recognized from prior years of staying here including "Bagus", "Northern Lights", and "Someday Came". We know others who will be arriving soon.
After a long day on the water plus the energy expended getting docked, Clark and I agreed that a walk to Upper Crust for pizza was just the thing for dinner tonight. To be able to sit down and eat without cooking it first - heaven.
We were not disappointed by the sunset views tonight.
My favorite part of the decorations is the Santa hanging onto the side of the boat for dear life!
Another boat here had underwater lights shining, and we could see the fish near the docks. A couple of them were huge.
No comments:
Post a Comment