Friday, February 3 - We Are in the Keys! Turtle Sighting

Friday, February 3 - We Are in the Keys! Turtle Sighting

Danny is really worried about running out of gas.  The 20 gallons we bought in Flamingo probably didn't cover the extra distance getting in and out of there.  We had hoped to go to Key Largo - Jane and David get there today - but we didn't have enough gas.  The only place we could find was close to Fiesta Key, but nobody answered the phone or radio to give us information.  As we got in sight, the harbormaster called and said she didn't have enough water for our boat.  The closest place to that marina was on the outside route (the Atlantic side), and we had to go back several miles to get to a channel with a bridge that had enough vertical clearance for us.  Danny had been worried about gas for two days, but by now he was convinced we were running on fumes.

We made it to the marina on Lower Matecombe Key!   I think we would have paid even more than that $5.00 per gallon.  The marina was small, but nice. The employees were so helpful, and we were so relieved!  Danny tipped them when we got there, and Jose became our best bud.  He took us to the restaurant in the golf cart, then gave us his phone number to call when we were ready to go back to the boat.  Lunch was nice, the Ship's Store had a map that we needed, it was our first Atlantic stop, and WE HAD GAS!

Back on the Gulf side (inside route), Danny commented on how clear the water was.  I started looking out the side of the boat and it was very pretty.  AND, I saw a turtle!  Of course we were past it before I could get my camera out, but it was a big one, take my word for it!

Cruising in the Keys is not at all what I expected.  I pictured us riding along just off shore, dropping an anchor and taking the dinghy in to the beach whenever we wanted to. The reality is we cruise way off shore due to the shallow water and couldn't see a beach if there was one.  I also thought we could go from inside to outside between any islands.  Wrong again.  The vertical clearance at bridges limits us to four places.  Navigating in the Keys is more work than I ever thought.

I know I have talked about crab pots and their buoys before, but they have been awful the last couple of days.  They are so hard to see, especially in the morning sun.  And they are placed so randomly that you can never get any pattern.

Then today on the Gulf side, they had this weedy stuff growing on them that pulled them down into the water.  As if they weren't hard enough to see already.

We finally saw a boat out checking the traps.  I wonder how often they check them.  There are so many traps there should be enough crab for everybody everywhere.  Here in the Keys, the season is over in the spring and they have to pull the traps until fall.  That would be a good reason to boat here in the summer not winter.

We anchored for the night off Grassy Key and enjoyed another beautiful sunset.