Inching our way to Marathon - day by day!

Waiting out the weather safe and secure
at Rose Marina - Marco Island

A jar of pickles on every table
That's a new one!

Several sunsets along the way - this one
is in the Everglades

The skies never disappoint when you're out
on the anchor

Shark River

low rollers  -  rolling on by

Same sky moments later!

November 20 Thursday    I mentioned in my last post that we were leaving today for Marathon.  Well we decided that wasn’t such a good idea after all.  The winds were still kicking up.  So after spending three nights on an anchorage in Smokehouse Bay we decided that we might as well move to a marina.  It looked like we might be here at least a couple more days.  We went into Rose Marina where we had stayed back in February 2012 on our first run down.  It was so awful windy and the tide was so strong that we had a heck of a time trying to get into the slip. NautiNell thought she was a kite!   After a few runs at it – the dockmaster decided that it would be better to put us on the outside with an alongside tie.  That was much better.  Finally we were tied up and had electric!

That evening we walked to a local hangout called “Sand Bar”.  It was a nice little local dive that was just a few blocks away.  Of course my GPS took us the long route around!  When we finally found it after walking several blocks – you could practically see the marina from the front door!  Oh well….. It was a scenic trip – not!  This is the first place that I’ve ever seen where they put a huge jar of pickles and a giant set of tongs on each table!  They were good too!  We also had probably one of the best cocktails in a long time.  Huge and stout!  The food was good too and so was the "people watching".

It was still windy – so glad we’re tied up – much easier to sleep tonight…..

November 21  Friday   Cold (by Florida standards) and windy!  Getting rather tired of this….  Might as well do my laundry while we wait out this weather.  Just another day in paradise!  Leaving tomorrow if all goes well.

November 22  Saturday   We left the Rose Marina at 8:00 a.m.!  We had planned to do the inside passage to Coons Key which would take us pretty close to Everglades City where we would anchor.  We wouldn’t have to deal with Cape Romano where we have to go out rather far to miss the shoaling.  The farther out we would have to go the bigger the waves.  Inside = no waves.   However, the Captain wasn’t too happy about it after we went under the bridge and found ourselves in less than 2 feet of water!  It isn’t marked very well there either.  After a couple of tries  -  we decided we’d just go outside.  It was supposed to be fairly nice outside until later today.  So after getting an early start – here we were heading to the outside about 8:45.  Still not bad – we were only going 35 miles.  The first 20+ miles were fine.  Not a lot of wind and not any bad waves.  But then the wind picked up and the waves began to build.  We made it to Russell Pass where we planned to anchor finally about 1:30 – very tired of being banged around.  Of course, it also started to shower once we got to the anchorage.  We’re only about 3 miles from Everglades City so if it clears up some maybe we’ll take a dinghy ride into town.  Tomorrow we’re going to go to Little Shark River and anchor out till Monday morning when we’ll cross the Florida Bay to Marathon.  At least that’s the plan! 

November 23  Sunday   Russell Pass was a great anchorage although we did have some current with the tide coming in and out.  We were all by ourselves even though there was enough space for several boats.  It’s right in the middle of the Everglades so there's nothing much around but mangroves.  We also were on the dark side of the moon so it was darker than Coley’s Hole! There was no moon, no stars and no lights from any city.  Wow!  I don’t think I’ve seen it ever this dark. 

We left there at 8:00 a.m.   It was a much nicer ride than yesterday although the wind and waves were beginning to build about an hour from Shark River.  Not bad though.  We made it to Shark and was on anchor by 1:00 p.m. – again only about a 35 mile trip.  When we were setting the anchor a HUGE stingray jumped right out of the water about six feet up!  It made a humongous splash!  Also, earlier along the way we saw what we think was a small shark (4 foot) that was pretty much riding the waves.  Very cool!  You never know what you’re going to see especially when you’re on the outside. 

We’re tucked in the river but you can tell the wind is really blowing out there.  Hope it settles down like is forecasted for tomorrow.  We will be crossing Florida Bay tomorrow and should reach Marathon midafternoon.  Can’t wait!  BTW:  That huge stingray jumped several more times – one time it was only about 20 feet from the boat!  Mike did a little fishing too.  Caught several small saltwater catfish – that was about it. 

November 24  -  Monday   Crossing Florida Bay today – about 40 miles.  Up early and ready to leave only to find ourselves fogged in!  The fog was as thick as pea soup!  Hadn’t planned on that!  We finally left about 7:30 but still couldn’t see more than 50 feet in front of the boat.  We had our radar on but that didn’t last long.  About five minutes after we were out in the open water it stopped working.  Slowly we went – the fog would lift and then return.  It was really weird – the water was as flat as a swimming pool but the visibility at times was no more than 1/4 mile.  It was noon and we were still fighting the fog – the sun was shining through the fog – but you still couldn’t see much.

“NautiNell goes crabbing!”  We had been out about an hour when we were maneuvering through all the crab traps when Mike yelled we got one!  He wasn’t fishing so that wasn’t a good thing…..  We had snagged one of the crab traps with our props.  Luckily we were going really slowly because of the fog and Mike was able to shut her down before the lines got too tangled up.  Mike had to suit up to go snorkeling.  He’d mentioned that he wanted to do some snorkeling once we got to Marathon but this wasn’t exactly what he meant.  He managed to cut the lines away and free the props.  There didn’t seem to be any damage.  Of course, we wouldn’t really know until we were up and running again.  He even managed to tie the line back to the trap so no one would hit a free floating line and also the “crab guy” wouldn’t lose his trap.  Such a nice guy, huh.  Anyway finally about 1:00 p.m. the Seven Mile Bridge was insight!  Yea!  That meant we were only about 1 1/2 hours away!  By 2:30 we were finally in Boot Key Harbor which is where Sombrero Marina is located.  By 3:00 we were tied up in our slip safe and somewhat sound!  It was good to see all the familiar smiling faces there to greet us as we pulled into what is to be our winter home.  There are several boaters here but there are still a few that haven’t made it yet.  They should all be here within the week.

So nice to finally be here – what a trip!  We had planned to take our time getting here when we left Jacksonville on October 20 but never intended to take this long! Well, now that we’re here – let the fun begin!

Till next time!

Admiral “C”