ssloop: Marathon-Key West

On Thursday, our friends Paul & Cindy arrived Marlin Bay Marina around noon. Since they had a rental car it was a good opportunity to load up on supplies. Paul & Cindy will be traveling with us to Key West and possibly back depending on weather conditions.

Friday morning we untied our lines and slipped out of the harbor. We traveled the Gulf side for a few miles and then turned left to travel under 7 Mile Bridge to the Atlantic side. We cut back in at Bahia Honda and navigated the shallow waters around many uninhabited Keys.
By noon we dropped the hook at Tarpon Belly Key. The story of Tarpon Belly began in 1966 when a Delaware company purchased the island, dug 2 canals thru it 100 ft wide, 500 ft long and 20 ft deep, and netted off both ends with plans of raising and harvesting shrimp in the canals. They had limited success and a few years later the industry found that they could farm shrimp in ponds on land. The Tarpon Belly operations were abandoned. It was interesting taking a dinghy ride around the island and thru the abandoned canals. In the shallows around the island, we scared up many stingrays. This pretty island makes for a popular camping location for some adventurous souls. In fact, Paul & Steve had to take our dinghy out to assist kayakers whose two out of four kayaks had swamped crossing the 4 mile stretch to get to the island. It was a beautiful night to fire up the grill and throw on steaks. After a marvelous dinner, the captain summoned the entire crew to the bow for an amazing star gazing experience.

Saturday morning’s cruise was “all hands on deck” as we had to dodge a zillion crab pot balls in fairly rough seas. We successfully arrived Key West by noon without incident. We pulled into Galleon Marina and were welcomed by Paul’s sister and husband from New York who were vacationing in Key West with friends from Chicago.

Sunday & Monday the four of us enjoyed the highlights of Key West. We were hoping to depart Key West on Monday, however the current and forecasted winds changed our plans. Paul & Cindy departed by car on Tuesday morning to catch their flight home. We stayed in Key West waiting for the winds and the seas to calm down.