I was considering a trip up the ICW from Norfolk to NY in my Catalina 22, but thanks to all of the great advice and warnings, I think we have changed our minds about this trip. So, my next option is trailering to Miami, and spending up to a month sailing the Florida keys. Advice, insight and recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I'd love to get some ideas of where to go, what to do, and so on.
Change of Plans
- Thread starter YOLO
- Start date
What time of year?
Dockage in Key West is pretty expensive and the moorings and anchorages are very exposed to the north where winter winds come from.
Marathon mooring field is usually full in winter and you only get on the wait list after you enter the harbor.
But there are plenty of great places a small swing keel boat can get into. Will you have a dink to get ashore or always dock at marinas for shore access?
The entire Keys is a marine sancuary and they are pretty strict on enforcement of poop laws.
Dockage in Key West is pretty expensive and the moorings and anchorages are very exposed to the north where winter winds come from.
Marathon mooring field is usually full in winter and you only get on the wait list after you enter the harbor.
But there are plenty of great places a small swing keel boat can get into. Will you have a dink to get ashore or always dock at marinas for shore access?
The entire Keys is a marine sancuary and they are pretty strict on enforcement of poop laws.
While in Key Largo go to the mooring field at Molasses Reef about 5 miles out. Awesome snorkeling, if the weather is good stay overnight. Plan to anchor at Bahia Honda when you get to the lower keys. Nice beach and the park is friendly to people coming ashore. They have a nice little marina you can dinghy to. At the 7 mile bridge is Pigeon Key, a nice little day adventure. It is shallow getting in but you should be alright with a Cat 22. My avatar is me and my son under a palm tree at Pigeon Key.
We plan on taking our trip in June and planned on staying a slip about every other day and anchoring the rest.
15 years ago my wife and I did the keys in our C22. She was a teacher in an all year round school so it was 9 weeks on 3 weeks off. For the fist few years we did the upper keys staying based out of Key Largo's Holiday marina. We would day sail out to the various reefs. We sailed and stayed at these anchorages/marinas all on the Atlantic side. HolidayMarina and Rodriguez Key - Key Largo, Hawks Cay - Duck Key, Holiday Isle marina, Bahia Honda anchorage, motored through Sister Creek to Boot key, Key West anchorage.
The sailing was easy and we even rode out tropical storm Gordon in our C22 tied up in Key Largo with a group of waitresses that snuck into the hot tub with us. The hardest part was launching and retrieving the boat. The ramps are very shallow and short. You need a trailer with a tongue extension. I once paid a forklift guy $20 to lift my boat on to the trailer.
When we finally got smart and rather than trailer the boat 1500 miles each way we found a place, Largo Aluminum, to store the boat all year round.
Find a copy of Frank Papy's guide to the keys. It's out of print (I think) but can still be found in bokstores. It's the Bible of the keys IMHO.
The sailing was easy and we even rode out tropical storm Gordon in our C22 tied up in Key Largo with a group of waitresses that snuck into the hot tub with us. The hardest part was launching and retrieving the boat. The ramps are very shallow and short. You need a trailer with a tongue extension. I once paid a forklift guy $20 to lift my boat on to the trailer.
When we finally got smart and rather than trailer the boat 1500 miles each way we found a place, Largo Aluminum, to store the boat all year round.
Find a copy of Frank Papy's guide to the keys. It's out of print (I think) but can still be found in bokstores. It's the Bible of the keys IMHO.
Take a small AC unit for your boat! There is nothing worse than 90 degree plus cabin temperatures. Even here in the Chesapeake Bay region we have those nights during the summer and it makes life miserable.
Going into a marina ever other night is a great idea. You will be able to charge batteries and you get nice bathrooms and showers.
It sounds like a nice trip. At some point I want to do something like that!
Going into a marina ever other night is a great idea. You will be able to charge batteries and you get nice bathrooms and showers.
It sounds like a nice trip. At some point I want to do something like that!
If you dont want to try cruising all the way to Key West, you can take a mooring in Boot Key/Marathon and ride the bus to Key West. Assuming you'd like to go there.
You can also anchor in Boot key, and pay for dinghy dock privileges, which gets you a pump out a week and shower use, plus the WIFI in the day room.
We really like the idea of not pulling into a slip every night. We can run on a generator to charge our batteries. Our issue would be the portapotty, fresh water, showers, and laundry facilities. Please tell me more about the dingy docking and what all it might include. Does that mean we can anchor somewhere for free and dingy to the marina? Also, would we still have to have a holding tank in the keys if we dont rent a slip? As I have heard that they are required in the keys and a holding tank on a c22 seems quit impractible.
Yolo, what do you use for a dingy?
One tip from someone who tows a hard dingy, bring some extra dock lines. You can use them to tie the dink in the slip. I often tie the dingy between the end pile ons if they are wide enough.
Get a few good 12V fans. You may consider something to help charge your batteries. Generators are loud and a lot of people don't like them to be running in an anchorage at some points in time.
One tip from someone who tows a hard dingy, bring some extra dock lines. You can use them to tie the dink in the slip. I often tie the dingy between the end pile ons if they are wide enough.
Get a few good 12V fans. You may consider something to help charge your batteries. Generators are loud and a lot of people don't like them to be running in an anchorage at some points in time.
If you are willing to trailer you don't have to give up on New York. You can take the boat to Long Island and sail in the Sound. Crossover to Connecticut and sail into Mystic and visit the museum. The Long Island Sound is in protected waters and there are a number of town and communities that are worth visiting. Accommodating marinas with parking are reasonable. It can be cheaper than heading to the Keys.
Thinking about this...why not do the Chesapeake for your first trip? Closer to home so you're not spending time on the road, plenty of challenges for sailing and lots of anchorages, marinas and towns to visit.
Hot
Hot Hot in Florida buggy rain thunderstorms in june,I am sorry just want to warn you what to expect in June in Fl.
I live here since 2008 and so glad I have AC and gen,I never run AC at night but do run AC before sleeping and than switch to a few fans and have good screens
as soon as sun goes down.
I go to the keys in april and not as hot and not as crowded.
I miss Long island but many other great places to go sailing depends on the weather.
nick
Hot Hot in Florida buggy rain thunderstorms in june,I am sorry just want to warn you what to expect in June in Fl.I live here since 2008 and so glad I have AC and gen,I never run AC at night but do run AC before sleeping and than switch to a few fans and have good screens
as soon as sun goes down.
I go to the keys in april and not as hot and not as crowded.
I miss Long island but many other great places to go sailing depends on the weather.
nick
I think a port-potty qualifies as a holding tank (no direct discharge to the ocean).
We enjoyed anchoring in the bay at Islemorada, and taking the dinghy into the marina for drinks, food and music. They might have a slip available.
We took a mooring in Boot Key (Marathon) at the city marina. Well worth it. Showers, TV rooms, great dinghy docks, access to the town. Anchoring in Boot Key is very limited, now that the city marina has the moorings. Cross Highway 1 and go one block left, take the road on the right to a great seafood restaurant on the pier.
You must get to Key West, even if you take the bus from Marathon, as was suggested. Mallory Square at sunset is worth the trip. Many people look forward to doing the Duval Crawl. That's walking up one side of Duval St. visiting all the pubs, and crawling back on the other side, visiting all the pubs there.
Around here a porta-potti qualifies as a holding tank as it doesn't pump overboard.
For the heat this might be a worthwhile project, and could be run on 12v
http://youtu.be/HxSLbpAwibg
For the heat this might be a worthwhile project, and could be run on 12v
http://youtu.be/HxSLbpAwibg