Dry Tortugas Followup

[Frank]

On 4/18 I posted a question about the Dry Tortugas and rec'd about 5 replies, mostly detailing how nice it was, but how challenging it was to enter and anchor. The forum archives contained similar stories. We just completed our trip from Ft Lauderdale to Kemah, Tx across the Gulf of Mexico. We spent one full day and night anchored at the Dry Tortugas. We had absolutely no trouble coming in; just followed the southeast channel entrance on the chart. We anchored securely in 13 feet of water, middle of the anchorage. Excellent wind protection; beautiful sunset with rum cocktails, clear water, great tour of Ft. Jefferson. It was absolutely heavenly. We even grilled cheeseburgers so now I can truly say I've had a cheeseburger in paradise! It was very hard to leave the next day, especially when facing a trek across the GOM. Unlike many other reports in the archives, we did not encounter any shoaling, we did not drag anchor (but then we did dive down and check the set), and we did not have any problems with recalcitrant fishermen or park rangers. Only one thing: we never saw a single turtle. Frank Catalina 350 Kemah, TX. Bon voyage!!

 

[c41kokomo]

Did you see the huge baracudas?

There were huge cudas there when we were a couple years ago. How was the trip accross the gulf? How far is that 800 miles? I have been thinking bout exploring the Texas coast.

 

[Marc Honey]

Your trip

Yeah, tell us about the trip from Kemah across the Gulf to Dry Tortugas!!! Only been one other posting about similar Gulf crossing that I remember on this forum and it was on a 40.5 Hunter. Distance, crew, weather, boat equipment, navigation, etc.? I've looked at several boats in Kemah that I would have to move to the Gulf coast of Florida and I think I'd rather do a direct crossing rather than coastal hop along ICW. All information appreciated.

 

[Ron San Martino]

Telltales

The April issus of Telltales, a small Texas sailing magazine, had a couple of articles about sailing from TX to FLA.

 

[Frank]

Reply

Our trip was one way from Ft Lauderdale, around Florida through the Fl Straits. After our stop at the DT's it was practically due NNW across the GOM. 750 nm. We were in a 43' Morgan center cockpit. Crew of 4 experienced sailors. Boat well equipped. Winds avg 10-20 kts out of SSE with following seas, anywhere from 3 to as much as 12 feet. We had a stern wind most of the time and had to broad reach and jibe a lot. Wing on wing does not work well with heavy following seas. We did overlapping 3 hour watches at night, allowing 2 people on deck at all times. Cat naps during the day. Did not see any traffic until neared Texas coast and rigs/platforms. Stay out of safety fairways if possible. Would not recommend this route in opposite direction, ie TX to Florida. Prevailing SE winds and seas would be a rough beat. Take the time and go coastal. Caught some dorado enroute. Did see some barracudas and even caught one (threw back), also a sizeable shark that liked to hang out in our boat shadow at the DT's. We all agreed that we were one case of beer and one jerry can of deisel too short, but otherwise well provisioned. It was work, but fun too. DT's was still the highlight. Frank Catalina 350 Kemah, TX

 

[Russ]

FAST Exit from Water at DT

I was on that trip with Frank and you should have seen him exit the water when he spotted the shark under our boat at the DT's!!! He looked like a missile launched from a submarine. It was a great trip that turned out to be more fun than I expected and even more work than I expected. The "work" was mainly the lack of sleep due to very rolly conditions and a lack of planning proper sea berths.Russ