Finally finish our 2011 Florida Trip Report...

[Sumner]

Finally finished our 2011 Florida Trip Report...

Some people have wanted to know if I was ever going to finish the last part of our 2011 Florida SW coast and Keys trip report.

Well it is finally done and here is the link to the trip index and the part that I just finished is Part III....

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/FL-spring-2011/Florida-2011-Spring-index.html

Sum
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[CalebD]

Great detailed report as usual Sumner.
Great sunset photos too.
I look forward to when you and Ruth get going on your Endeavor 37'.

 

[sailormanbigd]

thanks

I want to thank you for your very informative blog on your past trip to the keys! As are all your posts it was very well done. I look forward to your continued posts and your DIY boat projects! Good luck with the endeavor! Pat

 

[Sailm8]

I have always enjoyed your posts. Thanks

 

[Bill1565]

Re: Finally finished our 2011 Florida Trip Report...

Thanks Sum. Mary's favorite area of the keys. We'll be there after the first of the year.
When you go back, stop in Tarpon Basin. Great anchorage, County park, Groceries,liquor, and West Marine.

 

[Sumner]

Hey guys thanks and Bill tell Mary that her blog has helped us also. Good info on Tarpon Basin. We also would like to go back there. I also noticed that on the way home you guys went inside from Marco to Naples. We did it the other way with the Mac, but was wondering about that section with the Endeavour. We draw 4'-6". How much do you guys draw?

The other area that interests me is south of Marathon on the Gulf side going towards Key West and back into some of the channels there off that section of the ICW. I guess the depths on the ICW are not guarantee that far south. Have you or anyone else been through Big Spanish Channel?

Sum

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[Bill1565]

Inside passage from Marco to Naples used to be part of Gulf Coast ICW. No longer maintained, but then maintenance on the GCICW isn't all that good.

We draw 4-2 ish. This spring we lead 7-8 boats thru there, deepest was 5+feet Ericson 38. No problems. Two nice anchorages in this section. Rookery Bay wildlife sanctuary and Hurricane Pass branch west behind Keywaydin Is. off the inside channel. Rookery Bay seems deserted all the time. Hurricane Pass is a zoo on weekends.

we have been in big Spanish Channel, no problems. Lots of folks go as far west as Bahia Honda, not so many go further into the "back country" but it can be done if you are careful. Good clear water, easy eyeball navigation, especially if you get on the boom or part way up the mast. 10 or 12 feet above the water does wonders for your perspective. Wouldn't place a lot of faith in charted depths there, not too much feedback to NOAA.

 

[Sumner]

Inside passage from Marco to Naples used to be part of Gulf Coast ICW. No longer maintained, but then maintenance on the GCICW isn't all that good.

We draw 4-2 ish. This spring we lead 7-8 boats thru there, deepest was 5+feet Ericson 38. No problems. .....

Thanks, we might try it again if it isn't a weekend but it was really busy in March mid-week. How about inside from Marco to Goodland. There again we did it with the Mac, but some of that is marked with 4 feet of water and I don't think we will try it with the Endeavour unless I've heard someone with 5 feet like that Ericson has made it.

.... Two nice anchorages in this section. Rookery Bay wildlife sanctuary and Hurricane Pass branch west behind Keywaydin Is. off the inside channel. Rookery Bay seems deserted all the time. Hurricane Pass is a zoo on weekends.....

We spent the night...

.... in Hurricane Pass where the right arrow is (the upper arrows are the channel). A couple people running around on jet skis but that was it. The day before though from Naples to there was a zoo with tons of people on the waterway. On Rookery Bay do you just anchor on the channel to it (1/2 mile long) or in the Bay itself? It looks really shallow on the chart I'm looking at.

....we have been in big Spanish Channel, no problems. Lots of folks go as far west as Bahia Honda, not so many go further into the "back country" but it can be done if you are careful..... .

I'm interested in the area past Bahia Honda, the "back country". There is a section up in there by Cutoe Kye and Big Spanish Key that looks a little shallow in one section. I guess high tide, take it slow and keep you eyes on the bottom like you said. I'd love to go past that cut and then back down into some of the cuts west of there before Key West,

Sum

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[Bill1565]

Yes, I meant the channel into Rookery Bay. I'd be surprised if motors of any sort were allowed in the Bay itself. It is after all a refuge. Great canoeing and kayaking though.

Upper right, out of your photo, further south from where you anchored in the hurricane pass channel , the last half mile or so of Keywaydin I. is all beach. That's where the action is on weekends. Deep anchorage, some current. Also Jetski's, LOUD MUSIC and DRUNKS. Hurricane pass actually connects to Big Marco Pass south of the Island. Probably could sneak the Mac out there, but it's way shallow for the Endeavor

 

[Bill1565]

Inside from Marco to Goodland is a great trip. 55 foot bridges at both ends. Red Right Returning ends at the Marco bridge. Red just under the bridge on your LEFT. Couple of zigs, and the channel is on the north shore. Lots of turns with shoals on the inside edge. Plenty of water even at low tide if you take all the turns W i d e. Shallowest water is south of Goodland, out into Gullivan Bay.

 

[Sumner]

Inside from Marco to Goodland is a great trip. 55 foot bridges at both ends. Red Right Returning ends at the Marco bridge. Red just under the bridge on your LEFT. Couple of zigs, and the channel is on the north shore. Lots of turns with shoals on the inside edge. Plenty of water even at low tide if you take all the turns W i d e. Shallowest water is south of Goodland, out into Gullivan Bay.

We made that trip through there 3 times and like it. Did the 5 foot draft boat go through?

I'd like to spend some more time in the upper 10,000 Islands as there are places to get in with the Endeavour there. If we don't go inside there then it is a fair ways south around the Cape Romano shoals and then back up.

For sure want to go to the anchorage at Whitehorse Key....

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/FL-spring-2011/FL-Spring-11-11.html

...again. You been there? The beach there is one of my best memories of the trip,

Sum

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Our Endeavour 37

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Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

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[Bill1565]

We don't do beaches. I've had one skin cancer removed and Mary is very fair. Lots and lots of wilderness in 10,000 Islands. Been going there for 30 years on and off. We chartered out of Naples and Marco in the bad old days when we worked.

Don't know if the 5 foot boat went up the Marco river or not, but Sum if you are going to boat in SW Florida, the keys and the Bahamas, you need to get comfortable with running aground. When you come get your Endeavour, you should push your limits in Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound. Both have good coverage from TowBoat US and Sea Tow if you cannot kedge yourself off at high tide. May sound funny, but ungrounding is an essential skill in these here parts. Practice Practice practice.

 

[Sumner]

....Don't know if the 5 foot boat went up the Marco river or not, but Sum if you are going to boat in SW Florida, the keys and the Bahamas, you need to get comfortable with running aground. When you come get your Endeavour, you should push your limits in Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound. Both have good coverage from TowBoat US and Sea Tow if you cannot kedge yourself off at high tide. May sound funny, but ungrounding is an essential skill in these here parts. Practice Practice practice.

Thanks and we do have tow insurance. We ran aground somehow just past the Sanibel Bridge on the ICW about 2 hours out the first time with the Endeavour. I thought we were in the channel but maybe just outside. Thought we were going to have to call for a tow, but got off a few minutes later.

Even ran aground twice with the Mac pushing it back into a couple places we shouldn't of gone. We will keep practicing and do want to spend the first week or so in Charlotte Harbor getting to know the boat better before we take off south again.

Hope to see you guys,

Sum

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Our Endeavour 37

Our MacGregor 26-S Pages

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

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[David S]

Run Aground, ? how do you kedge off ?

Charlotte Harbor, Bill1565 you mentioned practicing ungrounding or kedgeing off to Sumner last year. How about some tips on how to do that and equipment needed to carry aboard. I have a 1979 O'day 22 has about 2 foot draft. Who do you get tow insurance from?

I know I am a year late on this post, I hope some one will see it and reply.

David S

 

[Jon Bastien]

Tow insurance, Getting off the ground...

David S,

Tow insurance is readily available from companies like SeaTow and BoatUS, and when you consider that a single grounding can cost more than an entire year's worth of coverage/membership, it becomes a no-brainer when you sail in an area where Groundings Happen.

As far as getting one's boat out of a 'Braille Parking' situation... Kedging is the art of using your dinghy to take an anchor from the bow of your stuck vessel as far into deeper waters as rode or channels will allow, setting said anchor, and then winching it in from the deck of the stuck vessel as though your life depends on it. If you're lucky, the anchor will pull your stuck boat back into water deep enough to navigate into a better situation.

If waters are shallow enough or you just don't like that particular member of your crew, the dinghy is optional.

 

[Bill1565]

Charlotte Harbor, Bill1565 you mentioned practicing ungrounding or kedgeing off to Sumner last year. How about some tips on how to do that and equipment needed to carry aboard. I have a 1979 O'day 22 has about 2 foot draft. Who do you get tow insurance from?

I know I am a year late on this post, I hope some one will see it and reply.

David S

Jon explained kedging very well, David. I use boat US for towing insurance, but here locally on Charlotte Harbor, Sea Tow seems to be more active. Price wise, they are very close