Fanny Keys to Boot Key Harbor

Day 13: March 12, 2013

We had a pleasant calm night on the boat.  The cove between Fanny Keys is well protected and the commercial fishermen were courteous and passed slowly and quietly as they headed out to tend their nets and traps.  We opted to fry our last cake of sausage and split it along with eggs and blueberry blob muffins made with fresh blueberries. 

Birdson Fanny Key

The weather forecast looked grim for the next 2 or 3 days.  They are calling for strong winds – 20 mph, large waves – up to 6 feet, and rain!  We have been in the 20 mph stuff and don’t like it.  The biggest waves we have been in are 5 footers which the boat handled well, but it most uncomfortable.  We studied our charts and reviewed the guide books and there are no good, well-protected areas for the next 40 miles between here and Key West and Key West is probably not real good either.  Our other option was to pull into the inner harbor of Vaca Key, located on the other side of the island from where we are currently moored.  We don’t want to stay in Fanny Keys because it is not protected from the north and northwest, the direction of the forecasted winds.

Small inhabited Pigeon Key along Seven Mile Bridge



Damn Dink gets a rough ride through Moser Channel



Vaca Key is connected to the next island to the west by the famous 7 mile bridge.  That bridge is paralleled by an old railroad bridge that was built back in the 20s. (More on that later.)  The bridge has a clearance 15 feet except for one area where it rises up to a 65 foot clearance.  The bridge builders broke out a section of the railroad bridge so that boat traffic could pass between the Intracoastal Waterway, west side of the Keys, and the Hawk Channel, Atlantic side of the Keys.  We have been traveling down the west side but need to cross over to get into the Vaca Harbor which is called Boot Key Harbor.  The trip from Fanny Keys through the cut in the bridge named Moser Channel, and back to Boot Key Harbor, is about a 10 mile trip.  The guide books informs one that passage through the Moser Channel when the wind is from the south and the current is running from the north is a formidable challenge.

So with weather circumstances being as they are, we opted to head out early for Boot Key Harbor.  We headed out early and motored toward the Channel, and by the time we got there the wind was blowing between 10 and15 mph from the south.  Janine was navigating the boat and did a true yeoman’s job of getting us through the bumpy swirly passage through the bridge cut.

Heading back to Boot Key Harbor, the wind continued to build and the Atantic swells were rolling at our beam at about 4 to 5 feet.  It was quite a rocking ride.  As we traveled along the Seven Mile Bridge, we noticed that the traffic had stopped traveling both directions.  As I mentioned before, there is a lot of traffic on US 1 crossing that two lane bridge.  It turns out that there was a motorcycle accident from which 2 folks were life flighted to Miami.  It was a true mess.

We entered the channel that leads to Boot Key Harbor and pulled into the first marina we saw along the way.  We were in need of fuel in our main tank as well as another bag of ice. 

Further up the channel we encountered a group of boats that were anchored south of the entry channel so I decided that we should join them.  It was a well-protected site and we would be able to save some cash by not having to pay for a mooring ball in the main harbor.  As we pulled in, we realized that it was extremely shallow and probably not a good place to be hanging on an anchor in a blow so we backed out and headed for the main mooring field. 

This is a massive place!  The city of Marathon has very systematically placed 270 mooring balls in this field.  If you choose to tie up to one, you call them on the radio and if there is one available (and yesterday they were full) you will be directed to your assigned ball from which is a line with a float and an eye to which you tie your boat.  We followed the proper procedure and were assigned ball S7.  Janine skillfully steered us to S7, I hooked the eye with our boat hook and securely tied us up.

Nancy with her friend Libby head for the Marina

We fixed our Spam/PBJ lunch and crawled in Dink for a ½ mile ride to the marina office.  I will have a lot of time over the next three days to discuss this great marina, however, as soon as we walked in and while we were waiting in line, I noticed a lady with a German shorthair pointer like our Buster Brown and we struck up a conversation.  I went back into the registration line and Janine continued to talk with her.  She is a “live aboard” staying with her dog.  Her husband flies to California where he works for two weeks as a landscape architect and then flies back for two weeks.  She is a very social person who had lots of advice as to things to do and places to go.  She also offered two bicycles for us to use while we were here. 

After we got officially registered, we took the lady up on the use of her bikes and road to a Publix grocery and picked up some coffee.  It was an easy 1.5 mile ride that I really enjoyed.  On the way back, we stopped at an ice cream shop.  Janine had a piece of homemade key lime pie and I had a scoop of butter pecan ice cream.  We sat on the porch and watched the steady stream of traffic pass on US 1. It’s spring break time and this is a busy place.   

Back at the boat, we decided to do our laundry and then find a nice restaurant for dinner.  Back at the marina, we found a room full of really efficient washers and dryers.  We both read while our duds were restored to a state of cleanliness.  We left the laundry at about 7:00 heading for the bicycles.  I got to thinking, it gets dark at 7:30 and that means a bike ride back in the dark plus a dinghy ride back to the boat in the dark.  We have no lights on ole Dink so we decided that it would be best to postpone the dinner until tomorrow evening. 

We headed back to Panache in the Dink and shortly after pushing off, I realized that the motor was slowing down.  I turned up the speed; we moved on for a while and then slowed to a snail’s pace.  The battery had died!  We do carry a set of homemade oars so I spent the last 150 yards rowing.   One fellow offered to tow us and another commented on our unique form of exercise. 

We spent the remainder of the evening reading and were in bed by about 9:00.