Marathon to Key West

Day 12: March 16, 2018
Follow our progress using this link: Steve's Spot 

The much-anticipated good night’s sleep was not to be.  We had pulled in behind a rock breakwater that gave good protection from easterly winds but during the night, the wind shifted to the northeast so the boat bumped, bounced and banged all night long.  We stayed in bed longer than usual knowing that we had a somewhat long slog down to Key West.  We fried up a couple of eggs with bacon and toast and finally got underway at around 8:30.

The Fish Market where we bought our lobster tails

The winds had swung back around to the east and were blowing at around 6 knots, so we didn’t even try to hoist the sails. We traveled about 4 miles to where the Moser Channel passes under the famous 7 Mile Bridge.  It is amazing.  From one end, you cannot see the other end as it passes out of sight due to the curvature of the earth.  Henry Morrison Flagler, between 1908 and 1912, built this amazing structure to carry his railroad that tied the Keys together and changed the area

A small portion of the 7-Mile Bridge.  Rail bridge in the foreground

forever.  On Pigeon Key, he built a construction camp that housed some 400 construction workers.  He did such innovative things as building long piers out onto the bay to accommodate his out-houses so that the tide could carry away with the waste and trash. 

 

Today, the old bridge still stands but has been replaced by a modern highway bridge.  A single span section has been removed so that large boats can past through.

The cut in the rail bridge for the Moser Channel

Further west, we passed Bahia Honda Key on which the State of Florida has established a beautiful park.  On our last visit, we anchored near here and took the dink to the park to spend an afternoon exploring.  In my way of thinking, it is one of the most beautiful areas in the Keys.  It does not show the runaway tourism that is rampant in the area.  

The railroad bridge that connects Bahai Honda Key with the western Ohio Key was

View from between the bridges

an interesting challenge for the builders. The Bahai Honda Channel is for this part of the country is quite deep, at 25 feet, and is subject to strong surges.  This bridge and 5,365 feet long.  After the railroad was no longer in use and the state was building the Overseas Highway, the original rail bridge was too narrow for two vehicles to pass so they built a wider highway over the top of the steel superstructure of the original bridge.  It is an amazing structure.

The Bahai Honda Rail Bridge with the highway on top

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Our destination was Key West which was 42 miles from our anchorage in Vaca key.  I kicked up the rpms of the little Suzuki engine and was able to squeeze out 6 knots of headway.  We had a following seas and light 1-foot chop which allowed us to arrive at our destination marina, the Key West Bight Marina, at around 4:30.  After a bit of confusion with a slip assignment, we tied in next to a big beautiful sail boat.  This jam-packed marina caters to the big guys.  In fact, they have a 30-foot minimum charge for docking.  As a testament to the fact that they cater to the big ones, exiting our little boat requires a 3 foot climb just to get onto the dock. That is a bit of a challenge for us old guys.

Construction details of the rail/highway bridge

It is spring break time and Key West is a buzzing place.  Boats are cruising up and down the slips showing off their stuff, loudly talking and laughing over the growl of their engines.  It is quite a contrast to the back waters of the Everglades on Little Shark River where we didn’t see a single boat from the time we dropped anchor until we departed. 

We wandered around the streets near the marina for a while looking for a grocery to buy a loaf of bread and also the shower house that patrons of the marina are privileged to use. Showers were great.

We assumed that the noise would call for restless sleeping, however, we both slept soundly.