Passage to Marathon in the Florida Keys

We left Clearwater on Monday the 15th around 11 AM and headed south to Marathon. It is located on Vaca Key in the middle keys. The winds were around 15-20 knots and the seas running 5-7 feet. The wind was from astern and we were rockin and rollin. The total trip time was 50 hours and we covered 243 nautical miles. We had good winds most of the way ranging from 10-20 knots. There were dolphins all along the route that breached next to the boat and played in the bow wave. There was an especially large pod when we were about 16 miles west of Marco Island that stayed with us for over an hour.

We crossed Florida Bay at night. The depths ranged from 7-30 feet and there are shoals everywhere one you get close to the Keys. The Garmin chartplotter and radar worked great showing us the way and allowing us to see fishing vessels and buoys at night. The auto pilot, with the new fluxgate compass, steered most of the way.

We were about to celebrate our passage just outside the entrance to Boot Key harbor, where Marathon is located, when our prop got fouled with a huge wad of poly line. It was probably from a crab pot that wasn't marked with a buoy. The engine died almost right away. We new something was in the prop from a prior experience with a line getting wrapped around the prop. We dropped the anchor right away. I donned my wet suit and snorkeling gear and went in for a look. That is when I first saw the wrapped prop. I had my dive knife with me and began the task of cutting it loose. That took me about 10 or so dives down to it. Once I was back aboard we raised anchor and entered the harbor where we are now tied up to the sea wall waiting for a mooring to become available.

Dale and David were great to have onboard and a big help in handling the boat. Going for 50 hours with 4 crew was tiring enough. With only two it would be tough. A lot of people do it though. Dale and David leave Friday to head home to Texas.

I have some photos and a short video of the dolphins that I will post later. We will be here for awhile exploring the keys before heading north to the Chesapeake Bay.