"O the places we go" with Discovery

[thataway]

Just because there is crime in the Southern, east coast of Florida--don't let that stop you from enjoying the East Coast. There are various locked storage yards--the boating is safe, and further North there are safe ramps. We just came back from some time on the mid section of the east coast (non boating trip)--and there was no sign of significant crime or problems with leaving the boat and truck. I have to put out the caviat that there are many places where you don't want to leave your trailer and truck unsecured--including in the PNW...

So enjoy all of Florida.

[Don Z]

Although I now live in Jacksonville on the St Johns river, I still return to Homestead to do most of my boating. It would be a shame to miss what Biscayne National Park has to offer at this time of year, and your boat is perfect for it.

You can park your rig safely at Homestead Park Marina and stay overnight or a week at a beautiful island. Call me at 904-612-2983 on what I think is the best of the keys.

[Discovery]

Thanks everyone for all the good suggestions for launching. Marvin, the list was helpful and we are still checking the ramps out.

Greg, we're glad that you and Nancy are going to get to cruise--it kind of puts things back in perspective. We are going to visit Pennekamp, but definitely by boat and won't try launching there.

Dr. Bob, we have found the situation with security to be the same as you describe. There are shady characters everywhere and a little common sense goes a long ways. Homestead was really a neat place with all the agriculture, and we did stop to buy fuel there. Everyone was very nice. Thanks for the heads up on the Homestead Park Marina, Don. We'll see how the Kurbit crew get along with boat life and try to stop there on our way back up the keys .

Byrdman, it sounds like your plate is pretty full right now. Enjoy the boat show--sorry we won't be able to make it.

Tomorrow is the big day--it will be great to be back on the boat. Our good friend George (Wanderer) has been calling to make suggestions and we have been eating at all the great places he took us to when we were here two years ago. On that trip, we had launched at Punta Gorda and cruised the Ten Thousand Islands and Everglades and then made the run across Florida Bay. George and Penny were great hosts in Marathon and we didn't have to deal with this launching business.

Dixie

[Discovery]

We have found our launching point. The Dodge Lake boat ramp-or the Airport Ramp. Its on Aviation Blvd, on the west end of the Marathon Airport.


The ramp is new and perfect for our needs. The concrete extends well out into the water, and is plenty wide for the TomCat. Its not too steep, or too flat.

The ramp is in a residential area and has almost no parking. We just need to launch and move on. Dixie and JoAnn will drive the RVs with trailers to Knight's Key for storage. Jeff and I will drive the boats around via the 7 mile bridge crossover and plck them up in the Knight's Key Marina.

The wind is supposed to diminish during the night. High tide is tomorrow around noon. Looks like we will finally get back to the cruising part of the vacation. We can't complain though, the days are in the upper 70's and the nights in the lower 60's.

Brent

[jennykatz]

Hi Brent and Dixie .We are friends of Mike and Judy from Naples we keep our Cape cruiser 23 at their house . Are you guys staying at the Jolly Rroger trl park for Nov -Dec? where is this park ?We are planning a trip down there somtime in Dec . We have stayed at Bahia Honda State park before and that was very nice . Hopefully we can get together this winter Jim and loree (Duckless)on Jennykatz

widmannfla@aol.com





[/list]

[Discovery]

Jim and Loree

The Jolly Roger is at mile 59.25, just east of Marathon. On Grassy Key. We are launching today (Monday) and plan to be on he water about a month. The RVs and Trailers will be in storage on Knights Key. Follow this thread, we will try to update our location as we can. We would like to get together with you (or any other C-Brats) that make it to the Keys while we are here.

Brent

[Discovery]

We are basking in the sun at Bahia Honda State Park. Yesterday was a terrific day. We got launched at Dodge Lake and Joann and I took the RVs to Knights Key to put them in storage for the next month. The only even little issue was that Jeff forgot to turn his gas on--again. Those motors run good, but not without fuel!
We made the trip uneventfully as did Brent and Jeff bringing the boats down the island to pick us up.




Wild Blue will appreciate this--we parked our RV's right next to Eric Stone. Yep the real guy! He is performing at the restaurant at Knights Key Resort every tuesday. He was so nice. He lives in this big bus and has a couple of parrots that live in cages outside. I was wishing Jim was there to jam with him.



We stopped on the way down to Bahia Honda and rafted for lunch. The guys fished and caught one hog fish and couple grouper. Enough for a yummy dinner. We anchored in the harbor and had a bouncy night on the hook. This morning the sea had flattened and we headed out to catch a big guy--tuna or dorado past the the reef in the 200 ft. water. It was fairly smooth-as ocean water goes--but no luck with a big catch. We'll try again another day.

The park here is just as beautiful as I remembered, however the launch ramp is all torn up--under construction and the price for moorage is $2/foot. The rate goes to $1.50/foot in January.

That's all for now-

Dixie

[JamesTXSD]

Hi guys,

Good to hear you're back on the water. Don't forget the good ice cream there at Bahia Honda! (Man does not live by fish alone.)

You'll have to time your travels so you can make it to Knight's Key on a Tuesday. Does Eric still have Kyle playing? Eric is often on The World of Boating radio show/podcast, telling about where he's playing. Buy a CD, keep a musician afloat.

Best wishes,
Jim

[Discovery]

Hi, Jim

Kyle went back to school to finish college, at his parents insistence. Eric said Kyle will come back to the band when He's through.

We will try out the ice cream stand tomorrow

Brent

[Discovery]

We had a great time in Bahia Honda-- we stayed two days. There is lots of wildlife there. This particular guy dove into the water by our boat, swam across the harbor and climbed back out to enjoy the sun.


When we left, we stopped to fish in the current under the bridge. I wanted you to see the superb equipment on "Kurbit" Jeff said Jo was his anchor wench.


We spent another day out in the big water with still no great luck. We were anchoring on the hook in the Spanish Channel, up Doctors Arm when a gentleman started waving at us from his dock. We motored over and he offered to let us tie to his dock for the night. We gladly accepted his hospitality. He gave a tour of his acreage including his small wild herd of Keys deer. They were very cute--about the size of a large dog, but the babies were the size of a large rabbit. It was neat to see them. He also told us that the No Name Pub was about a block down the road--if we were interested. Oh yea! It is one of the oldest pubs in the keys and has great food. We enjoyed ourselves there having Shrimp Pizza and Beer. It really doesn't get any better than that.

Those are dollar bills stapled on the walls and ceilings--there had to be a million!

This morning we bid our generous host goodby and headed out for another day on the water. Nightime found us in the Niles Channel. It was another terrific day, even if we didn't have turkey dinner. We have lots to be thankful for and even though I miss our kids and grandkids, it was still a nice Thanksgiving that we will remember for many years. We ended the day with a typical Keys sunset.


Happy Thanksgiving everyone--we're thankful for all our C-Dory friends.

Dixie

[Wefings]

Hey guys you are living the dream ! Have fun ,be safe and keep the posts coming !
Marc

[Discovery]

Friday, Nov 29th. We left our anchorage west of Ramrod Key and went offshore. Determined to catch more fish, after a Thanksgiving dinner of leftover lasagna. We cruised out past the reef, and Kurbit decided to troll for Dorado or Sail Fish. Discovery deep dropped for Grouper, or whatever bottom fish would bite. The trolling resulted in lots of gas consumed, and the bottom fishing resulted in lost tackle. Fish two, anglers nothing. We continued west and settled on Cudjoe Bay as the nights anchorage. The channel in is long and narrow, but well marked. The best protection from the persistent NW winds was in Pirates Cove-- just East of the Highway 1 bridge. We anchored next to the Mangroves and fixed a sundowner.

The water was shallow, three feet or less, and the bottom was mud over rock. We set two anchors and went to bed early. Good thing, when the tide changed we began to drag anchor. From 2 AM until 4 AM we watched as we moved closer to Kurbit and the mangroves. Finally we pulled the anchors and moved to deeper water and re-anchored. At least a few hours of uninterupted sleep.

With the sun came the wind. Exiting Cudjoe Bay we were faced with 2' to 4' seas inside the reef. Outside it was 3' to 5'. We stayed in close and went west toward Key West. We called ahead and found slips at the Key West City Marina at Garrison Bight. The distance traveled was 21 miles, it took us two hours.

Kurbit off the end of Key West.

Mallory Square from the bay.

We took a look in Key West Bight to show Kurbit the $4/foot slips. We watched a Coast Guard Cutter come in and dock. They come in fast and have real good brakes. We proceeded on to Garrison Bight and took our slips. The cost here is $1.90/ft. The weather is expected to be continued rain and blow for the next few days, so we're here for four nights.

Garrison Bight.

We started to explore the town on foot and Jeff decided that was too slow. He soon showed up with deluxe transportation.


We had lunch at a Mexican place on Duval street, then walked to Mallory Square for the sunset festivities (crazys)



We got some well-deserved sleep, with a gentle rainstorm while tied in our marina slip.

Brent

[marvin4239]

This is a great tread the information about the marinas is great I look forward to your next post and hope to follow in your wake in January. Thanks for psting your adventure.

[BRAZO]

I agree with marvin4239. I'm stuck in the cold/snowy winter, so it is nice to read about warmth, fun, and what I plan on doing in the future.

Enjoy your trip and we'll be waiting for the latest posts!!

[ffheap]

Hi Folks,

Great adventure. That is what C-Dory's are all about.

Fred