Best of luck and health to C.A.!
We enjoy having a ‘hip pocket’ (or folder) of possible mini-cruises that can be stitched together or trailered to separately with pre-planned research on marinas, distances, and routes.
One of them is the Everglades (namely pieces of the 100 mile Everglades Wilderness Boating Trail, kind of like pieces of the Great Loop). The official line is ‘unsuitable for boats over 18 feet long or high sides or windshields due to overhanging vegetation” and areas like “The Nightmare’ where it’s only 6 inches deep at low tide, 12 inches at high tide. Yet, EZDuzit posted here in 2016 about doing it in a CD22.
There is also a dam and fixed 10ft bridge on the Buttonwood canal north of Flamingo (the park road), so I might have to remove the radar dome to squeeze under that. There is an anchorage above that described on Active Captain by Mike Rizzo (‘knotflying’, a frequent poster on TugNuts.com) who captains a Ranger 27 which would be even taller than Cat O’ Mine (we’ve seen his boat at Ranger gatherings). I wonder how he got there, since his beef was the 2$/ft fee at Flamingo.
Another option would be staying on the Gulf side if winds are calm or not from the west or screaming out of the north (although some areas out to the 3-mile line are charted as 1 ft and 3 ft deep at MLLW). 3 miles out in the Gulf is out of sight of land for a 6-ft fellow like me.
From the Gulf we could duck into the deeper rivers to explore the interior. Per NPS rules, boaters can’t land on any of the 10,000 islands that don’t have a campsite or ‘chickee’ on them, and only then ¼ mile away and out of sight. (See list at NPS).
In any event, the Everglades is the biggest designated wilderness east of the Rockies, with some of these areas over 50 miles from civilization…beyond cell phone and VHF radio range. (I admit that some snobs who have been there would insist that Everglades City is not ‘civilization’, but I digress).
End point could be Calusa Island Marina (ramp, rig storage, pool, $2.50/ft) or Port of the Islands (SAA at $1.00/ft!!) but up a long canal, both at/near Everglades City, which we’ve visited before including tourist cruising boat. Calusa uses Dockwa (24h cancellation policy) but I bet not needed at this time of year.
Rig shuttle logistics would be challenging due to the remoteness of Flamingo from Homestead and (much less so) Calusa from Naples, but it’s only money and you can’t take it with you.
Yes, this will be our most successive days anchoring out and our most days not at a 4 or 5-star marina on this (#13) boat.
This trip would be miserable during a March artic blast, but it was 80 degrees today.
We’d appreciate any comments or suggestions from those more familiar with the area as we continue to develop this folder. Ed Stone to Flamingo is only 350 miles. There are no marinas between Flamingo (primitive since Wilma, but now has ethanol free gas) and Port of the Islands (ETOH free gas, showers, laundry, pool and even…unlike Bumpus Mills…restrooms, not just one port-a-potty with corn-cobs!).
I see this as a mostly idle speed at high tide trip. See Saltwatertides.com, Florida, Gulf Coast, Shark River and environs for times and days. Forget any day or tide where the ‘Height Feet’ is less than 1.0 for charted MLLW of under 1.0 or 1.5 feet on the Trail (Active Captain has it).
And we’ll do fine.
Looking forward to Hontoon and seeing everyone there!
PS
What are all the little linear red one-footed chickens on the Active Captain charts? Latitude lines?
What are all the red dashed lines? At some mags they seem ‘best course’, but at others seem random?
John
So a lot just depends on where we are on the river at the time, and how far we are from getting back to make the drive home. :wink: Colby
