Anyone cruising the Keys in March?

V

Valkyrie

New member
Hi Brats,

Valkyrie is at Mobile East in NC right now getting some upgrades/mods, but in late Feb I'll pick her up and head for the Keys for some fishing and cruising. Marcia will fly down for 10 days or so, but I'll be in the Keys/S FL area until early April. Is anyone else planning on being in the area at that time? I would welcome the chance to meet other owners and perhaps doing some fishing or cruising together. The time can't pass quickly enough!

Regards,

Nick
"Valkyrie"
 
Nick, Great to see you on line again. Brother Mike and his wife Brenda (Miss B) will be in the general area as they work on portions of the loop. To say their schedule is loose...is an understatement.



Byrdman
 
In mid-March, Mike and I plan on spending a week in the Keys on Choir Practice. We hope to launch somewhere in Key Largo (trying to figure out where to leave the truck and trailer) and cruise to Key West and back.

We'd love to run into other owners, especially ones that know the wheres and whens of fishing in the Keys. :)

Courtenay
 
Courtenay,

Wow! Quicker response to my original post than I expected. I've spent a lot of time in the Keys, including a winter in Boot Key Harbor a looong time ago on my sailboat and while I typically do okay fishing, I'm not a pro in any sense of the word. There are lots of good places to get timely local knowledge on fishing, though.

Let's keep in touch. I'll be posting more as the time approaches and will PM my cell number to you.

Think bright sun and gin clear water!

Nick
"Valkyrie"
 
Hi Jim,

Only if you two guys with your 115's promise not to spend too much time at WOT and make me feel like I still have a sailboat! Looking forward to seeing you again.

Nick
"Valkyrie"
 
Nick - I remember you talking of going to the Keys when we met in N.Y. and I thought - "you lucky rascal". Now I only have one thing to say to you - "you lucky rascal" ! We'll be getting 'Fan-C-Dory' ready for the trip north, but we'll be watching for your reports.
 
We will be fishing in Pt Charlotte and Charlotte Harbor and ongoing home repairs at the end of March. I dont think we plan to travel to the Keys but send a pm or email if you are in the area.

If anyone has installed LED lights in a Florida room (lanai) near the ceiling. let me know. Now I planning to use xmas lights but there might be other solutions
 
Hi Nick,
I don't understand it. Why go down to warm and sunny Key West, FL for several weeks of boating when you could stay up here in the cold & snow and be ice fishing on windy Lake Erie?

Have a safe and wonderful trip.

Best regards,
 
Hi Rollie,

Actually, we had our fill of cold, partly frozen, windswept Lake Erie last Saturday. We drove to Sandusky to get our I-68's for the season, went to East Harbor to pay the balance of our dock bill for this year and had lunch at Damon's overrlooking frozen Sandusky Bay. FL was looking better all of the time!

I really hope that we can get together this season, whether you come down to fish or cruise on your boat, join us on Valkyrie for a day of fishing or we could run up the Detroit River to meet you somewhere. I was just in your album and it really gave me the urge to spend some time in the North Channel.

Stay in touch.

Nick
"Valkyrie"
 
We just got back from a scouting road trip to the keys. Although I cannot give specifics, there are a number of launch ramps, and places where you can store the rig and trailer when boating. We found the "lower keys"--below Marathon, more interesting than the upper areas. We were surprised at the lack of tourists (OK Bahia Honda park is always full) but all of the resorts and RV parks had open sites, and one resort we stayed at would have as many as 30 rooms occupied--only 6 were taken last week--many for only a night or two. So there is an effect from the economy. Interestingly we were told that things were more crowded in Feb and March.

We may get back down there in March--we will see. If so we may stay in the RV at Knight Key RV--with the Caracal--or take the Tom Cat and the truck....
 
Hi Bob,

We did a scouting expedition in the Keys in October looking for a campgound/marina for when we are able to bring down both our camper and Valkyrie. We also liked Knight's Key RV park, but those plans will be put on hold until Marcia retires.

I found a good ramp with trailer storage at the east end of Boot Key Harbor, within walking distance of the city marina. I plan on getting a mooring for a month and cruising/fishing out of there. That also gets us a parking place, water, showers, mail drop, dinghy dock and so on.

It would be great if I finally get to meet you.

Regards,

Nick
"Valkyrie"
 
Does anyone know if it is possible to park a truck and trailer at Pennekamp Park for a week? We thought we might launch from there. I will keep Knight Key and Boot Key in mind if it turns out we can't.
 
Pennekamp is a great place to launch. The ramp and the ramp's dock could not be better. The marina's docks/slips, etc., are serviceable, but aging. The over-night rate is under $30 for our 25. Talk to Scott, the dockmaster -- a great guy who captains fishing charters in his off time, about leaving truck/trailer. We have not done so, but in anticipation flew it by him. He said it is allowed, and I recall thinking the rate was good. It did not sound like something they advertise or promote. This would be a very safe place to leave truck/trailer. I would recommend addressing requests to Scott rather than park rangers.

I hope everyone has a great time in the Keys this winter. Unfortunately, we are headed to the cooler weather of San Francisco Bay this year. We have been trying to leave Iowa for three weeks, but can't get a good weather window -- glad the travel weather kept us out of last week's storms on the coast.

With luck, we are out of here on Friday or Saturday.

Regards to all,

Greg
 
Nick - won't be in The Keys but if you want to run around Pamlico Sound/Neuse River a bit before you head south - give Sea Baby a holler.

Cal - the Deckhand
 
On Friday night we will be hauling Choir Practice down to Pennekamp - hope to make it there by late Saturday afternoon so we can drop her in the water. We will over night there, then head south on Sunday. Our only solid plans are to (hopefully) be in Key West for St. Patrick's Day (March 17) and in the Marquesas' the day after, depending on the weather. We will haul the boat out on Monday (March 22) to go back to our regular mundane lives.

We look forward to seeing you down there - Marathon is in the middle of everything. The weather forecast, except for friday, looks pretty good, though I know it can change.

This will be our first trip out of the Chesapeake Bay. So looking forward to any water color other than brown!
 
dahkota,

My wife just flew down to Miami today and we are at Pennecamp Marina kicking back right now. Tomorrow we'll pull Valkyrie and go to Bahia Honda Marina and launch, with plans to stay there for fishing and runs to Key West or Marathon.

Someone in this thread suggested being able to leave a tow rig here in Pennecamp for a nominal fee. As suggested, I asked Scott, the dockmaster and a good guy, about doing so and he said that the only way is to pay for either a mooring ($18+) or a slip ($26+) for each night that the tow rig is left here. I just wanted to pass this along if you had counted on that info.

If you are in the Marathon/Bahia Honda area feel free to PM or hail us on the VHF. I believe that we PM'd our cell to you. Have a great time!

Nick and Marcia
"Valkyrie"
 
Thanks for the update! We reserved Pennekamp for the week even though we don't plan on being there just so we can park our truck. They didn't tell us we could take a mooring ball! So that is what we will do. I have your PM - we should be able to run into you all some time during the week. I guess it will all depend on weather and whether...

So looking forward to this trip and to meeting up you all!
 
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