Dry Tortugas

wylie

New member
I was wondering if anyone has taken a 22 cruiser out to there? What are your thoughts on this ?What would be acceptable conditions for this trip?Thanks.
 
We will probably run out there when we are in the Keys in Jan/Feb. You want to look out for "Northers". It is not that long a run--but still be sure that you have enough fuel, communication gear (and we always carry at least one PLB or EPRIB), and food/water, etc if the conditions are not suitable for return and you have to wait a few days to return.

I would watch the predictions for at least a 3 day window, of seas less than 2 feet--which will allow you to travel at a decent speed.
 
Just remember anything you need out there you must bring yourself .There is no fuel or real supplies to buy out there . I'm not sure about ice also .

You are about 70 miles from Key West and 45 miles or so from the marquesos . and as Dr. Bob says you might have to wait for a good weather window . We had friend s take the commercial boat out there and they called it the vomit comet anyway hope to see some of the c-brats down in the Keys this winter . Jim
 
The last time we were there --some time ago--there was no ice or other materials for sale. (Water is not available.)

Porti potties are legal. As long as you have some form of a holding tank it is within the law. There are some areas where flow thru devices are not allowed (Lectrosan). This is one of the "no discharge areas"

(b) The discharge or deposit of sewage from any vessel, whether treated or not, in park waters is prohibited.
36 CFR §2.15) ­ Pets
(a)(1)Visitors’ pets are prohibited inside the walls of Fort Jefferson.
(a)(5)Visitors must remove pet­generated waste from Dry Tortugas National Park.


The law is at:http://www.yankeefreedom.com/images/park-regulations.pdf It is probably worthwhile making a copy of this to have aboard when you are in the National Park.
 
You may be able to trade for some ice, but you can't buy any there. I don't know if the same rules apply in the Ft. Jefferson anchorage, but friends of ours who spent a couple weeks at Boot Key Harbor last winter were told they could only stay for a few days if they were using a porta-potty with no deck pumpout.
 
RE: porta potties.

It seems that the onerous (not odorous, or maybe it is) porta pottie regs are only in Boot Key Harbor due to City of Marathon rules. You can stay in the harbor for seven days IF you sign a intent-to-comply agreement that states you will add a deck pump-out in that time period. The crazy thing is that they used to have a nice pump-out at the end of the dinghy dock.

When we were in the Keys a few years ago I asked at both Pennecamp and Bahia Honda state parks about porta potties and they had no problem with them.

Nick
"Valkyrie"
 
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