florida loop

M

Molly Brown

Member
This is Travis, James & Betty's son, We are doing a 9 day trip around the tip of Florida. We started our trip today about 11 am in Punta Gorda. Traveled south down Charlotte harbor up the Caloosahatchee River went through 2 locks, raised 10.5 feet and are sitting outside of lock #3 for the night at a Moore Haven marina. nice docks in Moore Haven $1 per foot, water, power, wi-fi ($7 per day), park, shower, etc.

stats for the day:
92.1 - nm
max speed - 26.7 knots
consumed - 54.3 gallons of fuel.
daytime high - 83 degrees
at sunset - 77 degrees

More next time we get internet access.
 
Travis,

Thanks for posting the days travels. We did that loop-in reverse-two years ago. Remember, we were the strangers, washing the TomCat in your driveway, when you came home from school. Say HI to James and Betty from us. Keep posting your trip.

Brent and Dixie
 
Travis, James & Betty:

Great to see yall posint on the trip. I do look forward to the logs of the trip. Do keep us posted....and maybe some time along the way the signals will be good enough, and you are in location long enough to post some pics.

Also...are yall keeping up with your average moving speeds for the days? I find that interesting on my trips.

Looks to be a great trip....and will follow this posting.

Safe Travels!!

Byrdman
 
Cool, thanks for posting. We may do the loop also. How are the bugs this time of year down there?

Warren (stuck in Pendleton waiting for ODOT to open 84 in 3 places!)
 
Byrdman, pics will post. todays moving average was 10.1 nm/h, total trip maximum speed was 26.8 nm/h, total fuel 90.1, total mileage 162.4 nm

Doryman, no bugs yet, mid-upper 60s at night and low 80s day.

We are currently in Manatee Pocket, Just inside the St. Lucie Inlet, at Stuart. Lock #3 at Moore Haven was a 3' rise, totaling 13.5' total rise since the west coast. Port Myaca lock was even level, and the last lock at St. Lucie was a 14' drop leaving .5' total rise unaccounted for.

heading south on the ICW tomorrow

Travis.
 
Taking some large steps each day...looks to be around 70nm for day 2.

Looking forward to pics... tracking...and thanks for the numbers.

Safe Travels!

Byrdman
 
Travis thanks for posting this info I'm planning on making this trip around the end of January weather permitting. I look forward to your future posts.
 
Day Three

very lengthy slow speed zone, everything south of
palm beach was considered a manatee and boat safety zone, got into Ft. Lauderdale late in the day and ended up on
the fuel dock of Lauderdale Marina directly in front of the 15th street Fisheries Restaurant there must have been
at least 15 tarpon most as large or larger than your average teenager. in the morning there was only one left so
they must be trained to know when feeding time is. lots and lots of very large boats.

traveled 68.3 nm
filled up the boat with 83.1 gallons of fuel.
Byrdman, will have to give you a moving average at the end of the trip as we are not reseting our odometer at the

end of each day.

Day Four

off the fuel dock by 7 and backtracked to the New River and went up through the heart of Ft Lauderdale very quaint
and worth the visit if you should find yourself in this urban area. back out to the ICW and continued south through
Miami, highlight of the day was the bakery in Hollywood along the bank. Miami has a beautiful skyline and the usual
ship traffic and there was a handful of boat friendly parks along the way between Ft Lauderdale and Miami, we
spent the afternoon in Biscane bay. ran south in the Atlantic for a bit because it was such a beautiful day, and
had our coolers checked for the fish we haven't caught by the feds at the cut back into the bay at Adams key where
we anchored for the night, near direct opposite of the Turkey Point nuclear power plant, it didn't make us glow but
we had our best night's sleep, crew and dogs included.

traveled 68.4 nm

Day Five

found us quite relaxed and we just moseyed trolling a top water plug, having breakfast and enjoying a peaceful
morning. came under the causeway at the south end of the bay into Blackwater sound and went to visit an old fighter

pilot buddy of my grandfathers. went out to lunch and had fried hogfish and chicken, good company and great
conversation. our host has without a doubt the best shower this side of Florida. took off about three, fueled up
the boat, water and ice and spent the afternoon drift fishing once the dogs got done swimming. after sunset heard
the most amazing dolphin feeding in the shallows also saw stingrays and sharks, birds of all sorts, last order of
business was to hunt down this internet connection at $4.00 per day by sheer good fortune, it was at the first
place we checked, we're about 500 feet off shore in about 4 1/2 feet of water, dogs are sleeping again. from here
on out there is even less of a plan since we have made pretty good time, and the weather could not cooperate more.

traveled 24.8 nm and topped off the tanks with 74.1 gallons of fuel.
 
Day Six

the morning of day six found us anchored in Buttwood Sound, backtracked on the ICW and took a manmade cut thru Key Largo into Largo Sound, and preceded north back towards Miami and ended up at Point Mary on the Atlantic where James and the dogs, Lily and Ifas went for another walkabout. Left and went south in the Atlantic to Tavinier Key where we stopped and made breakfast. Back out to the atlantic for some drift fishing and into Tavinier Cut back into Florida Bay, went south for a bit then back out to the Atlantic for some more fishing. checked out the K O A at Siesta Key that we had heard turned into condos, but is still camping oriented, no condos. Currently anchored in the Atlantic side of Jewfish Hole, off of Long Key. Front just came through, looking at strong north winds 15 knots+ tomorrow we're off to the Everglades, headed west.

traveled 64.3 nm max speed 26.4 knots moving average dropping to 5.6nm

Travis.
 
Day Seven

After another walkabout on shore with ifas and lily we headed to check out a place called Hurricane Hole, and had breakfast along a tidal creek while fishing for snapper. off to the marina for fuel water and ice put in another 43 gallons. preceded west to flamingo where we were pleased to find new, floating concrete docks as opposed to those old rickety high docks, continued west past the Cape Sable beaches and up to the Shark River and did a little more fishing westward to the Broad River to walk the dogs and onto Lostman River. navigated the delta and found a spot for the night.

Traveled 88.6nm max speed 25.7nm

Day Eight

Mom woke up with a touch of the flu and was decidedly not feeling well, james and i fished and had cereal. made easy time to Coon Pass and into the Marco River per a previous thread by Papillion (or something close spelt to that) upto the city dock and had a late lunch, topped off with 69.8 gallons of fuel, we decided to head back home early due to mom not feeling well, we arrived at 6:30 safe and sound.

Traveled 122.6nm, max speed 28nm/h, total average trip speed, 6.6 knots, probably blazing fast compared to Byrdman and his river system.

All and all a great trip, one we will remember forever. Could have spent a week at any given location, but this is how it is when you're a working family. This was a unique trip for us, as opposed to the 14 day ICW/St. Johns trip we took over the 2006/2007 holiday.

Travis.
 
Welcome home, and so glad you had such a memorable trip. Sure hope the flu is soon conquered, in time to enjoy all the great pictures you must have from your great cruise. Good on 'ya!
 
Travis and Molly Brown Crew: Thanks for your trip logs. Great reading and a way for us to be there in a way. Glad to see you did have time to fish and enjoyed many good sights and sounds...and food.

I appreciate your postings. Hope to one day cross wakes together.

....and do look forward to some pics once back home, rested, and down loaded a bit.

Byrdman
 
Hi Travis,
Close enough on the spelling that we won't put any red marks on your post. Wish you could have hung around our waters longer. We would have loved to have had time to chat a bit and let my puppies play with your big guys.

Looking forward to viewing your pictures when you have time to post.

Happy New Year,
 
Travis,

Thanks for taking the time to share your adventures with us! Besides enjoying the story, maybe some day we can go there ourselves.

John
 
There are a number of Brats in south Florida now thinking about the Florida Loop so I thought I'd bring this thread back up. I'm leaving thursday for Indiantown on the Okeechobee Waterway and from there going either to Bahia Honda or Naples depending on weather. I'll keep a sharp eye out for Jim on Paddy Girl or Warren. The following is something I copied from another website Crusiers.net I think but it has some very good information plus if you click the link in it it takes you to lots of pictures and additional information. Not a C-Dory but good info.


One of the best trips you can ever take, in less than 1,000 miles! I love this trip, have done it many times, and will go out of my way on the way back on this trip, to cross that Lake O canal again.
Starting from Key Largo
Anchor at Eliot key. Great swimming, clear water. Or in wind, and not a weekend, go to Boca Chita.
Then proceed north, and go thru Miami and ft. Lauderdale on the icw. It's great. like a canyon of buildings. Easy navigation, slow going, but quite an eye full of sights. Even on the weekends it's not that bad, I just did it. traffic is way down. Lots of bridges, but so what. Anchor in the lakes just south of Hollywood, or stay in the Hollywood municipal marina. cheap and great location. We take the dinghy to the Hollywood area, walk the beaches, there are restaurants and bars, and a Greek restaurant where they dance on the tables, and a quick shop on the water with a dock.
You'll wanna stop next in Pecks Lake, just south of Stuart Fl. you can anchor there and dingy to shore, and walk the undeveloped beaches on the park.
Next you'll enter the Lake O waterway, go thru the dam and stay at the first dam. Dockage is $20 a day with electric and water, $10 for seniors.
From there it's a short ride to Indian Town Marina. A remote storage yard, with liveaboard.
After Indiantown, you will cross Lake O to Roland and Maryann martins marina. Dockage ain't cheap, but the tike bar is fun, and they have a courtesy limousine you can use for $5 to go to wall mart.
You can also stop at Moore Haven, cheap dockage. small town, walkable to groceries,
One of my favorite stops is Labelle. There is a free city dock with water and electric (3 days) walkable to groceries, auto parts, and supplies. across the waterway is the hotel where dockage is $.0.50 a foot.
Stop at the Franklin dock for an overnight, again $20 a nite, laundry, water and electric.
Of course you have to stay at legacy Marina in Ft. Myers its a tradition. Nice marina. nice people, not cheap, but good.
We also enjoy the mooring balls at downtown ft. Meyers. You can dingy into the beach area with shopping, stores, strolling, and beaches
Now you have to go outside to Marco inlet. Choose your day. Remember an east wind will be in the lee. If it's windy, I can usually run just off shore to stay in better seas.
I go the inside route from Naples to goodland. and have done so with 4 ft of draft no problem. Stay in Goodland or anchor at the old inlet channel (no useable) just north of Naples. protected, good holding and beaches.
After goodland your outside again to shark river. Shark river is usually mosqueto heaven at nite so button up.
From Shark you next stop is the keys.Either Marathon (use the mooring balls in boot key) key west (bring your wallet) or Islamorada. In Islamorada, anchor just off of the Lorrilie, great holding, walkable to bars and my personal favorite ,the whisltle stop bar and grill. Local cheap and great food.
Going north, stay at Gilberts. Keys local. fun on Sundays.
GulfCoast06_ (http://floridakeys.homestead.com/GulfCoast06.html) Take a look at this page, its about just that trip
In this trip you will go from the big city condo canyons of Miami and ft Lauderdale, thru the "old Florida" of the Lake O waterway, into the remoteness of the Everglades at shark river, to the uniqueness of the keys. All in one 300 mile trip! Fantastic!! take lots of pictures. And smell those roses.
I alway thought there should be a Florida's Mini Loop club, for all those who complete this unique trip
See you on the Waterways!
Capt. Sterling
_MV Sterling Lady III_
 
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