We haven't updated lately. I think we are both waiting for wi-fi so we would have our keyboards but that doesn't look like it will be happening soon for a few more days. Free wi-fi doesn't seem to exist in the keys. At least not near the water with easy access.
So here is an update. Sorry it’s so long. After this, I’m just the photographer and Casey will be the narrator.
Overall, we enjoyed John Pennecamp Coral Reef State Park. Two negatives but I'll get to them in a bit. The two sets of showers were both in the campground area which was a bit of a hike but we found a shortcut via the nature trail to one set. Both sets were very nice and clean. Good shower pressure and plenty of hot water. The park has a beach, an aquarium, nature trails, visitor center, snack bar and a host of dive/snorkel trips you can sign up for complete with whatever you need to rent ....dive tanks, scuba gear, masks, fins, etc. It really is a diving/snorkeling paradise and where I completed my final checkout dive when I got my initial scuba certificate over 20 years ago. The dockage fee which included water/electric and everything in the park except your snorkel trips/rentals was $26 for a 25 foot slip. Not bad! We called on the phone about 3 hours before we were due to arrive and they said, "sure, come on in, we've got plenty of room" (which sounded great to non-planners like us). And when we went in, we were the only boat in the entire marina! Hummm. Gorgeous weather and we were the only boat? What's going on here? What's wrong with the place?
The negatives: First, the dock didn't have the little finger pier things that come out beside your boat at most marinas. It was just a long, high, non-floating, dock right beside the mangroves and then pilings to separate the boats. So to get on/off the boat, we had to climb over the bow rail and the anchor and step onto the dock. This wasn't a big deal for us but I can see where a lot of boaters would have a problem getting on and off their boats. Did you catch the phrase, "right beside the mangroves"? If you did, then you may be able to guess the second negative. The no-see-ums. With the weather being as warm as it has been (and, by the way, the temperature is still PERFECT!) the no-see-um activity was at full-throttle. They came out of the mangroves at dusk and ATTACKED. They were everywhere before we could close up the boat and they can come right through the window screens.
Oh, I almost forgot. Prior to the no-see-um attack, we had a great lunch. There are two restaurants and a Circle-K that are outside the front entrance of the park. The cuban restaurant is right across HWY 1 and the Fish House is a little farther down...probably about 1/2 mile from the boat. The Fish House is a local seafood restaurant with a great reputation and very fresh fish. It has been written up in some national cooking and dining magazines so we went there and had some delicious, fresh mahi-mahi.
The next morning, we walked to Publix. The guy at the marina, Nathan, said it was a mile. I used my "Map My Ride" ap to measure and it ended up being 4.02 miles round-trip. No sidewalk and there was road construction going on that made it more of a hike than a walk. But we needed the exercise and it felt good to walk so it was fine.
If we could forget the no-see-um attack, we would highly recommend Pennecamp. But as it stands, I wouldn't stay there again when the weather is this warm. I value my blood too much.
From Pennecamp, we went to Tavarnier and anchored out (sufficiently away from the mangroves) on a windy night. Very windy. The anchor had to be reset twice during the night. (And we love the Drag Queen ap).
The next day we only made it 11 miles before deciding to swing into one of our favorite stores....World Wide Sportsman in Islamorada. It's like a classy Cabela's but you can get there by boat! There is an aquarium, a lounge, lots of fishing and boating supplies and even the sister-ship to Ernest Hemingway’s boat … Pillar. Yes, there is a boat in the store…and you can tour it!
We pulled up and docked for about 3 hours to shop and to have lunch at the beautiful waterfront Islamorada Fish Company. The marina is owned by the same people who have the store and the restaurant so as long as we were spending money they didn't seem to mind too much. The marina guy, Brett, seemed to relax a bit when he saw my big shopping bag. The choice that night was $5/ft at the dock or free in the bay in front of the dock (called Little Basin). We chose the free option, picked a nice spot away from it all and was still able to hear the live band that was playing at the restaurant. In fact, had we stayed at the marina, the music would have been annoyingly loud. It was a VERY windy night but the anchor held fine and we slept well.
Today was, because of the wind, a bit choppier. Especially on the outside (aka ocean side, or Gulf of Mexico side). The inside (aka FL Bay side, or just bay side) was much smoother today. We started from our anchorage at Little Basin (in front of World Wide Sportsman) and went down the keys (aka southwest) via the ICW on the inside. We crossed over to the outside at the Long Key viaduct to head down to an anchorage adjacent to the Curry Hammock State Park that we had scoped out last year while we were visiting George and Penny Berotti (CD 22 Wanderer). But immediately after going under the viaduct, we realized that is was MUCH rougher on the outside….so much so that we turned around and went back through the bridge.
The depths of the water are amazing shallow in the keys. If you have 6 feet, you are in deep water! So different than the PNW or Alaska. The average that we are seeing while not in a channel is 3 to 5. We got to a shallow area and I jumped in for a "swim". It was more like a walk as the water was only about 3 feet deep. But I did swim a few strokes. Casey held the hose for me for a fresh-water wash-down. Wonderful and refreshing on a warm day.
We continued down to Key Colony Beach to a great restaurant the Berotti's took us to last December...Sparky's. I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone in the keys. One of my favorites anywhere! We had shrimp and calamari that were both wonderful! Oh, and you can dock the boat right in front of the restaurant.
Not wanting to go up the rough outside to get to the anchorage at Curry Hammock, we simply went around the corner from Spanky’s in a residential area and are currently anchored between some houses and a little boat ramp. Very calm and protected. No water slapping on the hull tonight! And there’s a wonderful cool breeze. We should sleep very well.
Tomorrow we will just be meandering and exploring. And then Monday morning we will be heading to Bahia Honda State Park where my young cousin works as a naturalist. She lives on No Name Key where they only very recently went on the grid with electricity…prior to that it was solar and generators. We’ll be going to the No Name Pub (that I heard has the best pizza made from an old post on here by Ron Cowan). We’ll see.
Then it’s off to Ramrod Key to visit a friend who lives there. She has the 37’ Nordic Tug that we were lucky enough to go to the Everglades on in Feb of this year. Wow, that seems like a very long time ago...it’s been a great boating year for us!
To be continued and photos when I can.
Mary&Casey
