So the Keys trip is over, and we’re back. The last couple of days held some interesting activities.
Tuesday we took a trip down to Key West. I’ve been there a number of times, but it doesn’t have the appeal to me that the rest of the Keys do. The attractions tend toward more seedy recreations (drinking, strip clubs, the “Overdressed Male Nudist” in a thong, among others). They’ve got a couple of nice restaurants and shops, but they don’t keep my attention for long. I go to the Keys for the fishing, diving, and boating, not the t-shirt shops.
Returning from Key West in the late afternoon, the weather took a turn for the worse. Inches of rain poured down all night and into most of the following morning. Thunderstorms and boats don’t mix, so we were confined[1] to the house until early afternoon when we ventured out into the still-overcast outdoors. Our options were to attempt a Looe Key snorkeling trip, or ride up the Keys to Worldwide Sportsman and Robbie’s. We opted for the former, since it was our last chance to do any real boating before leaving Thursday.
We headed out beneath overcast skies, and the chop seemed only moderate considering the storm that had just passed. As we left the channel and reached the last marker, we took a heading of 180°, due south, where Looe Key was situated about 5 miles out. We set a course and motored out… And motored… And continued motoring for about 10 or 12 miles (estimated) without seeing a single semblance of any marked reef. After switching to our reserve tanks, we decided to scrap the idea and head back in before we burned too much fuel, now that we were out of sight of the shore. We reversed our heading and started in.
As we approached the shore, we passed what I eventually determined was a marker for a fishing spot about 3 miles due east of the Looe Key mark. We were completely baffled as to what we’d done, and ended up back at our spot from Monday to do some more snorkeling to salvage something out of the trip. Like the previous time, we saw little new, only a small moray eel and some good sized angel fish.
We headed back to the house to try to diagnose what had gone wrong, as we had no way of knowing without more information. I had joked that Admiral Nelson had more technology at his disposal than we did out there, while Nat remarked that our situation was like an episode of Seconds from Disaster. We tied up at the dock, and my dad immediately discovered that the compass upon which our whole fate had rested was about about 30° in error, tricking us into heading east of any target. Over distance that error was amplified by several miles, resulting in being completely out of sight of the marker. The whole ordeal, while sort of upsetting, ends up as a lesson in checking your equipment before your trip. It also makes for a better story than our hazy day, cold water dive at Looe would have been.
That was the end of our trip. We left Thursday morning early so we could be back in St. Pete by late afternoon. Colette had a bachelorette party to go to. We did stop at Robbie’s to feed the tarpon on the return trip, a Keys tradition. The only other notable happening on the drive back was the detour over the Card Sound bridge north of Key Largo. They’re doing some kind of construction on the stretch of US-1 between Florida City and Key Largo, so everyone got detoured up to Card Sound. Nothing fantastic, but I’d never driven up there before.
Some photos & videos, courtesy of Colette:
The Key West version of Man's Best Friend.
Watch Chloe climb the ladder out of the water.
I struggle to help her into the boat.
Dahli, my neice, drinking from dad's straw.
These first couple of days have been pretty ideal Keys days. We spent the first day mostly just hanging around the house here, put the boat in the water, and went fishing out in what’s apparently named “Newfound Harbor Channel.” No luck fishing, but we weren’t exactly prepared or trying too hard.
Day two was a little more exciting. We went on a snorkeling trip a few miles out to Newfound Harbor Key, a pretty decent reef and rock bed that’s protected from fishing and anchoring. There was nothing epic out there, but we saw a number of grouper, an arrowhead crab, huge schools of bermuda chubs, and some abandoned lobster pots (empty, however).
We’re planning to go to Looe Key either today or tomorrow. Looe is about 5 miles offshore, with clearer, deeper water, so we’re hoping for some more variety. Key West is also on the docket as well, but we don’t know when we’re heading down there.
The highlight so far has been Little Palm Island. Colette and I went down the street and hopped on their private ferry last night to take us out there for dinner. We arrived right around sunset and their hostess led us on a mini tour of the island facilities before seating us at a small table right on the beach. The breeze was cutting right over the corner of the island, preventing the typical Keys mosquito barrage at dusk. Colette had tuna, I had skirt steak, and we finished the evening off with some beignets for dessert. Colette got several good pictures from around the island even in the dark. The island itself is a marvel of engineering, it’s no wonder they charge a couple legs to stay in one of the bungalows or to eat dinner out there. I’d highly recommend the experience, regardless of price. It’s worth it.
This Saturday marks the start of our massive week-long family trip to Little Torch Key, our first trip to the Keys in 4 years, and our first time staying in the Lower Keys ever. Nine adults, one baby, one dog, two vans, and a boat. The drive down should be action-packed.
A number of times through elementary and middle school, we’d go down and stay either in motels or a family friends’ vacation home in Marathon. Later on our trips migrated up to Islamorada/Tavernier, where we’d stay in our uncles’ family’s condo. Islamorada was always a popular family spot in our older years because of its lobstering and fishing community (we got more interested in fishing than in snorkeling in our teens), and of course Robbie’s and World Wide Sportsman. Going to those places was our idea of “sightseeing.”
I’ve been to Key West a number of times, but aside from there, the only place below Marathon I’d ever really visited was Bahia Honda State Park. Next week we’ll be staying in a house on Little Torch Key, one of hundreds of small islands that make up the Lower Keys. There are a lot more little islands to explore down in that part of the archipelago, with more variety that what we’re used to. Up north of there in Islamorada, you’ve got the Atlantic on one side (deep with nearby reefs offshore) and Florida Bay on the other (sandy, shallow and flat, with not much to do other than fish). Little Torch and its surroundings will mix that up a little more. Nearby you’ve got shallows, numerous small islands to explore, deep channels, dropoff walls for diving on, reefs offshore, and all a short boat ride from the house. It’s only about a half hour drive to Key West, too, for shopping and whatnot.
Colette and I have a reservation to eat dinner on Little Palm Island, a “private island getaway” and the self-proclaimed “most romantic place on Earth.” They’ll pick us up in their boat and taxi us out there for the evening, so that should be pretty darn nice.
We’re excited to do some more photography. The Keys (especially with my family) always offer plenty of hilarious memorable moments. I’m just stoked to get to take enough time off to possibly get to relax for real.
Who am I kidding? It’s going to be non-stop action and by Thursday I’ll be exhausted.
Grayson laying into some nearly-captive tarpon at Robbie's.
