Voyage from Dry Tortugas, FL to Sanibel, FL - March 16, 2007

We awoke early, left the Dry Tortugas at 7:30 am and headed north. The weather was good with 2-3’ seas in almost following seas. The ride was really not too bad. The day was uneventful and long (both good things in itself). John Henry had difficulty with Nobeltec all day – and had to reboot many times. We came into the San Carlos Bay about 10:00 pm though all the hordes of Fishing Boats which had to be maneuvered. Tom and Gale were about 2 miles behind us.

As we headed toward our destination, Nobeltec decided to crash again. With the congestion of the bay, the darkness because of the late hour, and a tired crew, we decided to turn back and called Tom to lead us in with his Navigation System. Just after we entered the channel behind Tom, both John Henry and Gale Force were pulled over by 2 US Coast Guard Boats.

The Coast Guard were suspicious of our activities come in so late (11:45 pm) from the Gulf. They wanted to board us and we requested they wait until we anchored as the winds had picked up to near 30 knots. They agreed and led us to Fort Myers Beach area just off Sanibel Island and insisted that we anchor there. Once anchored, they were having so much trouble boarding us due to wind and the GH swing dance, they just questioned us from their boat. They agreed that our actions were not that suspicious since we were having navigation problems, it explained why we turned around and meet another boat from the Gulf.

What an ending to a long day. Wink and I both believe that doing anything illegal would really show our stupidity in a get-a-way boat that does only 10mph. We stayed at that anchorage in a high winds, in the middle of the bay all night. Saturday afternoon we moved to a very protected anchorage just a mile or so away on the NE corner of the Sanibel bridge with depths of 6-8'. Things do work out for the best…. As our builder, Ken Fickett says, “if it doesn’t kill you, it makes yout stronger”. We feel pretty strong today…..

Dry Tortugas, FL - March 11-15, 2007

Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas National Park, FL

The morning seas started out nice, however, they became confused and choppy with swells of 4-6’ and winds from 15-20 knots. The good thing is that the seas were following and those are great seas to have in a Great Harbour. In the early afternoon, we attempt a course change which bought rough seas on the beam. Tom with Gale Force tried to contact Dry Tortuga Park Rangers to confirm best channel to enter with no response. The Freedom II Ferry heard our call and recommended that we change course and come in through the north channel. We had anticipated a southern channel entry and was using the following seas to get us around to it, now we must turn back and fight the beam seas to get to the north channel. Winds had risen and were gusting with high waves until we reached the main channel then we had calmer waters. Our anchor dragged in the night and we had to move at 1:30 in the morning, Tom help us, thank you. Our anchor held tight after that change. We were so tired that we didn’t leave the boat for two days. Tom and Gale came over to John Henry for sunset and dinner on Tuesday evening.

We toured Ft. Jefferson on Wednesday and really had a great day.Left: Here is a picture of Wink and Wilma in front of the Harbor Light at Fort Jefferson.

Right: A picture of Bush and Long Keys. Bush Key is a santuary for the Sooty Tern who nest there from February to September.

You can double click on the pictures to enlarge. John Henry is on the far right. Wink and I were docked across from this Ferry when we were in the Key West Bight Marina.

We also fished and caught lots of Bonnet Sharks and Mangrove Snappers. Thursday, we snorkeled in the morning along the moat wall and saw lots of fish and coral. We even saw 3 gaint lobsters (of course they were in the no touch zone - they're not dummies). We also went fishing for grouper and Wink did catch a nice Red Grouper (not legal size) so it went back in to grow up. We had a trip planning meeting and early drinks on Tom and Gale's boat then returned to our boat to prepared to leave on Friday because of a good weather window.

Wink took many beautiful pictures of the sunsets. Here is just one.

The night sky held the most beautiful stars I've ever seen. The milky way was very visible and I (Wilma) was able to see star clusters with my binoculars.