Water, Water Everywhere, But Not Enough To Drive Your Boat (In)

Monday, February 29 - We left Faro Blanco Resort marina on our way to Miami.  It was a two day trip covering just over 100 miles.  We were traveling with Ralph, Linda and Chewy (the boat dog) on Mazel Tug.  It was nice following Mazel Tug because they had been through these waters before.

We decided to take the inside route across Florida Bay rather than Hawk Channel (the outside route); the inside route is more direct although, as we were to find out, the water can be very shallow in places.  For about a 5 mile stretch, the depth of the water averaged 5 feet and in a couple of places the depth sounder  showed 3.6 feet!  Fortunately, we realized that we did not program a transducer offset into our depth sounder so the water was actually 1.5 feet deeper than it was reading.  Still, that is shallow water, especially when LeeLoo's draft is 3.5 feet.

                                    Birds Standing On Sticks In 3.5 Feet Water!

Our destination this day was Key Largo.  Mazel Tug stayed at Gilbert's Marina and we anchored nearby.  After we set the anchor, we took the dinghy to the marina and had dinner with Ralph and Linda at the marina restaurant.  It was dark when we headed back to LeeLoo and Carey was heading in the wrong direction (naturally) until Nancy set him straight!  It's hard to find a boat in the dark, even with the anchor light on!  Fearing that this would be the case, we added a flashing light to LeeLoo's bow to help us find her.  We spent a peaceful night at anchor.  

            Sunset From The Restaurant At Gilbert's Marina.  That Is LeeLoo In the Distance.

Tuesday, March 1 - We left Key Largo for Miami, a distance of about 50 miles.  Fortunately, the water was deeper in Blackwater and Barnes Sounds and in Biscayne Bay, one less thing to worry about.  We passed downtown Miami and the Miami Cruise Ship Terminal on our way north.  Since this was a Tuesday, there were no cruise ships in port, but there were a lot of other "smaller" vessels out and about.  Our destination was an anchorage north of Miami called Aleto State Park.  It was a pretty bay off of the main ICW Channel and there was plenty of water in which to anchor.  An adjacent bay is next to Florida International University, so there were lots of students in kayaks and on stand up paddle boards in the bay.  

It was an easy day on the water.

                                                        Crab Boat On The Bay

                       Passing Through A Creek Connecting Barnes Sound and Biscayne Bay
 

                                                       Miami In The Distance

                                    Passing Under 2 Bridges On The ICW In Miami

                           An Ocean Going Tugboat On The ICW - Now That's A Boat!