The Dry Tortugas

Well, it took us about 24 hours to get the 101 miles from Marathon to The Dry Tortugas. The going was slow most of the way because of light winds. Nevertheless, 100 miles per day in light wind isn't bad.

The trip was pleasant and without perils until the last minute. This morning at dawn I spotted a pod of four dolphins escorting us up by the bow. As I looked down on them I realized that the sea here is a deep shade of blue that we haven't seen before. The color matches the canvas on our bimini. In here by the island, the sand is white and the water is light green, just like in the BVIs.

As we approached the Garden Key Channel I misread the markers. We wound up in very shallow water, 6.1 feet deep, but fortunately we were able to do an about face and get out of there without grounding.

The anchorage here is very small and tricky. A nice lady on a powerboat advised us where it is shallow and where the strong currents are and she directed us to a good spot. There are about 8 other boats here.

After a nap to catch up on lost sleep we went ashore and toured Fort Jefferson and the island. It's very nice and very interesting. Look it up yourself on the Internet. There were quite a few people around from two tour boats that come here from Key West. There is a beach and nice snorkeling and a tent campground. That appears to be a bigger attraction than the fort. There is no place on the mainland or in the keys as nice as this. This may be the nearest, least expensive, tropical paradise island to get to .

Tomorrow the forecast is for light and variable winds. We need to cross the Gulf Stream and that's not practical in such light winds, so we'll have to stay here Monday also. I don't think we'll suffer. In fact I think we'll go snorkeling from the beach tomorrow.

The darn fuel/oil leak in the engine started again yesterday. I'll have another go at trying to locate it tomorrow. Boy that's persistent.

Sorry I can't post our pictures over the SSB radio. Eventually we'll get to a place where I can send them, but for a while it's text only.

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