We continue to pursue our goal to visit National Parks but we never thought we would be able to get the Dry Tortugas National Park marked off our list due to it's location and lack of protection for anchoring. There is no electricity, no running water, no public docks & no cell service. There are shoals and coral reefs surrounding the islands. Access is only by boat, ferry or seaplane. While we were docked in Key West, we all kept our eyes on the wind forecast hoping for a long enough weather window to go. Luck was with us and there was a 5 day calm wind & wave stretch ahead. So when that weather window opened up, we threw off our bowlines & cruised away from our safe harbor as Mark Twain suggests.
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| Inner Harbor & Ferry Dock |
We were accompanied by 4 other beautiful Kadey Krogens carrying our friends: Tapestry led us out of the harbor with Sea Dweller, Waterford, Lauryl Anne & Day Dreams not far behind. We cruised about 70 miles in the pretty blue waters which kept getting deeper blue and clearer as we grew closer to the Dry Tortugas. After a 9 hour cruise, we all scattered out within a mile around Garden Island and threw our anchors in.
Dry Tortugas NP is located in the Gulf of Mexico. It is a group of tropical islands situated 67 miles west of Key West. The main attraction is Fort Jefferson on Garden Island. Construction of the Fort began in 1846 and was never finished and never saw combat. Even with that, it is one of the nation's largest brick masonry fortress. The construction went on for 30 years with 16 million bricks being carried in on sailing ships. During the Civil War, the fort was used as a Union Prison.
Loggerhead Island is 2 miles away from Garden and is the largest island with the highest elevation. It houses The Dry Tortugas Lighthouse which is 151 ft high & makes for a pretty horizon.
Just as we were getting settled in, the winds picked up and we were surprised by all our rocking & rolling. What happened to that calm wind & wave forecast? Luckily, the roughness only lasted a couple of hours & most of that time we were aboard Tapestry which is the largest of our fleet and the most stable. Lisa & Mark treated all of us to a delicious Low Country Boil.
Our first morning, the winds had calmed and the clear blue/aqua water turned to glass. The gulf here is beautiful, the closest we've seen to Bahamian water with varying shades of blue and great visibility. The Marine life, birds and spectacular night skies are amazing. We could see our anchors 25 feet down with the look bucket.
The next few days were filled with using our dinghies to explore & travel to Garden Island & Loggerhead Island.
We toured Fort Jefferson's 2 floors and its' rooftop. We walked the moat wall & snorkeled off the beach around the old dock pilings. Barracudas like to hang around the pilings.
Some of our best snorkeling was around Loggerhead Island, when we snorkeled the Windjammer wreck off the southwest end of Loggerhead. This 300 ft sailing vessel sank in 1907 with all the crew surviving.
We beached our dinghies on Loggerhead Island, walked across the island to the sand beach on the northwest side and stumbled ungracefully over the rocky shallows to snorkel the Little Africa reef, which was diverse and alive with fish & colorful coral.
Our sunsets & cocktail hours were celebrated either on board one of the Krogens or floating in our dinghies.
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| on Sea Dweller |
We didn't need to travel far to see fish, we had 4-5 Goliath Groupers & a few Nurse Sharks seeking shade under our boat & dinghy. These Groupers were at least 5 feet, as long as I am tall and definitely weighed more than me. They are one ugly fish!
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| Barracuda |
Our last morning, was beautiful, calm & the sky was a pale pink & blue. As we were pulling up our anchors, Waterford became snagged on an old sailing ship anchor that had been abandoned many years before. Around these islands, there is no cell signal and our radios did not reach the Coast Guard or Tow Boat. Luckily, a young couple who were anchored nearby heard Waterford's call for assistance. They were nice enough to come over; the young man donned his dive gear & in a few short minutes, freed Waterford from the old anchor's hold.
Here's to another new adventure shared with great friends!
We anchored for the night in Little Shark River, one of our favorite spots. Waterford anchored just up the river from us. We enjoyed our cocktails sitting on the bow, watching the sunset. All the no-seeums were in the aft cockpit & didn't find us. The next morning while I was pulling up anchor, all the no-seeums found me and covered me almost from head to toe, swarming around my face. Amazingly, I did not have one bite as a result!
The next day, we continued to head north to Ft Myers Beach and we were able to snag mooring balls. This is our first time here & we liked it. Big mooring field but it was almost full, but Jacque had called ahead & we got 2 almost at the very end of the field for $18/night. Took dinghy into Matanza's Inn to register for 2 nights. For dinner, we met Janet & Bob Gladieux @ The Parrot Caribbean Restaurant for dinner. The next day, it rained all day, so we didn't leave the boat.
