Heading out today for the Dry Tortugas. This is not to be confused with Tortuga of Pirates of the Caribbean fame. The Dry Tortugas are about 75 miles off the coast of Key West and the location of a much raved about national park. With some stops for sitting out weather, we think it will take about a week to get there.
It is the location of Fort Jefferson, a former fort and at one time a prison. The only way you can get there is by boat and besides the fort there are two park rangers - no fresh water, no place to put trash, nada. We have to bring everything we want to have while we are there, which actually shouldn't be that difficult because we've restocked the boat. What is there is a beautiful anchorage, some fabulous snorkeling and a definite deserted island feel - which is just what we're in the mood for!
Boot Key Harbor is very nice, but there are a lot of boats there! Makes for lots to watch and lots of noise - engines running to charge boat batteries and (my personal aggravation) generators, which unfortunately are run at all hours of the day or night (and sometimes all day and night!).
Along the way, we'll stop at some familar and new places - Newfound Harbor (where we're staying tonight), Key West (to sit out the cold front(s)), the Marquesas (if the coast guard will let us) and then a long day's sail (40-50 miles) over to the Dry Tortugas.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment