February 2017 – Travels of Sanctuary

We are staying here in Marathon, at Sombrero Dockside Marina, for the month of February and plan to have a few visitors. Years ago, our family and two children visited Key West. So it’s been a long time since we’ve been in this neck of the country. Sometime during our February stay, we will take a bus back to Key West to see what has changed in that part of the Florida eclectic part.

Sombrero feels rustic–a type of marina you’d expect in the Keys. The marina is well protected from any angle of wind with beautiful views of the harbor and Country Club golf course. We met several boaters; some who have been on the Loop. Folks are friendly here and include us in their plans. For instance, two of the guys—Dan and Craig—celebrated their birthdays the day after we arrived. They asked if we’d like to join them at a restaurant grill for .35 cent wing night and happy hour. We joined them and about 12 of us ended up together munching on wings. After dinner, we gathered together on the dock by our boats where a restaurant used to thrive. Singing happy birthday to the birthday boys, we enjoyed homemade pecan and berry pies–outdoors in our flip flops and shorts in February!

Sombrero Marina is directly across the street from a country club and golf course. The first night here, those same boaters asked if we’d like to join them at 4:30 for appetizers and drinks at the country club. We didn’t need to be members. Some of the guys had golfed earlier and invited the rest of us to join them.

We are in Boot Key Harbour which is one of the largest anchorages areas we have seen yet. Many of the boats stay on the moorings for a long time; others anchor near the mooring field. There are well over two hundred mooring balls and many anchored boats. Some exhibit a very lived-in, somewhat forsaken appearance. At the sun sets, it is quite a sight to witness the boats with their anchor lights twinkling in the distance.

Dolphin escort to Marathon

Seven Mile Bridge

Marathon – Boot Key Harbor

Next up on the blog: Key West, Pigeon Key, Visitors from up north and exploring…..

Shark River Anchorage was very secluded and completely off the grid. There is not even a hint of cell or data coverage in that area. The anchorage was a large area that we shared with three or four boats. The tide in that area was almost 4’ which resulted in a lot of mucky, muddy land at low tide. You might wonder, what’s a body to do when there’s absolutely no modern technology available? We read a lot, Teresa did some journaling, grill, and bake some. It’s amazing what you can come up with when left to your own imagination.

On the way into the anchorage, we had a dolphin escort by a mother and child dolphin. That was really great to see the two of them swimming on our bow wave. The mother had a tear on her dorsal fin which must have been hit by a boat.

We took the dinghy and explored up the river finding lots of mangrove islands and branches. Due to all the mangroves and the way they grow with their spiny roots growing into the water, there is no place to bring the dinghy to shore or walk on land. It would be very easy to get lost in this area called 10,000 island, but the real number is much higher. Our trail was marked with bread crumbs on the GPS making it possible to get back to Sanctuary. We spent three nights here waiting for a good travel day to move on to the Keys. It was nice to chill and not have any schedule. We did see a large military jet fly over which was quite the contrast to all the mangrove swamps.

The stars were amazing, because it was really dark. Without a moon or any city lights, it really so dark you could hardly see your hand in front of your face. So very calm, still, almost an eerie feeling being in complete silence other than occasional birds and hoot owls.

The next stop was Little Pine Key. The water was so clear we could stand on the bow and actually see our anchor and check its location. With the water being so crystal clear, you get an unrealistic notion that the bottom is closer than it actually is. We took the dinghy around the bay seeing and lots of different plants and sea life growing on the bottom.

We noticed a blimp that seemed to always be flying to the south of the anchorage. Research informed us that it was a Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS)—part of an Air Force program keeping watch on air and sea traffic from the Caribbean Sea to Tampa Bay. It is used to help monitor drug trafficking. The blimp is called “Fat Albert” and floats at 10,000 up to 15,000 feet above Cudjoe Key.

We stayed at Little Pine Key until the dock we reserved in Marathon was available. It was a short trip under the Seven Mile Bridge into Boot Key Harbor to Sombrero Dockside Marina, which is in Marathon. On the way we saw dolphins, a huge Sea Turtle, and of course lots of crab pots. They are sprinkled everywhere in this area and do not have a pattern of being in a line like we have seen before. There are definite hazards so you have to be on constant watch for them. Getting a line from a crab pot caught in your propeller could cause big-time problems.