Up Florida Bay

The keys mostly run east to west from the Florida peninsula.  On one side is the Atlantic Ocean and on the other, the Gulf of Mexico.  The stretch up the gulf running up the north side of the keys is called Florida Bay.  Large stretches of Everglades National Park run along this bay.  It is notorious to cruisers for shallow waters for fishermen and kayakers, it paradise.  Happiness all depends on your perspective.  We have never attempted this stretch due to the shallow waters but after talking with several people with similar draft (how deep your keel goes), we decided to give it a shot.  We used a lot of resources to have routes and anchoring spots scoped out ahead of time since we have a storm (as always) headed our way.  We did see as little as 6 inches under the keel but we kept floating so it's all good! 

We're on the way to Miami!

From Florida Bay, there are only two ways for a sailboat to get to the
Atlantic, the 7 mile bridge by Marathon and the bridge at Channel 5.
This long, low bridge makes a stunning sight but no way out for us.

If you see a high spot, it's a landfill.  

The route we took has enough marks to keep you on track but so much
of the route includes cuts between mangrove islands.  You really have
to stay on top of the tide situation.  So much of the route we couldn't have
safely passed at anything but a high tide.  The moon phase is between
full and new so the tides are not as dramatic between low and high.  This was 
a very good thing for us as it gave us longer with good water to transit the
really low spots.

Some of the cuts are long, others just a few yards.

This mark piling has definitely seen better days.  I sure hope it is
at the top of the list for replacement.

Now this mark has substantial support!

Our first night in Florida Bay was at Lignumvitae State Park.  We had
read about this place and were really looking forward to going ashore and taking
a tour.  We didn't find out that they were closed the day we'd be there. At least they had
nice mooring balls to use.  Maybe next time.

Sunset over the Everglades.

After a few nail-biting moments, we safely made it through all the super
shallow spots and found safe harbor in Tarpon Basin.  This is a large,
well protected spot off of Key Largo.  We'll stay for 3 nights waiting
out the latest front to blow through.

The sunsets are just so stunning.  We never get tired of watching them.

David is taking advantage of the layover to clean the bottom of the boat.
After very little sailing for the past two months, all kinds of creatures
have made themselves at home on the hull and propeller.  This slows the boat down
and is decidedly unseamanly.  Since there is a current running as well as strong wind,
we have a long, floating line for him to grab onto and pull himself back to the
boarding ladder in case he loses his grip on the boat.

This is why we are happy to be in this spot.  The wind is blowing about
20 kts. and the wind lines on the water show up well.  Good for us, this
is the size of the waves.  In more exposed waters, the waves would be
bouncing us around like a toy boat in a tub with a 2 year old.