We got an early start this AM for
our 70 mile run to Little Shark River in the Everglades. For you
automobile drivers, 70 miles probably does not sound like much. However,
on a boat of our size, 70 miles is a big day. We typically run at 8.5
statute MPH. That gives us our best fuel economy, and is much more
relaxing than running fast, especially when you have to dodge thousands
of crab pots. We did get up and run a while at 25 MPH just to make some
time. The water started out nice, but then turned into 2’s to 3’s on the
port bow. Not too bad, but a little uncomfortable.
Little
Shark is a river in the everglades. It is about 110 miles from Marco to
Marathon, so Little Shark is a nice stop to break the run into two days.
It is a long ways from any town, road, or people. We had talked to
people who have anchored here, but of course, this is our first time
here. I don’t care how many times you look at the charts, and map out
your route, it’s always an adventure entering a new anchorage.
The picture above is from our chart plotter. See the green channel marker at
the lower left? That is your only aid to mark the entrance. Impossible
to see from a mile out. However, that is the advantage of the plotter.
It shows the surrounding area, and where you are. We ran up the river
about a mile to try to get out of the wind, but where we dropped the
hook, it was still blowing pretty good. You can see the boat location
where we ended up anchoring. Our first spot was about 1/2 way from where
the boat is now to the green entrance marker. We didn’t want to venture
too much further, as we were unsure of the water depths. They start to
shallow pretty quickly from where we were.
We dropped the dinghy into the water, took our handheld plotter, and scoped out the
river a little further up. You can see our bread crumb trail, starting
at and going back to our original spot. We wanted to make sure we
could find our way back.
Most of the southern portion of Florida, the Everglades, is only a few feet
above sea level. It is full of mangrove trees. There are alligators
here, and all the cruising guides warn about not letting your pets out,
or swimming. We haven’t seen any, yet!
Pat did manage to get a few dolphin shots though. I think she’s gonna have these guys eating out of her hand before we’re done!
Good night! Time to watch another sunset! Ken
No comments:
Post a Comment