Ft. Lauderdale to Boot Key Harbor (Marathon)

We started our day early on December 18, leaving Marina Bay Resort and Yacht Club in Fort Lauderdale. The trip back through the narrow channel of the New River to the ICW was uneventful, and very interesting. There is a lot to see on the New River. The morning began as overcast but turned to a beautiful, warm day as we traveled along. As has been the norm throughout Florida, we saw large and beautiful homes, as well as numerous condos along the waterway – multi-million dollar stuff.

Once through all the bridges on the ICW between Ft. Lauderdale and Miami, we made it to beautiful (from the water) Miami, FL. Maneuvering through the Miami ship channel was a little tricky because of the numerous channel markers that seemed to conflict with each other, as well as huge ships and other boats, but it was not as bad as we had anticipated. Our anchorage for the night was at No-Name Harbor, which is part of a Florida state park. We tied up to the sea wall for the afternoon and rode our bikes into the town of Key Biscayne. We did some window shopping, had an early dinner, and bought a few grocery items. We headed back to the boat before dark to move the boat off the sea wall. Boaters are not allowed to stay overnight on the sea wall, so we moved the boat to a spot in the harbor and anchored for the night. Just as we got the anchor set, we had a rainstorm. It is a beautiful, well protected anchorage, and if you ever come this way by boat, I highly recommend it.

We left early on December 19 from No-Name Harbor heading south on the ICW. Our choices were to go “inside” on the ICW, or “outside” on Hawk Channel. Since the wind was blowing out of the northeast at about 15-20 knots, we chose the former. Our anchorage for the night was at Islamorada. The night was a little rocky due to high winds, but not too bad.

We left Islamorada on December 20, and our next anchorage was at Marathon. We dodged crab pots all the way to Marathon, which made the trip slower than usual. Our plan was to anchor inside Boot Key Harbor AKA Marathon, but, once we got inside, there were just too many boats to find a safe place to drop the anchor, and once again the wind was blowing too hard. After maneuvering around inside the harbor for about 45 minutes, we decided to go outside the harbor and anchor just outside the entrance to the harbor, along with a couple of other boats. The day was very windy, as was the night, and we rocked and rolled until one of us (the crew) could not take it anymore and became sea sick.

We attempted to leave the following morning headed to Hawks Channel but could not get very far, because of high seas (8-10 feet) and wind (25-30 knots). We turned around and went back to our original anchorage with hopes of getting out of there the following morning, but the winds and seas had not laid down enough. Again, we had high seas and wind, so we turned back for our anchorage. We had another uncomfortable night at anchor but we were determined to leave on Friday. We attempted to make it to Hawks Channel on Friday, but once again, we couldn’t make it. Determination doesn’t mean anything when it comes to Mother Nature; so once again, we sat at our anchorage waiting for Saturday to try it again. On Saturday, December 23, we pulled anchor once again and attempted to make it to Hawks Channel, but again, the winds and seas were too high. At that point the Captain and Crew made the decision to continue the trip to Key West on the ICW. Now, the distance from Boot Key Harbor to Boca Chica inlet (our final destination in Key West) via Hawks Channel is 34 miles. The distance on the ICW is about 75 miles, but the ICW route is much more protected than Hawks Channel, so that made our decision for us. We changed course to go under Seven Mile Bridge, and finally were on our way to Key West. The winds and seas were calm, and we had a good day of boating. Needless to say, we were glad to get out of Marathon after our experience there. Next Stop, KEY WEST, Florida. Stay tuned