Great Loop Date 01.19-24.2011: Meandering Through the Florida Mangroves...

Day #160-165: 3064.2 Total Miles

Originally we had planned to go back out into the Gulf and round Cape Romano to get to our next destination.  The charts made the inland route past Goodland look a little too shallow for NII Wishin's draft.  Jerry and Todd met a local boater who had similar depth problems and knew the area well.  He was going through the inland route to Goodland and encouraged us to follow him.  We did just that and shaved two hours off our travel time.

When OB left Marco Island, it really did seem we had left the mainland and ended up in nothing but mangrove islands. It was interesting to make way through the maze.  When we reached Goodland, our guide waved goodbye and dropped off at Stan's Restaurant.  We would have stayed for lunch but needed to get to our anchorage with plenty of time to get settled.

Day #160-161: 1/19-20/2011 (Wednesday through Thursday)
Port #69: Gullivan Bay, FL (anchorage)

Jerry and Todd had decided on an anchorage near but not at Panther Key.  Some reports mentioned Panther Key could be very congested with boats.  They had decided on an anchorage off of White Horse Key.

We had to plan for Celestial (Lunar) Tide since we were at full moon.  Celestial (Lunar) Tide is maximum tide from low to high and completely dependant on the moon's gravitation pull on the earth.  In this area it was a 4 foot tide.  When we anchored, we had to add or subtract the difference depending on what time we were on the tide table.  It was also necessary to compare our soundings to the navigational charts.  The first area we anchored in would have had us high and dry on the hard (standing on land) at low tide.  We moved to a deeper pool.

OB had a good anchor in 12 feet of water.  When the tide went out, we still had 8 feet under us.

After getting settled in, we dropped the dinghy and headed over to the beach on White Horse Key to do some shelling with Jerry and Joan.  Yes, I forgot my camera...and there weren't as many varieties of shell as on Caladesi (I was really spoiled there!).

Todd and I took the few shells I kept back to OB, picked up the camera and took the dinghy to Happy Hour on NII Wishin.

Night settled on us...so peaceful and quiet.

And the full moon rose.  This is the third full moon I've captured.  It didn't become important until we came into the saltwater tides.

Both crews were enjoying the beauty of the anchorage and agreed to spend another day in the anchorage.

Todd and I made this a day of exploring.  We took the dinghy and decided to see what the mangrove keys looked like close up.

We ended up at Panther Key.  Our initial plan was to anchor at this key.  We changed our plan when we'd heard this anchorage is sometimes crowded.

Only one sailboat was anchored here.  We landed the dinghy and explored for shells.

The beaches on these mangrove keys are generally small and only on one side of the key.  The sand is washed into the mangrove root system, caught and collects forming the beach.  The mangroves are so dense it's impossible to explore past the shoreline.  On Panther Key, enough sand has built up to allow sea grass to grow.

Our exploring lead us back to NII Wishin and OB.  Jerry had spent the afternoon fishing and caught 11 fish...none big enough to keep.

Todd and I grabbed our fishing poles, hoping to catch dinner.  We dinghied out into the calm Gulf waters...and caught this beautiful sunset (and no fish!).

This sailboat had moored off of Whitehorse Key earlier in the day.  Obviously he didn't check the tide tables.  As the tide went out he was left on the hard.  When we got up the next morning, he was gone.  High tide was at 1AM so he must not have gotten much sleep before he hoisted anchor and went on his way in the dark.

Day #162-163: 1/21-22/2011 (Friday-Saturday)
Port #70: Everglades Rod and Gun Club; Everglade City, FL (Everglades National Park)

OB and NII Wishin awoke to 'Red Sun' and knew we needed to get to our next port before the forecasted storms materialized.  Leaving Gullivan just after Celestial Low Tide made navigation slow and difficult.  At a few points we were a hairs breadth from grounding.  Once out into the Gulf, we all had a sigh of relief and set our course for Indian Key where we would turn into Everglades National Park and the mangroves for our final destination of Everglades City.

I'm not a fan of this kind of sunrise.  It's beautiful for pictures...but it bears a warning.  'Red sun in morn, sailors take warn'...and we did.  OB and NII Wishin hoisted anchor as soon as the tide would let us.  The water was skinny getting out and we dredged up some mud as we passed Whitehorse Key.  It took us about a half hour to get our way through a narrow path because of low tide.  Coming in on high tide took us half that time.

Our next planned stop was Everglades City, FL and the historic Everglades Rod and Gun Club.  We crossed the Gulf and turned north at Indian Key.  The next half hour took us through more mangrove mazes to Chokoloskee Bay and the Barron River.  We were deep in Everglades National Park as we made way to Everglades City.  I was constantly watching for alligators...Everglades and alligator seemed synonymous to me.  I had no alligator sightings before we made land at the Rod and Gun Club.

The Rod and Gun Club seemed to be the main attraction in Everglades City.  Everyone we talked to told us not to eat there.  The food was expensive and less than palatable.

Our first evening we listened to the locals and went to the Seafood Depot.  It is the original train station and really nice inside.  However, Todd and I were disappointed in the Prime Rib Special we had.  Joan had fried clams and Jerry had fried oysters.  Both were very happy with their meals.  Hmmm....what about 'Seafood Depot' didn't we understand?  This was the only alligator we saw while we were in the area.

Saturday morning, the cold front moved through bringing rain with it.  This was our view across the Barron River.  Upstream were many of the crab boats that left all those nasty crabpots all over the Gulf!

After the rain stopped, Todd and I walked around Everglades City.  We found a few more restaurants to consider for our evening meal.  We went to an art show in the park that was probably pretty big for this small town.  Charlie had his first taste of a piece of hot dog (and I forgot the camera again!).  He told us it smelled great but it felt like a rubber ball!  Picture him sniffing it, putting it in his mouth and bouncing it out on the pavement a half dozen times before he realized he could chew it!  We laughed and laughed.

Jerry, Joan, Todd and I decided we should go against all the local advise and eat dinner in the Rod and Gun Club.  This time, I remember the camera and was very glad.  We took a walk back in time.  The phone booth was vintage 1940's.  I wondered which US Presidents and big named actors had put their hands on this phone!

This is the game room.  Todd may have been shooting pool in US Presidents and famous movie stars footprints.

There was a small bar in the front of the club that really looked like the men's club it used to be.

The Rod and Gun Club used to rent rooms.  It was a Lodge for traveling fishermen and hunters.  The lodge has been closed for some time.  No one is permitted upstairs. 

This is the reception area.

After a very good dinner, we moved into the bar that is now used by the public.  I caught this shot of Jerry enjoying Brigitte Bardot.

The Rod and Gun Club was originally built upon a foundation set by the first permanent settler whom founded the historical city in 1864. By 1922 Barron Collier purchased the Rod and Gun Club. He catered to many famous, notable guests and operated the club as a private establishment.

Past guests include Mick Jagger, Jeri Hall, and William Kennedy in 1991; as well as David Carradine, Roy Clark, Mel Tillis, Eddie Arnold, and Jack Nicklaus. Location filming of "Just Cause" brought Sean Connery and the shooting of Walt Disney's "Gone Fishing" brought Danny Glover and Joe Pesci.

Day #164: 1/23/2011 (Sunday)
Port #71: Little Shark River, Everglades National Park, FL (anchorage)

The crews from OB and NII Wishin had seen all that could be seen in Everglades City and were ready to mosey on.  This was going to be another long day, so we left early just after sunrise.  We had no trouble winding our way out through the mangroves, even early into rising tide.  The full moon was now past, however it takes a few days for the tides to become less dramatic.

This was our third trip out into the Gulf on this leg of the journey.  The previous ventures were comfortable.  Today was met with a little more chop but not yet uncomfortable.  Our course was direct, except for the continuous groupings of crabpots.

When we left the barges up north, we began our affair with crabpots.  Crab harvesters use milk crate sized boxes at the bottom of the ocean to attract stone crabs.  These crates are tethered to softball sized styrofoam balls by polyply cord.  OB has 'spurs' that should cut the cord if we managed to run over a crabpot.  However, should the spurs fail, the cord can tangle itself around the shaft, prop and rudder to the point where all will break off and leave us in a real fix.

Crabpots have been everywhere, in channels, in the open water, out farther than the normal 20 foot deep barrier.  Navigating around them kept Todd and Jerry from being able to leave Auto to navigate for these long legs of the trip.

We didn't see many boats as we made way across the Gulf to Little Shark River.  This trawler was on it's way west.

And this catamaran was going east.  Those are the only boats we saw during our 6 hour trip.

As we came close to our turn into the Little Shark River, we spotted this sign.  I may have once told us we were entering Everglades National Park.  We saw these signs every so often along the boundary of the park.

This is one of the many crabpots we had to avoid every day we cruised.

Entering the Little Shark River, there was a nice little cove on the north side.  The cove was smaller than it looked because of shoaling and a piling of some sort on the north shore.  Jerry found a spot big enough and deep enough in this cove.  We went around the bend and anchored east of the R4 marker.  We had to plan for another 4 foot tide.

The anchorage was very pristine and beautiful with egrets and other birds.  We had read there were alligators here, as well.  I couldn't spot any during daylight hours.



The catamaran (Sunburst) came in just before sunset and anchored behind NII Wishin.  They had Michigan numbers and Jerry tried to talk to them.  They just went about their business and acted like no one else was around. 

 

OB's little nook for the night.



As night fell, we were treated to another glorious sunset.

The area really was breath taking.  Just after the sun went down we began to hear what had been described to us as alligator calls.  It was a guttural noise that was higher pitched than a groan.  We wondered if it really was alligators.  We couldn't compare the sound to birds or anything else we had heard.  Later we went out on the bridge to look at the amazing starlit sky.  Suddenly there was a horrific screaming from a bird close by followed by a very large splash and silence.  Todd and I scurried off the bridge, closed the door and stared at each other.  We used the spotlight on the bow to look at the shoreline but saw nothing...no glowing eyes, no wildlife, nothing.  We went to bed...and checked out the cockpit and the swim platform from inside in the morning.  All was clear....and we never saw an alligator.