Saturday, April 21, 2012

Marathon Key to East Cape Sable

Two intrepid voyagers embark on a journey of a lifetime! Well, uh, er, um, at least for two days!!

April 9th & 10th 2012

Marathon Key to East Cape Sable

20.25 hours underway

67 nautical miles roundtrip


We left the safety of Boot Key Harbor about 8:15am sailing through the anchorage. We headed out into the Atlantic on a heading that would take us to Moser Channel and under the world famous
 7 Mile Bridge.
We played the tides perfectly and enjoyed the nature asstisted pull and push under the bridge. The winds were light yet favorable for our direct voyage to East Cape. Once under the bridge and out on the Gulf of Mexico, we settled in for a delightfully relaxing ride.
About 10 miles into the trip we spotted a commercial ballyhoo net boat. It turns out they were customers at the marina where we work. They found out it was us a few days after we got back and said "We wondered who those idiots were in the middle of Florida Bay." They just shook their heads in disbelief. I should mention they are over half of our age younger, just "kids" and still wet behind the ears, so they just don't understand the thrill of an adventure.
Did I mention we had a plentiful array of snacks. An essential ingredient in an expedition of this magnitude!
We hit beach at East Cape Sable about 6:15pm and did a quick check of our surroundings. It was crocodile nesting season and sure enough we saw tail drags and a possible nest. We set up as close to the water as possible. I was in the "Taco Salad Tent" and Mike was in the "Burrito Bivy Bag." No close encounters or sightings of the "Salty" kind, however, the next morning a kayaker who was down the beach quite aways visited us and said he saw one at sundown and sunrise. It was partially in the water and he estimated he was only able to see about 10 feet of it, the rest was submerged.  
Speaking of the next morning, the noseeums had a bountiful feast!! I have never before seen so many. We were glad they were the only ones biting! Me in my bug shirt and yes it is possible to drink through the netting.

My brave voyaging friend Mike who seemed unaffected by the noseeums after he got his pants on! However, taking our morning journey to the bush with our wag bags was, shall we say, quite irritating!

We got a late start on the return voyage and peddled a lot in the beginning but found our favorable winds to carry us home safely until we again set off on some epic adventure....providing the women in our life say it is ok!!
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Video of part of the trip on the way to East Cape Sable. A little boring for you to watch but totally relaxing for us while we were underway.

6 comments:

  1. Honosail, nice report. You needed a picture of that croc. You know the old saying, "no pics, didn't happen." Just kidding. I've been out on East Cape Sable this time of the year and can vouch for their being crocs there--big time.

    Thanks for the report.

    Keith

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    1. Thanks Keith. We did see a couple pairs of crocs but they were on our feet! We got lucky with the tides and wind but we tell everyone it comes with years of experience. Hope to catch up with you in the Glades sometime. Don't forget you are welcome to use our marina to launch from and park.
      Randy

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  2. Replies
    1. Thanks! We had a blast and can't wait for the next big adventure.
      Randy

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  3. sweet rigs! Do they turn into sea kayaks? a pain to set up? I came across your site while planning a trip to the everglades.. Sailing plus kayaking your style seems like a blast!

    What is the name of your vessel? Do they convert into kayaks easily? Thanks sincerely.... inspiring stuff, gentlemen!

    Travis

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    1. Hi Travis, check out the Hobie website. We were using a Hobie Tandem Island. Their site will tell you everything you need to know. Once you try one you won't go back to paddling.

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