The Alarm rang at 6:45 and we were off by 7 a.m. Tom headed Catrina for the 951 Bridge and Debbie documented the sunrise (above). At the advice of Loopers Sarah and Ted who winter at Marco Island, we departed the city by the inland south route up the Marco River. This would eliminate having to go out so far into the Gulf around Cape Romano Shoal.
The Marco River is very scenic but we may have made a major error in selecting this route. First we were sailing directly into the sun with very poor visibility. We left at mean low tide. Later we confirmed that we were at LOW low tide. This happens each year in January and February. We saw a lot more of the river bottom than we anticipated.
Please look closely at the mud flat and note the tracks across it. They are not ours but were made by other boats rubbing their bottoms!
We crept along watching both of our depth finders closely and our charts. Did I mention this was the BIG Marco River not the Little Marco River, if there is one. We passed under the 92 Bridge, 2/3 of the way to the Gulf. Next was Goodland and the patriotic Old Marco Restaurant and Trailer Park. We entered Coon Key Pass. Our depth finder was beeping which indicates a 4 foot or less depth. We foraged ahead at barely one mile and hour.
When we pass Coon Key Island (above) and then Coon Key Light, we enter Gullivan Bay which is adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico where depths should be 5 to 7 feet.
After studying the Charts we head up the north side of Coon Key. So far we have not seen one Coon. The Depth Finders move from 4 to 3 to 2 to 1.5 and we are pushing sand with our propellers. We backed up and tried another route. Same story. Maybe we picked the wrong side of the island. We tried the other side and the front depth finder registers zero and then nothing. Since it is in the bow, we either coated the bottom with thick sand or we are aground. Tom was able to back Catrina up so we weren’t aground. Tom was not ready to accept defeat and went back to the north Coon Key shore. This time he went up the left side and again the remaining rear depth (fish) finder showed 1.5 feet. Please remember our draft is about 3 feet deep. Maybe the depth finder lied or wasn’t accurate at low numbers. We continued slowly with both motors and after what seemed a very long time, the depths began to slowly got bigger 2 - 3 - 4 . Whew! We could see Coon Key Light in the distance. If the bottom was anything but sand, we would be buying new propellers and maybe motors, fins and rudders.
We passed Coon Key Light (that is Marco Island on either side of the light) and entered Gullivan Bay about 10 a.m. In three hours we had gone only 10 to 12 miles. But we could look back at Coon Key Island and know we had beaten nature!
Catrina is not quite as filled with instrumentation as an airplane but you be the judge.
Left of this picture are the primary Radio, Radar and Gear Throttles. The top row holds the GPS, the main Eyes of the Craft. Next down on the left is the Fish Finder which contains the Stern Depth Finder. The Compass sits in the middle. Under the Fish Finder is our second Radio and Air Horn. The bottom instruments are Speed, Depth (bow), Wind (direction and speed) and Auto Pilot. On the adjacent side wall are Motor RPMs and a blow horn. Tom cleverly placed the GPS so that it could be turned to face the Settee inside. The Auto Pilot has a Controller which can be used in the settee or front deck. On the left an indoor/outdoor Thermometer is mounted next to the Controller holder and on the Nav Station.
From Coon Key Light to Little Shark River is about 35 to 40 miles. Debbie is not sure the inner route saved us any mileage but it was scenic and exciting!
Little Shark River was reached about 4:30 after slow and fast sailing, spinnaker and no spinnaker sailing and some motor assisted sailing. A few motor boats, a fishing boat, a crabber and one beautiful blue trimmed sailboat passed us.
Can you pick out the entrance of Little Shark River? I’ll give you a hint. It is in the picture below!
We were not the first! Most of the boats you see will be leaving in the morning.
As we spent the next hour or more motoring up LSR, we saw many different sides of the everglades which we well explore tomorrow.
About 6 p.m. after 11 hours and about 50 miles on the water plus 10 in the everglades, we pulled off LSR in what we hoped with be a secluded spot for the night. We don’t have internet here but we do have satellite TV. Our nearest neighbor was down river a ways. The Moon was full and the night was so quiet we could hear all the everglade night sounds! This Debbie’s favorite night yet of this wonderful trip!
No comments:
Post a Comment