28th Anniversary and the Dry Tortugas

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April 24, 2021

We left Stock Island Village Marina around 10:00 to begin our journey to the Dry Tortugas which were 70ish miles west of Key West. This is a national park where an old fort is located. It is made up of a few small islands. Several are marine and bird sanctuaries but others are available for snorkeling.

As we headed west, we had favorable south easterly breezes that allowed us to glide along the 1-2 feet turquoise swells. It was a perfect sailing day with clear skies and 15-20 knot winds. Susan and JD Hill, Cuz John and Ron Sussman were on this trip with us. After a light lunch, we ended up eating Kermit Key Lime Pie for an afternoon snack. It was scrumptious and we all thoroughly enjoyed this Key West delicacy.

Today was Ben and mine’s 28^th anniversary. I could not think of a better way to spend our anniversary than sailing and relaxing on Daggers Down.

We arrived at the National Park around 18:30 and were greeted by some friends, Jill and Jeff Eschman from Kemah Boardwalk Marina on SV Scenic Route, Catana 471.

It was great to finally hook up with them. They came aboard and gave us the lay of the land since they had been in the Dry Tortugas for 3 days.

Pictures of Fort Jefferson

For dinner we had salad expertly prepared by Susan, sausage pasta, previously prepared and frozen, and focaccia bread. Since the night air was wonderful, we dined in the cockpit. For dessert, we all enjoyed the wonderful chocolate ganache cake that Ben had bought me for our anniversary. It was a festive fun night with lots of shared stories and laughter.

April 25

After registering our boat with the parks department, we headed over to Loggerhead Key for some beach time, swimming and snorkeling. It was interesting how different each side of the island was considering it was only a short walk from one side to the other. The east side beach was made of coral remnants while the west side had flat rocks that ran about 50 feet out from the beach. Also on the west side was lots of cacti and sea lavender, whereas the east side was more scrub brushes.

We all enjoyed swimming and cooling off in crystal clear water. Susan, JD and Ron negotiated the waters using our new paddle board. I have to say, it does not get any better than this, with beautiful white sand beaches, a lighthouse and calm, cool azure water. Awesome.

After eating leftovers for lunch, we motored back to Garden Key. Susan and JD jumped in the water and went for a Very long swim. The rest of us dinghied to shore and walked over to the moat where we snorkeled looking at the coral and fish.

We met up with Susan and JD who thought getting a dinghy ride back to the boat was a wonderful idea. So while Ben took them back to the boat, Ron and I snorkeled among the pylons where JD and Susan said the coral and fish were great. Boy were they right! It was wonderful with load of fish, sea fans and even a few barracuda. I am so glad I took the time to snorkel in this location.

Back at the boat everyone took a transom shower and relaxed until dinner. Tonight we had instant pot spaghetti, bread and of course more chocolate cake.

It was simply a superb day!

April 26

We decided last night that we would head back to Key West today because the winds, while on the nose, would be light. Tomorrow the winds were to pick up from the East. So it would be more of slog if we waited another day.

Thus, this morning we took a quick tour of the fort which is made of 16 million bricks. Then we readied the boat for the crossing. We motored sailed the entire way, but as the sun set the wind cycled so that we caught a little more wind and made it into the channel around 23:00.

The sunset and the full strawberry moon rose consecutively. It was a gorgeous site.

At 21:00 we noticed we had lost all power in the kitchen. It was quite the puzzle at first as to why the Victron was not working.

Yet after inspection, a burn fuse that was powering the Victron was located. Luckily, we had spare fuse, so our nacho dinner continued. It was such a lovely evening even this problem could not dampen everyone’s spirits.