Marco Island, FL to Key West, FL

Total Miles Traveled 1519

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After leaving our Fort Myers Beach anchorage on January 31, we anchored at Marco Island for 5 days.  A cold front passed through causing the Gulf of Mexico to be a little too rough for our liking, so we celebrated the new year on anchor in the protected anchorage of Smokehouse Bay.

On January 5^th we weighed anchor and traveled 65 miles to an anchorage at Little Shark River.  After cruising for several hours, and several miles from shore, we noticed we had a stowaway hanging on the back of our flybridge enclosure.

This moth was huge and had no desire to leave.  We haven’t had a Moth Man encounter since traveling on the Ohio River last summer at Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

We shared our anchorage with a few other cruisers at Little Shark River as it is one of the few protected anchorages between Marco Island and the Keys.  

We weighed anchor on January 6^th and cruised 50 miles to Marathon at Boot Key Harbor. 

Sunrise after leaving Little Shark River.

7 mile Bridge at Marathon

Marathon is a very popular location in the Keys and the marinas and mooring field are usually full.  The city runs the mooring field in Boot Key Harbor, it is a very protected harbor between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.  The mooring field contains 216 mooring balls that are attached to the seabed which allows boats to attach to the mooring ball and swing with the wind and tide without fear of swinging into another vessel.  The mooring field is usually full by mid-December, and they do not take reservations.  When you arrive in the harbor, you must call the city marina for a mooring ball, if they have one available, they will assign you the location based on the length of your vessel.  There were 9 boats on the waiting list when we arrived, so we were lucky enough to find an anchorage outside of the mooring field for our one night’s stay.

We have several cruising friends that are staying at Marathon for the winter and we were fortunate enough to get together for happy hour.

The reservation we made at Stock Island Marina Village last year before leaving was January 15^th.  I contacted the marina, and we were able to arrive early, so we departed our anchorage at Boot Key and cruised 43 miles to the marina.  This will be our winter home until April 8^th and I plan to update the blog around the first of each month. 

Full moon at Stock Island Marina Village

This would make a sweet courtesy car.

Our resident Manatee.....there is also a 6 ft barracuda that hangs out in the marina. 

We usually go into Key West for Happy Hour, Two Friends is one of our favorites, a pound of fresh Key West shrimp for $11.25.

Of course Taco Tuesday at Lucy's Retired Surfers Bar is a must.

Anywhere you go in Key West you will see chickens, especially if there is any food dropped around your table........and watch your step for the little guys.

 

Hmm, we've heard this is a great place to eat, we'll have to check it out.

Rut Ro....Nana got snagged by the jewelry store  : (

We've had a cold front pass through (can you believe it 65 deg in the Keys) so we decided to take our electric scooters on a 10 mile round trip to Key West on the Atlantic side and have lunch at Salute on the Beach. 

The electric scooters weigh about 30 lbs, have a range of 15 miles and can reach 15 mph.

We've had a few dinghy rides to the local Tiki Bars on the water, and the sand bar, but haven't taken any pic's yet.....I'll work on that for next month.