Fort Myers to Marathon - Planning

[David Rive]

Maria and I plan to depart Ft. Myers tomorrow morning for the Keys. The plan is to anchor one night at Cape Romano and the second night at Little Shark River Bay. Then we will be at Marathon Marina for a month, cruising locally and fishing.

Any advice for the trip down from Ft. Myers would be appreciated. Thanks.

David & Maria

 

[Cruzer]

Hi David -

We made the trip from Marco to Key West on OLOH less than two weeks ago. Although we were well further offshore than you'll be traveling there may be a few bits of info on our blog entry about the run that you may find helpful. And as everyone will tell you - keep a diligent watch for crab pots. That cannot be overstated in this section of the Gulf.

Most of all, enjoy the ride - it is stunning and refreshingly desolate out there.

 

[David Rive]

Thanks Cruzer. An excellent blog by the way! Cheers.

David

 

[psneeld]

call ahead to Marathon...many places were full at the beginning of Feb.

 

[LaBomba]

Have a fun and safe trip David. Can’t offer any advise as we have never been there.

 

[Capecodder]

Make your phone calls today, notify anyone that might get nervous if you don’t answer your phone.... enjoy the solitude and dark sky, great for stargazing, almost as many stars as crab pots ;-). One calm trip I made a guest on my boat said this is like boating in an aquarium clear water shallow narrow channels the keys, watch marker behind and ahead the current can cause you to drift out into the shallows, you will see the tracks of others mistakes


Don’t Anchor too close to the mangroves, that’s where the BUGS live.

 

[Steve]

As mentioned above keep a close watch for the crab trap floats. Last time across I noticed they were making some of them smaller diameter and painting them blue so they are even harder to see.
Looks like conditions should be pretty good, have a great trip let us know how it goes

 

[David Rive]

call ahead to Marathon...many places were full at the beginning of Feb.

Hi Scott - reservation is firmly in place.

David

 

[caltexflanc]

When you say anchor at Cape Romano.... that's a new one on me. Where?
Plenty of nice spots in the 10,000 Islands though.

 

[Wmiii]

When we made that run, We would usually anchor in Factory Bay in Marco. Then run outside to Little Shark or, for fun, run inside through Goodland on down to Little Shark. Just be careful when the color of the buoys change at the bridge.
In settled weather, we would anchor offshore from Cape Sable to be away from the bugs. Last trip down, we anchored around the southern end at East Cape, I believe. That made a short run on down to Marathon.

 

[JohnP]

If Boot Key Harbor is full, and you go on the waiting list try anchoring in Sister's Creek.
Boats anchor Med style, drop anchor mid creek back in and stern tie to the Mangroves.


Nice place, short dinghy ride to Gulf beach and Town dock. When on the wait list the pumpout boat will service you there.

 

[JohnP]

Senior Moment Correction

Nice place, short dinghy ride to Gulf beach and Town dock. When on the wait list the pumpout boat will service you there.[/QUOTE]

Short dinghy ride to Somberro Beach Park it is on the Atlantic side not the Gulf.. Me bad sorry about the senior moment mistake!

 

[caltexflanc]

In settled weather, we would anchor offshore from Cape Sable to be away from the bugs

X2 on that in the right weather. Nice beaches and typically have it all to yourselves.

 

[reelcompromise]

+Two weeks ago ran from Venice to Marco then to Little Shark River on the outside-easy trip.at 16kts Anchored just inside the inlet with 4 sailboats, No bugs then ran to Marathon-anchored up on the inside-ICW then ran up to Coconut grove -wind was by then 20kts out of the East and Hawk was messy so we did the ICW.
Bob Nordstrom

 

[Larry M]

David/Maria: We know you recovered from Fort Pierce or at least hope so. So how was the trip to Marathon.

 

[David Rive]

Hi Larry. Sorry - I just saw your post. The trip down to Marathon was fine. We paused at Marco Island for 2 nights to wait for calm weather. Decided to skip Shark River and motored straight through Marco to Marathon - long day. We are calling Marathon Marina home for now - good spot, lots of great neighbours. We will be doing "mini-cruises" and fishing trips over the next month, including down to Key West at some point. Next week we haul out briefly to replace a leaky rudder shaft seal. Otherwise life is good.

David & Maria

 

[Group9]

What's the latest on the entrance to Smokehouse Bay in Marco Island? I had heard that Irma dumped some sand and debris in the entrance.

Because, that's one of our favorite places to anchor. Great protection, bars, restuaruants, and grocery store nearby.