GLORY DAYS ON THE GREAT LOOP: SOUTHERNMOST POINT

DAY 224, FRI. FEB. 24, 2012

DEP. LITTLE SHARK RIVER 06:25 ARR. MARATHON 12:30

AM WARM, HUMID. WIND 5-10K SSE. PM HOT, HUMID, WIND CALM

D. 45.3sm / 3650

Today we are as far south on this journey as we expect to be. From here on every mile we travel will bring us closer to home. The day started out very well considering our dilemma yesterday. I didn’t sleep very well worrying about what time we would have enough water to leave our anchorage. At 5:30 I checked and we were still floating but there wasn’t enough light to leave. Sunrise was at 06:51 and low tide was at 09:51. Would we still have enough water to leave when we had enough light to see???? At 06:15 I could just make out the red day mark across the entrance channel, I stuck the boat hook in the bottom, it measured 4’ and falling fast. If we didn’t leave right now we would be literally stuck here until at least 1:00pm. I started the engine, took the flashlight up to the bow, pulled the crab trap, was disappointed, but not surprised to find it empty, and started to raise the anchor. As the chain came up I could see something on it. At first I thought it was a branch, but when I shone the light on it, it was a huge blue claw crab. I rushed aft to get the net hoping he would still be there when I got back. Not only was he there, but he was hanging on with both claws and rode the chain out of the water up to the anchor roller. It took a great deal of effort to get him to let go and drop into the net. I considered that a good sign, my reward for a restless night. At 06:25 we were on our way out of the river with the markers barely visible in the dim light of dawn. The rest of the trip down FL Bay was easy until we got to Marathon. Pat & I took turns at the wheel dodging literally hundreds of crab pots for the 6 hours it took us to get there. At the 7 mile bridge we had to make a decision. Go through the narrow eastern Knight Key Channel, or the much wider Moser Channel. The Moser channel would take about 40 mins. longer as it was further west, so we decided to take Knights Key. The bridge clearance shows 19’ on the chart, but there is no bridge gauge there. As we approached I felt uneasy about the clearance and made a quick u-turn, lowered the mast, and went for it. The width of the opening is 67’, which may seem like plenty of room to drive a 14’ wide boat thru, but with the current running and wanting to turn you sideways, you have to go thru much faster than you would normally want to. Once thru we entered Boot Key Harbor, found our assigned mooring, and now sit at our southern most destination. After lunch we were getting ready to go ashore when we heard a knocking on the hull. It was Pat and Ken from “20 Bucks,” whom we haven’t seen since Nov.19 in Fairhope AL. It was great to catch up on where we’ve been and what’s new. The rest of the day was spent trying to find a hairdresser for Pat.