DECEMBER 24-JANUARY 4, 2012: EVERGLADES CITY TO LITTLE SHARK

December 23:  Everglades City to Little Shark River:  We left Everglades City on a calm day and having grounded the boat coming in, we proceeded down the channel with great caution.  We passed the shallow area where we had become stuck in the mud without incident.   However, we hit the bottom twice on the rest of the way out.  Even though the chart indicated deep enough water, we realized that we were experiencing a negative tide.  A negative tide occurs when the water depth falls below the average low tide indicated on the charts.  Well, we finally made it out of the channel and into the deep water in the Gulf-all 6-8 feet of it!

Our destination was Little Shark River.  Most of the route took us through shallow water so we had to be vigilant to stay on course and avoid the ever increasing number of crab pots scattered throughout the bay. We finally made it to Little Shark River around 4:00 p.m. and anchored in 8-10 feet of water in a sheltered bay.  Little Shark River is in the heart of the Everglades and we were warned not to go ashore as there are many hungry alligators about so we settled in for the night.  All seemed well with the world until we turned on the lights that night to discover hundreds of no-seeums.  We quickly went to attack mode with our weapon of choice:  the hand held Dyson vacuum cleaner.  Even though we vacuumed them up by the dozens, Maureen still  managed to receive over a hundred bites.  The locals call the no-seeums the "little teeth" because they deposit acid on the skin when they bite.  This produces a delayed reaction and is awfully uncomfortable.

December 24:  To the Keys! After a restless night, we weighed anchor and departed the no-seeum territory for Plantation Keys in Islamorada. Our trip today was about 53.5 nautical miles across Florida Bay so we were anxious to make it during daylight hours.  The waters throughout Florida Bay are very shallow and again dotted with crab pots.  The water is so shallow in areas that we had to navigate carefully through some very narrow channels.  Fortunately, we made it to the marina at Plantation Keys without incident and crashed early after an exhausting day.

December 25:  Christmas Day to date:  We were happy to have a low key Christmas day and sleep in late.  Plantation Keys will be our home for the next month or so.  After traveling for almost 7 months, we are looking forward to staying in one place for a while.  Besides chilling out, we have a long list of deferred boat maintenance chores that have piled up.

The marina is owned by the City of Islamorada and is part of a large park.  The park grounds include a  pool, tennis courts, a beach and walking/biking trails so we will be able to stay active-if we so choose!  Here is link to their website so you can see our new home:  http://www.pyh.com/

As we do not want to bore anyone with our daily life and boat chores, the blog will take a hiatus until we depart on the next leg of the Loop up the East Coast...unless we have a splendid adventure of course!

Our best wishes to everyone for a happy and healthy New Year!