Day 112/II Little Shark River to Indian Key Everglades

We went in past Indian Key so we could have protection from the North, East, and West.

Thank goodness for Charts and chart Plotters!

A few of these little tour boats were running about. 

we went all the way down and anchored just off the Key just on the bow.

plenty of swing room and just a couple of boats anchored near by.

If bad weather comes our direction we were prepared to move down there. 

Bill takes the helm while I get the anchor down. 

Anchored and just making sure we do not drag.

Everyone made sure they had plenty of space around them.

Toast to the sunset!

Day 112/II

Little Shark River to Indian Key Everglades

Depart 3/19/13 0730hrs, Arrive 1500hrs, Underway 7 hrs.1min., 39.8 NM, Avg. Speed 5.2 Kts. Cloudy 0-8 kt. SW winds 78 degrees. Seas flat to 1’

We motor sailed all the way to Indian Key. Pretty uneventful and the autohelm did most of the work, at times we put the head sail away as there was not enough wind to keep it full. I have been thinking of a name for the autohelm but only one name comes to mind so I will wait a day to see if something else pops in before the official naming. The entrance near Indian Key is well marked and the charts were right on. Since Everglades city is just 4 miles away this area has several tourist boats and of course lots of fisherman. Just two boats were anchored ahead of us in a narrow section and again we chose a spot out in what little breeze remained to avoid the bugs. The anchor did not set the first time and then we moved over a bit and she set well. This could easily be a destination to come and stay several days and explore by dingy or Kayak.

The conversation turned to weather as a front was due late the next day. Luckily we could get cell phone signal here and could check the weather sites. It appeared that there would be a rain storm moving in around 1400-1500 hours in Naples so we planned to get a early start the next morning by 0430 hours and be safely moored well before the forecasted weather. If we made Naples we would have a choice of anchoring or a mooring ball and if the storm was strong a mooring ball was of course preferred. We did not know exactly how strong the storm would be by the time it moved south to the Everglades. We could get stuck here for two or three days but we could easily move to a very protected area deeper in where we would have mangroves on all sides as protection. We turned our attention to our beautiful surroundings and put the grill to work again as we toasted another successful cruise to Indian Key. We slept well and I had the engine on at 0400 making coffee the next morning ready to depart for Naples.