"2004-March 21-22 Starting Home" Indian Key Travelogue by grandmaR

Bob at the wheel leaving

Sometime in the middle of March, we found out that while Marathon Marina and Boatyard pro-rates the part of a month that you arrive by the day based on the monthly rate (i.e. the end of a month), they pro-rate the part of the month when you leave on the weekly and daily rate (i.e. the beginning of a month). And you are not allowed to pay from the middle of one month to the next. It has to be from the first to the end of the month.

The bottom line is that no one will get a refund for less than a month when they leave. So we will not get back the money we overpaid for the end of March because the monthly rate for the whole month is less than the weekly rate for two weeks plus 1 or 2 days. We came in on December 15th and we originally had been going to leave March 15th, but there is no advantage to leaving early.

So we started watching the weather, and there have been strong winds from the northeast for most of the winter with just a few days respite every 5 or 6 days. So we decided to wait until we got our 2nd pumpout for March on the 18th and then wait for a really good window.

Schooner going out to anchorage

A window opened up on Sunday the 21st when the wind was supposed to still be out of the NE, but to calm down a bit from 25-35 knots and then come around to the SE for Monday before it would pick back up from the NE and East for the rest of the week.

On March 21st, when the office opened we went up and asked for the refund for the utility deposit of $150, and they said we'd used less than the minimum (again for the electric although they said we used 1100 gallons of water in February which is ridiculous because we use the water out of our tanks and we've only refilled them twice - once for 300 gallons and once for 200 gallons, and we use the bathrooms all the time for showers etc. Bob doesn't wash the boat with a hose, he uses a bucket.)

We took off all our lines, and were out in Hawk Channel by 9:25. We passed two big schooners anchored off Boot Key - HERITAGE of MIAMI and CALYPSO.

Alligator Reef Lighthouse near Indian Key

Also HABITAT (a CSY like our boat) was among the boats anchored out there. These are mostly boats that feel that Boot Key Harbor is too crowded (which it is).

By noon, we had gone 15.3 sm - the wind was about 15 knots on the nose, and we were doing less than 5 mph.

Indian Key from mooring

We see lots of crab pots, and we can see shallower patches of water in the middle of the channel where there are patch reefs.

After lunch, Bob starts fooling with the rpms of the engine - it is not getting to full power. He wonders whether it is a clogged filter, or a barnacle ladened prop.

I had wanted to do a better job of inspecting the prop than I could do at Sombrero Key where there was quite a bit of current and the water was really cold. I hadn't had a chance before (we weren't supposed to be in the water in the marina - except for professional paid divers of course), and I thought maybe I could do it while we were on the mooring.

Sunset over Lower Matecombe Key

We picked up a mooring (this time with me doing the pick-up and Bob driving the boat, which works much better) at 1610 after 34 sm.

Bob was worried because we can only see two moorings, and there were 5 here before. I talked to the Park Service on the phone, and find out that there WERE 5 but they say some have 'broken loose'. (My opinion is that the crab pot guys have sabotaged them.) He (the park service guy) says since they don't charge for them, it is our liability.

Bob becomes more worried, as we were intending to take the tour of the key tomorrow at 9 (tours are 9 and 1 on Thursday through Monday) and then possibly stay here to wait out the next bout of bad weather, which will be until at least Thursday.

Bob changed the filters and found that there was a lot of gunk in them, and we had dinner.

Leaving Indian Key at 0755

We got up about 6:30. Bob is becoming more worried about the mooring and says he would rather be at anchor. I am very anxious to tour Indian Key (which we missed doing on the way down because we were in such a hurry to get to Marathon), but I actually agree with him, although I don't say so.

East side of Indian Key 0757

The problem is that we know from experience there is NO protection from NE or E winds in Hawk Channel (that we can get to) except possibly Rodriguez Key which is really close by. I don't think we will be any better off anchored there than we would be on a mooring as it is quite rocky with poor holding. And it usually takes us two days to get from here to Miami..

We headed north towards Key Biscayne