A Terrific Day Out to Boca Grande
Thursday February 4, 2021
Shortly after 9 am we left the dock and motored out of the marina. We put up the mainsail and continued to motor. Our course to the west was directly down wind so the 8 knots of breeze wasn’t really enough to allow us to sail. On route we saw dolphins, a sea turtle flying fish and frigate birds. After about two and a half hours we turned north toward Boca Grande. There is a lot of shallow water in that area so we had to navigate carefully. Once we got close to the island, we anchored in about ten feet of water. Unfortunately, Tasha was not feeling at all well by this point (possibly seasickness - despite calm seas and a scopolamine patch!) We quickly got the engine on the dinghy and went ashore.
Boca Grande is gorgeous—the water has different hues showing the changes in depth. The island is part of a national wildlife refuge. The narrow beach is open but the interior of the island is closed. Three of us took advantage of the lovely water and went for a swim. Someone had to document the day with photos. We tried to walk around the island on the beach but at some point the shoreline becomes mangroves rather than beach. In this area there are signs saying that the “beach “ is closed so we turned back at that point and after a picnic lunch on the beach it was time to head back to Cotinga.
Our goal was to get close to Key West in time for sunset. Then we hoped to get into the marina and docked before all the sunset tour boats started to stream back into the harbor. We sailed the last bit near to Key West but the wind was really light (around 5 knots) and with the direction the wind was coming from it would have required tacking up to the harbor. A combination of guests sitting on the foredeck and general indolence made us resort to the motor for the very last part of the journey. The return to the slip went pretty smoothly, the extra help with the lines was a real benefit. Altogether it was a great day out!
Gloria
2431.983 N, 82 00.744 W (approximate day anchor position off Boca Grande)
24 42.220 N, 81 06.131 W (key west bight marina)
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