Two Days at Plantation Key

It was a beautiful and somewhat breezy Sunday morning as we waved goodbye to Abby and baby John to depart the mooring field at Marathon City Marina. Since our very bumpy ride in the Atlantic earlier this week, Captain Mark decided to take the ICW northeast back to the Florida mainland coast. The concern in taking this route is the water depth. The water is very shallow, in fact extremely shallow would be a more accurate description as we were to find out very quickly.

As we left the long Boot Key channel we turned starboard and once again went under the Seven Mile Bridge and entered Florida Bay and the ICW. This time it was not necessary for us to pass under the highest part of the bridge and it was rather fun and exciting to cut through at a lower span of the bridge – it felt like we were being a little rebellious or getting away with something that we should not be doing.

As we made our way north traveling on the leeward side of the Keys, we had a wonderfully calm ride and we found it interesting and a little odd that there were only us and a few tiny fishing boats out on such a beautiful Sunday…The reason became apparent very quickly as the depth alarm started sounding almost constantly. Our draft (depth of the boat under the waterline) is 3.5 feet. Mark had the alarm set at 4.5 feet and we were encountering water levels well below 5 feet and some even below 4 feet. Our charts, both electronic and hard copy, clearly mark the shallow areas so we knew that we would not see any sailboats but it was surprising that we would have the entire ICW channel to ourselves for most of the day.
When we encounter shallow water like this, the conservative and prudent thing to do is to go slow, be cautious and respectful of the conditions. Other than the obnoxious sounding alarm going off every other minute, we were fine in the Nordic. The water was gorgeous, so clear and calm that we could look over the sides of the boat to see the ocean’s floor.

We arrived at Plantation Key Yacht Marina which is undergoing a major renovation. As we travel north this spring we are scouting out places to staying next winter and this location seems wonderful. The renovations should be completed this summer to both the piers and the harbormaster’s office. Plantation Key is the northen most key that is included in the city of Islamorada and I think this would be an ideal location for a month’s stay next winter. Our thought at this time is to stay a month in three places for November, December and January before heading to the Bahamas in early February 2009. There is no shopping in the immediate area so we would probably want to have the pick-em-up truck with us. There is a small but very nice beach, as well as a pool and wonderful city park complete with an amphitheatre within easy walking distance. This has been our most expensive marina so far - $3 per foot per night = $103 per night for our sized boat. If we stay here next winter the cost will be more reasonable as we will pay by the month at a rate of $25 per foot, which is more in line with the other marinas in Florida.

After having been on the mooring ball for over two weeks, it was nice to be in a marina with electricity and water. Like when we were in the Marathon Boat Yard for those few days, it felt wonderful to run the air conditioning and the microwave without running the generator. Sunday evening we savored the air conditioning and watched movies. On Monday we continued our laid back routine and spent the afternoon at the pool. Monday evening we relaxed some more as we Danced with the Stars and then fell asleep under the stars.

Hours on the water: 6
Nautical miles traveled: 40
Number of locks: 0
Time spent waiting at locks: 0
Next Destination: Angel Fish Creek Anchorage
What we're listening to: Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer
What we watched: Supersize This and Wordplay = C+ and B+
Lesson for the day: Slow and cautious is always the way to go
Obligatory knitting report: Baby sweater for Maxwell