Heading north up the west coast of Florida we were planning on stopping for the night in Marco Island, the same place we stopped coming south a few weeks ago.  But then we noticed a small anchorage just south of Marco in a shallow area off Cape Romano.  We decided to give it a try.  Wow, it turned out to be one of our more memorable anchorages.  There is a large exposed sandbar called Second Chance Sandbar.  The area is constantly shifting and we had to maneuver very carefully watching our depth gauge.  We ended up anchoring close to the Second Chance sandbar but we were way out in the middle of a very large bay with gorgeous views 360 degrees.  Second Chance Sandbar turned out to be a “CWA” or Critical Wildlife Area that is a nesting habitat for a variety of seabirds.  The other interesting feature of this area is a group of bizarre looking dome houses out in the water that look like they are right out of a Star Wars movie.  For an interesting read, Google Cape Romano Dome House and read the Wikipedia  page.  They were built in the 1980’s as a vacation residence on a small island, but they have been abandoned since the 90’s and the rising sea level is now taking them back.

Second Chance Sandbar from Google Earth

Cape Romano Dome House

We haven’t seen a lot of dolphins on this trip but we finally got a bit of a show one afternoon while anchored off of Chino Island, just off the ICW north of Sanibel Island.  There was a group and they were circling around schools of fish in a typical dolphin feeding behavior.  I grabbed my camera and managed to get a few shots.

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Boot Key to Shark River

The wind was predicted to shift around coming out of the south for the next few days, so we decided this would be a perfect weather window to head back north from the Keys.  It was also a good weather window to head to the Bahamas and our friends Randy and Rose on Contessa Rosa were planning on doing just that.  We wished we were also going to the Bahamas, but we need to get the boat in storage by April 15th or so.  The sail up to Shark River was great.  We had about 15-20 knot winds from our stern and following seas.  We sailed most of the way with our sails “wing on wing” with the main let out to port and the genna to starboard.  The only negative were the bugs in Shark River.  Once the sun went down, we needed to get inside the boat and put screens on all the hatches.

Back Boot Key Harbor

We decided to go back to Boot Key Harbor for a few days and get ready for the sail north to Punta Gorda.  We like Boot Key Harbor a lot: super friendly boating community, mooring balls are reasonable at $18.00 a night, the City Marina has good showers and services, and there are lots of businesses close by, like Publix and West Marine.  I worked on some wiring projects on Terrapin, we went to Sombrero Beach, and we ate some great seafood at Keys Fisheries.

The weather forecasts all said that the weather would be perfect for sailing across the Florida Bay from Shark River inlet on the lower part of the Florida Mainland to Vaca Key, the middle of the keys where the city of Marathon and Boot Key Harbor is located.  The wind was predicted to be 15-20 knots out of the east and we were headed due south.  This would put us on a beam reach on a port tack. The Florida Bay is a huge bay made up of the Florida Keys archipelago extending south from the southeast tip of Florida then curving to the west, about 25 miles across from the tip of Florida to Vaca Key.  One of the noteworthy features is that the entire bay is shallow, only 10-12 feet deep.  That means that the effect of the wind on building waves is magnified significantly.  We are used to sailing in deep Caribbean waters in 15-20 knot winds and the sea state is generally mild with long rolling swells. What we discovered in the Bay of Florida was a steep chop of increased period. That made for a bit of an uncomfortable ride.   In addition, the wind ended up being 20-30 knots instead of 15-20.  So, we found ourselves sailing a beam reach in 20-30 knot winds with fairly rough seas, with boat speeds of 8-10 knots.  When I realized the wind speed was that high, I reefed both sails (reducing the sail area) and tried to set a relatively comfortable course, doing a bit of a zig-zag to keep the waves from hitting us directly on the beam.

The other thing we had to deal with was that the bay is full of lobster/crab pots.  Fisherman lower the metal trap with a small buoy attached by a rope. If you run over them, the rope can snag on your prop, or rudder.  We have dealt with these all over, including the Caribbean, but the effect of the wave chop was that we had a very hard time seeing them in time to avoid them. Well, you guessed it, we snagged not one, but three pots.  We were sailing along at 9 knots and all of the sudden we slowed down to 4.  I guessed we had snagged a pot, but couldn’t see anything from the deck.  So, we dropped the anchor and I went in the water with my mask, snorkel and fins and life vest tied to a line attached to the boat.  Sure enough, the starboard prop had not one, but three lobster pot buoys snagged.  I was able to unwrap them and set Terrapin free. This delayed our trip about an hour and a half but we still made it into Boot Key Harbor in daylight.

Lobster pots are a real problem in this area.  They are everywhere.  You have to be on constant watch while sailing or motoring.  Nautical charts and books refer to all sorts of “hazards of navigation” but of course there is no charting of where lobster pots are and there are no apparent regulations for where they can be placed.  You find them right in the middle of entrances to harbors and well-marked waterways. In fact, the pots probably represent the biggest hazards to navigation as they have the potential of disabling your boat.  If your boat is disabled in rough seas near the coast line you could end up on the rocks.  Most regulations on the books protect the lobster/crab fisherman.  It is a felony to tamper with these pots.  However, there needs to be some sensible regulation on where these pots can be placed.  At least have some corridors where pots are prohibited so boats and the lobster industry can co-exist.

These guys look harmless, right?

You can count eight pots in this picture.

We are anchored off Bahia Honda State Park inside the old railroad trestle that is now a National Historic monument. The section that is open was removed so sailboats could get inside the bay.

Old RR bridge

Sunset view from TERRAPIN

Spent three great days hanging out in Boot Key Harbor, Marathon FL.  Provisioning, exploring hanging out with some new friends.  We had met Randy and Rosalie on Contessa Rosa when we were anchored in Snake River.  It turned out that we were assigned the mooring ball right next to theirs when we pulled into Boot Key.  They had us over for wine cheese and crackers the evening we pulled in and we decided to invite them over for dinner the next night. We cooked salmon on the grill and had a great evening.  This was another first for us, entertaining on Terrapin.