Monday, March 3, 2014

Alone on Key Largo...

Well, actually, not alone at all. But, truth be told, the only thing I knew of Key Largo was the song by Sarah Vaughn (which is fantastic, if you like jazz). 

After a fun night in Key West, we headed out of the main ship channel to south, and turned east.  Making 28kts. we had calm seas and favorable currents. A quartering beam sea proved very comfortable, as we cruised in 200' of water. Of course, to satisfy our craving for fish, we stopped off on one of the endless reefs along the way, and managed a nice hogfish, a few snapper, as well as a dozen or so fresh ballyhoo. 
The ballyhoo were fantastic to troll with. I never want to use frozen 'hoo again! Nothing in this world goes perfectly, and our blue water trolling time was plagued with weeds all afternoon. 

Ugh. 

Turning north just past Conch Reef, we headed into Hawks channel en route to Port Largo, and our home for the night, Marina del Mar. 


To say its a narrow channel is generous. In fact, the westward turn at the north end of the channel is called "Crash Corner" and needs a radio call to get through unscathed.  We made it, however, and sidled into a nice stern to bulkhead next to the resort.  The vibe on Largo is very chill, with lots of divers and fisherman. The food at Sharkey's was very good as well, where we had whole Lionfish for dinner. Another first!  


 Lionfish are an invasive species, with basically a standing kill order in place to try and wipe them out and save the ecosystem.  Being tasty is an added bonus.  I'd be remiss if I didn't also mention the African Queen. As a Bogart fan, it was very cool to see this old gal still intact and in a preservation process. They are saving up for a new motor, which will be built in... Rhode Island! Also, there is a classic Hatteras there that is drop dead gorgeous. The owner of Hattitude certainly loves his classic Carolina lady. 

Trip stats so far, roughly 380nm run, average burn rate of 60gph based on the CAT displays, and excellent weather. See you in Pompano beach.  Calm seas and fair winds. 

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