A Trip to Key West with the Riparian Day
It took two days to get to Key
West, towing the Riparian Day. We
stayed the first two nights on the boat, on the trailer, in Flying-J truck
stops along the way. It was very cold
the first night, to say the least, but the dog kept us warm. On the second night, we were driving by Cape
Canaveral when they announced a night shuttle launch on the radio. We arrived with seconds to spare in the
countdown. It was quite a sight to see.
We stopped in Key Largo to test out the boat and refresh ourselves with a night at Howard Johnson’s. The boat ran well and it was relaxing to cruise Largo sound. We ran aground once, which provided an indication of what to expect in the future.
The boat is a 1985 Bayliner 2150 – an old, small boat, with some pretty creative sleeping quarters. The “master” stateroom is sandwiched between the gas tank and the upper deck. Cozy, but the dog likes it.
Rob and Lucy generously let us tie up to their dock at Key West Naval Air Station. The NAS housing in the Trumbo annex is on Garrison Bight, a secluded and calm basin lined with mangroves.
We soon discovered that much of the deep water favored by the “cruising” yachts was far too choppy for our little boat, unless the weather was fair and the planing boards in the full nose “down” position. However, our little boat was well suited for the Keys’ famous shallow waters.
Here is a shot “on plane” going
through the narrow and tortuous caldera channel. The channel is only 25 feet wide in parts, and it is only 6” deep
on each side. Not many yachty types
cruising through here! It was very
beautiful and there were many seabirds.
It was hard to believe we were five miles from shore.
We also circumnavigated Key West though the cow channel pass. It is only about a foot deep there, but with the engine up, the Riparian Day only draws about 12” or so. Despite this, I managed to get us “hard aground” once. A little kedging with the anchor worked us loose. Fate being on our side, the second grounding bent the propeller back into its original shape. Beginner’s luck, I guess.
These are shots taken in Key West’s famous Lake Region, a large shallow area about 5 miles East of the harbor. The sign at the entrance proclaims an average depth of 3 feet and “local knowledge required”. With the Volvo fully retracted and going dead slow, it was not too hard to navigate the shallows. The GPS made it easy to retrace our steps to get out.
Above and below: Anchored off Mule Key, Thanksgiving Day. Air temperature 85 degrees, water temperature, 78 degrees.
Below: John and Dan join us for a ride around Key West Harbor and Key West Bight.
Below: Sunset in the Keys is spectacular. At the end of the day, we would tie up by the mangroves in Garrison Bight and open a bottle of wine and enjoy the sunset. Life could be a whole lot worse…
