Timing to Key Largo
Posted by Bryan on Monday, December 23, 2013 Under: keys
December 19th
After our great visit with the Morrisons, we decided to head over to Marina Del Mar. Only 5 miles by car, but by boat it was over 30 miles away. It was on the other side of the key from us and there are limited places to cross over. These crossings were scary, as on the map they only showed 4 feet of water. But according to reports there was over 7 feet of water!! Hummm...whom to trust. So we left at 6:00 in the morning, before the sun came up to hit the cut (Sand Cut, at the north end of Key Largo) at one hour before high tide. That way if you get stuck, there is more water coming in and you can turn back. We made it through with no problems, the 7 feet was correct. Scarry with the clear water, you can look over the side and see the bottom so clearly that you think it is only a few feet of water.
Had a spectacular sunrise.
We then proceeded down the Hawk Channel. The is the deep water (12-20 feet) between the keys and the reef that follows the shore line. Although the wind was up, 15-20 knots, we were comfortable sailing. A bit rough, but we knew it would only be for a few hours. The next scary part was the marina reported only 4.5 feet of water to get into the marina enterence, then it deepened to 10-12 feet. We need 5.5 feet. So we had to hit that place at high tide as well. We got there about 1 hour after high tide and made it in just fine. A nice day of sailing.
Beautiful water, and our shadow on the water.
The entrance to the marina is actually into a large complex of water ways. Check it out on the google map.
After our great visit with the Morrisons, we decided to head over to Marina Del Mar. Only 5 miles by car, but by boat it was over 30 miles away. It was on the other side of the key from us and there are limited places to cross over. These crossings were scary, as on the map they only showed 4 feet of water. But according to reports there was over 7 feet of water!! Hummm...whom to trust. So we left at 6:00 in the morning, before the sun came up to hit the cut (Sand Cut, at the north end of Key Largo) at one hour before high tide. That way if you get stuck, there is more water coming in and you can turn back. We made it through with no problems, the 7 feet was correct. Scarry with the clear water, you can look over the side and see the bottom so clearly that you think it is only a few feet of water.
Had a spectacular sunrise.
We then proceeded down the Hawk Channel. The is the deep water (12-20 feet) between the keys and the reef that follows the shore line. Although the wind was up, 15-20 knots, we were comfortable sailing. A bit rough, but we knew it would only be for a few hours. The next scary part was the marina reported only 4.5 feet of water to get into the marina enterence, then it deepened to 10-12 feet. We need 5.5 feet. So we had to hit that place at high tide as well. We got there about 1 hour after high tide and made it in just fine. A nice day of sailing.
Beautiful water, and our shadow on the water.
The entrance to the marina is actually into a large complex of water ways. Check it out on the google map.
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