Islamorada to Marathon, Florida Keys

“Wheels up” at 7:30 this morning from our anchorage off Islamorada. Our anchor held perfectly through the windy night and morning, and Steve and I were “no worse for wear.” Abby however, had a pee accident in the salon and we spent a little time, before raising the anchor, trying to coax her into going on the pee pads but she still wanted nothing to do with peeing on the bow.

Shortly after we were underway we encountered crab traps….everywhere! The floats were even right in the middle of the channel! Assholes! Steve said “they must drop them out of planes” because there’s no rhyme or reason to their placement! WHO CARES has spurs/cutters on its propeller shafts to cut the trap lines if they get caught but Steve didn’t want to rely solely on them so we were on a serpentine course for the next several hours! When you are constantly on the lookout and trying to avoid crab trap floats, it makes for a stressful and tiring day.

At 9:10 am, the Channel 5 Bridge to Hawk Channel was a welcoming sight…maybe an end to the crab traps. Hawk Channel is technically outside or in the Atlantic and runs from Miami to Key West. Not “officially” part of the ICW, it takes the form of a somewhat protected “channel” running between the line of Keys and the Florida Reef. As soon as we reach the channel we know we are not in for a smooth ride. We encounter 3+ foot following seas and still tons of crab pots 😦 and they are hard to spot in these wave conditions. With these conditions we didn’t take Abby out on the bow for fear she might fall overboard. She was hanging in there…poor girl.

At noon we turn into Sister Creek between Sombrero Beach, Marathon and Boot Key on our last leg to Sombrero Marina Dockside. There are people playing with a dog on a beach along the creek. Abby jumped up to bark at the dog and had an almost spontaneous crap. Luckily she made it out of the pilothouse first! Good girl!

The Boot Key Harbor mooring field is enormous and was completely full. Soon, we are docked in our slip at Sombrero Marina Dockside near the end of the harbor. After 4 1/2 hours dodging crab traps and 28 hours stuck on the boat, we have a happy captain and a happy Abby! Steve said he will do everything in his power to NEVER transit through that many crab traps again!