Sailvayu blog 4-14-24
After a nice long stay in Boot Key Harbor we finally got a semi good weather window to head east and out of the keys. On Weds the 10th we got an early start headed to Rodriguez Key better known to most as Key Largo. Rodriguez Key is a small island near the town of Key Largo and a good place to stop for the night when heading in or out of the keys via Hawks Channel.
Hawks channel is on the east side of the Keys facing the ocean. A low reef breaks the ocean waves but it can still get a bit lively. We had to fight a strong ESE wind as we worked our way away from Boot Key headed east. It turned out to be a long run heading into the wind and waves. We were able to motor sail to make better progress. The wind eased a bit as we got closer to Rodriguez Key and we were able to get in well before dark.
We finally arrived and anchored a bit ahead of schedule in the late afternoon, despite the head winds. Rodriguez Key is a nice quiet and fairly protected anchorage as long as the wind is not out of the North East. You do get to enjoy both nice sunsets and sunrises here as the land to the West is low and narrow allowing a nice view of the setting sun over the Gulf. The rising sun from the east is seen coming up over the Atlantic.
We only spent the night at Rodriguez Key, before heading to Key Biscayne for a few days. Once in Key Biscayne, which is near Miami, there is one more offshore jump before we can once again spend some time in the ICW where weather would not dictate when we could travel. There is a single bridge between Miami and Ft Lauderdale that is too low for us to pass under so an offshore jump is required at least to Ft Lauderdale. Between Ft Lauderdale and Palm Beach there are about 20 draw bridges that would need to open for us so it only makes sense to do the stretch from Miami to Palm Beach offshore.
The trip from Rodriguez Key to Key Biscayne was not too bad. Again the wind was mostly on our nose but we were able to motor sail and this stretch offers a bit more protection from off shore waves with the reef being closer in and shallower. We were able to get in behind the southern end of Key Biscayne and anchored off a state park with a little harbor named “No Name Harbor” well before dark.
We spent a few days here waiting, once again, for a good weather window for our last offshore jump until we reach Georgia. We did go ashore once to check out the park but mostly used this time to relax a bit after our trip up from the Keys. We had a nice view of the lights of Miami after dark although the boat traffic here was fairly heavy with local sport and charter fishing boats along with the party boats heading out the nearby inlet. We were looking forward to moving on and a good weather window appeared to be coming on the following Monday.
