Dodging crab pots - Day 115 - Naples to Key West, FL

The cruise from Naples to Key West is the second open ocean crossing on this final leg of our Gulf Coat adventure (the first being Apalachicola to Tarpon Springs).  It is also the second longest crossing.

We awoke to 55 degrees and partly sunny skies.  Our goal today was Key West and based on the forecast we had a reasonable weather window.  The marine forecast today required us to consider both the forecast for Naples and Key West, which is over 100 miles south and west of Naples.

The marine forecast for Naples called for winds out of the northeast at 10 to 15 with 2 foot seas.  The forecast for Key West called for east northeast winds 10 to 20 with seas 4 to 6 beyond the reef and 2 to 4 inside the reef.  The possibility for the issuance of a small craft advisory was also mentioned.  The local Key West forecast called for 20 to 30 knot winds from the east and possible rain or thunderstorms. 

The bigger picture showed a low pressure center just to the west of New Orleans with a trailing cold front making its way across the Gulf.  This suggested the potential for the small craft advisory as the cold front moves further east.

Not perfect, but reasonable given two important considerations.  The first and most important was the direction of the waves, which according to our Sirius Satellite Weather system showed a northerly direction.  This would give us a following or quartering sea.  The second is Guided Discovery's speed.  At 30 MPH we can cover the 100 miles of open ocean in a little over three hours, which lessens the chance of the weather changing enroute.

So, with all that in mind we departed Naples at 8:03 AM and headed south down Naples Bay.  26 minutes later we had covered the 3.4 miles to Gordon Pass and the open waters of the Gulf.  The run down the bay is loaded with beautiful homes.

At 9:29 AM, we entered the Gulf waters and headed south for G1, the entrance to the Northwest Channel off Key West.  The waves off Naples were less than 2 feet as forecasted.  We set our course of 187 degrees for the 99.7 statute mile trip to G1.  In a perfect world (aka crossing Lake Michigan), we would have placed a waypoint on our target and engaged the "track" autopilot function (which corrects for wind and current allowing the boat to virtually steer itself).  Then, we would have sat back and occassionally watched the sea, which on Lake Michigan is easy as there is almost no debris or obstacles and very few boats crossing the lake.

Not so on the Gulf.  No sooner than we got up to speed, we started dodging crab pots, which were ubiquitous.  There were so many crab pots that I was only able to use the track function for about 30 minutes and those engagements were not continuous.  Dodging crab pots at 30 MPH is challenging.  First the crab pots are small floating objects slightly bigger than a large soft ball thus making them hard to see.  The problem is exacerbated by colors that are dark and blend into the sea.  Add to that a little sun and a few waves and, well, you get it.

Note: Hitting a crab pot is really not an option as the line can get wound around the prop and/or the "pot" can damage the prop.  Some readers will recall that we have marine spurs (line cutters), which are designed to cut these lines.  However, these are clearly the back up plan.  While the spur can cut the line you can still get prop damage.

The secret to avoiding crab pots is a constantly scanning.  The only saving grace is that the pots are laid out in a line approximately 75 feet apart.  What we observed is that the lines are laid on a northwest southeast line.  Hence the key is scanning for the line and then cutting through between any two pots.  Fortunately our course cut more or less perpendicular through the lines.

Diana and I worked together to spot the pots and we did so with great success (i.e., we missed them all).

Note: My theory was that once we got into deeper water the pots would disappear.  No such luck.  We were dodging pots 50 miles offshore in 50 feet.

The run from Gordon Pass to G1 took three and a half hours.  As we moved south southwest the waves started to build from two feet to four feet (with a occasional rogue 5).  Fortunately, the waves were off our port stern giving us a following sea and a reasonably soft ride.  The east wind added a wet ride as the boat surfed the bigger waves.

The right hand screen shows us moving offshore

Note: You can see the wave direction in the short arrows.  Notice that the waves change to a more easterly directions as you get closer to Key West.  The longer line symbols represent the direction of the wind while the hashes represent velocity of the wind.  Each longer ones represents 10 knots.  The shorter ones 5 knots.

Spray from the east wind. Note the two boats approaching from the south

At 12:23 PM, we passed G1 at the entrance to the Northwest Channel.  We had covered 100 miles of open water where for most of the trip we were more than 40 miles from shore.

Buoy G1 marking the end of our open water crossing

Eleven minutes later we turned north into the ship channel and passed three large cruise ships docked on the west end of the Key.

At 1:00 PM we were tied up at A&B Marina's fuel dock where we took on 183.8 gallons of fuel (at $3.68 per gallon, the highest we've paid to date).  Our fast crossing burned a lot of fuel (yielding a .60 MPG efficiency).  Still, it was great getting to Key West before the storms or the seas building higher.

When we moved to our slip we discovered a few challenges.  First, we had to pull in stern to a floating dock.  The floating dock is good news as we would not have to deal with tides.  The fact that there were no fingers, however, added a challenge.  Recall that the dingy is carried on our hydraulic swim platform.  Once tied up, we discovered that we could not get off the boat.  So, with the help of the dock hand we dropped the dingy into the water and tied it up next to the fuel dock.  Problem solved but it took two of to do it in close quarters.

Guided Discovery stern to a floating dock

After giving the boat a quick bath to wash off the salt water we took Kodi and looked for a place to eat.  We found the boardwalk around A&B Marina to be quite picturesque.

Just across the harbor we had lunch alfresco at The Schooner Wharf Bar and listened to their singer.  It was a charming place with some interesting characters.  Best part was Kodi could sit by our table.  She created quite a stir as many folks strolling on the boardwalk asked to pet her.  She was in dog heaven.

Patrons in costume

We took an evening walk down Duval Street, which reminded us of Mackinac Island on steroids.  It just goes on and on.

Diana had earlier found a VERY unique desert restaurant, called "Better than Sex."  We stopped there and split a peanut butter indulgence entited PERVERT.  It was a delicious end to a perfect day.

We plan to stay here until Friday.  There is lots to see and do and, of course, we have summer in the dead of winter.  Stay tuned for adventures.

Written by Les.