Day 276 - Near Everglades City to Little Shark River, FL
Day 276: Friday, January 27th: We were up at 7:00am this morning (unusual for us these days). We had a pretty long run to make and wanted to get it done before the seas kicked up.
The tide had decidedly dropped during the night. That's a mud flat that was a cove yesterday afternoon:
We listened to the weather forecast and it was rather daunting. Strong winds and heavy seas were predicted for the next three to four days. This is when we would be traveling in the open Gulf with no protection. We decided to go ahead now to Little Shark River today and wait there until conditions moderated a bit. We called ahead and moved our Marathon and Key West marina reservations out again.
Out in the Gulf the wind was quite strong, but the seas had not built up too much yet (they were about 1-2 feet). However they were on our beam, making for a lot of rolling and salt spray.
The weather didn't keep the crab fishermen from setting and checking pots. The pelicans love to follow them, hoping for a discarded fish.
We noticed the water was becoming sort of milky-looking. We guessed the wind was stirring up the shallow bottom increasing the turbidity (three dollar word). Sadly, the pictures didn't do the strange color justice. That dark band between the shoreline and us is a cloud shadow:
We were cruising fairly close to shore to minimize the reach of the wind (about 2½ miles off). The water depth was only about six to eight feet. As we went along the boat's "wheel" (propeller) would kick up little fish from near the bottom. The seagulls love to follow along and grab a fish:
As the day wore on the waves got bigger. They were on the beam and occasionally hit the boat hard; it all made for a rough ride. There is nothing in this picture to give a feel for size, but the swells are about 2½ feet.
We arrived at the mouth of the Little Shark River and turned in. There were two sailboats already anchored (it is about 2:00pm). We dropped our hook in eight feet of water; we draw four feet. The tides are six feet here. Uh-oh!
This river runs for miles up through the Everglades National Park. This is what the Everglades look like here:
Later, the sky gave up a nice sunset. "Red sky at night, sailors delight…." We hope so!
After sunset two more sailboats came into the river. When we went to bed there were five sailboats and us in this anchorage.
Position tonight: N25 19.484 W081 08.837
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