Tortuga Tour Day 35: Dry Tortugas Passage

Dry Tortugas Passage from Boca Grande:

Our destination today is finally the Dry Tortugas!  There was some doubt about the weather window opening, but we are really going now!  The Admiral slept through the alarm (the perks of being Admiral), but the other two crew members were up early and prepping to leave [see above for our predawn Boca Grande anchorage].  Today we would be on the mostly open water for about seven hours, so we needed an early start.  By 7am we were starting the process of pulling anchor, and by 7:30 we were underway. 

The Captain already had the waypoints plugged into the GPS and the option to take a Northerly route or a Southerly route depending on wind direction.  He wisely chose the more Southerly route which meant the wind behind us.  We had a few miles of rolling side to side but once we turned this motion changed and we were more comfortable.  We had 50 miles of 2-to-4-foot seas with larger every so often, but the spacing was good which made for an easier voyage.  I think I only whined once or twice.  It has been such a joy having Adriane with us.  She inspires good conversation and is so eager to learn about boating.  The time goes by faster.

We decided to wait on lunch until we arrived.  The motion of the boat made fixing food more challenging.  Instead, we snacked.  Surprisingly I was able to work some on the travel log and read.  The other thing that held my attention was the color of the water.  It is such a beautiful color of blue.  Combined with the white clouds, white spray, and the blue sky, I felt a peace I don’t normally feel when the seas are higher than I prefer.

Landfall

It was exciting when we first saw the fort ahead.  The Dry Tortugas is a series of very small keys which comprise the Dry Tortugas National Park.  Fort Jefferson is on Garden Key (more about Fort Jefferson later).  There is a daily ferry which brings people from Key West and two seaplanes which also come in daily.  Conveniently there are anchorage sites within the park for people like us who come in on private boats.  As soon as the anchor was secure with 200 feet of chain due to deeper water, we made and ate lunch.  After lunch we needed to get the dinghy down and go on shore to register.  Getting the dinghy down this time was more challenging with the wind and waves, but no fingers or limbs were smashed, no heads were bumped, the dinghy didn’t crash into Betty Lou, and tempers were only slightly raised.  We did appreciate Adriane’s support.  We packed up our dinghy bag, put life jackets on, sunscreen, sunglasses and enjoyed a lovely ride to the dinghy dock with minimal splashing.  The Captain registered us and since there was plenty of daylight left, we began our tour of the fort.

Fort Jefferson

Fort Jefferson was built to control navigation to the Gulf of Mexico and protect Atlantic-bound Mississippi River trade.  Construction began in 1846 and continued for 30 years but was never completed.  Construction was done by laborers, prisoners, and black slaves.  During the Civil War, “We numbered at that time about 400, and represented a busy little town.  The fort at night was brilliant with lights, and the place was active with the bustle of many people.” (Emily Holder, wife of fort’s assistant surgeon, 1860s).  During the war the fort served as a Union military prison for captured deserters.  We didn’t finish the tour since we started late in the day.  It is a large fort and three stories high.  We did learn that there are residences within the fort for the park employees.  Supplies come by ship for them.  Every so many days they have time off to go to Key West and shop.  In the former days when the fort was in use, there were cisterns built into the walls with pipes from the roof which served as a basin to collect rainwater – the only fresh water on the key.  As the fort settled, cracks formed which allowed salt water to get into the cisterns.  During the Civil War, the military relied on a 92,000-gallon cistern on the parade ground and two steam condensers which could distill 7000 gallons of fresh water per day.  I believe one cistern is still in use today, but I will have to confirm that.

The area was first named Las Tortugas, meaning the turtles, in 1513 by Ponce de Leon.  One of the small keys in the park is Loggerhead Key which we plan to explore while we are here.  It is a nesting site for green sea turtles and loggerheads, both of which are endangered species.  It is open all year during the daytime but off limits at night.

There is so much information to share but it would take too long.  I may or may not add more snippets as I write each day, but you can also all read about this online.

Teatime today was rum and cokes with lime on the flybridge [again].  Dinner was simple.  Activity for the evening was also lightweight.  We were too exhausted to play a game.  Adriane read.  I wrote.  Fred did a 5-minute repair on the guest stateroom porthole.  By 9:30 we were turning in to be ready for the adventures tomorrow might offer.

Captain’s Comments

The ride downwind today was pretty comfortable.  No spray on the windshield, or even the deck.  I think even the Admiral would agree today’s ride did not qualify as “sporty.”  Betty Lou’s speed dropped to less than 6 knots as we climbed the back of each wave, then rose to nearly 9 as we sped down the front: not sporty, but fun.  Autopilot handled the following seas well.  Glad I didn’t have to steer all day.

The reaction from the crew when the Tortugas came into view was along the lines of “where is it?”  As you approach, the only visible evidence of land is the fort.  Everything else is basically at sea level, and you need to be on top of it to see it.  Having no land in sight except for a brick fort sticking up in the Gulf of Mexico puts the isolation into perspective. We completed our Dry Tortugas passage!

We anchored Betty Lou in Bird Key Harbor, across the entrance channel from the fort, in 30′ of water that looked like 3′. It is quieter here and has better holding. We put the dinghy in the water and went ashore to register and take an initial tour of the fort. Used our lifetime National Parks pass!

We started the day with a sunrise. We’ll end it with a sunset.

Peace  fks

Pictures from initial tour of Fort Jefferson