Matecumbe Bight anchorage

Yesterday morning Linda Vanaman dropped by with some coconuts for us after taking wonder dog Mercy to a vet appointment. Before she left, we all decided to meet at 1800 at the No name Pub on Big Pine Key. Linda extolled its virtues as a funky place and great pizza parlor.


In true mariner style, she and the four of us arrived in the same minute. In addition to the great company and pizza, we saw bunches of Key Deer out there. You see signs about slowing down for them in Route 1, but they are not there. They are all at the No Name begging and scavenging for food.

We left Sombrero Marina in Boot key Harbor today at 0925 with fresh easterly winds at around 15 MPH. After transiting the choppy channel through the Atlantic side to the Florida Bay side of Seven Mile Bridge, the waters settled into a chop from pretty much on the nose making for a wet ride. It was a relatively short day as we anchored about 1430 close into the shore here in Matecumbe Bight in about six feet of clear water.

The channel from Boot Key Harbor to this point is generally wide open with several well-marked choke points. We dodged a lot of crab pots and suffered through the anxiety of just about one foot under the keel at times. Jim said he could see a faint line of stirred up coral sand behind us from his vantage point on Seminole’s flying bridge.

Tomorrow will not be an early day because we probably don’t have far to go to the next stopping point, but getting the anchor up is infinitely simpler than getting out of a marina – cheaper too.