Clearwater, FL to Naples, FL

By Capt. Scott Buckley

Position: 26 07' 57'N, 081 47' 32'W

Progress towards destination: 905.0 nm

Voyage to Naples
We left Clearwater,FL harbor marina at 6:30 AM with an out going tide.  It was a little difficult getting out of the slip due to the tidal current but we did it.  Mike Bauer the lead Dock Master was on hand to help us out and it turned out had started reading this blog and liked it a great deal.  Who would have thought that possible.  We got out into the Gulf of Mexico and ran thru the maze of crab trap buoys.  I figured if I got out to 60 foot water depth I would no longer have to dodge crap trap buoys. I turned out a little better than I thought.  After we passed 35 ft depth I stopped seeing crab traps and made the turn SSE to round Sana Belle Island where I would turn SE towards Naples, FL.  The dock to dock distance was around 140 nm.  The offshore distance was about 123 nm.

We had a north wind that kept having a little westing to it as we sailed.  Kooky Dance was feeling her stuff and doing around 7 knots.  That sounds great but it was going to put into Naples at 3AM.  While that would be high tide it would also be dark.  I had to slow the boat down a great deal.  Low tide was around 8:30AM and the next high tide was not going to be until 4:30PM the same day.  I really did not want to head into Naples until about 2PM just ahead of the tide. 

The Tiniest Boat Slip EVER.

We arrived off of Naples around 10AM and drifted around off shore until 2PM.  I was nervous about the depth of the channel but it all went well until we got the the Naples City Marina.  Even though we had called then and told them the size of the boat they directed us to a slip about the size of a coffin.  The onshore breeze had kicked up and of course a crowd gather to watch the train wreck.  Tamera and I got the boat docked without the train wreck.  Sorry fellas maybe next time.  Don't mistake my vibrato for too much confidence.  My hands were shaking after we got tied up and the 1st mate made me a rum beverage to calm me down.  It worked.
 

Deciding to Stay

We had planned to stay one night and push on the 1st mate and I were pretty tired and before we turned in for the night we decided to stay another day in Naples.  These longer offshore passages tend to wear us out and we slept very well that night.  We listened to weather reports on the marine VHF but nothing was making much sense to me.  The marine weather reports list broad areas and wind and wave forecasts.  What I want them to say is: “Sailing vessel Kooky Dance can expect favorable weather for there passage on such and such a day”.  Before I went to bed I took a little walk into town.  The breeze was nice and the town was peaceful and beautiful with all the Christmas lights going up.  Based on what I saw and felt I was glad we were staying a little longer. 

Making Friends

The next morning we headed up to the marina office to inform them of our plan to stay and extra day and we passed a small pavilion with some chairs and tables and a couple of characters sitting around talking.  I asked the marina store person if she knew of any sail boats headed to the Bahamas we could meet.  She did not.  I asked her what the group was outside and she said it was the locals drinking coffee.  I grabbed a cup and headed outside to meet them.  I asked if they minded if I joined them and they were obliging.  I got to talking with them to pick their collective brains about their knowledge of the pass thru Florida bay to Key Largo or Marathon.  They directed me to a charter captain named Todd who I approached and he was willing to render his opinion about the various ways  across Florida Bay.  His consensus was it was better to take the southern pass to the 7 mile bridge and head to Marathon than to try the northern route to 5 mile bridge.  The 5 mile cut was probably doable but the pass to Marathon was much easier.  He had done it many times without incident.  He knew of a vessel that draws 6.5 ft of draft passing thru five mile cut but why risk it.  Those words resonated with me.  Indeed why risk it. 

I also met a fellow sailor named Tim Sandford.  A Vietnam vet who was open and inviting for conversation.  I mentioned that I was looking for some wood to make fender boards and Tim said he was headed to the lumber store later and would give me a ride.  I quickly accepted.  Tim own a beautiful 30 ft Morgan that was moored near by and had spent years in the area.  He lives in Indiana but travels here regularly by car or motorcycle.  He is quite a character with his handle bar mustache.  We went to the lumber yard and Tim passed on a great deal of useful local knowledge as well as the interesting events of his life.  I invited him back to our boat so he could have a look.  Tim offered us a ride to the grocery store later if we needed it.  It turned out we did.

Planning the Next Jump.

Tamera and I find planning the next leg of the journey to be very exhausting and frustrating.  We have caught ourselves sniping at each other as we pour through charts and weather and tide information.  We have to look at the tides and winds and weather and approaching weather systems and available anchorages or facilities along the way.  We want to do things safely and comfortably.  The safest and most comfortable thing is to stay at port but we needed to keep working our way toward the Bahamas.  It is after all why we had worked so hard to do this.  We had sold or given away all the possessions of our land based life to sail the tropics.  To change it and stay tied up in some marina would equate to a failure to launch into our planned exploring life.

Getting East

We had several options for getting east.  We could go 18 nautical miles to Marco Island and get a boat slip for the night,  Then another 47 nm to  Little Shark River and find an anchorage.  From there it would be another 45 nm to Marathon and find a mooring ball in Boot Key harbor. 

Tides. 

The tide are currently very low in the AM making it difficult to leave Naples until Friday and then only if we leave very early.  It is superstitious to leave on Friday.  Tamera and I rationalize our departure by understanding that we did not begin our journey on a Friday and this is only the continuation of the total journey to the Bahamas.

Weather. 

There is a nasty cold from showing up here on Monday/Tuesday and from the sounds of it we need to be someplace secure.  Before a front arrives the wind generally clock to the E and then SE which would make crossing Florida Bay a wind on the nose choppy slog.  That is something we wished to avoid. 

The Plan

We will leave early Friday (5AM tomorrow) and make way to Little Shark River to anchor down before nightfall.  It is a 70 nm trek and we will need to push hard to make it.  Then we will leave Little Shark River Saturday morning and make way to Marathon Key.  I have and old school friend there William Jamar and we will try to reconnect with him while we are there.  This will be about 115 nm total trip in 2 days with little rest.  I am pretty sure we will be tired when we get into Marathon Key.

A Key Duration

Once we are in Marathon on Saturday night we will sit tight until the front passes on Tuesday.  The winds are expected to remain strong out of the NE Wednesday and Thursday so we will not be able to make our way up to 5 mile bridge until the end of next week where we will wait for favorable weather to cross the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas.  While in Marathon we hope to meet other cruisers that are veterans cruisers and also headed to the Bahamas and perhaps gain some local knowledge about the crossing.
Enough for now