Cruising the Florida Keys

I'm thinking about trailering my Stiletto 27 to Florida and cruising some of the Keys.

Are there web sites that would provide some information or do some of you have experiences or suggestions you'd offer .... time of year ... destinations .... tips ... etc ... ???

Thanks,

Tom

A guy named Frank wrote it. I believe it as available at Amazon.com
Rick

I just got back from a week long cruise around The Dry Tortugas and back to Key West.

Let me know if you'd like any information.

I would like some information about your cruise from Dry Tortugas and back to Key West.. Launch site and costs, what you cruised on, equipment you had, equipment you wished you'd brought and equipment you wished you left behind.... Did you stay on the boat at anchor or beach it and camp? Where you stayed and the costs to stay here or there....conditions, etc., etc.

Thanks,

Tom

Well, I wrote a piece for Mary and Catsailor magazine about the adventure. I'll try and sum that whole thing up here though.

We chartered a PDQ 36' from Southernmost Sailing out of Key West. Our float plan had us departing Key West on Monday for the Marquesas Keys, staying the night there, then continuing on to the Dry Tortugas the next day. We left the Dry Tortugas on Thursday, returning to Key West in the early afternoon on Friday.

The equipment we had: All the equipment that comes standard on a bareboat charter. We had a fully galley with silverware. Full head. 86 gallons of fresh water storage. 52 gallons fuel. Gas appliances, and refridgeration. We needed to bring more ice, by the time we got to the tortugas, our ice was gone, even the 5 40lbs solid blocks we brought.

We anchored both while in the Marquesas and the Tortugas. While in the Tortugas, its pretty obvious where to drop anchor, just follow the example of the other boats there. But in the Marquesas, picking your anchorage is dependent on the prevailing weather and if you want the islands to shield you from any incoming inclimate weather. Generally, we parked our floating couch downwind of the island chain in shallows.

The conditions while we were there were just short of spectacular. We only wished there was more wind to carry us past that 5 knots that the screws provided. We didn't encounter any rain the whole time, and we actually outran a small thunderhead on the way back to Key West.

The cost of the boat was about $2500 plus a $3100 security deposit. I personally spent about $300 the whole week just on food and "other" things that college students are bound to spend money on while spending time in Key West.

While in the Dry Tortugas, I HIGHLY recommend the short 1 mile trip out to the Windjammer wreck off of Loggerhead Key. Its truely spectacular and was definitely the highlight of our trip.