- Local News for Southern Sailors - April 2002 Next Story
The Florida Keys - Part I Part II
By Claiborne Young and Morgan Stinemetz
The Florida Keys,
strung, as they are, like a jeweled necklace southwestward from mainland Florida, could arguably be called the precious stones of Florida cruising. They are serenely tropical. Ubiquitous coconut palms dot the islands. The water is clear as gin. The weather picture is nearly always perfect, with vistas that stretch away to the horizon. The fishing is just this side of a sure thing, every time. And the anchorages you find off the beaten path will make you want to linger on until your holding tank is full and your water tank is empty.
Dawdling could get to be a habit down here, because the Florida Keys can be and probably should be explored at a leisurely pace. You will quickly discover that most of your fellow cruisers have already adapted to this languid lifestyle.
The Keys themselves are as diverse as opinions from the Supreme Court. However, the one aspect they all share is that they are low-lying islands. Some of the Keys have an exciting array of flora and fauna, while others are not much more than rock, marl, and mangrove. Where facilities that cruisers need — grocery stores, marine repair yards, restaurants, etc. — are plentiful, it is a sure sign that the islands have long-held allure for human habitation. You will note this in particular from Key Biscayne to Marathon. From Marathon to Key West, the number of stopping-off places with amenities thins out considerably. It is a function of landscape, not of economics. Key West, of course, has everything any cruiser might needŠand a slew of things most cruisers have never thought of or seen before.
Florida Keys geography For many years now, fellow cruisers have noted that when they are (for instance) traveling south to north on the Atlantic ICW, the coverage in our guides often runs in the contrary direction, north to south. Thus, they must, in a sense, read backwards. There is really no help for this in a typical coastal setting, unless we had one version of a particular guide running north to south, and another south to north — an impractical suggestion at best.
In this guidebook, however, we have made an extra effort to overcome this problem, at least in regards to those readily navigable routes that connect the outside, Hawk Channel passage, with the inside, Florida Bay ICW route. By the way, "readily navigable route," as used here, is defined as a reasonably well-marked channel, either crossed by no bridge at all or spanned by a high-rise bridge or an opening bridge. Thus, if a passage is crossed by a 12-foot fixed bridge, it does NOT fit our criteria.
What we have done (again, for instance) is to cover such routes as Snake Creek in our ICW section, from its northern inception, hard by the Waterway's track, to its terminus in the offshore waters near Hawk Channel. Then, in our Hawk Channel section, we AGAIN cover Snake Creek, except this time, our account follows Snake Creek from Hawk Channel to the ICW.
Gentle reader, you will appreciate that this two-way coverage means that you will note some sections repeated (in some cases word for word) in both the ICW and Hawk Channel accounts of these waters. Don't worry; we haven't lost our minds. We did not want to force you to have to refer back to a previous section to find ALL the information you might need about any of these important links between the Keys' inland and offshore waters.
As referred to briefly above, the Keys have a unique geography, both from the land and water. For one thing, by the time you reach Islamorada, the Keys begin to run on an east-to-west, instead of a north-to-south, axis. Thus, southbound becomes westbound, and northbound becomes eastbound. It can be a bit confusing at times, but we'll do our best to play the part of interpreters as we make our way through this guide.
There are two fundamentally different routes that one might choose to cruise from Miami to Key West: the ICW or Hawk Channel. The inside-lntracoastal Waterway (ICW or "the Waterway") passage runs south down Biscayne Bay, skips through Little Card Sound, then Card Sound, and finally passes through Jewfish Creek and under the one and only bridge that crosses the ICW's direct path between Coconut Grove and Key West.
South of Jewfish Creek, the Waterway cuts south and eventually west along the inner face of the Florida Keys. To the east and north, the shoal waters of Florida Bay seem to stretch away endlessly into the sunset and call longingly to the heart of any explorer. Just remember that these waters are very, very shallow, and as we shall learn below, running aground in the Florida Keys can be a very expensive proposition indeed.
A host of streams connect the ICW and the offshore Hawk Channel route, beginning on southerly Biscayne Bay and running all the way to the Moser Channel, just west of Marathon. Many of these passages are shallow, while others are crossed by low-level, fixed bridges that bar passage for all but small craft. Between Key Largo and Big Pine Key, only Angelfish Creek, Snake Creek, Channel Five, and the Moser Channel offer a reliable means for large cruising craft to move from one route to the other.
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West (and you might want to think of that as "south") of Marathon, many believe that the ICW ends at Moser Channel. Not so! In fact, one of the most fascinating cruising possibilities in all of the Florida Keys can be accessed by following the Waterway north through Big Spanish Channel, and then west as the ICW skips along the northerly tips of a series of wholly undeveloped Keys all the way to Key West. Some of the best backwater anchorages you will ever enjoy are found along this stretch, though none are without at least a bit of a navigational challenge.
The Florida Keys version of the ICW is well marked and fairly simple to navigate during daylight and in fair weather. Shallow water certainly abuts the channel here and there, but navigators who pay attention to business should be able to keep to the good water. At night, or with foul weather in the offing, things aren't so easy.
The number one disadvantage of the ICW passage between Key Largo and Key West will be felt most keenly by deep-draft vessels. At times, low-water depths of as little as five feet can be experienced, even when following the centerline of the channel directly between the various markers. Clearly, this route is best situated for mariners who pilot vessels 45 feet and smaller, and most important, which draw 4-1/2 feet or less.
Another drawback of the ICW route is the relative absence of marinas that cater to cruising-sized craft. To be sure, there are plenty of pleasure-craft facilities along this watery ribbon, but most are geared towards smaller power vessels. Fortunately, there are a few exceptions.
Conversely, the ICW teems with anchorages of all descriptions. If you are one of those cruisers who prefer to spend your evenings swinging on the hook, rather than tucked snugly into a slip, then by all means consider following the Waterway as opposed to Hawk Channel. Just remember the size and draft requirements outlined above.
The other approach is Hawk Channel. This wide passage runs the gap between the Keys' eastern (and eventually southern) face and a series of offshore reefs. These shallows do tend to shelter Hawk Channel from the very worst of the offshore swells, but when the wind gets its dander up, this can be a very dusty crossing from time to time.
The Hawk Channel passage boasts the best marinas by far for cruising craft in the Florida Keys. While the gaps between Key Biscayne and Key Largo, and between Bahia Honda Key and Stock Island are exceptions, cruisers will otherwise find reliable pleasure-craft facilities within an hour's run, at the most.
In a mirror image of the ICW route, anchorages are few and far between off Hawk Channel. There are a few good stops between Bahia Honda Key and Key West; otherwise, don't count on being able to drop the hook very often while following the Hawk.
Successful navigation of Hawk Channel can be a bit of a challenge. The various aids to navigation along the way are mostly skeletal, steel structures, but they are widely spaced — at times, VERY widely spaced. And it's important to pick up all these various aids to navigation and pass them on the proper side. More than a few of these markers denote shallow water, sometimes stretched over coral reefs, and to repeat ourselves, running aground in the Keys can be a quick study in dollar disposal.
For the most part, depths along the course of Hawk Channel run in the 15-plus-foot range. For this reason, coupled with the presence of so many pleasure-craft-oriented marinas, captains of most larger vessels choose this passage over its ICW counterpart. That's not a bad plan of action, particularly if your vessel exceeds 45 feet in length and draws five feet or more.
This exploration of the Florida Keys and Cruising the Florida Keys continues next month. |