Rosalie B. wrote:

Hawk Channel isn't an anchorage. One of the problems for us is that
there aren't any reasonable anchorages for a deeper draft boat (5 feet
or over) where we would naturally need them.

Hawk Channel is the area between the offshore reefs and the various
islands in the Keys. It is about 160 miles long by road. There are
only a few places where one can get to the other side of the Keys, and
between Miami and Marathon there are almost no protected places to
anchor on the ocean side except behind either Rodriguez Key or
Tavernier and those don't usually come at a good time for a day's
sail.

I just looked at my logs, and the distance from Marathon to Hurricane
Harbor near Miami is 94 nm.

There are anchorages (like New Found Harbor) farther south on the way
to Key West.