Wayne,
I'm planning a trip to a marina in Marathon (Boot Key Harbor) in May. I
haven't been to the Keys by boat, so I've been studying charts.

The shortest route seems to be a more direct route running well to the west
of Cape Romano Shoal. The only concern that I have is running aground on
one of the shoals when I get down close to daybeacon #17 (Bullard Bank). I
think I have it figured out, but I'm not sure. There seems to be a lot of
shallow water to the west of Bullard Bank.

The other route (and the one recommended by my neighbor) is to duck in the
Marco River and come out around Coon Key...and then follow the coastline and
daybeacons until Cape Sabal...before cutting across to daybeacon #17
(Bullard Bank). After that, I have a "Cruising Guide to the Florida Keys"
that explains the pitfalls to watch out for.

Which route do you recommend?

The total distance for each route differs by only 9 miles according to my
chart-plotting software. But the inside route means a good 30 or so minutes
of slow speed running.

If the weather is calm, I'll be travelling 30 knots the whole way.

On Mon, 05 Feb 2007 02:24:57 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:

I'm planning a trip to a marina in Marathon (Boot Key Harbor) in May. I
haven't been to the Keys by boat, so I've been studying charts.

The shortest route seems to be a more direct route running well to the west
of Cape Romano Shoal. The only concern that I have is running aground on
one of the shoals when I get down close to daybeacon #17 (Bullard Bank). I
think I have it figured out, but I'm not sure. There seems to be a lot of
shallow water to the west of Bullard Bank.

I always run west of Cape Romano shoal since I prefer deeper water and
the shorter distance. I assume you have a good GPS or GPS/plotter?
If so you should have no trouble finding and avoiding Bullard Bank and
Red Bay Bank.

I would set an initial waypoint for just east of Fl G "17" at about
24-48.95 / 81-08.58. From there you have a 4 NM leg SSW on a course
of 211 Mag to a waypoint at about 24-45.31 / 81-10.43, leaving Fl G
"13" to stbd and Fl R "12" to port. After that the course is almost
due south about 3 miles to Moser Channel and the bridge.

The markers are all very easy to spot by eye or on radar, don't think
you'll have any problems. Of course I *strongly* recommend that you
verify the waypoint lat/lons on your own charts.

There is a lot of skinny water in the keys but no worse than around
here, and the water there is very clear and easy to read. They have a
saying down there about the color of the water - green, green, nice
and clean; brown, brown, run aground. :-)

If you really want to see something quite different along the way, try
ducking into Little Shark River and the Everglades Wilderness area.
You can travel for a hundred miles back in there and see little or no
signs of civilization. Not a good place to get in trouble however.
We also like going into the beach at Cape Sable. It is very wild and
there are lots of good shells to be found.

Thanks Wayne. I'll be sure to print this out and look at the maps and
chartplotter tonight.




"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 05 Feb 2007 02:24:57 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:

I'm planning a trip to a marina in Marathon (Boot Key Harbor) in May. I
haven't been to the Keys by boat, so I've been studying charts.

The shortest route seems to be a more direct route running well to the
west
of Cape Romano Shoal. The only concern that I have is running aground on
one of the shoals when I get down close to daybeacon #17 (Bullard Bank).
I
think I have it figured out, but I'm not sure. There seems to be a lot of
shallow water to the west of Bullard Bank.

I always run west of Cape Romano shoal since I prefer deeper water and
the shorter distance. I assume you have a good GPS or GPS/plotter?
If so you should have no trouble finding and avoiding Bullard Bank and
Red Bay Bank.

I would set an initial waypoint for just east of Fl G "17" at about
24-48.95 / 81-08.58. From there you have a 4 NM leg SSW on a course
of 211 Mag to a waypoint at about 24-45.31 / 81-10.43, leaving Fl G
"13" to stbd and Fl R "12" to port. After that the course is almost
due south about 3 miles to Moser Channel and the bridge.

The markers are all very easy to spot by eye or on radar, don't think
you'll have any problems. Of course I *strongly* recommend that you
verify the waypoint lat/lons on your own charts.

There is a lot of skinny water in the keys but no worse than around
here, and the water there is very clear and easy to read. They have a
saying down there about the color of the water - green, green, nice
and clean; brown, brown, run aground. :-)

If you really want to see something quite different along the way, try
ducking into Little Shark River and the Everglades Wilderness area.
You can travel for a hundred miles back in there and see little or no
signs of civilization. Not a good place to get in trouble however.
We also like going into the beach at Cape Sable. It is very wild and
there are lots of good shells to be found.