3 day trip to North Nest Key.

[Frantic]

Hey everyone!

 My wife, my parents and I set out for a little voyage on our CP16 these last few days. This was our first multi-night trip and our first time sailing in the keys. We normally just sail Biscayne Bay. I loaded up all our stuff on saturday night so we could leave early the next day. Its amazing how much stuff fits in that little boat! My plans of leaving early where shot down by the women of the voyage who took forever to get ready and made us stop at a million places before we left... I should have prepared for that before hand lol... but it was nice to have them come along so they where forgiven. We got to South Dade Marina at about 12:30. We where in the water by 1:00 and had a little trouble using our motors so called "reverse" which is basically turning the motor 180 degrees. We almost hit every boat docked within 20ft of us but thankfully we where able to avoid that and finally got under way down the glades canal.

Upon entering manatee bay, the first leg of our trip, The winds where about 10-15 knots out of the northeast with the occasional stronger gust. We cruised down toward Barnes Sound and then entrance of Jewfish Creek on a broad reach at a good 4-5 knots. It was an absolutely beautiful day. Big fluffy clouds and blue sky. Temperature was about 78 degrees and the wind was nice and cool. As we where sailing down Barnes Sound and just about to enter the channel to go into Jewfish creek we hit bottom! I noticed it getting shallower and we tried to steer toward deeper water, under motor power at this point since we where entering the creek, but to no avail. We slowly came to full stop. So, my dad jumped over board and pushed us out of the muck... He was chosen since he was the only one who made the mistake of wearing swim trunks. lol. I was very surprised to have run aground there it was supposed to be about 4ft of water there. Someone on here told me to watch the low tides in the the keys and they where right! I didn't realize it could be that drastic but lesson learned. So, we got out of the mud and into the creek. We stopped at a little place called Pontunes to have some lunch. The food was pretty good and the price was fair. I had always driven by the place while I was working and noticed the big Schooner parked outside.

After a long lunch (to long!) It was already 3:45 and we didn't have much daylight left. We motored to the first marker and raised the sails making a strait shot for the boggies... or so we thought! We still aren't quite sure what happened (I suspect the helmsman, my dad, Wasn't paying proper attention to the compass) But we missed the boggies by about a mile and a half south! So we headed North West searching for the opening in the mangroves, which for those who don't know is damn near impossible until your right up to them! Thankfully I had reception on my phone and used the GPS to get a "follow me map" which helped us to find them. We finally found them at about 4:55 and it turned out the one we need to enter was marked! We had seen the marker before but since it didn't show on the map we didn't trust it. So just as we where about to head into them we ran around again! The water was murky and we thought it was still deep. We where obviously wrong. So again dad goes back in the water! Only this time he forgot to take off his crocs and didn't want to lose them so he threw them in the boat just after dipping them in mud and successfully filled the cockpit with a good gallon of mangrove muck. Needless to say the women on board where not thrilled about that! So after a little shove we where off and down the boggies which thankfully where a good three feet at the shallowest point so we got through them no problem.

So now we are on the final leg of our trip. A strait shot just about 10 degrees south of west to North Nest Key! We where surprised at the amount of islands we could see. The Nest Keys sit fairly isolated on the map but its not obvious at first glance which set of islands they were. So as we sailed along at et another broad reach cruising a good 3-4 knots as the winds had died down some, the sun was setting. It was beautiful to watch the Sun set over the water. Really nice time to go for a sail...but then of course it got dark. We where only about 2 miles away from our destination when it got dark but there was no moonlight at all. I needed to keep a small light on my compass so I could keep a steady heading but that completely blinded me. We again brought out my phone and its GPS to make sure we where in fact headed to the right island, which we where thankfully. The GPS does not give alot of detail though and before we knew it we where about 25 feet from crashing into the islands northern tip and the water suddenly got very shallow! I turned us hard to starboard and thankfully avoided yet another instance of running aground! So as we swung around the northern tip we headed toward the western point where we knew there was a small dock.

We motored into the dock and ran aground 3 feet from the dock! I thought it was incredibly hilarious. My mother didn't think so, she was sure that if we jumped in to swing the stern to tie off to the dock so we could unload that we would be immediately eaten alive by ravenous bull sharks. Thankfully we where not feasted upon by sharks that night.We swung the stern around and unloaded as planned. Unfortunately, we where under the impression that the camping area was at that dock. Turns out the camping area was just around the bend from us. So we decided to inflate the dinghy and go scout out the water depth and see how far away the camping beach was. I went around the bend in the dinghy and could see no beach. Just mangroves. The water was also very shallow going around the bend. So we decided to just camp at the entrance to a trail on the beach right off the dock. We only brought down essentials since we would relocate in the morning. During that process when I brought my little dinghy ashore I popped the outside chamber on a piece of dead mangrove bark... a nice last touch of mess for the night. Once we where all set we made a simple dinner of Ham and cheese sandwiches on cuban bread and went to bed for a well earned rest. During the night the women woke us up because they heard alot of movement around us. turns out the island is crawling with mice! They where a bit creeped out but theirs fears of saltwater crocodiles ripping us from our tents where put to rest so we went back to sleep. I got up just as the sun was rising. It was a beautiful morning. I put some cuban coffee to brew and ate a couple cinnabon granola bar type things. While we where sitting on the dock having breakfast a pod of 4 dolphin came around the bend and swam around there for a while. After breakfast we loaded up our stuff and sailed around the bend to our proper campsite. Turns out the camping beaches where only a few hundred feet away but my line of sight to them was blocked by a patch of mangroves.

Once we set up our new camp things went pretty well. We tried snorkeling but not much to see. We cleaned all the mud off the boat, explored the island a bit, went swimming, went for a short sail and just lounged around our campsite. A bunch of other boaters came in to have lunch and enjoy the beach for a while including a couple nice catboats. We saw some cool wildlife. Lots of Birds including a flamingo and a bald eagle. As night came we built our fire and tried a little fishing with no luck. The stars where amazing. I've never seen such a starry night. Even out in the Everglades.

The next day was fairly painless. We packed up, loaded the boat and sailed off. The winds where fairly light. Only about 3-4 knots. We where moving pretty good though thanks to the genoa. We went strait into the boggies. Out into Blackwater Sound where the winds picked up to about 5-8 knots and cruised across there nicely. We decided to have lunch at pontunes again. This time we made it on time for the lunch special. We had a fried dolphin sandwich with fries and a drink for only $7.00 not bad and very delicious. According to the forecast the winds where supposed to die down big time in the evening so we decided so re-fill the gas we used. Turned out to be  bit silly. We spent a grand total of $1.58 on gas..lol. So we left that marina and headed down Jewfish creek toward Barnes Sound. Spotted a manatee coming up for air in the creek. Pretty cool. When we came into the sound we where raised the sails and flew down on a beam reach. The winds had kicked up to about 10-12 knots. About halfway through we lost out beam reach and went into a broad reach. We where still moving pretty good though. We went from there into Manatee Bay and then back into Glades Canal to conclude our Journey.

So thats the story. I'm looking forward to taking this trip again. I learned a whole lot and I know the next time will be much smoother. I posted up a whole bunch of pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/59863173@N03/

Enjoy!

[kchunk]

Great write up and thanks for the pictures. Sounded (and looked) like a great trip! I've sailed out of South Dade Marina several times and never heard of North Nest Key. I'll have to try to find it one of these days.

Back in July 09 we sailed or Com-Pac 23 from S Dade to Marathon...me, wife and two kids. It was a great trip too! We took our time with four days of sailing and three nights anchored out. Probably our most memorable trip ever. I'll have to go through the hundreds of pictures we took and get them online too.

Thanks again for sharing!

--Greg

[crazycarl]

thanks for sharing!  it's nice to read about others adventures while caught in the last throws of winter.  i would like to return to the keys some day for a 2 or 3 week sail.

[ssullivan]

sounded like a fun trip! you should try the middle and lower keys next time lots of cool things to see and islands to camp on. i dont think there are any islands that have camp grounds like that one though.

[RCAN]

Frantic,

Thanks for sharing.

I've just taken my Com-Pac 16 out twice on Biscayne Bay last year toward the end of summer. That was the earliest I could get her ready after buying her and doing some maintenance to get her sea worthy. Am beginning my sailing season this Saturday and hope to really get to know the bay this year. Maybe next year I'll start venturing down to the keys.

Let me know if you want to take your Com-Pac 16 along with mine out on the bay. I like to use the Coconut Grove Ramp. Maybe you can give me some pointers.

Robert

[Salty19]

Sounds like a real fun adventure!  Thanks for sharing.   One of these days we're going to trailer down to FL (1250 miles one way) and cruise the keys on Island Time.  Having lost a close family member at a fairly young age, I've promised myself to not wait too long--you just never know when the opportunity won't be there.

[Frantic]

Thanks all, glad you enjoyed it!

Robert, I'd love to set out with a mini compac armada on the bay I've been sailing a little less than a year but I'd be more than glad to share the stuff I've learned and maybe learn a little myself. I've never used the Grove boat ramp. I imagine it must get pretty packed. Hows the prices there? I normally put in at either Mathesson Hammocks or Homestead bayfront depending on the wind and where I'm headed. Both of those ramps are $15. My email is mtunez@att.net. Send me an email and we can plan something.