An offshore trip to the Dry Tortugas National Park has been a dream of mine for several years. I have made firm plans on two occasions which have been thwarted by foul weather and equipment failures. 

This year I hope to “just do it.” I have reserved two and one-half weeks for the proposed tour and trip toward the last of May. If the weather permits, I believe I have conquered the equipment concerns and am ready. Ideally I would have a near-shore life raft for deployment in the event of a sinking. I am choosing not to take up the room with this, rather taking a folding dingy and an inflatable kayak. I have an Epirb registered and am putting my efforts into prevention and conservative planning. 

The priorities for this trip start with an adequate supply of water. The Islands are aptly named as there is no water to resupply with while there. Enough fuel to return, at least to Key West is also important. As for food, I plan to carry my usual canned and vacuum packed foods in quantities adequate to last over two weeks. I do hope to catch and eat fish. Depending on my fishing skills and luck, however would be quite foolish I believe. 

I have purposely chosen to reject refrigeration, ice and ice boxes The cooler is far too bulky and ties me too closely to civilization. If I drink alcoholic beverages, I choose hard liquor and dark wine as they don’t need refrigeration. I don’t like or keep leftovers, so refrigeration is not necessary for anything that I can think of. I will likely take a case of beer to trade for fish. Otherwise. I drink water and a little alcohol in the evening. 

My general plan for this trip is to divide my time among snorkeling, bird watching, touring the fort and fishing. I plan to budget 5 days more or less for the actual visit. A lot of flexibility is important so as to use the best days for sailing to and from the islands. For the trip south I will have to wait for winds from the upper quadrants. For traveling eastward to Key West, I will need winds from the western quadrants. If the weather is foul I will have to wait it out. Also, I must remember that being single-handed makes me need to be that much more conservative in my plans. 

Here is a list of what one would generally need for this trip. 

1. Water in tanks and containers. I plan to take about 35 gallons. I will carry 28 gallons in the two flex tanks and the rest as gallon containers for drinking. I have installed a 3.8 GPM Pump and filter inline. Works like a charm!
2. Food supplies as canned, prepackaged and spices and condiments for preparing fresh fish and stored food.
3. Fishing rods, tackle and license.
4. Folding dingy and 2 hp Tohatsu motor.
5. Innova inflatable kayak.
6. Mask, fins wet suite and dive flag for snorkeling.
7. First aid supplies especially sun protection and burn remedies. Meat tenderizer for sting neutralization. Seasickness remedies. GI remedies.
8. Books. Guide books, bird and underwater books and reading material.
9. My digital camera and underwater case, laptop and Binoculars. I will use the lap tap to store my commentary and pictures of the trip. ( I have an adapter for running on 12 volts).
10. Tools and spares for repair.
11. Twenty four gallons gasoline plus four gallons of 50:1 for the dingy motor. 
12. My head with be a composting head using peat. 

I will add to this page as my plans progress. See Tortugas Blog.

Off shore route from Charlotte Harbor to the Dry Tortugas. Approximately 130 NM

Chart of Garden key showing Bush Key anchorage the the southwest of the fort. Note my route showing approaching from the northwest.

4/11/2008 Plans are progressing nicely. I will be loading the boat soon for the trip. My vacations have been merged now so I will spend a week in Cedar Key, then return on Monday to change boats to Belle for the trip south. I hope to make Garden Key by Thursday, May 8 or Friday the 9th at the latest. That will give me plenty of time to enjoy the Tortugas and perhaps the keys. I will likely leave from Caya Costa so I will have a grand tour of southwest Florida as I return via Marco Island and Fort Meyers Beach. As the packing goes on, I will catalog the steps I take in preparation for the trip. When finished, I will review how well things went and what I did wrong or would do different.

Chart of my anchorage in Pelican Bay with arrow pointing to anchorage in the bight of Punta Blanca Key. I will leave early from here for the Tortugas. My route starts with #74 labeled as Caya Costa and passes out through Boca Grand to head south west for the Tortugas. 

04-16-2008 I have been giving some thought to the average wind direction off the south Florida coast. Given that the wind often blows from the north to north west I find the trip originating from Caya Costa to be a risky adventure. Going south is a synch. Returning however, may be a serious problem. I am considering again a trip originating from south Florida in the Everglades. Stay tuned for new developments. It is a week and one-half until my trip to Cedar Key. I am almost done with preparations on both boats. Things are looking good for both trips. 

Proposed routes. Garmin routes are uploaded to Google Earth for final review. It is interesting to note that close inspection of the Marquesas entrances show that following the chart approaches could bring one to grief. I am doing a refinement of way point entries based on Google coordinates. 

The track into Marquesas, showing how the chart miscalculates the channels. Refinement of the way points will be done using Google Imaging. I wish I could provide detail for the Garden Key anchorage and the Tortugas in general but Google Earth has blurred the image so it is quite unrewarding to try to view the area. As an aside, I wonder if there might be some sensitive installations in the area which the government has required blurring? Oh well, just a conspiratorial thought.