[Rhodes22-list] Keys Trip

[Bill Effros]

Bob,

I will post Keys information dating back to 1998 so you can see what has been discussed in the past.

February is the only month my wife doesn't like to be in New York, so we always try to go some place warm in February.  I've tried chartering in the BVI but I find it too culturally flat--a bunch of rich Americans motoring from crowded mooring to crowded mooring in expensive rented boats they can't control.

The Keys, on the other hand, are a world apart.  If you plan to stay from the time you get cold until the mosquitoes get nasty, you will never run out of things to do.  If you do no more than take your boat from the Coconut Grove boat ramp to behind the island you can see from "Scotty's" (?) you will think you have stepped through a time warp--unreconstructed hippies of all ages living off the land and doing their thing; literally in the shadow of Miami, huge cruise ships, and gated island communities.

Day trip from Coconut Grove; use your Tow Vehicle to visit South Beach; Little Miami; Little Haiti; shop in Coconut Grove; spend a few days in the Everglades--2 weeks would flash by in a heartbeat.

We generally take 3 week vacations.  We find we can leave for 3 weeks and not come back to a blizzard of unpaid, overdue bills, along with other emergencies created by our absence.  We then try to plan our trips with both enough "attractions" and leisure time so that when we return we are both enriched and rested.

Doing the math, the Internet advises that it's 163 miles by car from Miami to Key West.  Double that to go both ways--326 miles.  Divide by 14 days -- 23+ miles a day--motoring speed 5 kts....you're looking at more than 5 hours of motoring every day.  Doesn't sound like fun to me.

Go one way and have someone drive your rig so you can pull the boat at the other end?

The first time I try it, I will probably plan to stay within a day or two of Coconut Grove.  I want my wife to enjoy what we do.   If we go further I want her to say she wants to go further.  We can always pull the boat and drop it again further into the Keys to save time.  There are boat ramps everywhere.

If the initial trip is successful, it will become an annual event.  I think it would be many years before we became bored with it.  Provided we both like it initially.

If Rhodies start to go down to the Keys regularly, we will surely get together from time to time.  The get-togethers fall apart when people start to try to coordinate their schedules.  Invariably, everyone tries to accommodate someone who later changes his mind and doesn't come anyhow.  

You have convinced me that you are really going to make this trip.  I might.  If we all contribute stories and ideas, more people will decide to plan and try it.  Even if we never get our boats out of our own back yards, it would be fun.

Bill 




----- Original Message ----- 
From: Bob Keller 
To: rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org 
Sent: Saturday, November 08, 2003 9:52 PM
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Keys Trip


Bill & Others,
Thank you for your post.  I had already decided that Coconut Grove was the 
ideal launching point and your information about the public launch area, 
slips and restaurant sounds great and clinches it.

The trip from Miami to Key West and back is an idea that I have had for a 
while but have never done it before so really don't know any details.  I've 
gone to the west coast of Florida a couple times, but this trip would be 
much longer.  I do know what it's like to trailer the boat 600 miles each 
way.

The best time to make this cruise is supposed to be Jan-April (according to 
Papy's crusing guide) so I am thinking two of the first three weeks in 
March, but February would work too.  When are you going?  It might help to 
go with someone who is familiar with the area, but if not, we can wing it.  
Do you think two weeks is long enough for this trip?  It seems to me to be 
borderline when you include two days (minimum) of trailering.  Also it looks 
like to trip from Marathon to Key West should be taken on the ocean side in 
either direction - is that your experience?

In any case, it would be fun to get a group of Rhodies to do this next Feb 
or March.

Rumster - thanks for bringing this up!
Bob K
s/v Yankee Clipper



>From: "Bill Effros" <bill at effros.com>
>Reply-To: The Rhodes 22 mail list <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Keys Trip
>Date: Sat, 8 Nov 2003 06:22:41 -0500
>
>Rummy,
>
>I've been thinking about the same trip.  Planning for February.
>
>There is a nice city owned marina in Coconut Grove.  They have both a ramp 
>and a crane; and a lot of transient slips.  The last time I checked you 
>could rent a slip for around $20 a day.  There is a funky dockside joint 
>next door where the down and dirty boating crowd hangs out.  Good cheap 
>food.  Nice view.  During the week you can hang out all day.  If you look, 
>you will see manatees.
>
>Biscayne Bay is beautiful.  If they haven't torn it down, there used to be 
>something called "Stilt City" where people built shacks (and in some cases 
>mansions) in the middle of the bay on stilts.
>
>There are a number of exclusive islands off Miami, and many communities 
>with canals that suggest ways to live quite different from the way most of 
>us live.  I understand that the Coast Guard is extremely active around 
>Miami, and that there are places you are no longer allowed to be.
>
>John Pennekamp State Park is a great site for snorkling.  I think you are 
>allowed to go there by private boat.  It's off Marathon.
>
>The little Keys along the way were still like another country the last time 
>I went through them.
>
>There are some major resorts you can get to only by boat.  Some will let 
>you sleep on your boat while enjoying the resort facilities.  Most charge 
>by the foot, and are thinking of boats substantially longer than ours.
>
>The last time I was in Key West, it was dominated by the (not Mt.) Gay 
>lifestyle, and something of a disappointment.  It was hard to find the 
>"conchs" who had defined the tone of the place in the past, and you 
>couldn't avoid the overbuilt, over-priced resorts and restaurants.  We got 
>out of there as fast as we could.
>
>If we take the trip this year, it will be at a leisurely pace without 
>structured goals.  If we like where we are, we will just hang around until 
>we tire of it.  But if a group of Rhodies is floating through, we'll 
>certainly hook up at some point.
>
>Keep us all posted,
>
>Bill
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