Gilbert's Resort to Matecumbe Harbor Anchorage, FL |
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We made our departure at about nine-thrity today. The day was pleasant with a light breeze for the north east. We traveled through Florida Bay on the eastern edge with the islands that make up the Florida Keys to our east. The ICW channel is well marked. The water on each side of the channel is shallow, at some points charted at only three feet so we were careful to stay on course. There were a few boats here and there along the way as we started out and then as in recent days we saw no one. We got a little surprise as we entered a channel cut through a mangrove forest. The water was very calm and there must have been about fifteen small local boats sitting in the water. Everyone had out a fishing line. We slowed the boat to a crawl as not to cause the other boaters concern of our wake as we passed them. Many of these boats contained families with small children. The water was clear and we could see the rocks on the bottom just outside the ICW channel. We entered a wide stretch of water which was very deceptive as far as depth. After passing an oncoming sail boat we looked behind us and noticed we had churned some mud in the area as we had moved over a little to the side when passing. We kept checking behind as we travel and many times saw the same thing. According to our depth gage we had adequate water under the keel. We were still diligent to say on the ICW course. Add to this the hundreds of crab pot markers we had to zig zag through made this an uncomfortable passage through the area. We came upon our anchorage spot for the night after passing through a cut in a large shoal. On each side of the channel we could see the brown water indicating land just below the surface. As we entered Matecumbe Bight anchorage we came upon crab pot floats. The area selected for the night offered us some protection from the northeast easterly winds predicted for today. The wind was pretty stiff when we dropped the anchor and it immediately dug into the sandy bottom. There was a sailboat near by and another trawler. At least we were not alone. We settled in and relaxed with some light reading and planned the next days travel before grilling some steaks for dinner. The wind had picked somewhat and as reported began to change, coming for the east. We had gotten as close a safe to the shore line when we anchored and the island to our east give us some shelter from the wind during the night. |