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Originally Posted by dogcabo  Hi -
Leaving next week and planning a trip down east coast of FL, spend about five weeks in the Keys, then up the South west coast of FL. - cross back to the east coast at the Okeechobee. My question is regarding the crossing from the keys to the south west of FL. It looks like the first area for a easily accessible marina in the SW of FL is at Marco Island, is this passage best made form Marathon or Key West, and what are the approximate distances ? We are in a trawler, a speedy cruiser at 7 knots ! Also - we will be at anchor for most of the trip, but we are interested in favorite marina suggestions for a couple of weeks in Marathon -
Thanks ! |
There is a nice anchorage on the Gulf side of Cudjoe Key (Cudjoe Channel on the chart). We usually leave from there and go to Little Shark River or Indian Key near Everglades City. You can easily make the 63nm to Indian Key at 7kts. From Indian Key it is another 65NM to Sanibel Island in Pine Island Sound. With these two long legs, you can make Sanibel in 2 days, but if you stop at Little Shark, you are looking at 3 days with a stop at Marco. We have been "boycotting" Marco for the last several years because the town has been hostile to cruisers.
You can also make either of these route options from Marathon and distance would be slightly shorter. The Indian Key stop adds about 10 miles to the route since you have to go around Cape Romano, but Indian Key is a beautiful anchorage and worth the extra miles.