Its 130 miles from Marathon to Ft Myers. If you plot a straight course, you will also be going right by Marco which is about 94 miles. If you average 5 knots, that will be 26 hrs to Ft Myers, 19 hrs to Marco. If you feel like hand
steering for 26 hrs, 10 of those at night, then go for it. My guess is that you will be wanting to stop at Marco.
We made the 30 hr trip from Spanish Banks, North West of Marathon, to Boca Inlet in May of this year, and crab pots were not an issue. They tend to be closer into shore along the
depth contours.
We also had two people and an
autopilot and it was tiring. The
wind picked up to 20-25 at night directly on our tail and with it came 5-7 feet of following seas. Auto couldn't handle this so we had to hand steer all night. Without an autopilot and
singlehanding, I would do day hops up the coast: Marathon to Cape Sable, to Marco, to Ft Myers.
The
weather is much more of a concern than crab pots. If the
wind picks up, the shallow gulf will turn into a
washing machine. If it is following wind and seas, ok, but if it is on the nose, forget it. Pick your
weather window carefully.
Edit: Just noticed the date of your post. I presume you already made your
passage. Let us know how it went.