Dry Tortugas National Park

Monday Jan, 12

                Monday I left Zacks place and started the long drove south. I stopped at one place to ask about fishing in the keys, but he told me to ask when I get down there. So I tried again in Key Largo. I told them where I was going and showed them what I planned on using, they politely laughed at. In the end I walking out with a new rod and reel with some steal leaders and hooks. Then I had to get everything in order for camping the next few nights. My final stop was Key West to wait until morning for the ferry to take me to Dry Tortugas National Park. 

Tuesday Jan, 13

                I was up extra early to make sure I was able to get everything on the boat. Once all my stuff was on the caption asked me “so who’s the reservation under?” I told him I didn’t have one, he told me to get everything off the boat. A few days later the caption told me he was looking at the wrong day and thought camping was full. I had to wait until 6:30 for the check in desk to open to find out if there was room. They told me I could get on the boat this morning and come back Thursday evening. At that point I would take what I could get. Another thing I didn’t know, it’s about $200 for the ferry. Camping is $3 a night, so once your there its way worth it to stay. I reloaded my things and hopped aboard. They serve a very nice breakfast on the 2.5 hour boat ride. I talked to an older man and his girlfriend from Bar Harbor Maine; they were both in their 70’s. When I sat down I figured they were married, right until she got up to get some coffee. The first thing he said to me was “never get married, if you do make her sign a contract that you get one month a year to yourself.” Upon arriving you are confronted with Fort Jefferson, the largest masonry (brick) building in the western hemisphere. 16 million bricks in a six sided fortress complete with cannons and artillery guns on the roof. I set up my camp and talked to my neighbor Steve until my 130 tour. This fort was in charge of protecting the natural harbor just off shore. This harbor would house the fleet that protected the gulf from pirates, and later on during the civil war. The ferry leaves at 245, and then everything really calms down. The only people on the island are the campers, rangers, and construction crew doing restoration work. I tried fishing but that wasn’t working. So I kayaked around until sunset. This was the nicest day to be out there, calm waters no clouds and about 80 degrees. Once the sun went down I went back to fishing and caught several snapper. Some of the masons from the fort came down and they were fishing too. A couple camping from Texas walked out to the dock and talked for awhile. It came up that I sneak into hotels for breakfast; they light up when I said it. They always thought about doing it but never made the attempt. 

Wednesday Jan, 14

                                I filleted up the fish the night before and cooked them for breakfast. I handed most of it out to the other campers. I walked around the fort some more then around to the other keys that are attached. Where ever there is a sandy bottom, the water is a crystal sapphire blue. Where there is sea grass the water look deep deep emerald. The 3 keys together are shaped somewhat like an upside down U. the main trail is on the inside of the U. I hiked the main trail out then crossed over to the outside of the U for the way back, this is where I saw the most, and the largest sea shells of my life. One of the keys is closed year round for bird nesting. I was able to kayak along the shore and watch the birds soaring overhead. Then I pretty much spend the rest of the day fishing. I caught a bone fish while it was still light out. I didn’t know what it was and a fort worker came to look at it. Right away he says “o god that’s a bone fish, get that in the water!” I wish I took a picture of it before throwing it back in. the most silver fish I’ve ever seen. It was about 20 inches long and had an incredible fight. People will come down to go on bone fishing trips just because the fight they put up. A few of the masons along with another camper came down around dusk. I didn’t have the best of luck, only one snapper. There are huge goliath grouper under the dock. 3 are around 200 lbs and one is about 400. Every once and a while we would put a carcass on the hook and drop it right in front of them. Then you better hold on. It feels like a car is trying to pull you off the dock. They almost always end up breaking the line, but the workers have landed a few. There are also big sharks in the water as well. I saw about an 8 foot one the first night. 

Thursday Jan, 15

                I woke up and went to the bathroom, walking past the beach I saw a handful of people dressed head to toe in white pants and white long sleeve shirts. A few guys and a few girls. My first though, it’s a little cloudy today to come all the way out here for a wedding. I went on with my day. Never thinking that the warning on the boat ride over about Cubans washing ashore was legitimate. Sure enough 7 Cubans 2 girls and 5 guys landed throughout the night and were in pretty rough shape. It takes about 20 hours to float over, they left Sunday. There gps broke and they were simply drifting. One girl spoke English; she was also in medical school in Cuba. She had no hope of getting a job over there so she came over here. They left with 8 people and lost one along the way. I walked through the fort again, every time I go through I find something new and interesting to explore. I also talked to the caption the day before about staying an extra day, which was my original plan. He didn’t think that would be a problem and sure enough it wasn’t. It’s like a lot of things, they have all these rules but most of them are pretty flexible. Next I kayaked around the 3 keys; the water was rough on the outer side. Just about immediately after turning into the inner side its dead calm. I could see down to the bottom and watched a sea turtle fly by. Next the US Coast Guard came by to pick up the Cubans and bring them to Key West. I laid on the beach until the sun went down, then time for fishing. Tonight I caught a few snapper, but I really wanted something big. So I was going for sharks whenever I caught bait. I was able to get several on the line, along with some grouper. But couldn’t land anything. The grouper would swallow about 2 feet of line and it would come back all twisted and tangled. Most of the time the sharks would bit the bait off before the hook, so you would pull up a half eaten fish carcass. I was fishing with one of the campers from New Jersey and we happen to have some vodka and rum that needed disposing of. We were up until the early morning fishing and drinking away. 

Friday Jan, 16

                It was rough getting going in the morning, but I had to pack everything up and get it over to the dock before the ferry arrived. When my things were aboard I grabbed lunch and took a nap. Once we were under way I talked with some of the other campers I met, getting a few more ideas on places to go and some new friends to stay with. You fill out a survey on the ride back and there are 2 drawing, one for a free trip back and one for anything from the gift shop. It must be a sign because I won the free ride back. I have to use it within a year, so let me know who wants to go. And my other camping friend, Shawn won the 2^nd prize. Getting back to my car, I threw everything in and drove off. The only food I had left was spoiled so I treated myself to a fish dinner. Then I sat in a parking lot with a line in the water while I started to rearrange everything in the car. 

Saturday Jan, 17

                Saturday I drove around Key West looking for a hotel to grab breakfast, but it wasn’t happening. While I was driving around I saw they had a seafood festival going on at 11. I figured I would wait around until then before making my way north. I ended up sneaking into the festival, I just followed some of the crew and didn’t acknowledge the guy yelling “hey, hey you!” They do a lot of art work with old lobster traps down here. There was also some good ocean life displays. Once I was driving I saw a familiar bright orange shirt. Steve my 76 year old camping neighbor was biking from Key West up to Miami. I pulled over for a few minutes and talked. When I made it into Florida City I went to the visitor center and found out the Flamingo visitor center closes shortly, this is the main center for the southern part of the everglades. I had to hurry down, and just made it in time to pick up some info and sign up for the guided canoe tour in the morning. I needed to pick up food and seriously do some laundry, so I decided to drive back to Florida City for the night.

 Fort Jefferson

 Artillery gun on top of fort

 Layout inside the fort

 Paddling around before dark

 Perfect sun set

 The only way to fish

 Grey snapper

 Conch shells everywhere

 The birds float around for hours at a time

 Salt water crocodile that washed up after a storm

 Cubans that showed up

 And this is their cruse ship

 Hermit crabs are under every bush on the island, some as big as my fist

 Coast Gaurd coming for the Cubans

 Looking out at the keys

 My camp site