Little Shark River to Newfound Harbour

I awoke about 0400 and listened to the remarkable calm (before the storm!)  I decided I was ready to go home for a couple of reasons.  First, it was projected to rain.  Second, it was projected to be windy.  Third, it was projected to be cold.  Finally, I felt like I had enough time before the wind picked up....

I am an explorer at heart, and I had wanted to spend time in the Broad River system.  I didn't do it yesterday because of the rain.  I wouldn't do it today because of the rain, or for the next several days because of the seas.  I'd left my cold/damp wool long johns at home.  I needed to pick up a prescription.  If I went home today, I could go to the Miami Boat Show tomorrow.  For as long as the marine forecast was telling, winds were 25 or so.  I guess I was just too close to the house.

Don't get me wrong, I would have enjoyed being in the Little Shark system for awhile longer.

I checked my engine room, cranked up, and secured the cabin for sea while things warmed up.  The anchor found a limestone hole it didn't want to relinquish, and as I was standing on the bow pulpit, reattaching my bridle to put a strain to it, an owl screeched through the morning calm so loud that I just about jumped!  If anyone has ever heard a bobcat scream, I can tell you that it wasn't as scary as that, but trust me, this was not a who-who! 

I asked the Lord to direct me if I wasn't supposed to go, and heard nothing, so I continued in the anchor retrieval process and started out Little Shark River.

One of the sailboats that I had watched for the night before had come into the pass and anchored with no light, and I had not realized they were there.  I wish I had known... I crept past them in the pre-dawn. 

I made a point to stay inside the Everglades National Park boundary until daylight, so I didn't have to dodge crab traps, and then ran a little faster than normal to make the flats north of Marathon ahead of the projected 30 kt winds. 

The winds hit me after I was in the protected water above Marathon, but I took on spray after I turned to the west upon clearing the Bahia Honda bridge.  I thought it funny that the only three boats I saw on the south side were two touristy-fishing boats, probably out of the Big Pine Fishing Camp, and this rather sizeable yacht that was running as shallow as he could to the north, just like me!  It seemed such a shame to take on salt spray after a few days of rain had me so nice and un-salted, fresh.

 

I pulled into my home channel on a pretty high tide, and scurried to secure the Whaler close, and hightail it to the house in the 28kt winds.

Mercy waited for the OK to disembark and race around the yard.  I checked the house, turned on the water heater, and washed the boats down.

I pretended I was still underway, and went to bed at dark.


I love being gone, but, I love being home!

Russell Pass to Little Shark River

2/15/13

This morning I did a few maintenance chores, including pulling apart my raw water washdown strainer to see what was blocking the system. Take a look at this mangrove seed pod that we sucked up. I found her where the hose meets the strainer. It is amazing to me that this could get sucked in, when the hose is only a fraction of a hair larger than this pod! Anyhow, washdown pump fixed!

I also did a couple of things on the internet before picking up the hook, since I've got decent Verizon and AT&T service here. Then the MERCY proceeded out Russell Pass with an outgoing tide, hugging the shore a little tighter on my run south, anticipating stopping at the Broad River and seeing if the entrance to Broad River has changed. Last year I marked it with the Whaler, and could have gotten the MERCY in, but never did. These inlets change so much, that I want to check her out with the 19' before attempting to take the MERCY in this year. I really want to anchor in there and explore with the Whaler. Unfortunately, I'd decided before that it didn't look like a good place when the wind is out of the NE, and I wasn't sure I wanted to get stuck in there until the middle of the week with the weather forecast. It was raining as I passed the Broad River, so I continued down to my much loved, Little Shark River system, with all of its miles of great places to explore, with plans of being holed up with the weather for several days.

About the time I got settled in, I head USCG Key West broadcasting a hazardous weather statement...

Little Shark River and its adjoining connections to the Shark River are full of great anchorages for boats like me, drawing 4' 4" and even deeper draft vessels. I'm in a GREAT place for the predicted blow, anchored up enjoying the rainfall.

I wonder if the two sailboats that were in Russell Pass this morning went north or south. Presently, I'm the only one here, and anyone who comes in today will be here for a couple of days!

Everglades boating tips

 

There are miles of places to explore up the Little Shark River, the Shark River,and beyond with a 5' draft. A good, calibrated depth gauge is important. A bottom machine that you can understand enough to tell you if the bottom is limestone, sand, or mud, will keep you out of a lot of trouble. The limestone depths do not generally rapidly change, so if you have a quick rise in depth, it is usually either sand or mud, either of which are more forgiving to touch.

Learning to read a bottom machine also helps you find those perfect spots to anchor. The first mile of the Little Shark River has some areas with mud over limestone, and other areas of hole-y limestone. I've seen a lot of people get hung up when their anchor gets caught in the bottom, or their chain rapped around the jagged edges of the limestone. When I'm in rough limestone, I'm inclined to put a float/trip line down to my anchor. I would NOT put out a second anchor, but swing on a single anchor.

Every chart that I have; paper, Garmin, Navionics, etc. is not terribly accurate in the interior of the Everglades above Little Shark River/Shark River. There really is a lot of water up there, with a lot of depth. If you have a background in canoes or kayaks, and have learned to read water currents and swirls, exploring these mangrove rivers is a snap. Basic things to remember, the depth is usually towards the center, with more depth towards the outside of the curves, and sediment more inclined to collect on the inside of the curves. A pretty good rule of thumb is to divide the width of the channel into thirds, and stay to the outside curve of the middle third. More importantly in the Everglades, watch for sediment where creeks converge, remembering that the the current direction changes with the tidal flow. I suggest exploring up-current, which allows you to rapidly slow your forward momentum, and ease back the way that you just came.

Remember that charts are merely aids to navigation, and the prudent mariner etc. etc. Often you will find that although you are in the middle of a channel, your chart plotter may have you on one edge, or even ashore. Use your chart as a general guide. If it shows the water shoaling on the port side of the channel, guess that the shoaling is on the port side of the channel, and don't worry about where your plotter places your vessel. The good news is, since hurricane Wilma, a LOT of sediment has disappeared, opening the mangrove creeks for great exploration, secluded anchorages, abundant bird viewing, and a wonderful place in the winter!

In addition to the tidal fluctuations, be advised that a strong NE wind can make all the water levels considerably lower in Florida Bay.

I've spent a lot of time exploring the mangrove creeks with a 19' Whaler with a great bottom machine and plotter, as well as a marked PVC pole that confirms my suspicions about depth and bottom composition. I get a lot of comments about a 4208 Garmin on a 19' Whaler, but it has certainly opened doors to places I take the Nordic tug.

If you want to spend time in the Everglades, it is important to have good screens, for the mosquitoes can be prolific after dark. You also need the ability to close up your vessel around dusk and daylight for protection from the no-see-ums, which are NOT thwarted by screens, but just come through.

Don't let the bugs scare you off! Dawn and dusk are the worst. But, during the rest of the day they aren't bad in the winter, and a breeze can make them almost unnoticeable even at dusk/dawn. When the wind is howling outside, the mangrove creeks are a tranquil place to explore; by your bigger boat, a dinghy, or a kayak. The no-see-ums seem to be worse towards the tidal entrances. I'm not sure why.

In the last couple of days, I've seen manatee, bottle-nose dolphin, sea turtles, alligators, and birds. Even the casual birder needs a bird identification book, and a good pair of binoculars!

Little Shark River to Russell Pass again

2/13/13

The upcoming forecast period is starting to get a little nasty. Winds are out of the SW today, and we decided to head back up into Ten Thousand Islands, where the anchorages are good, and we would have internet and phone and the ability to make Marco to take Casey and Mary back when they were ready.

We went up the coast in a pretty uneventful cruise with the winds on our quarter, to the Indian Key inlet, and up into Russell Pass.

It is funny that all three of us were on phone and internet as soon as we were in range. My how the internet has changed the world, even mine!

I listened to the sounds of shrimp crackling thru the hull on the outgoing tide when the wind has swung from the NE. The last couple weeks of warm weather must have put a bunch in the Chokoloskee Bay, and the cool down was chasing them out. I get hungry just thinking about it!

We played National Park Service Monopoly that Casey had brought. I'd never seen Park Service Monopoly before, and that is a neat idea. I hadn't played Monopoly, I don't think, since I was a kid, and we kept having to look up rules. Towards the middle of the game we realized you couldn't put tents and ranger stations (houses and hotels) on property unless you owned all the color... It might have changed our game a lot!

Little Shark River to Shark River

2/11/13

This morning the tide tables showed a minus .6, and it looked lower than that. It was a good tide to take the Whaler and verify the depths up the pass. Armed with a calibrated bottom machine, and a marked PVC pole, we proceeded through the marked channel and re-assured myself that a five foot draft vessel could always get through.

Heading inland, you do not have to worry about the sedimentation the way that you do in the bottom of the Shark River, a changing place that I am not very fond of. Entering at the Little Shark River, and going inland a couple of miles before crossing to the Shark River, there is more water than any of my charts show.

We came back up to near where the Shark River forks to go on either side of Tarpon Bay, to anchor there.

We anchored for awhile, and each amused ourselves, reading books, trying to catch up the blog, and taking naps. Then we made a loop up the east fork, thru Tarpon Bay, and down the western fork to the boat. The water was so high that it wasn't a good gator spotting tide.

We returned to the boat, and saw the big residential croc cruise by as we grilled hamburgers.

The no-see-ums weren't bad tonight, but after dark the wind died, and the mosquitoes gathered on the windows such that I ordered everyone to stay inside. Unfortunately, we'd let in a lot opening and closing doors, and I spent a while running around with a fly swatter smashing mosquitoes. Tomorrow, it will take some time to clean their corpses off the ceiling.

Everglades is such a wonderful place in the winter. This has been an exceptionally warm year, especially the last ten days, and I believe we've reached the end of the enjoyable night anchoring season. It is still great during the day, as long as you are slowly moving. I would hate to be kayaking the wilderness waterway right now.

I remember the kayakers that I gave hot chocolate to, and consoled during the winds last winter. I haven't seen nearly as many this winter, though I'm here almost a month later. This year they would enjoy an ice cold drink more than a hot one!

Dismal Key Pass to Little Shark River

2/10/13

In the late morning we left our beautiful anchorage a mile inside Dismal Key Pass, and felt our way out the channel. The tide had dropped about four feet from when we had arrived, and I had not carefully scouted the deepest part of the channel coming in. I slid the tug up on a bar, and pulled the Whaler up along side, to scout out the deeper water. Another large vessel passed in front of us, and I asked if the water was deeper where he was than where we were. To put it politely, he was not helpful. We scouted with the Whaler, and found the deep channel, with more than five feet at the astronomically low tide immediately behind us.

This would be a GREAT anchorage in a blow, when all the local boats weren't everywhere celebrating a week-end of good weather.

I watched the other vessel as he kicked up mud, but made it through in the shallower water, as we backed off the bar and continued towards the Gulf. It is nice having a scout to send ahead in the Whaler!

We decided to run down to Little Shark River, away from the people, and hopefully enjoy a few days before the bugs got too bad. We entered the Little Shark River around 4:30 where four sailboats were anchored in the first mile of the river. Another sailboat came in after us, just at dark.

We enjoyed the great flyway that the Little Shark River provides, and called it an early night.

Little Shark River to Russel Pass

2/7/13

In the morning, we loaded Rudy, Lila, Gracey, and their gear into the Whaler for a meandering cruise to Flamingo. I think we had seen 33 different bird species in the past 48 hours, and I refused to count sea gulls, or any birds smaller than banded kingfishers!

Enroute, we picked up a couple in a small canoe-type boat with a couple that were paddling for all they were worth, making little headway against the wind and current, with an outboard kicked up like they were broken down. (They were) We put the couple on the Whaler and towed their craft while we discovered they were neighbors of ours from Middle Torch Key! Small world.

We dropped them off at the entrance to the Buttonwood Canal, where there was no wind or current.

Rudy, Lila, and I said our farewells, and I returned to the MERCY, stopping a couple of times enroute.  Once, to watch this osprey eating a live fish, and once to watch dolphins.  Then I weighed anchor, and departed out the Little Shark River, bound for Russell Pass in the Ten Thousand Islands.

Offshore of Little Shark Island about a mile, the boat was suddenly covered by swarms of no-see-ums. I franticly closed all the doors and windows, since they come through the screens, and ran the generator and the air conditioner for the next couple of hours!

I ran into Russell Pass after dark, and anchored up, always glad for that nice anchorage that is so easy to get into. There were four sailboats already in there, but no trawlers.

Little Shark River to the Harney River

2/2/13
Little Shark River to the Harney River

There is plenty of water for our 4ft4in draft vessel to navigate from the Little Shark River, up to Tarpon Bay, and into the Harney River, a favorite trip of mine.

We anchored in the Harney River 25 25.580'N 081 02.052W while we explored with the Whaler. I wonder if the ospreys remembered me from last year.
I was excited to show the guys places we explored last winter.

 

We took the Whaler down the northern branch of the Harney, to the Harney River chickee, and up the wilderness waterway until it was impassable with the Whaler (above marker 16) at Broad Creek. Then we backtracked to ww14 and went down that creek to the west, out its south fork to cross the Harney River, and then E on the little creek that joins back into the Harney River on the opposite side of the island from the chickee. We returned to the boat along the Harney.

We returned to the upper end of the Little Shark River to anchor for the night 25 23.201'N 081 00.923W and grilled a pork loin and told stories, and wow! what a great time! We sat on the roof and star gazed until the mosquitos ran us back inside.

We spent my birthday checking out alligators, birds, air plants, mangrove creeks, and well, it was my kind of birthday! I heard rumors from the guys about a birthday cake that was left on the counter at the house. They brought a great enlarged photo of Allen and I on their boat, the Egret, in the Bahamas.

Little Shark River to Flamingo

2/1/13
Little Shark River to Flamingo

Today I spent the day anchored in the Little Shark River, 25 19.936N 081 02.657'W about a mile from the entrance. I was in such a beautiful spot, protected from the blowing winds.

In the morning, I was greeted by ibis (birds) and herons along the bank.

I did boat chores while getting ready for my friends. I put gear away and cleaned up a little. I hope my guests appreciate this!

I installed a new VHF in the Whaler, since the previous one has bit the dust, and needs to be "returned to manufacturer" for service.

Then I ran into Flamingo in the Whaler to pick up Stratton and Scott to spend the week-end with me on a little Everglades adventure. They had left work a little early, but then had a flat tire in Homestead, so were running an hour late. Thank goodness for a good plotter and a little familiarity with the route, as it was dark by the time we made it to the MERCY.

We grilled chicken and ate supper, and told stories, and, wow, it is great to have friends and catch up!

Newfound Harbor to Shark River

1/31/13
Well, my boat adventures of late have been near the house. My 37 Nordic Tug is ready for another adventure, as am I!

I anchored in Newfound Harbor for an early start to Shark River. There is a very short weather window between the heavy easterly winds of the past few days, and the heavy NW winds due this afternoon. I would like to be underway during the night, but there are SO many crab floats, that I decide to wait until it will at least be daylight, going under the Bahia Honda bridge and into Florida Bay.

As I exited Newfound Harbor to run through Hawks Channel to Bahia Honda, the wind was already in the SW. Looking at the weather radar on the iPad, I knew the NW winds would catch me before I made Little Shark River.

I hugged the coast a little tighter to block the winds that had gone N rather than the predicted 30 kt NW. Since I stayed in about ten feet of water much of the way, it never really got rough, just choppy. By the time I pulled into the Little Shark River, the MERCY's deck was covered in grass, much like a kids wagon that has been parked downwind of someone mowing the lawn.

I love pulling into the protected creeks of the Everglades. Even with a small craft advisory in Floriday Bay, the anchorage here is tranquil, and deserted I might add. I went up the river about a mile to anchor, rinsing the grass off the decks as I idled in.

After securing the MERCY, we took the 19' Whaler exploring around for about an hour before returning to grill some pork chops.

Around sunset, the river became a flyway for flocks of ibis, as well as some pelicans, and a few other species. It was a little dark for my automatic sensor on my camera, but you get the idea.

Tomorrow evening I pick up two friends in Flamingo with the Whaler, to take the MERCY up into Tarpon Bay for a day.