Marathon to Florida west coast

[btmarino]

Anyone have information about the Marathon to the west coast of Florida route ?
- vessel travels at 5 mph - draft is 3.5 ft - looks like about 90 miles - concern is little or no anchorages or shelter if needed along the way - also “ restroom “ for my Golden Retriever ! - Travel time is this winter -

[DDabs]

With that draft you should be more than fine going through the bridge at Marathon... from there it depends where exactly you want to go on the West coast... to St. Petersburg will take you roughly over 36 hours going 5 knts.

[Group9]

We alway enjoyed stopping at Little Shark River, and Indian Key on the way up.

Beautiful, if slightly mosqitoish.

[Captain Bill]

You are correct. If you go directly from Marathon you won't find any anchorages or beaches for the dog. You are better off going up the keys a bit further to Arsenic bank and following the Everglades national park boundary to the NW. In winter Florida Bay will be filled with lobster pot floats and a real PITA. Staying just inside the park boundary will mean no pot floats. I've done this with 4 feet of draft with no problems. There are anchorages near Cape Sable and once you clear Sable you always have the option of hugging the coast rather than taking a direct course to clear the shoals off of Cape Romano.

[acem]

You can anchor about anywhere but you may not have shelter from the wind. Mosquitoes can be a problem. If you scour the charts there are a few places for your pup. Rabbit island is one I believe. You would have to use your dinghy to get there. Thx-Ace

[Group9]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

You are correct. If you go directly from Marathon you won't find any anchorages or beaches for the dog. You are better off going up the keys a bit further to Arsenic bank and following the Everglades national park boundary to the NW. In winter Florida Bay will be filled with lobster pot floats and a real PITA. Staying just inside the park boundary will mean no pot floats. I've done this with 4 feet of draft with no problems. There are anchorages near Cape Sable and once you clear Sable you always have the option of hugging the coast rather than taking a direct course to clear the shoals off of Cape Romano.

One thing to keep in mind, that there are a couple of those I-beam park boundary poles that have broken off water level. I have their locations marked on my Garmin Blue Charts because I like to run just inside park boundaries, too. And, we draw 5’ for what it’s worth.

And, good call on the Cape Romano shoals, too. We got too close one day, not paying attention, looked up and saw breakers and needed new underwear as I 180’d out of there! We give them extra room, now!

[sailingchiro]

Originally Posted by btmarino

Anyone have information about the Marathon to the west coast of Florida route ?
- vessel travels at 5 mph - draft is 3.5 ft - looks like about 90 miles - concern is little or no anchorages or shelter if needed along the way - also “ restroom “ for my Golden Retriever ! - Travel time is this winter -

We have used Marco Island several times for shore time. We opted to go up the "river" to the anchorage but found the biggest, baddest, squadron of mosquitos at over night anchorage. If I had to do it again, I would anchor at Marco Island and resume in the Gulf to the north the next morning.

[hurricanehole]

Anchoring off the dome houses at Cape Romano or in the channel off the Park beach has worked for me. Leave in the dark on N side of the bridge and you’ll get there at dusk.

[Davy J]

We have made the trip several times.

I'll also address the dog potty spots.....

From Marathon:

Little Shark River...... good protection, bugs... No land for the pup.

Turkey Key, southeast side, pretty good protection except from the SW, can land the dog on Turkey Key.

Indian Key Pass, north of the key, pretty good protection except from the west, can land the dog on the island.

Just don't go to any of the islands at dusk....... The bugs are something out of a horror movie.

Take a Thermocell or two and have refills.........

[Davy J]

I'll just add that we eventually trained our dogs to go on a wee wee pad on the foredeck.

Life changing, we no longer have to worry about going to shore at all.

It took quite some time, but they finally got it. We now leave a pad up there held down by dive weights, the dogs go when ever they want.

[smj]

You can also anchor of Cape Sable and walk the dogs. If weather permits stay anchored for the night, or if not, retreat to the Little Shark.
We have been overwhelmed by bugs at Little Shark, but for some reason never at Indian Key.

[PuttingDoctor]

As Davy J has said. Your dog is very trainable. If you’ve not yet started to verbally praise he/she for doing the business you need to start today.

Once they understand the name of the game for both functions you can start doing some more training.

I have a slab of “Pet Turf” (Lowe’s Home Improvement) on the bow wired to my windlass. This synthetic grass has a perforated base making it easy to flush when required. Keep in mind that many dogs will at times show amazing bladder control to the window of 36 hours....then all hell breaks loose.

Females are much easier than males but that’s not to mean you can’t train the boys.

Good luck.

Originally Posted by Davy J

I'll just add that we eventually trained our dogs to go on a wee wee pad on the foredeck.

Life changing, we no longer have to worry about going to shore at all.

It took quite some time, but they finally got it. We now leave a pad up there held down by dive weights, the dogs go when ever they want.

[wnischt]

Marathon to Cape Sable (best if winds are from the east for anchoring at Cape Sable)
Cape Sable to Marco Island. Anchor at Factory Bay
Marco Island to Ft Myers Beach (Get a Mooring Ball in the Ft Myers Beach Mooring Field)
Ft Myers to Venice Inlet (Stay at the Marina just inside the inlet on the south side)
Venice to St Pete.

You can also take the GICW from Sanibel to St Pete, but the are many bridges!

I have made this trip many times with a 41 Hunter with 5 ft draft.

If you are worried about Mosquitoes at Cape Sable, stay well off shore and put your screens in. Keep your cabin lighting to minimum.

[Cadence]

From what I'm reading, insure you dog is inoculated for heart worms.

[sailorman7225]

What WNISCHT SAID....
Love this trip