Day 5 - Dry Tortugas to Key West — Captain Father John

Miles cruised 68, fuel purchased $0, slip fee $0, daily high temperature 83° f

On Friday night one of the Cuban crabbers anchored at Fort Jefferson called the park ranger and asked for the weather report. The ranger replied that the forecast is for East winds 20 – 25 mph and waves 6 – 8 feet. YIKES! That was not the forecast we read that morning before we departed Key West for the Dry Tortugas. We shall see what morning brings.

At dawn the four crab boats set out for their days work pulling crab pots. We sat at anchor and had breakfast. It was still dark at 7:00 am but we could see the start of the sunrise. There was almost no wind. So much for that forecast. At 7:15 am a storm front blew through with NE winds 20 – 25 mph. Oh, that forecast.

We looked over at Fort Jefferson and the 16 million bricks that were shipped in to build it.

I am sure that being sent to an island called the Dry Tortugas was not considered a good duty station. The entire roofing system was built to catch rain water for a massive cistern system. The cistern tanks eventually cracked from the weight of the fort and were flooded with sea water so giant steam stills were built to process sea water into fresh water.

Fort Jefferson’s peak military population was 1,729. In addition, a number of officers brought their families, and a limited number of enlisted personnel brought wives who served as laundresses (typically four per company). There was also a lighthouse keeper with his family, cooks, and a civilian doctor and his family. In all, there were close to 2,000 people at Fort Jefferson during its peak years.

In the foreground is the giant oven that heated the cannon balls.

We saw two Cuban refugee boats that had landed at Fort Jefferson. They were homemade with styrofoam flotation on the outside and a small inboard motor.

There were still objects in the boats that were left behind by the refugees such as sneakers, shirts and homemade paddles.

Somewhat ironically we saw a Cuban refugee boat nearing Marathon. It had the same homemade appearance and styrofoam floatation. It was moving at about one mile per hour. We could only see one person onboard. According to our local cabdriver, if a Cuban lands with “dry feet” the immigration agent takes them to McDonald’s, finds them housing, gives them healthcare benefits and food assistance and helps them get a job.

We had a robust sail back to Key West. The breeze was NNE at 20 – 25 mph. Pilar was in her element. We had her on a close reach about 60° off the wind and she was making 9 mph over the bottom. This was the most wind Gabe had sailed in Pilar. Both boat and skipper handled the heavy winds well. We practiced reefing ( shortening sail ) in these conditions and it went expertly.

We returned to our same anchorage in Key West near Flemming Key at 4:00 pm. We wasted no time launching the dingy and heading to happy hour at the Conch Republic.

Next stop was Fausto’s super market for a few provisions and then to Grunts for dinner at the food truck. To our great disappointment the Bubbas were not playing. The lead singer had experienced a seizure resulting from complications from a motorbike accident. We wish him well.

This is the first weekend of Fantasy Fest in Key West. The festivities are still fairly tame but there were several observations of things to come.

Bonus photo