My wife and I took the trip we'd been planning for a couple of months. We trailered our 2006 Marlin from Plant City to Marco Island and put in there. I've learned that you can never really take the weather forecast very literally but this was ridiculous. We check the marine forecast For Marco Island down to Big Pine Key several times a day for several days prior to this outing and checked one last time before we left home last Wednesday at 6am. Wind was supposed to be something like 7 kts and seas less than 2'. When we got there, it was howling! We decided to go out the river to the bay and make a decision on whether to go or not. It was probably 2'-4' and very choppy with the wind blowing right at our bow if we headed straight for Big Pine. I decided the boat and crew were up to it, but revised my route to stay just off the coast until we got down to about Flamingo. I tried to venture out farther a couple times but it just wasn't fun. The way we were running we were quartering into the seas, rather than head on if we'd gone straight across and it made a big difference in comfort level. I put the tabs down and tried to stay on plane. Fuel consumption naturally went way up, averaging under 1mpg. When we got about even with Flamingo we headed southwest toward Big Pine in a beam sea. I was able to comfortably make about 25 mph with reduced tabs and less than halfway across Florida Bay, it smoothed out to where I could run 30-32 mph with tabs up.
We hit the channel marker for Spanish Channel about 6pm, maybe 5 hours after leaving Marco. A half hour later, we were anchored between Big Pine and Mayo Key. We grilled steaks and enjoyed the sunset. We stayed on the boat that night but it was still a little rough, so the next day we checked into the Old Wooden Bridge Fish Camp, just to the south. Got a cottage and docked the Marlin right out front. Docking this boat in the wind terrifies me and it was very windy but I must have been channeling some old salty sailor because I whipped it right up to the dock, like I knew what I was doing. I'd done the same maneuver at the fuel dock before leaving Marco, so that was 2 good ones in a row. Nose in and spin the boat 90 degrees, work the dual throttles up to the dock. I had a lot of practice docking the boat that week, at least once every day, failing to crash into anything all week.
The fish camp was a great place to stay, especially when we found out about the No Name Pub, about 400 yds up the road. They have a lager on tap that is excellent and great food. There's a bait store at the fish camp, a fuel dock and decent fuel prices ($5.01 per gallon for non ethanol fuel). The little marina is off the channel and somewhat protected but a bit small. A better skipper than I might get a 36 footer in there.
The wind continued to blow hard for the week. We tried going outside a few times, even managing to drop anchor in about 100' and fish for a very short time, but it wasn't fun. Caught a couple nice Porgys and some undersized grouper in a half hour and called it quits. The rest of our fishing was done in the back country north of the fish camp. I set my pinfish trap out in the channel each night and managed to get some pretty good live bait. We limited out on big Mangrove Snapper and a couple of big Mutton Snapper the second day and each day thereafter managed to catch at least some respectable Mangrove Snapper. Caught and released a number of undersize grouper, hog fish, yellowtail and kept a couple of eating size sharks. The last day it was just too windy to fish, even in the back country. The boat would swing so wildly that I couldn't manage even one rod without it getting wrapped around both engines. All you can do in a situation like that is go back to the Pub for a couple of beers.
Our planned departure date was Tuesday and the marine forecast finally got it right. We woke up to a light breeze and calm waters in the channel. I fueled up the previous afternoon, so we finished loading the Marlin and just like that, we were headed home. The trip back was phenomenal! We had probably 1' seas or less for the first 20 or so miles, then ran in about a 2' sea with the wind at our backs. I was able to run tabs up at about 30 mph, occasionally taking it down to about 26-27 mph for short intervals. Wind and sea state closer to Marco was supposed to be even better and it was - nice and smooth. We ran about 32 mph easily, the rest of the way. Fuel consumption was very good and I estimate we ran the 95 miles on less than a half tank (less than 75 gallons). The trip down along the coast was 105 miles and we burned three quarters of a tank or more. On the trip down along the coast, there were crab traps everywhere and it was virtually impossible to use autopilot. The trip back, 25-30 miles offshore, had only a fraction of the traps and we were able to use autopilot just about the entire way. It was really a nice way to end the trip, with such a great memory of a perfect ride home. Back at Calusa Island, I once again failed to crash into the dock and we loaded the boat on the trailer. Unfortunately, the ramp was so slippery that my 4 wheel drive Dodge diesel spun out trying to get the boat and trailer up the ramp. First time that's happened. My only criticism for the marina is the boat ramp could be better. Believe it or not, an elderly couple from Maine assisted us out with their truck, so it was a minor incident. And again, believe it or not, they were just getting ready to haul their boat out for the trip back to Maine. It was another Grady White.
All things considered, a great trip and I'd do it again. It was a huge learning experience, piloting the Marlin in a lot of different conditions, lots of docking practice, navigation, fishing, etc. Driving the boat is a lot more fun than trailering it, but with the weather forecasting being what it is, I might be prepared to trailer the entire way next time, just in case. Get the Keys permit in advance and be ready to go by road. A couple of items made the trip a little better. I invested in a 150 qt Pelican cooler. I put 100 lbs of ice in it when we fueled up at Marco and it still had ice in it when we got home a week later (yesterday) and we opened it dozens of time each day to get food or drinks and put in fish, chum blocks, etc. Just for the heck of it, I hosed out the fish slime and left the ice to see how many more days it will last. Pretty impressive -money well spent. We also took along a vacuum sealer for the fish filets and that came in real handy.
The most important thing my wife and I learned on this trip is how much we love our Grady! We felt safe and secure every minute aboard her.
We hit the channel marker for Spanish Channel about 6pm, maybe 5 hours after leaving Marco. A half hour later, we were anchored between Big Pine and Mayo Key. We grilled steaks and enjoyed the sunset. We stayed on the boat that night but it was still a little rough, so the next day we checked into the Old Wooden Bridge Fish Camp, just to the south. Got a cottage and docked the Marlin right out front. Docking this boat in the wind terrifies me and it was very windy but I must have been channeling some old salty sailor because I whipped it right up to the dock, like I knew what I was doing. I'd done the same maneuver at the fuel dock before leaving Marco, so that was 2 good ones in a row. Nose in and spin the boat 90 degrees, work the dual throttles up to the dock. I had a lot of practice docking the boat that week, at least once every day, failing to crash into anything all week.
The fish camp was a great place to stay, especially when we found out about the No Name Pub, about 400 yds up the road. They have a lager on tap that is excellent and great food. There's a bait store at the fish camp, a fuel dock and decent fuel prices ($5.01 per gallon for non ethanol fuel). The little marina is off the channel and somewhat protected but a bit small. A better skipper than I might get a 36 footer in there.
The wind continued to blow hard for the week. We tried going outside a few times, even managing to drop anchor in about 100' and fish for a very short time, but it wasn't fun. Caught a couple nice Porgys and some undersized grouper in a half hour and called it quits. The rest of our fishing was done in the back country north of the fish camp. I set my pinfish trap out in the channel each night and managed to get some pretty good live bait. We limited out on big Mangrove Snapper and a couple of big Mutton Snapper the second day and each day thereafter managed to catch at least some respectable Mangrove Snapper. Caught and released a number of undersize grouper, hog fish, yellowtail and kept a couple of eating size sharks. The last day it was just too windy to fish, even in the back country. The boat would swing so wildly that I couldn't manage even one rod without it getting wrapped around both engines. All you can do in a situation like that is go back to the Pub for a couple of beers.
Our planned departure date was Tuesday and the marine forecast finally got it right. We woke up to a light breeze and calm waters in the channel. I fueled up the previous afternoon, so we finished loading the Marlin and just like that, we were headed home. The trip back was phenomenal! We had probably 1' seas or less for the first 20 or so miles, then ran in about a 2' sea with the wind at our backs. I was able to run tabs up at about 30 mph, occasionally taking it down to about 26-27 mph for short intervals. Wind and sea state closer to Marco was supposed to be even better and it was - nice and smooth. We ran about 32 mph easily, the rest of the way. Fuel consumption was very good and I estimate we ran the 95 miles on less than a half tank (less than 75 gallons). The trip down along the coast was 105 miles and we burned three quarters of a tank or more. On the trip down along the coast, there were crab traps everywhere and it was virtually impossible to use autopilot. The trip back, 25-30 miles offshore, had only a fraction of the traps and we were able to use autopilot just about the entire way. It was really a nice way to end the trip, with such a great memory of a perfect ride home. Back at Calusa Island, I once again failed to crash into the dock and we loaded the boat on the trailer. Unfortunately, the ramp was so slippery that my 4 wheel drive Dodge diesel spun out trying to get the boat and trailer up the ramp. First time that's happened. My only criticism for the marina is the boat ramp could be better. Believe it or not, an elderly couple from Maine assisted us out with their truck, so it was a minor incident. And again, believe it or not, they were just getting ready to haul their boat out for the trip back to Maine. It was another Grady White.
All things considered, a great trip and I'd do it again. It was a huge learning experience, piloting the Marlin in a lot of different conditions, lots of docking practice, navigation, fishing, etc. Driving the boat is a lot more fun than trailering it, but with the weather forecasting being what it is, I might be prepared to trailer the entire way next time, just in case. Get the Keys permit in advance and be ready to go by road. A couple of items made the trip a little better. I invested in a 150 qt Pelican cooler. I put 100 lbs of ice in it when we fueled up at Marco and it still had ice in it when we got home a week later (yesterday) and we opened it dozens of time each day to get food or drinks and put in fish, chum blocks, etc. Just for the heck of it, I hosed out the fish slime and left the ice to see how many more days it will last. Pretty impressive -money well spent. We also took along a vacuum sealer for the fish filets and that came in real handy.
The most important thing my wife and I learned on this trip is how much we love our Grady! We felt safe and secure every minute aboard her.