Last year, my wife and I ran our 2005 Marlin from Marco Island to Big Pine and back, logging about 300 miles, including fishing. This year, we expanded on that a little - we left St Pete in our boat on Wednesday June 3, bound for Marco Island, Dry Tortugas, Key West and Cudjoe Key. This would be our first time in the Dry Tortugas. Weather was just a bit gnarly when we left but just south of Sarasota, it calmed down. We cruised off the beaches in fine weather, tooled around Sanibel a bit, stopped for lunch and then went on to Marco Island to visit some friends. Topped off the fuel at Marco, 136 gallons for my first 175 miles - averaging better than 1.2 mpg for that leg of the trip. Decent for a fully loaded boat.
Thursday morning we had beautiful seas almost all the way to the Dry Tortugas, cruising 32-33 mph. Seas picked up about 30 miles from Ft Jefferson but were still able to maintain 30 mph right into the harbor. We checked in with the rangers and did a short tour of the fort. It's an awesome thing, rich in history, and the view of the waters from the top of the fort is breathtaking. Our plan had been to go out and catch dinner the first night but the wind was blowing so hard, we scratched that idea and settled for a couple beers in the harbor. Can't for the life of me remember what we ate, but the sunset was unforgettable. Sometime after dark, we fired up the generator, switched on the A/C and watched a movie until we fell asleep.
Friday morning we went out and fished for about an hour, ostensibly to catch a couple fish for dinner. A couple of big fat red grouper, huge (tasty) mangrove and half dozen 16" yellowtail in the cooler and we called it more than enough. Did another tour, snorkeled around the fort, kayaked around a bit and settled in for the evening. It was yellowtail on the grill that night - no trouble remembering that meal. Slept in comfort again with genset and A/C running.
Saturday morning we had planned to do some more fishing but the wind was up again and would have been too rough to enjoy, so we headed for Key West. Seas calmed down east of Rebecca Shoal and we had a beautiful cruise past the Marquesas and other islands along the way to KW. We fueled up in Key West harbor, had a great lunch at one of the waterfront restaurants and then headed for our vacation rental on Cudjoe. We fished the reefs and blue water, scoring black fin tuna, a few dolphin and the usual reef species - snapper, grouper, yellowtail. We also snorkeled Looe Key and it definitely lived up to it's reputation. Our plan had been to stay until the following Saturday, but that storm coming up out of the Caribbean changed our minds for us. We decided to leave Thursday morning at first light and go straight home.
We left via Kemp Channel, made the gulf and immediately hit some rough seas. I decided to reroute a little closer to land rather than the straight shot back to St Pete, so we went northeast until we were south of Marco and then north to Marco for a break. I tried every possible tack but the seas were so confused, there was just no good approach. Most of that run we could only make about 20-22 mph comfortably, things getting a little better just south of Marco. Fuel and lunch and we were off toward Sanibel in decent seas and then a half mile off the beaches in a 2'-3' following sea that my boat really seemed to like. We made 32-33 mph most of the way from Marco to Venice, at which point the seas again got very confused, so we ducked into the Venice Inlet and ran the ICW to Tampa Bay. The no wake and minimum wake zones probably cost us a couple hours but it was a nice scenic ride. Coming into south Sarasota Bay we could run again and finished the trip at 33-34 mph. Pulled into the Marina, unloaded and cleaned the boat and were back home before dark. That was a 12 hour ride in some nice but mostly snotty conditions. All part of the adventure and I wouldn't change a minute of it.
We ran a total of 935 miles between traveling and fishing, burned 765 gallons of gas, for an average of 1.22 mpg. At times, in poor seas, the fuel burn was barely 1 mpg and other times, near 1.4. I've had my boat long enough now to know it pretty well and my estimated fuel burn numbers for the trip were right on the money. Happy to say the fuel flow numbers on my gauge vs actual top off numbers are almost exactly the same.
The Marlin handled every sea condition well, as you'd expect and was comfortable for a couple days and nights at Ft Jeff harbor. This was the first time we used the shower in the head. We always thought it would be a hassle, but wiping it down after only takes a minute and there's nothing like a hot shower before bed! We took an extra 28 gallons of water, so we'd have enough for the stay. There is no fresh water source at the "Dry" Tortugas. As for cold stuff, I keep a 150 qt Pelican cooler on deck in the cockpit, to keep drinks and fish iced down, the transom fish box going toward storage. We're already thinking about our next trip to DT and plan on spending a couple more days for exploring and to take advantage of the great fishing.
We love our Grady!
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Thursday morning we had beautiful seas almost all the way to the Dry Tortugas, cruising 32-33 mph. Seas picked up about 30 miles from Ft Jefferson but were still able to maintain 30 mph right into the harbor. We checked in with the rangers and did a short tour of the fort. It's an awesome thing, rich in history, and the view of the waters from the top of the fort is breathtaking. Our plan had been to go out and catch dinner the first night but the wind was blowing so hard, we scratched that idea and settled for a couple beers in the harbor. Can't for the life of me remember what we ate, but the sunset was unforgettable. Sometime after dark, we fired up the generator, switched on the A/C and watched a movie until we fell asleep.
Friday morning we went out and fished for about an hour, ostensibly to catch a couple fish for dinner. A couple of big fat red grouper, huge (tasty) mangrove and half dozen 16" yellowtail in the cooler and we called it more than enough. Did another tour, snorkeled around the fort, kayaked around a bit and settled in for the evening. It was yellowtail on the grill that night - no trouble remembering that meal. Slept in comfort again with genset and A/C running.
Saturday morning we had planned to do some more fishing but the wind was up again and would have been too rough to enjoy, so we headed for Key West. Seas calmed down east of Rebecca Shoal and we had a beautiful cruise past the Marquesas and other islands along the way to KW. We fueled up in Key West harbor, had a great lunch at one of the waterfront restaurants and then headed for our vacation rental on Cudjoe. We fished the reefs and blue water, scoring black fin tuna, a few dolphin and the usual reef species - snapper, grouper, yellowtail. We also snorkeled Looe Key and it definitely lived up to it's reputation. Our plan had been to stay until the following Saturday, but that storm coming up out of the Caribbean changed our minds for us. We decided to leave Thursday morning at first light and go straight home.
We left via Kemp Channel, made the gulf and immediately hit some rough seas. I decided to reroute a little closer to land rather than the straight shot back to St Pete, so we went northeast until we were south of Marco and then north to Marco for a break. I tried every possible tack but the seas were so confused, there was just no good approach. Most of that run we could only make about 20-22 mph comfortably, things getting a little better just south of Marco. Fuel and lunch and we were off toward Sanibel in decent seas and then a half mile off the beaches in a 2'-3' following sea that my boat really seemed to like. We made 32-33 mph most of the way from Marco to Venice, at which point the seas again got very confused, so we ducked into the Venice Inlet and ran the ICW to Tampa Bay. The no wake and minimum wake zones probably cost us a couple hours but it was a nice scenic ride. Coming into south Sarasota Bay we could run again and finished the trip at 33-34 mph. Pulled into the Marina, unloaded and cleaned the boat and were back home before dark. That was a 12 hour ride in some nice but mostly snotty conditions. All part of the adventure and I wouldn't change a minute of it.
We ran a total of 935 miles between traveling and fishing, burned 765 gallons of gas, for an average of 1.22 mpg. At times, in poor seas, the fuel burn was barely 1 mpg and other times, near 1.4. I've had my boat long enough now to know it pretty well and my estimated fuel burn numbers for the trip were right on the money. Happy to say the fuel flow numbers on my gauge vs actual top off numbers are almost exactly the same.
The Marlin handled every sea condition well, as you'd expect and was comfortable for a couple days and nights at Ft Jeff harbor. This was the first time we used the shower in the head. We always thought it would be a hassle, but wiping it down after only takes a minute and there's nothing like a hot shower before bed! We took an extra 28 gallons of water, so we'd have enough for the stay. There is no fresh water source at the "Dry" Tortugas. As for cold stuff, I keep a 150 qt Pelican cooler on deck in the cockpit, to keep drinks and fish iced down, the transom fish box going toward storage. We're already thinking about our next trip to DT and plan on spending a couple more days for exploring and to take advantage of the great fishing.
We love our Grady!
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