Dry Tortugas - furthest point from home on our loop.

We left Marco Island for the Dry Tortugas 5/28 on a beautiful calm, clear and sunny day.

Auto pilot ran us straight to our entry point 110 miles away.

Captain Kraker enjoying autopilot.

Nice to have a great first mate who really makes ship happen.

It got calmer as we closed in on the Tortugas.

We ran the old autopilot and it ran a straight line.

Dead calm.

Cruised nicely at 1800 rpm and 19 mph

Loggerhead Key lighthouse.

Fort Jefferson on our way in.

Ditto.

Made it in with over 1/2 tank of fuel and less than 75 miles back to Key West.

Anchorage first night - 33 boats.

Beautiful calm anchorage. Great margaritas and vermillion snapper we caught in Florabama for our first evening.

Enfield rifle and various sized canon balls.


Foot for comparison.


Shooting points from every position.

Fire pots from each window.

Some of the cannons were big!


It is a long way to the water from the rim.


Rifled canons

Rotational canons.

Lots of bog tarpon!

The interior is huge.

Spiral staircase in each of the six corners.

They used sand and coral etc from the area for the concrete.

Stalagtites and stalagmites around the inside of the Fort.

Looking out the windows looked like a post card.

Looking out across the bridge over the moat.

Planes flew in multiple times - Ark in the background.

Sunsets were awesome.

Loggerhead Key light.

All hands on deck during the 5/30 night squall that blew us off our anchor in the middle of the night.

Nice sunrise as we left the island.

Nice cruise back to Key West.

Bonito for dinner.

Bonito and snapper 6/1

Shouldn't have made the blog but I guess uncle Oscar must have been with us in spirit.

Sunrise leaving Marco Island on our way to the Tortugas.

Ditto.

First mate grabbing a mid cruise siesta.

Last photo of the dink before Poseidon claimed it during the squall.

Loggerheads breeding.

Fort Jefferson on the way out.

Crew after arrival 5/28.




 

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