Key Largo to Key West Florida, 3/19-3/27 2020
By Tracy and Janet Hays
This is an account of our recent kayak paddle trip from Key Largo to Key West Florida. In these uncertain times of Coronavirus, access to places was changing quickly. We had made reservations long ago to camp at John Pennekamp State Park and go snorkeling a couple of days before our Key Largo to Key West trip. We found out that the snorkel boats were no longer operating from John Pennekamp. Then we found out that although the park was still open for day use, overnight camping was not allowed. We decided to bump up our date for the Key Largo Key West trip and went a little early. There was a perfect weather window for the foreseeable future. You have to be flexible in uncertain times, as public access to places was rapidly changing. We wanted to begin our trip while we were still legal to do so. Frank and Monica, owners of Florida Bay Outfitters were instrumental in helping us figure out the logistics of this trip, helping with places to rest and putting up with our ever changing itinerary – awesome people who we highly recommend for your water needs in the Keys! They graciously let us camp at their house Wednesday night on Key Largo. We would be stealth camping during this trip so if my description of camp locations seems vague, it’s intentional.
Day 1. We launched from Harry Harris park at 9 a.m on the Atlantic side. Estimated winds were 20 miles an hour and the sea was very bouncy. More than one person walked up to tell us paddling today was a bad idea. We took the first cut to the Florida Bay side for some wind protection. The east wind had been echoing in my left ear as we paddled south-southwest. Tavernier Creek is where we crossed. On the Atlantic side the shore is a pretty straight line. Not so on the bay side. We ended up going point-to-point rather than following the contour of the coast. Had we followed the coast are mileage would have been much more. Going point-to-point took us way offshore so the wind was still echoing in my left ear but the waves were less intense. We went through Toilet Seat Pass, I’m speechless. Then just past Tea Table Key we paddled under the bridge and back to the Atlantic side. Another mile and we reached Indian Key State Park.for a rest stop at 5 PM. It’s a really cool park with lots of trails and plaques describing the history of the place. We traveled about 17 miles today. Three sailboats anchored on the lee side of Indian Key. While paddling the bay side at least one mile offshore today, we struggled through a large area only about 6 in deep with lots of vegetation. There was an 18 inch shark scooting along in the shallows. Lots of jet skis out today, and after a while they begin to take the form of swarms of mosquitoes that need squashed. It was a very dark breezy night with the occasional sound of a distant motorboat.
Day 2. We were on our way by 9 a.m. Pretty windy and 2 ft chop. Lots of clumps of floating tan seaweed today. I was looking right at one, when a head popped up – and it’s a small sea turtle about 2 feet across. Just before submerging she gave a wink and flashed me a crooked smile. Then I watched her silhouette through the translucent waves take off like a rocket. Man she is fast, but not easy. Wow we’ve only been out to sea for two days. I wonder if delusions are a symptom of the Coronavirus. We reached Long Key before noon today. It has beautiful long stretches of beach, but unfortunately the beaches are loaded with trash and debris – which we assumed may also have been amplified by Hurricane Irma. They could be beautiful beaches, so it’s a shame, and once again reinforces with us how careful we should be in day to day lives regarding trash and recycling. Had some fairly rough paddling conditions all on the Atlantic side. We will relax in the sun and read and nap all afternoon. We met a cool guy named Ian whose small sailboat is anchored just offshore near our camp. He kayaked ashore with his two dogs. He’s an interesting liveaboard, wild and wooly looking local with bright red painted toenails. Got a text today from Monica that all non-residents of Keys are to leave by Sunday due to virus. This really threw a wrench into our loose plan. After several texts back and forth we decided to see if there was any new news tomorrow and decide what to do then. When you’re sitting on an island, it seems everything else can wait…
Day 3. We have a new plan. It’s the same as the old plan except we “leased” a property on the keys for a month, so we are legal – or at least that’s what we can claim. It’s a beautiful sunny and windy am. No hurry to get going as we only planned to go about 10 mi today. Lots of hermit crabs here. Some were clinking around outside the tent last night. Spooked me a little until I figured out what it was. We paddled from 10 to 5 p.m. today. It was a long open water crossing following the bridge from Long Key to Duck Key about two and a half miles. Waves weren’t really big but very confused coming from every direction, making it tricky to balance our kayaks. This was perhaps the most uncomfortable paddle of our trip. We made it to Tom’s Harbor Keys, another rest stop. We circled one of the islands and there was no landing, just mangroves. The other had some new construction and lots of sunbathers. Today we saw several Stingrays and a few little sharks in the shallows. Did a little snorkeling too. Went about 14 miles with all our searching for a campsite. We saw a big sea turtle today. It always makes me happy to see a turtle, any kind.
Day 4. Today we head toward the iconic and slightly ominous paddle of the Seven Mile bridge that connects Marathon to the Lower Keys. I try to think of it as several short paddles. There are places to stop along the way, Pigeon Key, Molasses Keys, and Money Key. We had a long exhausting paddle today even before we reached the bridge. Although the bridge paddle will be broken into segments, in my mind I’m still intimidated. Before taking off this a.m. we look over the charts and decide to backtrack just a little and cross under the bridge back to the Bay side so we will have a little smoother ride. Even though it’s a calm morning we want to conserve our energy for the Seven Mile Bridge Crossing. We see a “black cloud” on the water in the distance, which turns out to be the biggest flock of cormorants we’ve ever seen – hundreds of them. They’re swirling and diving and fishing, and we have to paddle right through the middle of them – an amazing site. We stopped for a break at Bamboo Key. It’s a bird rookery, which means it’s quite smelly, and although there is room to camp here I would not because of the disruption it would cause to the birds. We wonder if it’s where all the cormorants we encountered earlier stay as their rookery. Then on to Rachel Key, but when we arrived it’s posted no trespassing. So we found another little spot for lunch, then to a little park at the start of Seven Mile Bridge. The Crossing looks as intimidating as I had envisioned it. Luckily there is little wind and the sea is calm. Here we go, we start on the Bay side. We soon discover that the swift ebbing tide is trying to sweep us under the bridge and out into the Atlantic. We have to paddle hard with our bow pointed Northwest to move West. and, we are still getting closer to the bridge so we correct our course more to the North. Now we understand the process. After a while we were out of the strong current channel and can paddle west again. Then another strong current where we correct our direction. We paddle around Pigeon Key without stopping. Here the bridge curves slightly South and we decide it’s time to pass under to the Atlantic side, that’s where we will end up anyway. There are areas of very shallow water that are calm, and also deep water that’s pretty bouncy. Now we are at the rise section of the bridge where a 66 foot tall sailboat can pass under and a short section of the original railroad bridge has been removed to accommodate sailboats. From here it’s about a mile of open water to Molasses Keys. This is a private island that one must have permission to camp on, owned by Frank and Monica at Florida Bay Outfitters. I like to think I found the owners due to much research and due diligence, but it’s more likely just my dumb luck. What an awesome pair of little islands of maybe two or three acres. There is much damage to the trees from the 2017 hurricane Irma, but many trees still remain. We waded and floated out in the shallow rock bottom water about 75 feet or so, to get to deep enough water for a real swim. We are careful not to step on the numerous black sea urchins that look suspiciously like pincushions. After our swim and snorkel we carry our chairs around to the west side of the island and find a nice spot under the mangroves where there is an opening to enjoy our Rumonade and the sunset and it was spectacular. This is where we met Billy the 4-foot Iguana. He decided to climb the tree above us, as he obviously enjoys sunsets also. This was a fantastic day for us. We saw more sea turtles and a really big ray today. We paddled about 21 miles today.
Day 5. We are up early to enjoy the sunrise but as every other day of this trip so far there has been a low cloud bank to the east that rises an hour or so after sun-up, so no special sunrises on this trip. There are lots of hermit crabs here. They have a nice variety of shells to claim as their mobile home – snail shells, conch shells and many others. But the coolest one claimed an oversized whelk shell. It seemed as though he may have upsized his home prematurely. It’s really peaceful sitting here in the shade. Warm breeze makes perfect conditions for watching the very light traffic on Seven Mile Bridge. All non-residents or short-term visitors are supposed to be out of the keys today, and at one point there was actually no traffic on the 7 mile bridge. We wonder how long it’s been since that happened. This is a layover day for us. We have time to walk the island, wade, snorkel, read and Rumonade. We waded/swam across to the smaller island to the south. Hardly any sand or living vegetation left here after Hurricane Irma. No place to set up a tent. There are thousands of black urchins around this island. I recently saw a photo of a man’s heel that had about 50 urchin wound, looked nasty. Don’t want to step on one. I found a natural sponge today for my boat, which is good because I’d lost mine before the trip. We enjoy a beautiful sunset, and stay up to watch the stars. It’s a really black night with no moon. Janet says “only a shooting star could make this more perfect”, and sure enough just a second or two later, we see one. Makes us wonder who is listening….
Day 6. We were off by 9 a.m. and stopped at Little Duck Key at a county park for some fresh water. The water had been turned off. We still had water, but knew we’d be cutting it close by the end of the trip – and with everything being shut down we didn’t want to risk running out. A young hippie couple took pity on us and gave us three gallons of water – nice – now no worries. Next stop was the very end of Bahia Honda State Park, just to stretch our legs a little before the next big open water crossing. We had been here less than 5 minutes when a man came zooming up on his golf cart and shooed us away. The park was closed due to the virus. After the open water crossing we kept paddling west to Coupon Cut in Newfound Harbor keys. We found ourselves dragging bottom in only 6 inches of water or less in spots,and the current ripping out against us. We weren’t sure we would make it but we eventually did. It was miserably hot. Got to Picnic Key in Newfound Harbor and found about 15 boats anchored here. Everyone was partying. I was exhausted and beat and simply wanted to set up my chair in the shade and relax. Janet was visiting with a couple boaters, keeping her “social distance”. She then paddled out to one of their power boats and came back with four Miller Lites. I’m in heaven. These were positively the coldest and best tasting beers I’ve ever had in my life. Paddling 3/4 of a mile offshore today in 18 in of water we saw a five foot long shark. We have seen quite a few small sharks on our journey, several big rays, and lots of smaller rays, and sea turtles everyday – so cool. We have also seen quite a few Portuguese Man o War’s. Don’t want to tangle with those guys. We paddled 15 miles today.
Day 7. Picnic key was nice and quiet after sunset when everyone left, except two houseboats remained – a huge one and a small one. Weather looks good for the next several days. Today we’re way offshore, miles from land in any direction in 3 ft of water. We’re paddling side-by-side about 10 feet apart when an 8-9 foot shark goes cruising right between us. It was such a cool and astonishing experience. It wasn’t until the shark was long gone that a little fear set in giving us both the willies. It was a tough paddle today, even though we only went 8 ½ miles, with the open water and fighting a current, and no real place to get out and stretch. We paddled up a channel that intersects with Tarpon Creek, to rest on an abandoned road by a washed-out bridge. Not a real nice place. Today we saw another weird creature. It looked like it was part jellyfish, part plant, like an alien creature. Possibly a Cassiopeia jellyfish? We were resting about a hundred and fifty feet from the washed-out bridge. There is a sharp turn in the creek just past this bridge, and the tide was becoming quite swift, as we found out when we waded into it a little ways earlier. After a while we saw an old man at the end of the road with a blue bicycle on the edge of the washed-out bridge. We assumed a boat must have stopped and dropped him off there and he climbed up the bank with his bike, although we hadn’t heard anything, The tide and depth, well over 8 feet deep would make it virtually impossible to wade from the other side of the creek, especially with a bike. He had just kind of “appeared”. Then two other bicyclers rode past us coming from the opposite way on the road. They stopped at the end of the road where the washed-out bridge was, and talked to the other bicyclist. We weren’t really paying close attention but then the other two bicyclers turned around and came past us again. We looked for the original bicycler but he was gone. We asked them what happened to the old man and they simply said he told them he was going the “Other Way”. Well there simply was no other way, and this guy just disappeared. We’re still confused…Best explanation, “Twilight Zone”
Day 8. This morning we paddled down Tarpon Creek. It’s a beautiful windy Mangrove Creek that’s full of fish. There were times when the creek seemed to boil with all the fish swarming near the surface. So cool. We paddled 11 1/2 miles to Geiger Key to a pretty trashed out rest stop. We decided to paddle to the beginning of Boca Chica. Lots of people on the beach here but we figured this place may get patrolled at night (there’s a military base on Boca Chica), and we didn’t want to get kicked off. So we went back. In the shallow waters around this camp there were lots of green speckled blobby big slug looking creatures that apparently are called sea hares. I scoop up one of them with my paddle to turn him over to see his other side, and he squirted out purple red ink that encircled him in about a 2-foot diameter. Weird. Just before we arrived at Geiger Key today we came across a school of Eagle Rays, six or eight of them. They were three to four feet across and all spotted and beautiful. They are so graceful as they fly under water, their wingtips flapping up and down like a bird as they swim. The ocean was just about as still as possible today. The bottom was visible even in 10 to 12 feet of water, nice. This has been a fantastic trip so far, but we are aware of the Coronavirus, and are doing our best to stay well away from any people. We also have limited access to information each evening when we turn on our cell phones. So even though it sounds like we are having the time of our lives we do have moments that we suffer and worry with the rest of you all, but not long. We press the negative aside and continue our journey, having the time of our lives.
Day 9. This is the last leg of our trip. We pass Boca Chica and then reach the eastern edge of Key West. We follow the long concrete seawall, then past Smathers Beach, as a helicopter circles around us a couple times. We’re wondering if he’s making sure we don’t land on the beach, which we know has been closed due to Coronavirus. We paddle out around the White Street Pier. It’s a long way around the pier and quite choppy and bouncy. I would like to pass under it, but it appears to have minimal headroom clearance. I worry if we went under it, if a wave would come up and smash us up against the bottom of it. It’s not worth the risk. We reached Higgs Beach today before noon, a county park that has not yet been closed and this was the end of our trip. We paddled a total of 106 miles in 9 days. We could have done it quicker or we could have taken more days as we had three more days of food left and water was available here. But we decided we paddled far enough. It leaves us a reason to go back and explore more Keys north of here. Monica picked us up and we somewhat reluctantly started the drive back to Key Largo. There was a bonus on the drive as we detoured slightly at Big Pine Key, and spotted a key deer. At Key Largo, our trip was over. We are simultaneously exhausted and super charged.
