The Dry Tortugas - Bucket List Trip

The Dry Tortugas are 70 miles west of Key West, accessible by boat or sea plane. We lifted our anchor at 7am and set out with Deb & Keith on Right Hand. We had great conditions for the first 5 hours cruising north of various keys and the Marquesas. It was great cruising and not too bad even when we were past the keys and in open waters.

This was our first attempt at  fishing and at Keith’s suggestion we were trolling with a ballyhoo on the line. Eddie called the bait Skippy as it skips along the surface about 150’ off the stern! 

As luck would have it we were about 1 1/2 hours off the Dry Tortugas when a squall came through kicked up the winds and the sea and wouldn’t you know it we also had a fish online!  We dropped to idle, I took the helm while Eddie reeled in our catch. Then I skedaddled downstairs with the net to bring the fish on board! That seemed a little harder than I expected it to be and I caught one of the hooks on the net but was still able to  lift the fish into the cockpit! Hooray for us. A tuna! 

We had been told we would have to hit the fish with something to knock it out so it didn’t do any damage to our boat. Ha! I hit it and nothing. Eddie came down stairs and whacked the shit out of that tuna! Our cockpit looked like a crime scene with blood! For the next 90 minutes the 3’-4’ seas on our beam were rolling us like crazy and Charlie the tuna had to chill on deck until we arrived at our anchorage. 

That rolling did weather redecorating on our boat, dumping anything on the counters onto the floor, moving furniture, opened drawers down below and in general played havoc with anything not secured. Fortunately it was a quick clean up!

As soon as we anchored Deb and Keith launched their dinghy and came cruising over, fillet knife in hand to teach Eddie how to fillet the fish. Deb is a great teacher, the whole time talking Eddie through and getting right in there as they dissected and identified parts of the fish! We ended up with about 1.5 lbs of tuna and a great story!

We anchored at Garden Key which is just off Fort Jefferson. Fort Jefferson was built between 1846 - 1875. It is the largest all masonry fort built with 16 million bricks! The fort was built to protect the USA from anything coming from the Gulf of Mexico but it was never actually completed as the island began sinking due to the weight of the bricks and cannons! It was controlled by Union forces during the Civil War and when Florida seceded from the Union a new source of bricks was needed, which explains why the upper portion is a different color.

Each day the ferry from Key West arrived at the Fort at 10:30am so we visited the fort either before the ferry arrived or after it departed in the afternoon. That way there were only a few people on land and no crowds at all. All day starting at 8:30am the sea planes flew in and out. 

The view from Seaquel

The fort is surrounded by water, including a moat. 

This picture is taken from on top of the bunkers. That beach you see below is closed from March through September for migratory birds. There are 100,000 Sooty Terns! I don’t think there were 100,000 there yet when we were there but there were ALOT! The sound they make is really incredible. I loved watching them swoop and dive. I tried to get a few pics of the birds but really needed a long zoom!

Right Hand sitting pretty in the setting sun.