Alright, we left you hanging from the last blog where we arrived at the Dry Tortugas! But we’re back in blog/vlog mode with awesome footage from deserted Loggerhead Key.
Rising early after our first-night anchoring, we awoke to the sound of the commercial boats firing up and heading out for the day. Apparently Bird Key Harbor is where most of the lobster/crabbing boats anchor with their bright shining lights coming in at all hours of the night.
Day 1 Itinerary
The commercial boats and seaplanes woke us early, but that’s okay. We planned on going diving! After saying good morning to our goliath grouper security guards, we hopped in the Whaler and headed towards some dive sites near Loggerhead Key.
Wham, Whack, Crack… that was the sound of the Whaler and our backs as we got some serious air jumping the waves that separated the anchorage and Loggerhead Key. Hmm… we could carry on like this another 4 miles to the dive sites that may or may not have mooring balls for us, OR we could regroup and regain composure on Loggerhead Key.
Snorkeling Little Africa
We opted to just hang near the protection of the island and explore the reef west of the lighthouse called Little Africa. The coral was alive and thriving, unlike most coral we’ve seen in other parts of Florida. We also saw the largest triggerfish we’ve ever seen, plenty of barracuda, snapper, and more.
To our surprise… after we climbed back in the dinghy our engine (named Whale Tail) wouldn’t start! What! Whale Tail had never given us issues prior, and now that we’re on a desolate island 3 miles from our boat and other people it won’t start!? Not cool.
Loggerhead Lighthouse By Foot
We were close enough to Loggerhead Key that we could have swum the dinghy there, but luckily Will did some voodoo to the engine and started. Phew!
Loggerhead Key was SUPER COOL! We love walking nature trails and exploring places we know not many humans have the chance to explore. Of course the natives (bugs) were there with us, and possibly a park worker that might occupy a house on the north end of the island (unconfirmed).
You have to watch the video to see the cool footage we got while exploring the island. Writing doesn’t do it justice.
Alright Whale Tail
Back at the Whaler, we experienced ANOTHER EPISODE of “I don’t want to start.” What is her deal?! After another (longer) round of voodoo, Will got it started and we slammed, jammed, and bammed our way through the waves back to RumHaven.
Phew, talk about an adventurous day of exploration when we set out thinking we were going on a nice little dive. Ha! Tomorrow, we plan to bring in heavy machinery (RumHaven) to try a few other dive sites. Stay tuned to see how that worked out for us!
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