Rodriguez Key to Boot Key/Marathon Anchorage

The Rocna anchor held well through the night.  Rodriguez Key protected us from waves generated by the 20+ mile per hour wind which continued through the night and into the next day.  With the wind from the north, we were able to motor sail with the genoa at 100 percent.  We did not use the main sail since we did not want to risk an accidental jibe or leave the cockpit in the high winds and waves to hoist the sail and set a preventer.  Small craft warnings were in effect with sustained winds in the 20s and waves were building as the day progressed.

Seven Mile Bridge

We heard our first ever MayDay call which was made by a 106 foot motor yacht which lost all power and was adrift approximately two miles from our position when the call went out.  The captain reported all his engines had died, as well as his generators.  The anchors could not be deployed and the vessel was drifting out to sea and could possibly run aground on the coral reefs which line Hawk Channel.  The Coast Guard was not going to render assistance as the passengers and crew were not in a life threatening situation as the vessel was not on fire and there was no immediate danger of her running aground. BoatUS sent out a tow boat which was able to take the yacht in tow; however, they were barely able to make any headway since the tow boat was under-powered for towing such a large yacht.  All she could do was hold the yacht in place until a larger tow boat arrived.  The nearest tow boat large enough for the job was three hours away.  Additionally, the nearest port large enough to dock the yacht was Key West which was 60 miles in the opposite direction of her original destination of Miami. Needless to say, the yacht's captain was obviously distressed.  I'm sure the yacht's owner was not happy with the captain and crew.  I wouldn't be surprised if the owner didn't fire them all.  I think the captain might have been thinking the same.

Shortly after the first MayDay, we heard Coast Guard communicating with another vessel in trouble. We could only hear the Coast Guard transmissions but it was obviously a serious situation since the Coast Guard dispatched one of their helicopters to render assistance.

Lastly, we heard a PanPan as we were preparing to enter Boot Key harbor.  A motor yacht reported sighting a small fishing boat which appeared to be taking on water and adrift on the bay side of Boot Key. The fisherman appeared to be attempting to start his outboard engine without success.  Again, the Coast Guard sent out a patrol to try to locate the fishing boat.  About an hour later the Coast Guard closed out the PanPan alert.

Although the winds and waves were more than we would have liked, we were doing fine all day. Well, we were doing fine until we tried to enter the harbor.  Boot Key harbor is notorious for shoaling. With the strong winds and waves, it was not surprising that the narrow channel leading into the harbor was filling and shifting.  The chart and the direction of the waves led one to believe the Green side of the channel shoaled more than the Red side.  We went down the middle and at Green 3 we ran aground. We were on a sandbar running from the middle of the channel toward the Reds. We weren't able to back or wiggle off and the wind was working against us.  Dwayne called BoatUS towing and they were there in less than 15 minutes.  A few minutes later, we were off the bar and hugging the Greens as we moved into the harbor to anchor.

The harbor anchorage was extremely crowded with boats sitting out the heavy weather and others wintering at Boot Key/Marathon.  As usual during anchoring, Carla was at the wheel and Dwayne was on the bow dropping the anchor.  We picked out what appeared to be a suitable spot between two sailboats our size and dropped the Rocna anchor.  Dwayne fed our chain and watched for signs the anchor was setting.  Usually, the Rocna starts digging into the bottom right away.  This time, she did not appear to be holding as well.  A few minute later, it was evident the anchor was dragging and to make matters worse, Carla could feel the boat starting to run aground.  Dwayne started to reel in the anchor chain as Carla put the engine into forward gear.  We escaped a second grounding, recovered the anchor and moved to another location to make our second attempt to anchor.  We took a position a short distance from a canal entrance to the harbor and laid between a French ketch and a motor yacht of about 40 feet in length.  The anchor held and we were glad the day was over.  We just hoped we would wake up in the same location the next morning.