Wednesday January 20, 2016
When you are cruising in the Keys with a 50′ mast, there only a few places where you can cross from the Gulf of Mexico side to the Atlantic Ocean side. You can cross at the northern end on Key Biscayne or the western end, going around Key West. Just north of Long Key is Marker 5 channel. We crossed under the seven mile bridge in the Moser Channel, the only other option for our boat.
I’ve always loved driving over the Seven Mile bridge. You feel like you are at sea, with the clear turquoise water stretching out in every direction. It is a low bridge for most of the length, with a bumped up section with 63 feet of clearance. That was where we were headed, coming south. We cleared the break in the old Route 1 bridge, then passed under the Seven Mile bridge. Thrilling!
Once we were in the Hawk Channel on the Atlantic side of the Keys, we pulled out the Genoa and sailed west. It was not too far to our destination, an anchorage on the west end of Bahia Honda State Park.We slowly headed north from Hawk Channel and slipped between the break in the old Flagler railroead bridge. We anchored off the beach, between the Flagler bridge and the Route 1 bridge.
What a great spot! The current was strong, but our anchor held, and we were protected from the wind. We rowed our dinghy to the small basin by the concession stand, and shared a frozen key lime pie slice on a stick. Yum! We followed a path that led to the Flagler railroad bridge. At one time a road was built on top of the bridge, and we were able to walk a short distance out on that. Beautiful views of the water and of our boat.
Dinner on board watching the sunset over the railroad bridge. Wonderful!