Sailing to the Dry Tortugas, we nearly crash in the middle of the night. When we arrive, Our friends’ boats are missing!
In this video you will see:
- Sailing from Tampa Bay to Cabbage Key
- Overnight Sailing to the Dry Tortugas
- Near crash with a midnight shrimp boat
- We search for our sailing friends who are missing in the Dry Tortugas
The Full Story
We make our way down to the Dry Tortugas on a 2-day trip. We stopped in Cabbage Key, FL to rest up before our 24-hour sail to Fort Jefferson.
Kelly Gets Seasick
Along the way, I got seasick. I’m usually okay in rough seas. However, I happened to have a bad sinus infection a few days prior and had to take a round of antibiotics. This makes me nauseous, to begin with, so that is probably the reason the conditions affected me this time. Good news, it didn’t last that long!
Fresh Catch for a Dollar
After anchoring in Cabbage Key, we took the dinghy to the “dollar bar” and had the chef prepare our fresh catch. It was delicious! The next day, we had a great time on our sail to the Dry Tortugas. Dolphins interrupted our ice cream treat, but we didn’t mind! They hung with us a good 10 minutes. What an amazing site to see them in their natural habitat!
King Arthur
Arthur gets pampered by his servants!
Overnight Sail to the Dry Tortugas
As the night approaches, we prepare a fantastic dinner and settle into the night. Nick and I took 3-hour shifts on the night watch. While I was on my last watch, a few dozen shrimp boats were all over the place. The radar alarm was going off every minute. I noticed a boat that looked like it was headed straight for us. I woke Nick up, and he confirmed they were too close for comfort. It was a close call…
Where are our Friends?
As we approach our destination, we become worried about our friends. They were sailing on a different course, but we should have been able to get in contact by that point. We must have called them 20 times. Nothing…Stay tuned to see what happens!
Full Episode
King Arthur
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Beautiful day for a sail! 🌞🐬⛵️Dry Tortugas, here we come! #24hoursail #hats #sailing #sailingsatori
Song Credits
Intro Song – Carribean Cuisine 4 – Magnus Ringblom
King Arthur Intro – 3:55 – Rule Britannia Classic – Traditional
Ending Song – Figure It Out – Daniel Gunnarsson
Download these songs for free at Epidemic Sound
Video Transcription
Intro (Sailing to Dry Tortugas)
Good morning. What time is it? 5:30, 6:00 we’re late! That’s early! We’re heading straight down to Cabbage Key. Boca Grande Pass. We should get there about an hour before sunset. Provided everything goes smooth. We’ll do our best not to wake up our neighbors. Since this is our shakedown trip, we left Arthur at home with Grandma and Grandpa. (Sailing to Dry Tortugas)
Kelly gets seasick (Sailing to Dry Tortugas)
Kelly’s not feeling so good. Little nausea from some antibiotics and then also from a little seasickness added. So what we here are a little motion ease, essential oil, pressure point wristbands, and also Dramamine. Fixing to make some ginger tea as well. We’re going to hit everything we can because we don’t want Kelly feeling bad. Beautiful sunset! Sunrise? (Sailing to Dry Tortugas)
On the way to Cabbage Key (Sailing to Dry Tortugas)
It’s been about four hours since we left. It’s was pretty rough getting out of Tampa Bay. Real squirrely getting around the corner shooting south down the coast. Winds started to die down now, and we’re just going to cruise down the coast here. Stay pretty close, and we got about 60 miles before we get to our Anchorage. Kelly’s taking a nap, still not feeling good. Want a mimosa? Oh no! It’s on Saturday! I know but no. Maybe a bagel? (Sailing to Dry Tortugas)
We are almost to our anchorage (Sailing to Dry Tortugas)
Caught a Spanish Mackerel. Let me take a Picture! Ready? As we approach the unmarked channel on the north side of Boca Grande pass, we stay close to this set of strange objects in the water. In 1905 these pilings were built to support a railroad used to transfer mass amounts of phosphate off of Gasparilla Island. By 1969 this was the fourth busiest port in Florida. Today it’s what is known as Florida’s holy grail of tarpon fishing. (Sailing to Dry Tortugas)
We arrive at Cabbage Key (Sailing to Dry Tortugas)
We have reached our first destination. Apparently, that’s a must-do. (Dollar Bar) I took the dingy back to the boat. Kelly’s there at the bar drinking wine. I came back to get a fresh catch. We were going to get a drink. The menu says that they’ll prepare your fresh catch. Instead of coming back and making dinner! She’s no trophy, but it’s dinner. (Sailing to Dry Tortugas)
The Adventures of King Arthur (Sailing to Dry Tortugas)
Look at King Arthur’s as he lays for the royal massage. Hmm. His servant knows exactly were to touch the king. King Arthur’s very particular about his Massages. Only his best servants are allowed to touch him. Watch as his servant gets handsy with the King’s paws. Surprised King Arthur? Hmm. Our Good King simply cannot Resist. Oh King Arthur, behave! Hmm, it’s good to be the king! (Sailing to Dry Tortugas)
On the way to the Dry Tortugas (Sailing to Dry Tortugas)
Those guys ruined our ice cream. That’s nice. There’s a crazy-ass moon. I’m stunned right now. That is the coolest thing ever. My god! It looks like a big ball of cheese! What do you see? I put it roast in the oven like an hour ago. We’re going to check on it. Oh No, it’s not even hot. Oh no! The safety switch! We’re waiting for another hour. That seems like a fancy dinner. Spared no expense. The juice is way too good to Waste. (Sailing to Dry Tortugas)
Night Watch (Sailing to Dry Tortugas)
So it’s about 4 a.m. Kelly just came to relieve me off my watch. We’re motoring for a few hours. Zero wind at all. We have 20 knots of wind; it picked up Gradually. So I put a reef in the main, reef in the jib and now we’re howling pretty good at about six and a half seven knots. We’re about 20 miles from the Dry Tortugas. As soon as Sun comes up, we should be pretty close. It’s like 5:30. I’m on the Nightwatch. A lot of shrimp boats out here. Keeping my eye on them. It’s pretty peaceful. A little too close! (Sailing to Dry Tortugas)
Sunrise (Sailing to Dry Tortugas)
Ohana, Ohan, this is Satori. Second Unit, Second Unit this is Satori. So we were supposed to meet up along the way with at least two other boats, and we’ve been keeping an eye out for them. We haven’t seen them this entire trip down here. They’re coming from St. Petersburg. We are coming from Charlotte Harbor. Keeping an eye out on that on that line that they would have been on at this point. We’re about 10 miles from our destination.(Sailing to Dry Tortugas)
We should close enough to have radio contact, and we haven’t seen them the entire time. We’re out of cell phone coverage, well out of cell phone range. So no way to tell if they made it or not. Or if they had to turn around for an issue. Just trying to get them on the radio. We might be here alone this week if they don’t make it out. We’re starting to worry. It’s been a mystery. (Sailing to Dry Tortugas)
Ending (Sailing to Dry Tortugas)
Next time on Sailing Satori, we explore the Dry Tortugas. If you enjoyed this episode, hit like below and subscribe! A special thanks to all of our patrons. This channel is made possible by viewers like you. (Sailing to Dry Tortugas)
