Five Day Solo Sail From Miami to Key Largo

Itinerary

 

Day 1 –Depart from Blackpoint Marina and sail south down Biscayne Bay, anchor on the inside of Elliott key near Billy’s Point and stay for the night.

Day 2 – Sail southwest on the inside down to Barnes Sound. Full day of sailing. Spend the night at Steamboat Creek.

Day 3 – Sail southwest on the inside down to Buttonwood Sound in Key Largo. Full day of sailing. Dock at transient dock at Baycove Motel. Spend the night.

Day 4 – Sail back to Barnes Sound and spend the night at Steamboat Creek.

Day 5 – Sail back to Blackpoint Marina.

The 5 day sail from Biscayne Bay down to Buttonwood Sound in Key Largo and back. We took the "inside route" using the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW)

 

Solo Sail from Matheson Hammock Marina to Boca Chita

 

 

This was our first overnight solo sail. A recap of our entire sail can be seen in the video at the bottom of this page.

We left Matheson Hammock at about 12:00 p.m. and sailed 12-15 miles to Boca Chita. It was a great sail and Boca Chita was beautiful. However, we got lucky by barely missing a storm while sailing and not so lucky to have thunderstorms all night long. Also, mosquitoes chased us into our cabins early. The mosquito jacket and mosquito pants we brought were heaven sent and despite the violent boat rocking and loud booms of thunder from the storms, after a few sangria and brandy drinks, I had no problem sleeping through the night!

Lessons learned:

1. Always bring a mosquito jacket and pants with you when sleeping on any island in the Florida Keys.
2. Always have a well-supplied stock of alcohol down below.

 

Map from Matheson Hammock Marina to Boca Chita

We barely dodged this storm. The sailboat in this picture off in the distance didn't get so lucky.

 

 

Aerial view of Boca Chita.
 

Where we docked for the night

 

 

 

Boca Chita lighthouse

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Beginning...

We had been dreaming of sailing for two years, looking at sailboat listings and all the information on the net about sailing and sailboats.

We narrowed our choice to finding a trailerable, shallow draft boat that was easily solo sailed by one person. Some boats that met our requirements were Macgregor, Catalina, Oday's, Compaq and West Wight Potters.

Joe came across a 1987 Macgregor 25 on craigslist. We drove down to Tavernier Key in the Florida Keys to take a look and go for a sail. That would be our first sailing lesson. After our initial sea trail I purchased the boat.

 

 

A week later Joe purchased a 1982 Macgregor 25 which is the same make and model as mine. Now we have twin boats and the adventure begins to learn how to sail!