Dry Tortugas / Ft Jefferson

 We had always thought it would be fun to visit the Dry Tortugas, if for no other reason, than because they were there and most people have never been there. Well, we made it and we weren't disappointed!

Our 63 mile, 7+ hour trip to the Dry Tortugas from Key West was pleasant. We drug 2 lines during our transit and hit the jackpot - - on both poles - - simultaneously! By the time Jim brought the first fish in, the 2nd pole line had broken. Bummer.

This guy was quite the fighter. After maybe 20 minutes, Jim finally wore him out enough we could gaff him & get him on the boat.

The fish was 30 or 40 pounds & 34 inches. We weren't sure whether it was a member of the tuna family or a crevalle jack which apparently aren't very good to eat. Ughhh. Jim cleaned it, anyway, hoping for the best. We ended up with enough meat for 12 2-person meals. Not bad! btw, the meat was excellent - - yum!

As we rounded the corner to enter the fort's anchorage, we spied the lighthouse on nearby Loggerhead Key. More on that in a bit.

Fort Jefferson sits in the middle of the Dry Tortugas and is the largest fort ever built in the US. It was quite impressive from the water as we approached our anchorage. Even the protective moat was impressive.

This was a fairly tight anchorage with quite a few boats in it so after setting the anchor, Jim took our anchor buoy out & clipped it to the anchor. Later, we were glad we did as the anchorage swelled to 16 boats at one point. The anchor buoy let them know where our anchor was so they avoided us.

Our first afternoon in the anchorage was interesting as seaplanes regularly brought visitors into and out of the park -- sometimes pretty close to us!

The sunset our first night was outstanding, in spite of the boat that was parked right behind us. That night, there was a lovely "green flash".

Wednesday, we dinghied in to the beach and, to our surprise, discovered that the fort was almost all open and available for touring. Most of the day, it was just us in this huge complex.

Construction began in 1846 with all of the bricks made in the south. Once the civil war began, they started making the bricks in Maine.

This is what was left of the primary powder storage magazine. The arched, bricked ceiling was amazing. It was built so they could pour concrete over it to make it shell proof.

In the hot shot furnace built in 1862, they inserted cannon balls at the upper end. It took the balls 20 minutes to roll down to the exit. During that time, they were heated to a glowing red. The soldiers would then carry the hot shot to cannons who fired on enemy ships, setting them on fire.

This is where the balls exited.

This is what was left of their huge oven in the bakery. One of the Lincoln assassination conspirators complained, "The bread was a mixture of flour, bugs, sticks and dirt. Meat was rotten to such an extent that dogs ran from it." One of the soldiers said the bread was filled with black bugs ... "we pick out some and eat the rest."

Considering the fact that everything was shipped here from the mainland, the quality of the brick work and the materials used was astounding. Even the floors were 4" thick, cut stone.

The walls were incredibly thick and built to withstand punishing cannon fire. Notice how they alternated the brick orientation in the wall.

This is a shot of one of the arched ceilings. Notice the bricklayers initials & date.

Throughout the fort, there was evidence of water seepage over the years. In many places, there were noticeable stalactites and stalagmites.

They worked on the fort for 30 years and finally quit before it was completed. The fort was so heavy, the underlying sand couldn't hold it and parts of the fort sank as much as 12 inches which caused their many cisterns to crack and allow sea water in. .Their water holding capacity was 1,500,000 gallons.

Jim is standing on one of the magazines used to store powder and shells. You can see others in the background.

These ornate arches were used to keep rainwater from running down the side of the fort and compromising the bricks. The red bricks were from Maine. The yellowish bricks below them were from various places in the south.

During the Civil War, 800 prisoners were housed on the grounds to help with construction. At the end of the war, 4 of the Lincoln assassination conspirators were sent here.

 The fort originally had planned to have 450 canons mounted around it's 6 sides and 3 stories. This is one of the larger ones!

Beautiful and perfectly cut and placed steps were located throughout the fort.

After getting a lay of the land, we returned to the top of the fort that evening to watch the sunset. Though it wasn't a pretty as the previous night's, it was a great place to watch the day end.

As the sun was setting on one side  of the fort, the full moon was rising on the other side. What a glorious evening and we were the only ones in the fort.

About a month prior to our arrival, terns arrived for their annual nesting season. The brochure indicates that up to 100,000 sooty terns and 10,000 brown noddy terns come here to nest. The noise at sunset and sunrise was incredible. Though we wanted to get close enough to get some pictures of them, the $175 fine dissuaded us.

Also here was a large contingent of magnificent frigate birds with their 7 foot wing spans. They prey on fish and tern hatchlings.

This is a male with his red neck sack expanded. It was flopping around as he was soaring. They use this to attract females.

For a couple of days, the wind picked up substantially. Fortunately, our anchor held and fortunately, we had marked our anchor with a float as many boats sought refuge in our anchorage.

By Sunday, the wind had dropped enough that we decided to take the dinghy the 3 miles over to Loggerhead Key to check out the lighthouse and do some snorkeling. 

The surf was pretty rough and we nearly flipped the dinghy when we tried to land it. Ouch! We drug the dinghy waaay up on the steep beach in order to protect it from the surf while we were away.

Except for a few fish, a couple of lobsters and a small barracuda, there wasn't much to see in the water. We were pretty disappointed. Still, it was nice to be in the water.

Our camera lens fogged over due to the hot sun and cold water. However, you get the idea.

Carol packed us a lunch so we had a bite before beginning the 3 mile slog into the waves back to the boat.

We had just arrived back at the boat when the park service ferry and an incoming plane passed somewhat close to each other.

Apparently, the ferry had blown an engine the prior week and so service had been terminated until they could repair it. Lucky for us, our first few days were basically tourist-free. Once it resumed operation, it brought lots of people to the fort every day.

Monday, the forecast was for somewhat lower winds so we upped the anchor a little after sunrise for the nearly 8 hour trip back. This is a picture of some of the birds squawking and partying at sunrise.

The magnificent frigates were still cruising over the fort.

Here are some of the terns.

As we pulled into Key West, we passed this large Coast Guard Cutter and NOAA ship at the dock.

It can be a bit intimidating trying to find your assigned slip in this mess of boats!

We arrived at our slip on Monday. We had some boating friends over for sundowners that evening and will spend the day Tuesday preparing Samba for our friends, Brian & Jewell Pahl from Warsaw. They arrive Wednesday afternoon and will be spending a few days cruising with us.