The Route Less Taken – Key West to Marathon

When leaving Key West by water, and heading east to Marathon, there are two Intracoastal Waterways (ICW) route choices. There is the unobstructed, direct route of Hawk Channel which runs parallel to the Keys and cuts into Florida Bay at Marathon. Hawk Channel is somewhat protected from the coral reefs that separate it from the Atlantic Ocean; this is the most popular route because you don’t need to worry about dodging shallow water.

We’ve taken Hawk Channel several times but have never taken the route less traveled, the Florida Bay ICW. One of the reasons the route north of the Keys to Marathon is not preferred is because of the shallower water depths. With a 2.5-foot draft on our Ranger Tug, we felt we’d have plenty of water below us. Besides we were up for a new adventure, and we wanted to take a route we’d never done before. Our objective was to slowly cruise the 30 miles to Marathon by anchoring out for a couple of nights enjoying one of Mother Nature’s many gifts.

For a short bit, were escorted by a school of dolphins who were playing tag around our boat in the white sand-bottomed crystal clear waters of the Keys.

Our first stop was an anchorage behind some mangrove islands in Jewfish Basin where we were serenaded by birds and saw plenty of rays. We took time to have a little lunch before we went to explore the surrounding islands by dinghy.

Breakfast on the back deck this morning (below)

On the second day out, we re-entered the ICW to head to Porpoise Key and our second night’s anchorage. Porpoise Key sits just off of Big Pine and No Name Keys, within seven miles of Marathon. So, I guess we averaged 10 miles a day for the three days it took us to get to Marathon, that’s the way we like to cruise, slow enough that we can absorb our surroundings – this time we enjoyed the crystal clear and shallow waters around the many scattered islands on the Florida Bay side of the Keys.

The Seven Mile Bridge provides a pass from the Florida Bay side to the Hawk Channel side. You can access Marathon by either side but this time we’ll be picking up a mooring ball in Boot Key Harbor, so we have to go under the bridge, turning to the east, to get there.

One of our favorite harbors to enter, this channel into Book Key is a boater’s visual delight.

We grabbed this mooring ball for a two-night stay in Marathon. We had some friends to meet and work to catch up on before we reclaim our truck and trailer (which Jim drove up here a week ago) and take our boat out of the water to head north.