Road miles - approximately 700 miles each way
Gas - Just under $500 driving a Ridgeline getting 9.5 mpg. This included incidental driving in and around Bahia Honda (had to visit the Keys Fishery for dinner twice).
Trailer - Aluminum Mac with ugraded/replaced tongue assembly.
The trip started out well until we stopped for gas in Brunswick, GA. There I noticed that my left bearing buddy was missing. Yikes, grease had covered the wheel. No worries, GPS located several Auto parts stored within a couple of miles. Well, no luck at 3 auto parts stores (Napa, O'Reilly, Autozone), Tractor Supply Co or an RV/trailer shop. The auto parts stores only had bearing buddies for 1" hubs. So then decided to look for a West Marine. Found one about 7 miles away near the bridge to St Simmons Island. Bingo, right size and a friendly staff lent me a rubber mallet. Pulled out my grease gun and off I went. Unfortunately it was a 2 hr plus delay.
Our motivation for the drive was to participate in a swim around Key West hosted by the Florida Keys Community College. Drove down Friday. Swam on Saturday and on Sunday we drove back north to Bahia Honda State Park and put Syzygy in the water at the Marina.
The marina was nice. we had 30A power and water. Marina guests get one free bag of ice a day and 2 cups of coffee (I took my coffee in the form of a diet coke). We had plenty of sea breeze when it was blowing and I certainly would recommend a Windscoop which we bought just before leaving. Good investment. The park has showers and bathrooms but they are a little longer of a walk because they're not part of the Marina but the Park itself. Boat ramp in the marina is well maintained and the staff very nice. The park has a concessionaire at the marina but they have no provisions. Only a snack bar. They do sell the usual touristy stuff, snorkel gear, etc.
On day one and two we made dedicated trips to Looe Key which is about 260 degrees at 10nm once you clear the old Bahia Honda Bridge. we had no problems with the mooring balls and there were always plenty available. We motored to the Key and sailed back part of the way. Winds are lighter in summer. Great snorkeling at Looe Key. 40-50 ft visibility. Cuda, sharks, tarpon, parrotfish, etc.
Day three was more relaxing so we just went out fishing between the old and new bridges. Caught lots of fish and released all. lots of fun and gave the the Admiral and I a nice relaxing day.
Day four was an exploratory day sailing to Boot Key harbor for early dinner at Burdines. Stopped at Money Key for some snorkeling and walking around. Entering Boot Key Harbor was easy enough and Burdines has a seawall for mooring. Of note is that we kept our fenders attached to the pier at the park and forgot to take them with us. After a minor panic attack, I decided that I could use the dingy as a camel. It worked great.
Day five was another exploratory day sailing around Bahia Honda. We went to the eastern edge of the island, anchored and snorkeled, swam, hung out. The water was excellent and we picked up some fish that just wanted to swim around us. Very cool.
Day six was Saturday morning. We got the boat prepped with everything taken care of except the mast at the dock. Then took Syzygy out one more time to de-ballast. Got her loaded, secured, bearing greased and off we went. I think we were leaving Marathon City limits around 2pm. Drove the Daytona area, spent the night in a nice air conditioned hotel and finished the drive the next day.
Overall the boat trailered well with the aluminum single axle trailer. The Ridgeline certainly helped with stability. I only had a couple of road warriors try to cut me off during the trip. Bahia Honda was a great first trip destination for us. We were the only folks staying in the marina (most are transient anchors just outside the marina because they draw more than 3.5 ft). The bearing buddy incident is puzzling. How that came off I have no idea. In any case, I now have an extra. I presume it came off early in the AM so no other car was damaged when it flew off. BTW, bug screens are a must in Bahia Honda. Not a bad as South Carolina though. We ate breakfast and lunch onboard and went out to dinner a couple of nights (Keys Fisheries on Marathon, Burdines in Boot Key Harbor and No Name Pub on No Name Key.
I think our next trip to the Keys will be a point to point transit. Drop Syzygy in the upper Keys, drive to Key West and leave truck and trailer, bus back to Syzygy, and then make the sail to Key West.
Bob and Lynn
S/V Syzygy
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tied up in the basin with the Windscoop hoisted. Sounds like you had a good visit to the keys. We recently got a new tandem axle trailer to make just that sort of trip a more attractive option in the future - it's 1275 miles to Bahia Honda from Delaware.
