Marquesas Keys

The Marquesas are in the Gulf of Mexico, 25-30 miles west of Key West. I did not paddle out, but went in my nephew's Arlo and Evan's boat. A boat given to them by their dad. With one catch. It sank in a canal on Summerland Key during Hurricane Wilma. With true Conch wrecker spirit, the boat was raised, rehabbed, (an ongoing process) a new motor bought, 250 horse Yamaha. It carried the owners, 5 of their friends, 2 kayaks and Uncle Dave out to the Marquesas.

Evan and Camile met us, us being me, Arlo, and four of his fellow Bard College alumni, Jane, Ann, Brigid, and Jessica, at the Simonton Street Pier. Evan, a partner at the ReCycle Bike shop on Stock Island, was able to borrow two kayaks from his business' neighbor, Hurricane Hole Marina. We were on our way, past a Disney Cruise liner, about 12:15.

West through the area known as "The Lakes", small keys all around.

Some of the group spotted sea turtles, I was not so fortunate. Past the final key in the Lakes, Boca Grande, is a long stretch of open water. Nice to be with a couple guys who grew up on these waters. Not to mention modern navigation devices. At 1:40 we had landed, kayaks unloaded on our little piece of paradise. The Marquesas are an atoll, or maybe not. An Internet search gives conflicting answers. If they are an atoll, they are not the tip of a volcano, as are atolls in the South Pacific, but the result of a meteor strike. However the islands were formed, they are a great place to explore by kayak,

Fire up the grill for some local shrimp,

And just relax.

We were on a little beach on the southwest corner of the Marquesas, on a short channel through which the tide was going to the Gulf at a good clip.
Arlo snorkeled across the channel to investigate the undersea life. Lots of mangrove snapper. And little bait fish, which swam into Arlo. That wasn't a problem. The jellyfish, which he ran into, or vice versa on his way back across the narrow channel, was. But not to bad, Arlo is a tough hombre. While Arlo snorkled, three guys in a small skiff came past the mangroves Arlo was exploring. They had a mother ship in deeper water, and soon returned to it. The only people we saw, other than distant boats, all afternoon.

Speaking of small boats.

This is one of three, small, abandoned vessels near our site. Cuba is not very far away.
El Evando.

I went out twice in the kayaks. Saw osprey, tri colored herons, great blue and green herons. Ibis and kingfishers. The only photo, this cormorant.
Arlo saw great white herons during a paddle.

Time came for us to go. The round hole on the right, not the square on the left, is a map of the Marquesas.

Big clouds can lead to beautiful sunsets.
I bet the view from the L'il Raskell was better than the one from Mallory Square.

Speaking of sun/son, I found Del's son, brother Andy, at work.

Later, I met sister Monica, and her friend Ralph, at El Siboney. Got in just before it closed. And in a repeat of my last visit, they were out of Cuban mix. I had a nice roast pork dinner, but come November, I'm going there for lunch. On second thought, maybe Chris, Pat, Andy, Dave and Pete need to go to Five Brothers.

I have also posted a report on the Green Wave Forum. http://www.clubkayak.com/greenwave/treports.asp?trip=422