Today, Grace and I took Belvedere out to the dog-friendly beach in Key West at Vernon and Waddell streets. There, we met an Avon lady who sold us the Skin So Soft anti-mosquito lotion we so badly needed (I have 7 bites on my lower left leg alone). We tried to get Belvedere to swim like the other dogs, but this being his first real ocean trip, he only got in up to his elbows, but we were proud of him anyway. Then, on the way home, we passed Sunset Watersports, who happened to be selling kayaks. We needed a kayak.
About 30 minutes later, we went home with a nice Hobie Kona blue tandem kayak strapped to the roof of the Element (thanks for the hard work, Dean). After dropping the dog off at home, and going back to Key West to buy life jackets and water shoes at K-Mart, we were ready to shove off. It was about a 90-minute voyage.
We paddled south around the Point, and around a sand bar, and around a prominent mangrove, until we found a deserted island (actually an outcropping of Lower Sugarloaf Key) that we promptly named Abba Zabba. Abba Zabba is home to many hermit crabs and crab holes, and about half a dozen old campfire sites. Despite this, it is remarkably clean. The map above shows our approximate route, with the much-lighter dots indicating the slightly different route taken home. It may have been as much as 2 miles each way, but the trip back was much easier, with the waves at our backs. As the satellite imagery shows, the water between the mangrove and Abba Zabba is very deep indeed. That is where the biggest waves broke on our tiny bow.
Actually exiting to the open Atlantic requires navigating around the northern edge of Abba Zabba and southward into a channel, approximately twice the distance travelled this trip. Perhaps eventually yeah, but for now we are delighted to have our little desert island.
Yeah, still diggin the keys.
-Chris