Dee Light Website

2006 - June and July - Little Loop - Log B

Log - Dee Light – Little Loop – 2006

Starting at Week of June 18^th2006

.. on Monday the 19^th we were up at the crack of dawn and headed down the Gordon Pass at 07:00 am .. once into the Gulf we headed towards Marathon .. we started with 2 to 3 footers on our Port Bow and once past the Marco Island area we had 4 to 5 footers all the way to the Bridge .. and NOAA said that we were going to have 2 footers all the way .. UFFFDA .. Danielle slept in most of the morning and when she did get up her tummy was a little upset so she laid down and slept all the way to Marathon .. about half way to Marathon our Generator just died on us .. we think that we may have picked up something in the Generator Water Intake as it started right up later and ran all the way to the Marina .. or it just needed a rest .. ?? .. we made it to the Marathon Cay Club Resort & Marina by 11:30 am ..after checking in at the Marina Office we took at Taxi to Hall’s Dive Center where we got Danielle equipped with Snorkeling Gear .. Hall’s is located right by the Faro Blanco Marina Bayside where we stayed last year when we were on our way to the Bahamas .. it is now out of business mostly due to the Hurricanes that passed thru this area last year .. once back to Dee Light we launched the Dinghy ( Little Dee ) and took a long ride exploring the area .. we first headed into Beef Key Harbor where there are many Boats of all descriptions anchored in the protected area .. Hurricane damage is evident in every direction .. we took Sister Creek to the Atlantic Ocean and headed out to East Sister Island .. with the 10 to 15 knot winds from the East it was rough so we headed back and got ready for dinner ..we walked down the road to Cabot’s Waterfront Dining that is part of the Cat Cay Resort ..

	Danielle on the way to Marathon		Marathon Cay Club Resort & Marina		Marathon Cay Club Resort & Marina
	Faro Blanco Marina Bayside		Faro Blanco Marina Bayside		Danielle at Beef Key Harbor

.. Tuesday morning we had a Hugh Thunder Head just out from the Marina .. after taking a last minute check on the weather we headed out with the Dinghy to a small Beach where we did some practice Snorkeling .. Danielle adapted to her new Snorkel Gear in a heart beat .. after heading back to Dee Light for a quick lunch we again checked out the weather and headed out to do some more Snorkeling .. two popular Snorkeling / Diving areas near here are Sombrero Light and Delta Shoals Barge .. they located just 5 and 8 miles out from the Marina .. with the rough waters we decided to do our Snorkeling nearer to Shore .. on our way back to the Snorkeling Beach we saw two Iguanas along the Shore Line .. we also saw the US Coast Guard patrolling the area for Illegal Aliens .. we had a great afternoon exploring the Beef Key Harbor and Snorkeling .. on our way back to Dee Light we helped a Gal move her disabled Boat and we spotted TRABIN ( Charles and Dawn ) fueling up at one of the local Fuel Docks .. they said that they had spent the last couple of Months in the Bahamas and were now on their way back to their Home Port in Key West .. after we got cleaned up we took the Dinghy to the Chikitiki Bar & Grill for dinner .. we sat out on their second floor Deck and had a Pigeon join us for dinner .. after dinner we took the Dinghy out of the Harbor to watch the sunset on the Seven Mile Bridge ..

Dinner at Cabot’s Waterfront Dining	Danielle snorkeling	Danielle and Betty
Liveaboard at Beef Key Harbor	US Coast Guard looking for Illegal Aliens	TRABIN ( Charles and Dawn )
Liveaboard at Beef Key Harbor	Crab business at Beef Key Harbor	Sunset on the Seven Mile Bridge

.. on Wednesday morning over all the local media the ‘talk-of-the-town’ was the Miami Heats victory last night .. NBA World Champions .. after loosing their first two games they came back and won the next four .. a great day for Miami .. after we hoisted Little Dee aboard Dee Light we headed out of the Marina and up Hawk’s Channel to Duck Key .. it was a short run ( 20 miles ) so we were tied up at the Hawk’s Cay Resort on Duck Kay by 10:30 am .. we had to time our arrival around the departure of the Boat that was in our assigned Slip and the Tide as the Water Depth is at 4 foot 9 inches at Low Tide .. the entrance to the Key is well marked but once in the ‘Cut’ the Waterway to the Marina is unmarked .. ie a Seawall on one side and Rock/Coral on the other side .. after checking in we took a walk around the grounds .. this place is a luxury Resort for sure .. we have been trying to extend our reservation here to more than one day but have been unsuccessful .. and this is a place that you want to spend more than one day at .. Danielle ended up getting involved with the Children’s Program and Betty and I both joined up with her in the Pool .. this Resort has a number of Pool Areas and the one that Danielle choose was a Pool/Lagoon with a Sand Beach all the way around it .. we had dinner at Waters Edge .. it overlooks the Marina Basin ..

	Dee Light at Hawk's Cay		The Lagoon		Snorkel Center
	The Lagoon		The Lagoon		Dinner at Waters Edge

.. Thursday we got up early to leave the Marina at high Tide and more important to get to our next destination at near high Tide also .. there was a strong 10 to 15 knot wind to deal with in the Marina Basin but we managed to do a tricky maneuver out of the Marina and get underway by 06:30 am .. NOAA said that we were to have 4 footers on our Bow in Hawk’s Channel and they were correct .. we had detailed instructions on how to get into the Jetty and Channel to the Marina .. we called ahead on the Marine Radio and received additional docking instructions from the Harbormaster Candi .. we used the Marine Radio to MAKE A NUMBER OF SECURITY calls on our way in to the Marina including additional calls at the Crash Corner .. with the help of Candi by 09:00 am we had Dee Light all tied off in our assigned Slip .. after checking in at the Marina Del Mar Marina ( Key Largo ) we had brunch at The Galley .. after launching the Dinghy we headed out to explore the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park .. due to the winds it was a ROUGH and WET Dinghy outing ..

.. on our way to dinner at Snook’s Bayside Dining we passed the African Queen .. this is the original Boat that was in the movie African Queen that stared Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn .. we also made a trip to the World Watersport / Divers Direct Store .. it has to be the most complete ‘Water Store’ that any of us had ever been to ..

Dee Light at Marina Del Mar Marina

Channel at Key Largo

Dinner at Snook’s Bayside Dining

.. Friday morning we enjoyed the Centennial Breakfast at the Marina / Hotel Office and we made arrangements to go Snorkeling aboard the Boat KEYS DIVER .. after leaving the Harbour we went boated for an hour to our first location .. we had 2 to 4 footers mostly from the Northeast winds that were going all night .. there are countless Reef along Hawk’s Channel .. we ended up going to three different Dive / Snorkeling Locations .. each spot was quite unique in its own way .. the water depths were we Snorkeled were from 8 to about 40 feet .. one of the highlights was seeing the Christ Statue that was placed in the Reefs in 1963 .. a Nerf Shark and a number of other large Fish were spotted .. the entire area is a Marine Sanctuary .. we were all dead tired by the time we started the hour trip back to the Harbor .. the Snorkeling experience was most rewarding for all three of us .. it was a great day .. after cleaning up we had dinner at Coconuts Restaurant that overlooks the Harbor Basin ..

KEYS DIVER

The Snorkelers

.. Saturday the Seas in the morning had calmed down fir the first time since leaving Fort Myers .. Danielle talked with her parents and said that they would be joining us later today .. Betty and Danielle went to the Holiday Inn Pools for the afternoon .. later Danielle’s mother Shelly joined us .. she came by herself as Danny had to spend the weekend working .. at about 04:30 pm Shelly joined up with Betty and Danielle Poolside / Poolside Bar at the Holiday Inn .. Danielle decided that we should have dinner at Snook’s Bayside Dining one more time .. it was WINDY but we had another great dinner there ..

Shelly arrives at Dee Light

Breakfast at Marina Del Mar

Dinner at Snook’s Bayside Dining

.. by Sunday the Tropical Weather ‘Thing’ that has been in the Bahamas area move towards the East Coast of Florida bringing rains to Southern Florida including the Key Largo area .. so we decided to visit the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park Visitors Center .. there is an Aquarium Display in the round that is small but packed with Sea Life Information ..

John Pennekamp Park Visitors Center

John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park

.. before we left the Boat we heard over the Marine Radio a number of messages about Illegal Aliens being spotted in the Mangroves just along the Shore Line in the Key Largo area .. when we left the Visitors Center we went to the John Pennekamp Park Marina and we saw the US Coast Guard unloading about 30 Illegal Aliens in the rain at the Park’s Dive Center ..

.. after some shopping we had a very late lunch aboard Dee Light .. after lunch Danielle and Shelly headed to their home in Stuart Florida ..

.. over the Evening News out of Miami we heard that the 39 Illegal Aliens were from Cuba and that they will be able to stay in the United States as they had made it to US soil before their encounter with the US Coast Guard ..

.. after a long walk looking for an Ice Cream Parlor we ended up having a very light Bar Food Dinner at Coconuts Restaurant at the end of the Marina ..

US Coast Guard unloading 30 Illegal Aliens

Homeland Security Bus

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