We finally headed south! We pushed out of our familiar slip at Salty Sam’s for the last time (in 2022 at least). After a quick stop at Diversified Yacht Services to fuel up, we headed for the Gulf and south!

The water was smooth and glassy for most of the way. After getting up on plane for about half an hour to blow out the soot, we settled into our normal cruising speed of 10-11 mph. After passing south of Marco Island, we angled east toward Indian Key Pass. The water was an incredibly beautiful green. We saw glimpses of dolphins from time to time, but none of them deemed our wake worthy to play in.

The stretch from Indian Key Pass to Everglades City was a bit hairy. Although we were there at near high tide, there were several spots where the depth finders started screaming at me. I hope we just ran over some alligators or something, but I think the water may have just been a bit thin.

Coming into Everglades City was really cool. It’s a neat little town with some commercial fisheries, ramshackle restaurants, some beautiful houses, tourist boats, and all sorts of bustle. After calling Everglades Isle, Dennis, the manager, met us at the dock to help us into a slip. Dennis was incredibly friendly and helpful. He grabbed a golf cart and drove us up to the office to check in. He was clearly very proud of the business and rightfully so. The beautiful landscaping, brick roads, and immaculate clubhouse were wonderful. We regretted that we had only planned to stay one night. We will have to plan a much longer stay next time.

We rented a golf cart and went into town. Everglades City is only about 8 blocks long and 4 blocks wide. We went the length of town, checked out the City Hall, stopped at a hardware store for some screws, and took a peek at the restaurants. The clouds to the east were getting a bit dark, so we headed back to the boat before the rain to throw a couple of extra lines on the boat.

Before the rain hit, we scooted over to Camellia’s Street Grill for some… street grill. By the time we ordered, it had started to rain, but we found a nice table outside under an awning to enjoy our meal. By the time we started eating, it was pouring rain, so we took our time, had some key lime pie for dessert, and waited for the rain to let up before heading back to the boat.

It was a short, but memorable visit to Everglades City.