GL: Florida Bay west

[Rich Gano]

We left the Everglades City area this AM for Little Shark River not because
the weather predictions are any better, but rather because the arrival of a
large boat club with prior reservations forced us out to Russell passage
anchorage with 11 other boats.  We got up early and got u/w as dawn broke.
Had we known there were NO crab pots out here, we might have gone earlier.
Winds are still predicted from the NNE at 20 knots, but we have noticed what
seemed to be a slack period before noon.  With our track to Little Snake
River being only 3-5 miles offshore, we are experiencing only the annoying
1-2 foot wind waves on the beam jolting us about in the mid-morning with two
hours left to go.

Everglades City was fun for a day or two as we biked about from our position
alongside the Rod and Gun Club seawall.

The R&G Club itself has a long ways to go in the management of their seawall
moorings.  About ten cruising sized boats can fit comfortably alongside, and
clubs from the Sarasota area south like to come down here during to cool
no-bug months of March/ April.  What with being a bit isolated, the R&G Club
is a bit prone to having clubs show up on a "flexible" schedule; although
the two clubs we saw showed up on time.  Anyway, the staff there works three
shifts and the pass-down is not very good between shifts.  They do not
monitor a radio, and there was nobody to assist in mooring when we showed up
(that doesn't bother me because I hate dock hands pulling and pushing when I
have control of my own boat).  We ended up extending our stay by two nights
and when the second club showed up (we were not informed of this
reservation) we were asked to vacate and told to talk to the other shift
about a refund for the last night.  Being immediately out of reliable cell
contact the moment we left town, I will now rely on the US Mail to carry my
request for refund.

Before we vacated our spot, we were offered a temporary spot with no power
and told we could remain there if they could not fit us into a powered spot
after the boat club got settled.  After getting two 42-foot boats moved to
this location (it was high tide - the ONLY time to move a 4.5-foot draft
boat around), I sounded around and found that we had about 6 inches under us
and 2 feet of tide due to lower in the next few hours.  We had no time to
dicker and promptly left for anchorage six miles away.

I am not pissed off or trying to paint a negative picture of the R$G Club
(but don't eat there).  We'll use them again if we ever pass this way again
(you have to - they are the only mooring in town, anchorage is way off
downstream), but you need to be prepared to deal with a "marina" way down
the list from something like Marina Jack in Sarasota.  It's part of their
charm.  It appears that if we had been able to predict our travels and made
reservations before the boat clubs (over two months ago) we would have had
prior claim to our spot, no matter how many boat clubs came in.

As for us, we are just as happy to be able to move on safely despite running
through an area with small craft warnings.

Rich Gano
CALYPSO (GB-42 #295)
Southport, FL (near Panama City)