I cruised passed this lighthouse for years without appreciating its history until found the web page on Rebecca Shoal (divers should beware of swift currents in this area) and then also a link to the Florida Lighthouse Homepage The Dry Tortugas Pages are all linked and they are all worth reading. Dry Tortugas Homepage
On July 1, 2001 the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary established the Tortugas Ecological Reserves
Many great places to explore with snorkelling in mind and one of my favorites is the shallow wreck AVANTI
Another interesting place to snorkel in the same general vicinity is the reef just west of Loggerhead named Little Africa. Why Little Africa got its name will be obvious - if you climb the lighthouse, you will see it is shaped like a little Africa. I don't know if visitors are allowed to climb the lighthouse at Loggerhead now that the park service has taken control of the island, it used to be at the discretion of the Coast Guard personnel stationed there (some would say yes, others would say no) I would ask a Ranger at the Fort about the current policy BEFORE going ashore on Loggerhead (recently heard someone fell on the stairs/lighthouse now closed to visitors). To get back to Little Africa, I have been told there are Three Cannons at Little Africa, one supposed to be easily? identifiable the other two a little more difficult to recognize. Since learning of the Cannons I have only had the opportunity to search for them once and then only spent 20 -30 minutes there and did not see them, they may not be in the core area of the reef (which is not real big), I hope to have more time to hunt for them during my next trip.
If you are using ice for refrigeration I suggest completely loading the box with Blocks ,loading your provisions then completely topping off with cubes or chipped the day before departure and letting the ice suffer an overnight meltdown (bringing everything down to temp), then the morning right before you leave completely top off the box with replacement ice. If you bring some extra items to trade (cigarettes, beer, rum) often one is able to barter with some of the commercial fishermen for a full cooler of ice.
-----------------------
NEW !!! (not new BUT NOW ENFORCED !)
FISHERMEN MAY NOT BARTER SEAFOOD PRODUCTS at SEA WITHOUT A VALID WHOLESALE LICENSE: COCONUT TELEGRAPH reports inspections and citations being issued.
IIRC you may barter/pay $$ for ice but NOT seafood (unless vendor has wholesal e license)
---------------------------.
Many of the fishermen work at night and sleep in the day so wait until there is activity aboard a fishing boat before making an approach to barter with the hard working fisherman. I like to not waste time getting to the fort and get up at the crack of dawn to get out there in one day (gives an extra day of ice at the fort). Returning is a different story, our prevailing SE winds give us a nice run to the Fort but the return is nearly always a beat and more times than not I will spend two days returning, spending the night at anchor off the Marquesas or Boca Grand. Some ask about Refuge in Mooney Harbor about all I can say is that I have rarely been more comfortable inside the false atolls circle of islands than outside.
Inside the Dry Tortugas National Park Boundries: Recreational fishing in the park is allowed but check with rangers for curent regs and location of No Fishing Zones within the parks boundaries and outside of Parks Boundaries !, NO Spearfishing, No Lobstering, No Conching. See florida fishing regs at bottom of homepage. Secure your holding tank ! No Discharge Zone-- Rangers May Board your vessel for a spot inspection.
Dry Tortugas National Park Regulations Summary
There is no public phone service at the Dry Tortugas. Weather permitting there are daily passenger ferries, you might bribe :-) a crew member to send a message if its important.
A General Reminder about the Fort: be careful (seems thats a topic in alot of my posts....) The Key West Citizen (local daily Newspaper) reported on Sunday February 14th page 5A (picture of stretcher being loaded into ambulance) "Key West rescue personnel transport Mary Bahr, 32 of Prairy Village, Kan., after she fell 50 feet off a wall at Ft Jefferson into 3 feet of water. A Coast Guard helicopter evacuated her to shore where an ambulance crew took her to the Lower Florida Keys Health System Hospital. She was in good condition, suffering only minor injuries, according to initial reports. She was backing up to get a picture at the time she fell." A very fortunate woman to have fallen into the moat where there _happened_ to be 3 feet of water.
The month of May has the highest visitation of boaters and it can get quite crowded with June a close second, My favorite time of year out there is September- December when there is about ONE-TENTH the rec.boat traffic* (* rec boat traffic having nothing to do with the deja-news group (r.b.c) but a statistical category used by the Park Service comparing rec boats visiting to other user groups like commercial fishermen, campers and day charters)
The Groundhog day storm that swept the keys in 98 closed the channel between Garden Key and Bush Key ---> The Red and Green Daymarkers that once defined this channel have had their red and green boards removed and have been replaced with new ones that say -- "Danger channel shoaled". There is now a continuous exposed sandbar between Bush Key and Garden Key.
Round the fort counterclockwise to get to the Forts anchorage.
ONE DAY IS NOT ENOUGH TO ENJOY THE DRY TORTUGAS.
One day is only enough for an initial wander of the Fort, maybe a quick snorkel, you just got there and need TIME to relax !
A little history--- Letters sent home in 1862 by Calvin Shedd
