Leslie and David's Wanderings: 28 Feb 2020 Dry Tortugas NP

We made reservations for the ferry to Dry Tortugas NP back in July ($360). So we could not have known what the weather would be. There were small craft warnings up for the Dry Tortugas with wave heights of 7-10 feet. So we were a bit concerned the ferry would be canceled due to the weather. We were up at 4:30 in the morning to get ready and out the door by 6am. Leslie commented getting up that early felt more normal than sleeping in after 23 years of B&B mornings. We were concerned about leaving Etta alone for 12+ hours, so we set up the Furbo so we could monitor here while we were in cell phone range. It is an hour drive to Key West ferry terminal where the Yankee Freedom III docks. We arrived in time to catch the pre-boarding briefing. They were planning to make the run, but they were strongly suggesting everyone get a dose of Dramamine to prevent motion

sickness. But, neither one of us get motion sickness so we decided to skip it. The ride out was 2.5 hours. The first part of the trip was in water protected by a chain of uninhabited keys so it was relatively calm. But after we cleared the keys, the waves grew in height and soon we were bouncing around pretty good. People started getting sick all around the boat. The crew was busy running around and handing people vomit bags and cleaning up messes. Luckily, they also pumped in plenty of fresh air to help keep the odors down. As we pulled into sheltered harbor at Fort Pickens, there was an audible sigh of relief in the boat. Unfortunately, many folks on the boat were going out to the key to go snorkeling, but the water was so rough it was not practical, plus the water was very murky due to the waves, and the temperature with the wind was in the low 60s. After 2.5 hours on the boat, we only had 4 hours on the key before we had to be back to the boat. Only Garden Key was open to the public, the other six keys that make up Dry Tortugas were closed due to bird or turtle nesting. The park is almost 100 square miles, 99% of it is under water. Most of Garden Key is taken up by Fort Jefferson. The first thing constructed on Garden Key was a lighthouse in 1826. The lighthouse was later moved to Loggerhead Key. Fort Jefferson is one of the largest masonry buildings in the US. Built from 16 million bricks imported initially from Pensacola (like Fort Pickens), until the start of the civil war, and then from Maine. Construction started in 1846 and was halted in 1876. The Fort was built by a combination of slave and prisoner labor. Fort Jefferson remained in Union hands through the Civil War. It never saw any action, was never finished and never fully armed (only 146 cannon were ever placed in the fort and it was built to hold 450). The fort was built at this location because in the 1800s, following the Louisiana Purchase, a large portion of the shipping between the port of New Orleans and the east coast had to sail past the end of these keys. Fort Jefferson represents the end of a large coral reef that runs from Biscayne Bay to the Dry Tortugas. In addition, it was the only protected anchorage between New Orleans and Key West. As the US Navy built up during the civil war, it reached a point where it could defend the US coast and it was decided to halt construction on all 42 coastal forts. In addition to being a defensive fort, it also served as a prison. The most famous prisoner was Dr. Mudd who was imprisoned after he set John Booths leg after he assassinated President Lincoln. After construction on the fort was halted, two coaling stations were built to refuel US Navy ships. The seven keys were made a wild life refuge in 1908, then a National Monument in 1935 and a National Park in 1992. Between hurricanes, settling of the massive structure and being in a tropical environment, the fort is slowly falling apart. The park service does some maintenance and restoration, but they are not keeping up.

We signed up on the boat for the guided tour of the fort. Hollywood, one of the boat crew, gave the tour. He had some facts that were not in the self guide tour book that made the tour more interesting. He had so much enthusiasm for the park, it was infectious. Following the tour, we went back to the boat for lunch and then continued touring the fort on our own. We walked the moat wall part of the way until the waves started breaking over the wall, and followed the self guided tour route to see where Dr. Mudd was imprisoned, and where the soldiers lived and worked. The boat ride home was smoother than the ride in the morning and no one got sick. We arrived back in Key West at 5:30. Etta was very happy to see us when we got to the Wanderer. She had held it for 13 hours and was very happy to get outside to relieve herself!