Trip to Fort Jefferson Dry Tortugas

" The purpose of life is not to be happy ~
but to matter, to be productive, to be
Useful, to have it make some difference that you
have lived at all."
~ Leo Rosten”

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Dry Tortugas


Since it was necessary to be at the dock with our gear to be stored by 6:30AM, so we were up and moving by 5AM. The ferryboat is the Yankee Freedom II, it is a catamaran and it travels from Key West 70 miles to the island of the Dry Tortugas once a day. It is a two and a half hour trip. We settled ourselves at a table and began to chat with another couple, Ginny and Joe from NJ. They too were camping over night and had their kayaks with them. We shared retirement stories and camping experiences and had a grand old time.
When we arrived at the Dry Tortugas, we, the campers, were the last ones off the boat, just six of us. We gathered our gear and snorkel equipment and went off to find a site. By the time we claimed our spot and put up the tent, the tour of Ft. Jefferson was over. We began our snorkel experience checking out coral reefs and magnificent brightly colored fish. We took the self- guided tour of Ft. Jefferson. While we were up on top of the bastion, we watched as the last boat left the island, rather a strange feeling.
When we returned to the camp area Joe and Ginny insisted we take their kayaks out for a while. So with our arms twisted we kayaked around the fort and the island as well as Bush Key, a very pleasant paddle. We saw two large stingrays gliding through the water.
We eat diner with Joe and Ginny, and watched the sunset, just beautiful! We tried to catch a glimpse of the eels, and lobsters along the mote, but, alas, we were not successful. Before long it was time to go stargazing, however the star chart we had wasn’t so helpful. There was at least a “gazillion” stars. Absolutely breathtaking!
By ten we were in the tent and ready for some zzzzzz’s. This was a very memorable day.

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