Trip to Fort Jefferson Dry Tortugas

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" 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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Photos

Bob and his dream fish.
This was the dock in Key West where we met the Ferry to take us to Fort Jefferson

Ft. Jefferson
Ft. Jefferson is the biggest fort in the USA

Moat
This was standard with fort of this type

Kelly and Bob on fort wall
The fort walls look thick, but they are false the weight was too much so they are not bricks inside but shells.
These bricks were brought here from NY

Lighthouse on top of the fort
This does not work

Keys next to Dry Tortuga
There were two of these that we kayaked around durning our stay

Plane
these bring people out to the fort
It cost about $339.00 vs the ferry of $130.00

Starfish
We saw this as we walked along the moat. Later as we scuba dived I saw another

Tent sites
There were about 10 site and most were full, we had to bring our water because it is DRY

Comments

[anonymous]

um
you suck that fish isnt even real! - bill

[Bob]

NOT REAl
Its not real you complete nin-compoop

[Wayne]

Any tips on camping?
I am leaving of the Dry Tortugas next month (May 15). Any tips on camping? What you wish you would have taken, what was not needed. Is there and additional fee to bring the kayaks?

[nate]

awesome
The dry tortugas are phenominal and I am glad to see you got to enjoy all that Fort Jefferson had to offer. Must have been pretty quiet at night!!! I got engaged on that island and it is by far, the closest to paradise I've ever been.