John, I would prefer the lower 2/3 , but I'm flexible. The important thing is to have a secure place to leave the cars/trucks, and a place to rig prior to launch/retrieve. Clarence ----- Original Message ----- From: <Saltm17@aol.com> To: <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Sunday, January 30, 2005 3:18 PM Subject: M_Boats: Florida Keys Cruise. Update 2 Florida Keys Cruise Update # 2 Tentative Dates May 8 – 15 Anyone who would like to join the cruise is more than welcome Signed up (as of Jan 29) Maria Jorge M17 Clarence Andrews M17 John Edwards M17 Maria has done a lot of legwork checking out places in the Keys and there are a couple of options for the itinerary: 1. Launch at Key Largo and sail one way to Key West. This will require a shuttle of trucks/trailers and a suitable place to store them while we sail. There is a place on Key Largo where we might be able to store them for $10/day. There is a good launch ramp at Pennekamp state park. This would mean about 200 miles of sailing but mostly downwind ( about 23 miles/day) 2. Launch at Long Key at Seabird Marina ( _www.seabirdmarina.com_ (http://www.seabirdmarina.com/) )and sail down to Key West on one side of the Keys and return on the other side. This would avoid having to shuttle the rigs, and we would spend our time in the lower 2/3s of the Keys which are considered the better part of the Keys. The round trip would be about 170 miles. (about 20 miles per day average for 9 days) There are numerous anchorages and Marinas on both sides of the Keys, and three places where we could cross from one side to the other. Let me know what you prefer or if you have any other ideas for an itinerary. Note: I’m reading “Cruisng The Florida Keys” by Claiborne Young, and it looks like there is a very good chance we will see manatees and dolphins on the cruise along with a lot of other wildlife, and there are a lot of reefs to snorkel along the way. _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats