It was difficult to say good bye to Marlin Bay Marina, its lovely pool, lovely grounds and expansive view to the blue waters in the north, but we'd been there for two whole weeks and it was time to move along. We had debated whether to take the Hawk Channel passage on the outside - more direct but exposed to the Atlantic swells - or the inside route - very shallow in spots but protected from winds and swells. We were so glad we went on the inside - as it is truly a magical symphony of greens and blues and every shade in between as we followed the waterway northeast to Key Largo.

Leaving Marlin Bay

After exiting the Marlin Bay marina, we headed east through relatively uniform depths of 6-7 feet to Bowlegs Cut, followed shortly afterwards by Steamboat Channel and then Cowpens Cut. Along the way here, we ran into the strangest blinding fluorescent green clear water - unlike any we'd seen before. Originally we had wanted to stop in Islamorada, Plantation Key or Tavernier Key - but Hurricane Irma had done a nasty job on a lot of the marinas in this area, and most weren't accepting transients, let alone one of our size. We could have anchored out but decided we'd rather be in port than anchoring in very shallow sand in gusty wind. We carried on to Baker Cut, then the mangrove surrounded Grouper and Dusenbury Creeks - both depicted on the charts as exceedingly shallow - and they were about 5 feet deep or so. What was surprising in both those narrow channels was the sheer volume of boat traffic in both directions - and the speed and wakes left behind... In any case, this trip was truly one of the most amazing visual treks we'd made.

After passing through Blackwater Sound, we approached the somewhat funky Anchorage Resort Marina. On either side of Jewfish Creek, there are two resorts - Gilbert's and Anchorage - right before the Jewfish Creek Bridge - that must have been grandfathered in as developments in the 1970's before the environmental movement luckily prevented all other development for miles around. By the way, jewfish is the older, less fashionable name for a type of grouper - derived from the Italian giupesce - 'fish from below'.

Approach to Jewfish Creek; Anchorage Resort & Marina; Gilbert's Resort

The marina was older, with few other boats in it; an old cement block yellow hotel with screened-in porches towered over it. A lot of folks seem to anchor out in the water in front of the marina. But the atmosphere was pleasant, with Gilbert's hosting a huge rave-like party on this holiday weekend and lots of people out enjoying the water and the sun.

View to Gilbert's Resort and its party; a shipwreck off the marina; and the Anchorage Resort

We took a bike ride during our stay to the Winn-Dixie on the main drag in Key Largo and saw the site where the famous eponymous movie was filmed, now a restaurant and bar. A lot of this area surrounding Route 1, particularly north where we stayed on Key Largo is the Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park and is protected against development. All in all, this was a good, relatively quiet stop (outside of partying hours) before heading north to the Miami metropolis.