Lignumvitae Key

Eagle's Wings weighed anchor early to motor sail down to Ligumvitae from Tarpon Basin. Along the way, we stopped at Plantation Key Yacht Harbor for fuel, water, pumpout and trash disposal - the essential stuff required for a cruising boat.









We picked up one of three mooring balls provided by the park on the west side of the island. The park dock is located on the east side. Storm clouds filled the southern sky so I checked weather radar on the internet before agreeing to venture out in the dinghy. All the storms were moving off to the west -- so into the dinghy we went - - for a wet ride as we had to hurry to make the 2 PM tour. Our dinghy provides a wet ride when it goes up on a plane to run fast.







Ligumvitae Key is a state park with restricted access. That means that you can't wander around the island on your own. The tour, which costs $1 per person, is the only way to see the island. Joanne & I were the only tourees as it turned out for park ranger, Lance Romance, to guide around. (Don't you just love his name?) So, we got a personal tour! You can read about Ligumvitae Key State Botanical Park at:


http://www.floridastateparks.org/lignumvitaekey/


http://www.keyshistory.org/lvk.html


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lignum_vitae









Ligumvitae Key is famous for mosquitoes, but the first significant rain required to hatch the little devils, occured just yesterday so the mosquitoes won't be feeding on the tourists for about a week. Joanne & I were happy to miss them.

To view larger versions of our pictures, just double click on them.

Today we motorsailed down the ICW and took a dock slip at the Marathon Yacht Club because we are expecting rainy weather for a few days. Our current plan is to wait for the weather to clear and take off across Florida Bay towards Punta Gorda on Thursday.