01/06/2025 ICW Day 6 : In Search of the Submerged Savior

In preparing for this trip, I learned about “Christ of the Abyss,” a submerged statue off the coast of Key Largo. It turned out that the best weather to make an attempt to see it was today. We got up extra early and sailed out into the open ocean - promising to leave the snorkel site by 10AM. That would give us enough time to get into a protected channel before the predicted winds escalated at 1PM. The winds were fairly strong right out of the gate - which meant that we moved quickly, only taking 2 hours to get to the snorkel site which was 5 miles offshore. Janet was more relaxed this time, in spite of the larger seas. We tied off to a bouy and I went about searching for snorkeling on my paddle board. I would lay down on the board and submerged my face for a look-see, but determined that the water was too agitated to make it worth getting in. Next, we navigated to the “Christ of the Abyss” site, but didn’t find him. It’s kind of like geocaching!

From there, Janet got to relax because the rest of the day, we sailed a “broad reach,” which is probably the driest, fastest, and quietest points of sail. We made good time, listened to “the Hail Mary Project” (in Spanish because that is the only version we could get from the library). We listened to some Reggaeton and I boogied on the paddle boards and took a few swims.

At the end of the day, we arrived in Biscayne National Park. Another national park that I hadn’t heard of until starting this trip. The ranger let us stay for free. I think we get a lot of extra leeway being on this boat - which I don’t feel guilty about… we aren’t making lots of engine noise or scaring wildlife with propellers… just our two little flippers under the hull, and the ocasional fluttering sail.