[edwardc]

As Dan suggested,we were able to stay inside the park boundaries down to Cape Sable (about 1 mi offshore) and avoid the crabpots. After that, the strings of pots were thick enough to walk across Florida Bay on the floats and not get your feet wet! Required constant vigilance.

We got into Boot Key Harbor Tue afternoon and immediately put ourselves on the waiting list for a mooring. Started at #28 and have moved down to #24 after a day. The marina also informed us that where we squeezed in to anchor wasn't legal, and if Florida Wildlife Commission (FWC) came through, we would be ticketed, so we had to pull anchor and move to the authorized anchorage, where we are anchored much too close to all the other boats (unlike the spot we came from which had adequate swing room for a full 7:1 scope).

The City marina is functional, but still recovering from hurricane Irma. The mooring field, and most of the extensive dinghy docks, have been restored, but they have NO slips as all of their docks were destroyed.

Paid for dinghy dock privileges for a week as we wait for a mooring. If a ball comes available sooner, they will pro-rate the unused portion and put it towards the mooring ball.

So, we'll probably be here for a week, maybe two.