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From Key West to Dry Tort feature Dry Tortugas From Key West to Dry Tort 54 BoatingWorld May 2010 feature Dry Tortugas t was 8:45 on a rainy October had left his home around 5 that tional fuel tanks. We had the standard morning, and I was on my morning and had just crossed the 80-gallon tank that comes mounted way to Bishop International Florida border. in the center pontoon. We also had Airport in Flint, Mich. Before the 36-gallon tank that comes stan- I left the Avalon/Tahoe Built for Fun dard on two-tube models mounted in Pontoon manufacturing Our pontoon had just come off the the port rear corner and two addi- facility in Alma 45 minutes production line the previous week. It tional 45-gallon tanks mounted in the earlier, I checked the weather is a stock boat except for three addi- privacy station area toward the rear of Ifor Key West one last the boat. The guys at the time. As luck would plant did a great job inte- have it, the day of my grating all the tanks and departure was also the even installed a knob on the day the forecast took a dash so we could easily turn for the worse. monitor and switch As I paid attention to between them. the wet and slippery Aside from the 206-gal- road, my cell phone lon fuel capacity, our boat rang. It was Doug also has the Rough Water Haskell, a Tahoe Package (aluminum tubes Pontoon dealer from are .110 inch thick instead Devil’s Lake, Mich. of .090 inch and all seams “Have you seen the are joined with continuous weather?” he asked. I welds), the Watersports just laughed and said, Package (triple-tube setup, “Here we go again.” aluminum under sheeting and high- Doug was in Central Florida, Three men test the performance lifting strakes on all about three and a half hours from our limits of an Avalon three pontoons), captain stand scheduled rendezvous at Ft. Myers upgrade (includes a built-in stainless Beach. He had left the previous pontoon fresh off steel refrigerator, retractable wine morning from south Michigan and the production line rack and sink), double Bimini top was towing the 26-foot Avalon (two 10-foot Biminis for maximum Pontoon that we planned to take for a BY JIM WOLF, shade coverage), wakeboard tower ride around the Keys. Bruce England, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF (with Infinity tower speakers), col- a Tahoe Pontoon dealer from Atlanta, AVALON/TAHOE PONTOONS ored wall skin upgrade (we chose ugas in a Pontoon BoatingWorld.com 55 feature Dry Tortugas black walls), sport graphics and step up the plan by a day. We didn’t simulated teak wood on the front want to be in the open waters of the deck instead of carpet. Dry Tortugas when the cold front Powering the decked-out Avalon came in and the wind and waves is a 250 hp Yamaha four-stroke with picked up. This was supposed to be digital shift controls. Yamaha was a fun adventure, not a deadly one. excited to team up with With the front coming in Saturday Avalon/Tahoe on this project, and all afternoon, we had to make it over to of us were excited that the boat the Dry Tortugas and back by then. would be powered by such a reliable Instead of burning all day Friday and maintenance-free engine. going from Ft. Myers to Key West, we decided that we would drive straight Change of Plans to Key West and depart Friday As I neared the airport, I gave morning for the Dry Tortugas. Doug the updated forecast. “OK, so now they are calling for the cold Moment of Truth front to come in Saturday afternoon From left to right: Avalon dealers The next morning in Key West, we instead of Sunday. Saturday we are Doug Haskell and Bruce England with purchased our fishing licenses and looking at 10-knot winds shifting to Avalon president and CEO Jim Wolf, nonresident lobster permits, then the northwest and increasing to near- safely tied up at the marina. headed over to City Marina at ly 15 knots during the afternoon. Seas Garrison Bight where Doug had building beyond the reef 2 to 4 feet Key West by sundown. Saturday we dropped the boat the night before. with scattered showers. Sunday, would travel the 70 miles from Key When the dockhands at the marina north winds near 20 knots and gusty. West to Dry Tortugas National Park. heard our plan to take the 26-foot Seas beyond the reef 4 to 7 feet, even After hanging out all day we would pontoon to the Dry Tortugas, they higher in the Gulf Stream.” We both spend the night on the boat, go back to said we were crazy to attempt that knew that our plan needed to change Key West on Sunday and maybe spend journey with our rig, especially with and it needed to change fast. a couple of extra days kicking around the impending storm. Originally our plan was to spend the Keys before returning to Ft. Myers. After topping off all the tanks we Thursday night in Ft. Myers, then After the last look at the weather, backed the Avalon down the ramp depart on Friday morning and be in our thought was that we needed to and put her in. We were all anxious to 1513 to Present lmost 70 nautical the Dry Tortugas have been a hazard miles west of Key to navigation and the site of hundreds A West is a cluster of of shipwrecks. seven islands composed of U.S. military attention was drawn coral reef and dry sand called to the Keys in the early 1800s due to the Dry Tortugas. Along with their strategic location in the Florida the surrounding shoals and Straits. Plans were made for a massive waters, they make up Dry fortress and construction began in Tortugas National Park. The 1846, but the fort was never complet- area is famous for its bird ed because the invention of the rifled and marine life, legends of cannon made the fort obsolete. As the pirates and sunken gold, and military value of Fort Jefferson waned, its military past. its pristine reefs, abundant sea life and The Tortugas were discovered by impressive birds grew in value. In 1953, Ponce de Leon in 1513. Sea turtles President Roosevelt set aside Fort (“tortugas” in Spanish) provisioned his Jefferson and the surrounding waters ships with fresh meat, but there was as a national park. The area was desig- no drinking water — the Tortugas nated as Dry Tortugas National Park in were dry. Since the days of Spanish 1992 to protect both its historical and exploration, the reefs and shoals of natural features. 56 BoatingWorld May 2010 feature Dry Tortugas see how she floated fully loaded and come and go. We came within 100 carrying the additional 1,500 pounds yards of a commercial fishing boat, of fuel. The 27-inch pontoons and we were certain they couldn’t appeared to do an excellent job keep- believe their eyes when they saw three ing her high, dry and well balanced. guys cruising by in a pontoon. The 250 Yamaha turned over quickly, and all was good to go. Arrival As we backed away from the dock, About 10 miles from our destina- we all looked at each other and, in tion, Doug spotted the 150-foot light- unison, blurted out our team motto: house on Loggerhead Key, 3 miles “Let’s get ‘er done!” With that, we past Garden Key, which is home to headed into the unknown. Fort Jefferson. The sight of land was a relief. We reached the Dry Tortugas, On the Open Seas the sun was beating down, the water Safety First With Bruce at the controls, Doug was crystal clear and we still had all lthough spending four days started dialing in the coordinates on day to explore, play around and catch Atraveling around the Keys on a the GPS, and I pulled out my camera some dinner. pontoon sounded like a blast, it and snapped some photos. We slowly Fort Jefferson was impressive as it also took us through the Gulf motored through the no-wake zones came into view. We backed off the Stream and out of sight of land for around Key West, and soon we were throttle and took our time navigating several hours. The three of us all free to roll. We took the Avalon up to through the shallow water in between have significant boating experi- cruising speed and settled in around small islands of white sand. The first ence, and we knew that the Avalon 23 to 25 knots. We were running off the order of business was to set foot on is a well-built boat that could with- port rear fuel tank since consuming dry land and visit the fort. We followed stand some pretty harsh conditions. the fuel in this tank first would give us the well-marked channel into Garden We also knew the Yamaha is an better balance from side to side. Key and passed the main visitor’s dock extremely reliable engine that As we headed due west from Key where a large ferry (Yankee Freedom would get us there and back with- West, we traveled along the outer II) from Key West was getting ready to out failure. But there’s still a little islands that are spread out over a 30- depart. Through the zoom lens on my craziness in taking a pontoon over mile stretch.
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