Day 7 Traveling to the Southernmost Point on a Two Lane Adventure – Sunday 11/04/18

Day 4 of our Yankee RV Tours Key West Fiesta began early, with a perfect sky that looked like it was created by a painters brush on canvas! Today was an optional tour day, but everyone at the Rally took part in it. We are visiting the Dry Tortugas aboard the Yankee Freedom II Ferry.

They boarded by ticket numbers, we were all in the 100’s. Everyone else had boarded and the “Yankee RV” crew were the only ones left sitting in the ferry terminal.

The Yankee Freedom III is a high speed catamaran. Built in New England in 2012, she entered service in Key West in the fall of 2012. Powered by twin Caterpillar engines she can travel at a speed of over 30 miles per hour. This makes the Yankee Freedom III catamaran the fastest vessel of her size out of Key West. The upper deck of the Yankee Freedom III is open to the sea air and sights and sounds of marine life. The large, completely air-conditioned cabin has comfortable cushioned seating and large windows all around.

The modern galley serving a complimentary breakfast of fresh foods and juices at sea and a delicious complete lunch served at Fort Jefferson. In 1944, on a shore 35 miles north of Boston, Massachusetts, a young boy named Jerry Hill began taking visitors on an afternoon sail aboard his small sailboat. It is from this childhood business the Yankee Fleet was born. Today Jerry, his wife Carol and family operate the Yankee Fleet with vessels located in Key West, Florida and Gloucester, Massachusetts. The Yankee Fleet in Gloucester, Massachusetts has over 7 vessels and has grown to become New England’s leader in whale watching excursions, deep sea fishing trips, education, whale conservation and marine stewardship.

The Dry Tortugas National Park is almost 70 miles west of Key West. The seas were very rough on the way out and there was a number of people that confirmed that … me included! The Dry Tortugas are a 100-square mile park that is mostly open water with seven small islands.  Accessible only by boat or seaplane, the park is known the world over as the home of magnificent Fort Jefferson, picturesque blue waters, superlative coral reefs and marine life, and the vast assortment of bird life that frequents the area.

If you have ever wondered where the name “Dry Tortugas” came from, you’ve come to the right place! When Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon discovered the island in 1513 he was amazed by the amount of sea turtles he saw; they were everywhere! He decided to name the island after the magnificent animals and gave the island the name “Las Tortugas” which is Spanish for “the turtles.” Despite its beauty and abundance of nature, fresh water was scarce on the island, and the word “dry” was added to the name to warn sailors and visitors that they needed to bring their own fresh water to drink.

The area is known for its treacherous reefs, and in 1825 a lighthouse was built on Garden Key to warn ships and guide them toward safety. At the time shipwrecks were common, and with underwater wrecks dating back to the 1600s. The Dry Tortugas currently possess one of the richest concentrations of shipwrecks in North America. It is also because of these large reefs surrounding the Tortugas that the US was able to establish one of the most strategic harbors in US history, and Fort Jefferson was born.

Construction of the fort began in 1846, and although it was never officially finished, it remains a historic icon of the Dry Tortugas. After the War of 1812 a group of forts from Maine to Texas was envisioned to provide defense for the United States of America. Fort Jefferson was built to protect the southern coastline of the US and the lifeline of commerce to and from the Mississippi River. The fort was planned to be the greatest of these.

Fort Jefferson itself is a six-sided building constructed of 16 million handmade red bricks. In 1825 a lighthouse was built on Garden Key to provide warning to sailors about the dangers of reefs and shoals surrounding the Dry Tortugas. Fort Jefferson was built to protect one of the most strategic deepwater anchorages in North America. By fortifying this spacious harbor, the United States maintained an important “advance post” for ships patrolling the Gulf of Mexico and the Straits of Florida.

Nestled within the islands and shoals that make up the Dry Tortugas, the harbor offered ships the chance to resupply, refit, or seek refuge from storms. The location of the Tortugas along one the world’s busiest shipping lanes was its greatest military asset. Though passing ships could easily avoid the largest of Fort Jefferson’s guns, they could not avoid the warships that used its harbor.

The design of the fort called for a three-tiered six-sided 420 heavy-gun fort, with two sides measuring 325 feet, and four sides measuring 477 feet. The walls met at corner bastions, which are large projections designed to allow defensive fire along the faces of the walls they joined. The heavy guns were mounted inside the walls in a string of open casemates, or gunrooms, facing outward toward the sea through large openings called embrasures. Fort Jefferson was designed to be a massive gun platform, impervious to assault, and able to destroy any enemy ships foolhardy enough to come within range of its powerful guns.

Living quarters for soldiers and officers, gunpowder magazines, storehouses, and other buildings required to maintain the fort were located on the parade ground inside the fort’s massive brick walls. The Army employed civilian machinists, carpenters, blacksmiths, masons, general laborers, the resident prisoner population, and slaves to help construct the fort. By 1863, during the Civil War, the number of military convicts at Fort Jefferson had increased so significantly that slaves were no longer needed. At the time, there were 22 black slaves employed on the project.

Fort Jefferson’s peak military population was 1,729. In addition, a number of officers brought their families, and a limited number of enlisted personnel brought wives who served as laundresses (typically four per company). There were also lighthouse keepers and their families, cooks, a civilian doctor and his family, and others. In all, there were close to 2,000 people at Fort Jefferson during its peak years.

The fort remained in Federal hands throughout the Civil War. With the end of hostilities in 1865, the fort’s population had declined to 1,013, consisting of 486 soldiers or civilians and 527 prisoners. The great majority of prisoners at Fort Jefferson were Army privates whose most common transgression was desertion. The most common transgression of civilian prisoners was robbery. The most famous of these prisoners was Dr. Samuel Mudd, who was imprisoned for his involvement in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. By 1888, the military usefulness of Fort Jefferson had waned, and the cost of maintaining the fort due to the effects of frequent hurricanes and the corrosive and debilitating tropical climate could no longer be justified.

During its time, Fort Jefferson held over 2,500 prisoners. After its use as a prison, Fort Jefferson became a quarantine station for the Marine-Hospital Service from 1888-1900, during which the location was also used in the Spanish-American War. In 1888, the Army turned the fort over to the Marine-Hospital Service to be operated as a quarantine station.

In 1908 the area was designated as a bird reserve and transferred to the Department of Agriculture. On January 4, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who visited the area by ship, designated the area as Fort Jefferson National Monument, the first marine area to be so promoted. With its rich historical background, Fort Jefferson finally received its designation as a National Monument in 1935, and then upgraded to National Park status by President George Bush in 1992.

Dry Tortugas National Park is home to history and natural wonders above and below the water's’ surface. The park’s corals and seagrass communities are among the most vibrant in the Florida Keys. Mary and I enjoyed snorkeling, around the Dry Tortugas National Park. We were told it offers some of the best snorkeling in North America. The shallow waters made the snorkeling at the Dry Tortugas fun for Mary and myself.

photo credit - fellow snorkeler

We walked past the picnic grounds and campgrounds, and onto the white sandy beach and entered one of the island’s many designated snorkel areas. Another snorkeler told us about a great location to see an abundance of colorful tropical fish and living coral among the waters. Directly accessible from the brilliant white sand beach are the Fort Jefferson snorkeling areas. We saw majestic corals, many varieties of tropical fish, conchs, and much more in this protected marine sanctuary.

photo credit - fellow snorkeler

The Dry Tortugas is home to some of the most vibrant coral reefs in the United States, and is a snorkeler’s wonderland. The reef stretches from the Dry Tortugas in the Gulf of Mexico all the way to Miami in the Atlantic Ocean. This amazing structure is made up of layers of calcium carbonate secreted by coral polyps throughout thousands of years and is the home of hundreds of tropical fish and marine life. The corals receive their vibrant colors from polyps containing algae, which also helps to keep the corals alive.

Everyone was so tired from the say of fresh air and salt water, the ride back to Key West was very quiet! There was one game of Pegs and Jokers going on. The seas were much calmer, than the trip out too!

On our way back into the docks in Key West, we passed an old time ship.

We also passed a floating tiki bar, I guess it was floating, but it also had a motor! You never know what you will see on the water in Key West!

We got back in time to go back to Mallory Square and catch another Sunset Celebration.

We also wanted to see the busker that fits himself thru the face of a tennis racket, but he was not there.

So we enjoyed another busker or two.