Tarpon Belly Key and Beyond

Sawyer and Rider Keys are right on the edge of the Gulf of Mexico north of Cudjoe Key which is on the Overseas Highway, aka US Highway #1, the Main Street of the Florida Keys.   There is supposed to be some pretty sights there including lots of birds some beach and it is a generally nice, if not long paddle at about 6-7 miles one way.  Wind and tide can make it challenging because there is a cross key channel from the Atlantic to the Gulf under Niles Bridge that goes out to Sawyer and the tide in particular can make it seem a lot further, or conversely a lot shorter. Also, on Tarpon Belly Key was a geocache I wanted to find.  BJ was less than enthusiastic about the  10+ mile round trip due to possibility of changing weather conditions and impact of tides so I had been discussing it with other kayakrs and Jerry and Harold and I decided Monday was a good day.  Winds were forecast to be 10-15 in the AM from the SE but were expected to calm down to less than 10 in the afternoon.  Tide was supposed to be high about noon and the receding tide would be to our benefit on the return trip when the wind would be minimal according to plans.  We planned on stopping at Tarpon Belly Key on the way out and maybe on the way back. Tarpon Belly Key geocac Launch point was end of Blimp Road near the US Air Force base about 2 miles north of the Overseas Highway and we set off from there about 0930 with the 10-15 mph wind at our back.  We made it out to Tarpon Belly Key in about an hour.  Jerry and Harold set about exploring the key while I focused on finding the geocache. Tarpon Belly Key camping with shower in background!  About a half-hour later I set off to find them which I did in about 10 minutes.  They were on the south side of the e-w channel.  It appeared to be a popular lay over for visitors.  There was several fire pits along the shore and some abandoned “furniture” and at one spot someone had left a thermal shower bag hanging in a tree.     Over lunch we enjoyed on a nice rug someone had left on the rocky beach we decided the wind had not subsided and may have become stronger!  We were only about 1/3 of the way to Sawyer and with the strong wind the trip back would be more then we bargained for.  So we decided to head for Raccoon  Key which was southeast of the Tarpon Belly so we would be going across the wind to and from that key and would stop a Budd Key to look at an interesting place there.   Raccoon Key side trip Raccoon Key was at one point in the past used by a US company to raise monkeys for research labs.  But, they are all supposed to be gone by now and we saw no sign of them.  I took a short trail into the key but found nothing interesting.  We also kayaked into some mangrove creeks but they all were loops that were nice side trips.     The trip from Raccoon Key to Budd Key was on a southwest course so we were still going across the wind to some degree vs. directly into it and we were still heading back south to the launch point!   Budd Keys are two separate adjacent keys with very skinny water between them.  Jerry had discovered on Google Earth that there was a path to an interior pond on one of the Keys and we wanted to explore it! There were some pilings at the landing indicated a dock had existed there at one point in time!  We walked about 200 feet to the interior and found the pond.  It was clear and clean water but no discernible fish life.  Its level is about 3 feet below the rocky surface of the key.  As we walked around the pond we first saw the remnants of an old house trailer.  Without the trailer frame there it would have looked like a pile of tin sheets thoroughly rusted!  As we continued around the pond we encountered a very rusted car.   Car parking on Budd Key! We believe it was an old Lincoln based on the minimal grill and one fender remaining.  The carburetor was laying on the engine and the valve covers were long gone!!  Further on we found what must have been the homestead but it was no more then a pile of metal, wood and brick mainly grown over and on the other side was another car, even more deteriorated then the first one we saw!!  It was interesting to see the car hulks there as there is no indication there was ever a bridge to the key and it was not big enough to drive on with or without a road. We returned to the kayaks and headed out on the last leg of our trip.  It was one mile to launch point and even though we were heading into the wind and it was still strong, by now we were use to it.   We enjoyed a beer and loaded the kayaks and headed back to Key West.  Along the way, I looked for and found another geocache near Baby’s Coffee on Sugarloaf Key. The yellow route is our actual route and the red one was the planned one!!