Florida Keys - Rocky Channel vs Big Spanish Channel (ICW)

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Wayne.B - 29 Dec 2004 14:14 GMT

Is anyone familiar with "Rocky Channel" going north from the
Marathon/Bahia Honda area? It looks like it has deeper water than Big
Spanish Channel which is a little further west. Rocky Channel appears
to have no navigational aids however which means that you would need
to rely strictly on the accuracy of the charts and/or eyeball
navigation.

Does anyone ever go through there, and if so, is it OK for 5 1/2 feet
of draft? If the chart can be believed, it looks like you could carry
7 feet all the way up to the gulf. Are there any coral heads or
shoaling to worry about?

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captkeywest - 30 Dec 2004 04:16 GMT

not about rocky channel but about marking channels in the backcountry
in general: (& shoaling can be a problem)

http://last-stand.org/HTML/articles/niles_channel_markers_kwc_nov07.htm

> Is anyone familiar with "Rocky Channel" going north from the
> Marathon/Bahia Honda area? It looks like it has deeper water than Big
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> 7 feet all the way up to the gulf. Are there any coral heads or
> shoaling to worry about?

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Wayne.B - 30 Dec 2004 06:00 GMT

>not about rocky channel but about marking channels in the backcountry
>in general: (& shoaling can be a problem)
>
>http://last-stand.org/HTML/articles/niles_channel_markers_kwc_nov07.htm

========================

Thanks for the insight into Keys eco-politics. In any case, I think
I've found a better way north that looks somewhat less intimidating
than Rocky Channel. It runs north from Moser Channel dodging Red Bay
Bank and Bullard Bank along the way. Looks like mostly 8 to 10 feet
of water all the way north to the Gulf.

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captkeywest - 30 Dec 2004 18:14 GMT

> runs north from Moser Channel dodging Red Bay
> Bank and Bullard Bank

Yes that is my preferred route when heading from Keys to SW
Florida.....

FYI: local websites of interest:

Cruising The Keys (when I created this both Boot Key and the FKNMS site
were in their infancy), both those sites have grown by leaps and
bounds, theres still some stuff unique to my angelfire page but one of
these days I will probably kill the angelfire website, I just have no
time to put into it......

http://www.angelfire.com/fl/cruisingkeywest/

Great website w keys cruising directory

http://www.bootkeyharbor.com/cruising_the_keys.htm

FKNMS rules and regs mooring fields etc etc

http://www.fknms.nos.noaa.gov/

FKNMS penalty schedule ( 1st pdf link see page 2)

http://www.fknms.nos.noaa.gov/le/summarysettlments.html

It runs north from Moser Channel dodging Red Bay

> Bank and Bullard Bank along the way. Looks like mostly 8 to 10 feet
> of water all the way north to the Gulf.

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Boat Forum / Cruising / December 2004

Florida Keys - Rocky Channel vs Big Spanish Channel (ICW)