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Cudjoe Key Trip

1WetBoat

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Heading down to CudJoe Key are for the week. Never taken my boat that far so it will be a new adventure for us.
 

Bruce

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1WetBoat

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1WetBoat

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400 miles by water?
No, sorry, trailering out there, 400 miles trailering it.
I have pretty much stayed local to my area and the furthest i have trailered it has been about 50 miles or so. So this will be my first time going that far with the trailer.
 

1WetBoat

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Trailering the boat for 7+ hours was a success. When we stopped for gas I would check the temps on the trailers hubs just in case. Temps where within 10-15 degrees between front and rear hubs on trailer.

Cudjoe Bay is interesting due to the shallow areas all around there but followed the advice of some locals and had no issues. Water temps were 90 or so during our outings on the boat. Didnt feel like 90 once we jumped in.

Towed with my 15 Durango RT. Averaged around 11 MPG for the trip at a steady 65 on the highway.
 

lazergeek

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Make sure you have good navigation chart app or chart plotter with up to date charts. Lots of shallow spots to get into trouble, also low bridges.
 

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Was in Cudjo Key in Feb, and heading back again in Feb 2024. @1WetBoat are you staying at "Venture Out" resort? I didn't take my boat last year, but am pondering taking mine this coming year. When will you be there?
 

1WetBoat

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Make sure you have good navigation chart app or chart plotter with up to date charts. Lots of shallow spots to get into trouble, also low bridges.
Agree, the charts helped out tremendously, but I still asked around some of the locals just in case. Had no issues but didnt head to the backcountry due to the shallower areas back there. Maybe next time I will feel more confident to go exploring a bitmore.
 

1WetBoat

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Was in Cudjo Key in Feb, and heading back again in Feb 2024. @1WetBoat are you staying at "Venture Out" resort? I didn't take my boat last year, but am pondering taking mine this coming year. When will you be there?
Hey @Julian , I just got back from my trip. I stayed right across the street from "Venture Out", like literally. Cool thing about "Venture out" is that they have their own ramp, I had to use "Cudjoe Gardens Marina" to launch and then hop across Cudjoe Bay to where I was staying at. The bay is known for having some shallow areas so I used my chart (Navionics app) and some local's pointe out markers that had been setup on the bay to guide boaters.
 

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Hey @Julian , I just got back from my trip. I stayed right across the street from "Venture Out", like literally. Cool thing about "Venture out" is that they have their own ramp, I had to use "Cudjoe Gardens Marina" to launch and then hop across Cudjoe Bay to where I was staying at. The bay is known for having some shallow areas so I used my chart (Navionics app) and some local's pointe out markers that had been setup on the bay to guide boaters.
So would you take your boat if you did it over again?
Spots to go to?
How rough was the water? Was windy a lot when we were down there.
Photos?
 

1WetBoat

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So would you take your boat if you did it over again?
Spots to go to?
How rough was the water? Was windy a lot when we were down there.
Photos?
I would definitely take my boat again. This was my first time going to the keys with my boat and we loved it.
Water wasn't rough at all, had some 1-2 footers when we went out to Looe Key, but spaced apart so they were smooth. We mainly went to the Looe Key Reef and the American Shoal LightHouse for some snorkeling. We wanted to go to some of the local sandbars, but those areas can get shallow and i wasnt comfortable there yet.
 

adrianp89

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We were at Sugar Loaf the last week of July. We had to go out and around Cudjoe to get to the Gulf side. Square Grouper was one of the best places I've ever been too. We made a few trips passed the Cudjoe Basin.
 

1WetBoat

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We were at Sugar Loaf the last week of July. We had to go out and around Cudjoe to get to the Gulf side. Square Grouper was one of the best places I've ever been too. We made a few trips passed the Cudjoe Basin.
@adrianp89 Yeah, Square Grouper had awesome food.
Im guessing you went out through "Kemp Channel" to get to the Gulf side. I really, really wanted to try it and head on over to Marvin Key but I was just not confident enough in navigating those waters with how shallow some spots are. I kept track of the tides but still wasnt sure about it.
Which of your boats did you take? Did you have any issues with shallow areas while going out to the gulf?
 
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