The Dry Tortugas were discovered by Ponce de Leon in 1513 and so-named for the fact that there were no freshwater springs but an abundance of turtles. Seven islands comprise the Dry Tortugas and we headed to Garden Key, the site of Fort Jefferson. Construction of the fort was begun in 1846 and it was never finished. It was first used to guard US shipping channels and defend the Gulf of Mexico. Later it served as a prison. Its most famous inmate was Dr. Samuel Mudd, who treated John Wilkes Booth following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The iron Harbor Light, located on the third tier of the fort, is currently undergoing structural repairs and was surrounded by scaffolding.
Fort Jefferson is enormous and is comprised of an estimated 16 million bricks, making it the largest masonry structure in the Western Hemisphere. It was designed to accommodate 450 guns in arched casemates. The strength of the arch is utilized everywhere to support the weight of the structure. Looking out the arched openings, we could see our chariot for the day, some interesting orange flowers, and the landing site for the tour planes. The sea planes land on the water and then back up on the beach where a dozen folks file out on steps lowered from the tail.
The view from the top of the fort is spectacular. The fort wall is on the right, then a 70-foot wide moat, and finally the open ocean. The dark areas are patches of sea grass.
Barry and I did the self-guided tour of the fort before returning to the boat for lunch. We were eager to hit the water for some snorkeling. All of our stuff was deposited on the beach and into the water we went. The first thing I noticed was that the water was very salty. The next was how monochromatic the underwater sights were. I had my little underwater camera and tried to remember how to use it while taking pictures first of things that didn't move -- shells, sessile coral, whelk egg casings -- before working my way up to chasing fish. The closer we got to the fort wall, the more fish we saw. These little green guys loved to dart in and out of the sea grass.
Landlubbers see coral in gift shops where it is hard and brittle. I can't really describe how it feels to watch it sway gracefully in the tidal surges. My "money shots" of the day were of this cool fish that let me follow him for a while and ultimately watch as he ate a small crab from the sea floor. The final shot shows a few more fish, but also the shockingly large amount of dead and bleached coral on the bottom. This area is touted for its great reef, but it is obviously hurting. We were in the water for about three hours and were tired as we carried everything back up to the boat for a rinse and change of clothes.
We snagged better seats for the journey back to Key West and were able to enjoy a nice breeze and leg room. The return trip had us heading into the wind and the ride was a little bouncier that the morning. We were not affected by the motion and would have loved to have the water this calm the other day as we headed into Marathon Marina. Barry slept most of the way. Others, however, were not so fortunate. A teenager hugged the rail in obvious discomfort. An "emotional support animal" needed a bit of comforting from her person. The funniest (and somewhat saddest) moment occurred as we were nearing Key West and cell service returned. All at once, everyone on the boat picked up their buzzing phones and started checking on what we had "missed out on" during our few hours away. We talked about how fortunate we were to have experienced all we did on such a beautiful day. We returned to the rental car and headed straight to the hotel. Sightseeing of Key West will wait until tomorrow. I jumped right in to a long-anticipated "Hollywood" shower before we went down for dinner by the pool. We were asleep by 9:00.
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