Island Dreamer sailing on a close reach

Margie and I have spent the last few days sailing the backcountry of the Florida Keys on our journey  to Key West to pick up our next couples sailing charter. I am reminded once again how pleasant it is to sail along at 6 knots in 15 knots of wind and still have calm seas and not have the boat heeled over to the rails.  The combination of having the sails reefed and set properly and the protection of the many small islands and shallow water makes it easy to relax and enjoy gliding through the water.

We are looking forward to spending some time before our charter with our friends Captain Holley and Captain Denny who own the Schooner Conch Pearl. They do Liveaboard sailing scuba trips based out of Key West. We got to be good friends when Margie and I were running the Schooner Heritage of Miami for the Boy Scouts High Adventure Seabase and our days off coincided two summers ago.  Because they have a compressor on board to fill their Scuba tanks they are able to dive locations that diving day trip boats don’t go to in the Florida Keys Marine Sanctuary.

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“By 1900, feathers were in fashion and no woman’s hat, it seemed, was complete without an array of plumes. Some hats even included entire stuffed birds. The long, white plumes of egrets had become more valuable than gold. To satisfy the demands of this latest fashion trend, more than 5 million birds a year were being slaughtered; nearly 95 percent of Florida’s shore birds had been killed by plume hunters.”

We are very lucky today that this beautiful area was protected, though at the time it must have seemed hopeless;

An unlikely champion stepped forward in the form of Congressman John F. Lacey. Despite being part of a group of die-hard conservatives, when it came to defending wildlife, Lacey was one of the most progressive politicians of his day. After years of ceaseless effort, he won passage of the Lacey Bird and Game Act of 1900. The bill made it a federal crime to transport birds killed in violation of any state law, and soon government agents were confiscating huge shipments of bird skins and feathers.

But in the lawless Everglades, the Lacey Act did not put an end to plume hunting. Five years after the bill’s passage, a game warden was murdered by poachers. Another was gunned down three years later. The wildlife in southern Florida, it seemed, would never be safe unless the Everglades itself was set aside as a national park.

Finally the park was created;

A bill to create Everglades National Park passed Congress by the narrowest of margins in 1934. For the first time in history, a park had been created solely for the preservation of animals and plants, and the environment that sustains them.

Today we sail on the southern edge of the park on most of our charters. Thanks to the vision of  those statesman in 1934 we are able to enjoy not only great birdwatching but also the ability to be surrounded by nature in a way that is very unique. The miles of calm water dotted by mangrove islands, the colors at sunset, Dolphin playing by the boat in 6′ of clear water  are all part of  the scenery. Even after having sailed in the park for many years I am still surprised by its beauty and serenity.

Mangrove island with wading birds on Turtle grass flat