At the end of my trip from Jacksonville, FL I was pretty worn out and looking for a place to rest and regroup. I had been on the water non-stop for a week and was feeling all 48 years. I stopped and anchored near Rodriguez Key just off Key Largo.
Rodriguez Key Anchorage
As I was engineless, the first good anchorage that was also easy to get in and out of was Rodriguez Key. I anchored in about 8′ of water at N 25 3.582′ W 80 26.896′. The holding is sand with a little seagrass. It blew over 20 knots one night, and while it was rocking and rolling, I had no issues with holding. Note, there isn’t much protection here, and it tends to get rolly in anything over ten mph, not dangerous just if your sensitive to bouncing around it can be annoying. I was so tired when I got here I had no issues sleeping.
I found that this is a frequent stopover anchorage, as there would be boats coming in late in the afternoon. The first thing in the morning they would be headed their way, up or down the Keys.
There’s nothing in the way of amenities at Rodriguez Key. I stayed here for five days, giving me a chance to rest up, do some maintenance and cleaning items, and make a run to the grocery store. I did do some exploring in the water but didn’t see much wildlife.
Getting To Shore At Rodriguez Key
I hadn’t planned on going into town. Otherwise, I would have anchored closer to shore on the other side of the shallow area to the north of my spot. But I was running low on fun things to eat and wanted a good breakfast. I rowed in the 1 mile and beached the dinghy just to the south of Blue Fin Rock Harbor RV Park. I initially tied up to a beached sailboat at the RV park, but a local told me they would have an issue and guided me to an abandoned bar & grille where I could drag the dinghy up to shore. The row took me about an hour, mostly because I’m not very good at the rowing thing yet.
There’s a Publix about 4 miles up the road. It seems that Lyft and Uber haven’t saturated this area yet with drivers (I see ads on Craigslist all the time for drivers wanted) and it was $14 each way.
In recapping this is a solid anchorage, that I only witnessed a few boats a night stopping in. A local told me this was a busy anchorage, but Irma cleaned out a lot of the permanent residents (you can still see a few boats up in the mangroves). A great place to catch your breath before heading further south into the Keys.
