Yep, that should make for a good time in Key West.......

It is well marked. If six feet of water scares you, you won't do much boating in Florida.

That 's interesting, I wouldn't have guessed that

Damn Teddy, I was listening to you last week when we were trying to find our way back from the Keys. Now you need directions ?? That scares me

Cuda is that common in the intracoastals, out off of shore, gulf as well, just curious as we are planning a trip there soon. we boat all over the midwest and never seen consistent numbers like this. Thanks Hammer

You need to be careful when going to the Keys because it is pretty shallow in some areas. Now saying that, if you follow the markers, you should be fine. I went the outside my first trip, missed a marker by 50 feet and ended up calling SeaTow. Get the chip for your GPS and follow it, you'll be fine.

6 feet is alot of water on the inside. On the outside in Hawks Channell it averages about 9 feet, some spots 12- 15 feet some spots a little less. You can cross over the reef and it drops immediatly to about 1000 feet... but the seas also double in size

I was board at work today so I have generated the route I have taken down to Key West on Stus run I have it saved in three formats garmin text and some interchange format if anyone would like it to check or use let me know and I will email them a copy. Remember I take no responsibilty for its accuracy until I actually try it myself next Novenmber so check it befor you use it and always watch your depth sounder and channel markers

If you do a search Robert Tanner, AKA Tonto has posted the key waypoints on the forum several times for folks. He can run down with his eyes closed.

I use a Gramin 2006C with BlueChart chips and have not had any problems.

As for the ICW from North Carolina to Miami that we have been on I find that 30 foot is deep. You are usually running in 6 to 12 feet of water and as long as you know where you are and stay in the marked channel you will not have any problems. It is nice to have a spotter like my wife with good eye sight for markers and crab pots.

I was speaking of mostly the ICW, and most other marked channels, 6 feet is not uncommon at all. Just turn off your depth finder, and stay inside the channel. I always say a depth finder is only good to confirm that you are hard aground.