Want to take the 185 Sport on the honeymoon to the Keys. Opinions or advice please?

Sftail04

New Member
Nov 16, 2013
8
Lakeland, FL
Boat Info
2012 185 Sport
Engines
4.3 MPI 220 HP
Ok. We were talking about doing something different for our honeymoon. We live between Orlando and Tampa so the Keys would not be that far to haul it. We were talking about taking the 185 down to the Keys. I like Marathon Key. Kind of right in the middle. We would pick a resort/hotel that has a boat dock to use for the week. I am thinking just to park the truck and use the boat to go everywhere during the day and then back to the resort at night. There are a lot of places to eat on the water that have docks that we could just pull up to. It is roughly 65 miles down to Key West from there. I am looking for opinions and/or advice if this could be possible or not. it would be something different and I am sure that it would be a lot of fun. A lot of things to do down there. (snorkeling, fishing, etc.) The water is clear and beautiful. Anyone with opinions or advice, please chime in.
 
Re: Want to take the 185 Sport on the honeymoon to the Keys. Opinions or advice pleas

Make sure the resort is alright with it but other than that I think it's a pretty nice idea. One side thought, if the boat has a problem of some type, it could put a damper on the honeymoon
 
Re: Want to take the 185 Sport on the honeymoon to the Keys. Opinions or advice pleas

We did that in the 1000 Islands for our honeymoon. Stayed at a waterfront motel with a boat dock & it had extra parking so we could dump our trailer. Had a fantastic time!
Take some extra time beforehand to make sure all systems are "go", you don't want to be spending any time at marinas waiting for mechanics to look at something.
 
Re: Want to take the 185 Sport on the honeymoon to the Keys. Opinions or advice pleas

We just got back from there and rented a boat. It is very shallow down there. Deeper on the ocean side but close to shore requires care even still. We had our RV on Sugarloaf key mile marker 20. Whatever arangements you can make it will be a great time reguardless of where.
 
Re: Want to take the 185 Sport on the honeymoon to the Keys. Opinions or advice pleas

Wish2fish, we are probably going to stay on Marathon Key. it is somewhat in the middle of the Keys. Then just take the boat everywhere we want to go from there.

Dwna1a, i under stand that. But we are hoping that since the boat is new that we won't have any problems. Knock on wood.

I had a Lowerance Elite 4 Chartplotter/Depth Finder installed so I could try to avoid running aground. I hope that helps.

I was down there for a few days for work and loved it. I think it will be a great time.
 
Re: Want to take the 185 Sport on the honeymoon to the Keys. Opinions or advice pleas

Good luck to you.

I honeymooned in the Keys: the place where I had the boat caught on fire, when responding to the fire to move the boat I left all the card windows down in the rain and the headlights on, we moved the boat out of the marina and got blown back and forth across Largo Sound all night long, and I got a divorce.

Best wishes.
 
Re: Want to take the 185 Sport on the honeymoon to the Keys. Opinions or advice pleas

Good luck to you.

I honeymooned in the Keys: the place where I had the boat caught on fire, when responding to the fire to move the boat I left all the card windows down in the rain and the headlights on, we moved the boat out of the marina and got blown back and forth across Largo Sound all night long, and I got a divorce.

Best wishes.

Damn.... I hope the boat survived
 
Re: Want to take the 185 Sport on the honeymoon to the Keys. Opinions or advice pleas

Good luck to you.

I honeymooned in the Keys: the place where I had the boat caught on fire, when responding to the fire to move the boat I left all the card windows down in the rain and the headlights on, we moved the boat out of the marina and got blown back and forth across Largo Sound all night long, and I got a divorce.

Best wishes.

Now thats priceless.
 
Re: Want to take the 185 Sport on the honeymoon to the Keys. Opinions or advice pleas

The boat I rented was a 24 foot deck boat. We took it to Sand Key. About 7 miles from Key West. I used a chart I got off of a local marina. It was a little rough but nothing crazy.
Next trip we take we plan on using our 20 footer and not bringing the car.
If you have never been there, it is an amazing place. Like nothing I have ever seen.
 
Re: Want to take the 185 Sport on the honeymoon to the Keys. Opinions or advice pleas

Here’s my last “take a boat to the Keys” story. I hope yours works out better. Three of us trailered a 27’ center console to Key West about 3 years ago. A pretty nasty storm settled after day 1 of fishing and just turned the water upside down. We decided to cut our losses and began to head back to Cape Coral in a downpour. As we were driving thru Islamorada, two blacked out suburbans, a state trooper, sheriff and a local police car pulled out from a side street (I saw them all lined up when we passed) and then one quickly flew in front of us, two pulled alongside and two behind our rig. All lights went on and we were eased off the side of the road into a parking lot. Now it gets interesting. We weren’t even in park when two officers began quickly crabbing up from the rear on both sides of the boat & truck all blacked out with head gear, vests and mp5’s directly trained on our cab. We were told to keep our hands on the dash and make no sudden movements. The 3 of us were assisted out the truck and we were separated while a German Shepard went thru the truck and the boat. It was a good thing it was raining because I’m pretty sure we all had already pee’d ourselves so atleast nobody could tell it. As luck would have it, the dog went nuts while in the boat and we were asked if there were drugs or weapons aboard. One buddy of mine answered nothing other than a couple of gaffs, filet knife and a couple cases of Bud Light. The officer said if there had been some recreational drug use, that was ok to admit, because that wasn’t what they were after, and could explain the dogs reaction. “Sorry, sir, just the Bud Light but it is past the ‘born on’ date”. Yes, he said that. After about 20 minutes things lightened up and they finally realized we weren’t with the cartel. They told two of us there had been a rash of expensive boat thefts and continuous drug running and it was just suspicious to see our rig leaving the Keys in the storm. My other buddy was told it was a “training exercise”. Our hosts included DEA, FBI, DNR and the state and local boys, probably 10 or so total.

Ended up being a cordial visit after my comedian friend explained how 3 old guys were taken advantage of while visiting one of the gentlemen's clubs in Key West the night before (we were over-served then forced to pay for a bunch of really, really expensive dances that were supposedly "alot cheaper" if you pay by the hour).

Still can’t explain the dog hit on the cc though. Although my friend owns a large construction company and he keeps a few of his boats in his shop with other equipment. So, we believe Jesus-the-maintenance-guy, who cleans his equipment and his personal boats/cars/trucks/motorcycles, may be a candidate for a random drug screen.

Anyway, hope your visit to the keys goes better than our last one did. Although, I guess it could have been worse.
 
Re: Want to take the 185 Sport on the honeymoon to the Keys. Opinions or advice pleas

Still can’t explain the dog hit on the cc though. Although my friend owns a large construction company and he keeps a few of his boats in his shop with other equipment. So, we believe Jesus-the-maintenance-guy, who cleans his equipment and his personal boats/cars/trucks/motorcycles, may be a candidate for a random drug screen.

The dogs can be instructed to "hit" using fairly subtle signals. It's a method used to force a more expansive search when no other probable cause is evident. Not saying that it's what happened to you, but keep it in mind.
 
Re: Want to take the 185 Sport on the honeymoon to the Keys. Opinions or advice pleas

With police today nothing surprises me today. And to give you the were not looking for that line. Yea sure. Admit to anything and you'll get rung in real quick.
 
Re: Want to take the 185 Sport on the honeymoon to the Keys. Opinions or advice pleas

Here’s my last “take a boat to the Keys” story. I hope yours works out better. Three of us trailered a 27’ center console to Key West about 3 years ago. A pretty nasty storm settled after day 1 of fishing and just turned the water upside down. We decided to cut our losses and began to head back to Cape Coral in a downpour. As we were driving thru Islamorada, two blacked out suburbans, a state trooper, sheriff and a local police car pulled out from a side street (I saw them all lined up when we passed) and then one quickly flew in front of us, two pulled alongside and two behind our rig. All lights went on and we were eased off the side of the road into a parking lot. Now it gets interesting. We weren’t even in park when two officers began quickly crabbing up from the rear on both sides of the boat & truck all blacked out with head gear, vests and mp5’s directly trained on our cab. We were told to keep our hands on the dash and make no sudden movements. The 3 of us were assisted out the truck and we were separated while a German Shepard went thru the truck and the boat. It was a good thing it was raining because I’m pretty sure we all had already pee’d ourselves so atleast nobody could tell it. As luck would have it, the dog went nuts while in the boat and we were asked if there were drugs or weapons aboard. One buddy of mine answered nothing other than a couple of gaffs, filet knife and a couple cases of Bud Light. The officer said if there had been some recreational drug use, that was ok to admit, because that wasn’t what they were after, and could explain the dogs reaction. “Sorry, sir, just the Bud Light but it is past the ‘born on’ date”. Yes, he said that. After about 20 minutes things lightened up and they finally realized we weren’t with the cartel. They told two of us there had been a rash of expensive boat thefts and continuous drug running and it was just suspicious to see our rig leaving the Keys in the storm. My other buddy was told it was a “training exercise”. Our hosts included DEA, FBI, DNR and the state and local boys, probably 10 or so total.

Ended up being a cordial visit after my comedian friend explained how 3 old guys were taken advantage of while visiting one of the gentlemen's clubs in Key West the night before (we were over-served then forced to pay for a bunch of really, really expensive dances that were supposedly "alot cheaper" if you pay by the hour).

Still can’t explain the dog hit on the cc though. Although my friend owns a large construction company and he keeps a few of his boats in his shop with other equipment. So, we believe Jesus-the-maintenance-guy, who cleans his equipment and his personal boats/cars/trucks/motorcycles, may be a candidate for a random drug screen.

Anyway, hope your visit to the keys goes better than our last one did. Although, I guess it could have been worse.

WOW!! I think I would have pee'd myself too.
 
Re: Want to take the 185 Sport on the honeymoon to the Keys. Opinions or advice pleas

After the first couple of times, you get used to it.
 

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