Dry Tortugas Day 6 (Relaxing)

After our fort exploration day we decided to relax and spend a day lounging around the beach and getting in the water. It was a little overcast but it actually provided a little relief from the direct sunlight. We grabbed the dive gear and headed to shore after a breakfast of pancakes, sausage, fruit and ice cold orange juice. Speaking of ice cold... Cold anything is very welcome when you are cruising in the tropics, thankfully we have our trusty Engel fridge that does the job. I have never heard anyone complain about an Engel, as a matter of fact I've never seen one broken. Our old fridge would run 24/7 using 6 amps consistently, but our Engel runs about 20 to 30 minutes of the hour and only uses 2. This is part of the reason our energy consumption is so low and as a family we only use about 30 amps a day with fridge, lights and everything combined. Our solar panels once I get them wired up will provide about 15 amps per hour so replenishing the used energy comes easy, plus we have a wind generator that helps out on cloudy days. 

We spend the next several hours lounging on the beach, laying in the sand, snorkeling around the fort and just enjoying a no agenda day. We saw jellyfish, stingrays, tarpon the size of Jessica (scared the hell out of both of us as it's shadow caught our eye) and a plethora of fish. Colby and I snorkeled the outer wall of the fort and found breaks in the wall where the tide flushes the moat. We were informed by the park rangers to keep an eye out for the 10ft saltwater croc that has been around the fort since it got washed here in 2006. He hasn't done anything,,,, yet.. 

Colby and I snorkeled the entire outer wall of the fort ending on the north beach. 

Hermit crab art.

I had talked to someone before leaving and he was giving me ideas on things to do while visiting. He mentioned that his family used to go to the island every night and have hermit crab races. You pick out your crab, draw a circle and then first one to break the line wins, Peyton didn't have the best of luck that night. Following nights she smoked us all with a hermit crab I swear was on performance enhancing drugs!

We went back to the boat for dinner consisting of chili dogs and watched the sunset. We also watched the seaplane leave for the evening as it roared past our boat. Then it was hotdog, chili, mustard, onions, chips and a glass of cold ice tea.