Post by zeke on Dec 20, 2019 16:18:08 GMT -8
I love having people come down to Florida in the Winter, for a kayaking trip into my haunts. This year, I was able to talk rebeccad and Dave into visiting from California. They arrived on a Tuesday and left the following Tuesday. We squeezed in 6 days of paddling.
First, we went to the Hillsboro River and went downstream from Sergeant Wilderness Park to Trout Creek Park, seeing about 100 gators of all sizes, some turtles, and many species of birds. My wife, M, and Roger joined us on this 9 mile paddle. We took a lunch and made a day of it.
During the evening conversation, Rebecca made it known that she wanted to try to see a manatee, and Dave was up for an early rise so we could squeeze that in before needing to shop for groceries the next day. We got up and out of the house by 9, in the water by 11:30, and found the manatees before actually putting the boats in the water. We drifted and cruised among them for nearly 2 hours before heading back home. Then, it was off to the grocery store to load up for the 4 day / 3 night trip to the Everglades.
Actually, we were headed to the 10,000 Islands just north of Everglades national park. We had a 3 1/2 hour drive, so we left early. Loaded up the boats and put them in the water just after lunch. Our intention was to paddle 9 miles to Panther key, stopping along the way as needed for the 2 novices to rest and stretch their legs.
At our first such stop, we saw a pod of dolphins in a feeding frenzy. After looking at the photos, we counted at least 9 members of the pod. A couple of them were quite large. We did not make Panther Key, but stopped at Hog Key when my guests had had enough time in their boat. We encountered some no-see-ums in camp, as the wind was not strong enough to keep them away. I was willing to eat a cold supper in my tent, away from the biting bugs, but Rebecca was kind enough to boil some water for me while she was boiling their water for their dinner. Thus, I was able to have a warm Chili Mac meal.
In the morning, the wind had picked up and there were no bugs bothering our breakfast. We took a leisurely meal, and saw a black tipped reef shark working the shallows. It was a bit cloudy when we put the boats in and turned for Panther Key. That was our first stop of Day 2, and Dave and Rebecca mentioned having some difficulty with the rudder, as a line had snapped, making it impossible to steer. I took some small line and fashioned a repair while they headed down the sandy beach. I stayed with the boats, eyeing the weather. There was a line of clouds headed our way, and I could not tell if we were going to get hit by rain, or miss it just barely. As I stood there watching, I also became aware of a group of 3 campers down the opposite end of the beach, with a canopy frame tent, and 2 smaller tents. They were 2 guys and a woman, with a small dog.
The storm was fast approaching, and I could see we were going to get wet. No big deal, as long as it wasn’t cold. The storm appeared to be a fast moving squall line, and it probably wouldn’t be around long enough to make our day miserable. Just as Dave and Rebecca came back into view, the rain hit. They covered their cameras, and scurried back to me. I turned to see how the tents were handling the burst of wind just in time to see all 3 of them take to the air. The canopy collapsed onto its frame in a twisted mess. One tent was blown up into the air and off 100 yards into the vegetation. The campers managed to grab the last tent before anything bad could happen to it.
I headed off that way to see if I could help, and Dave came along. He began to take some pictures when the little dog took umbrage, and was barking and lunging at his legs. Dave had had enough of the dog and returned to our boats. I helped recover the tent in the trees, and made sure they were otherwise OK before heading back to our boats. We pushed off from there in our newly assigned seating. I was now in the back of the tandem, adjusting the repaired rudder line as needed, and they took turns in my solo sea kayak. We were off to find Fakahatchee Key and the ruins on it from a long lost settlement.
I’ve been to Fakahatchee a few times, and we had a GPS along, so I wasn’t really concerned about how to get there. I should have been. We got turned around, and wandered about the many mangrove islands for a couple of hours more than we needed. We stopped for lunch, and gathered our bearings. By the time we arrived at Fakahatchee, it was getting too close to sunset for us to do much of an exploration and still get to camp before dark. Dave did a quick trot around and returned to the boats. Rebecca realized she could’ve gone with him if we had realized it was only a 15 minute trip, instead of the 30 I thought.
We powered our boats off Fakahatchee and made it to Picnic Key in plenty of time to set up camp before dinner and dark. Along our route, we spotted a loggerhead turtle twice poking his head above water for just the briefest of times. There were no bugs at this camp. We sat out on our chairs and admired the night sky until well after 8. It had been a long day of nearly 15 miles.
Morning of Day 3 was a beautiful sunrise, and another bug free breakfast. The goal for the day was not far off, a mere 8 miles. The proposed route would take us past Camp Lulu, a long since closed fishing camp, and then to Gullivan Key, passing by Panther. Hog, and White Horse along the way back towards the car.
Each day, we had the pleasure of dolphin company. This one was no different. As we retired to our tents at dark, there was a loud splashing and thrashing near my tent, in the shallows. A predator of some sort was working the shallow water for its own dinner. I figured dolphin, but it was too dark to see. I plotted a meandering route for our return to the marina, and our car.
Dave navigated this day, while Rebecca took the solo kayak. More feeding dolphins, but not much in the way of other wildlife. We had to walk the boats across a mud flat, and stopped along the way for a quick dip to wash the dirt from our pants, both our legs and our seats where the mud had taken us down. We got back to the car just after lunch, loaded up and started the drive home. Called M to let her know we were off the water, and would be home in time for a nice restaurant meal.
I’d say my guests saw more wildlife in their first trip than was normal. I’ve only seen one other loggerhead in nearly 8 years of paddling, and the shark at work was a sight to see. They flew home with plenty of pictures to keep them warm for the Winter. What I can do is add maps. Picture one is the Hillsboro River trip, with the start marked as A inside the circle and the end marked as B in the rectangle.
This map shows the entire area we paddled while looking at the manatees. Chass in the circle A.
This last map shows our 4 day route, with the marina as A, each night numbered 1-3, and the mystery Fakahatchee general area marked F.
Link to the pics.
First, we went to the Hillsboro River and went downstream from Sergeant Wilderness Park to Trout Creek Park, seeing about 100 gators of all sizes, some turtles, and many species of birds. My wife, M, and Roger joined us on this 9 mile paddle. We took a lunch and made a day of it.
During the evening conversation, Rebecca made it known that she wanted to try to see a manatee, and Dave was up for an early rise so we could squeeze that in before needing to shop for groceries the next day. We got up and out of the house by 9, in the water by 11:30, and found the manatees before actually putting the boats in the water. We drifted and cruised among them for nearly 2 hours before heading back home. Then, it was off to the grocery store to load up for the 4 day / 3 night trip to the Everglades.
Actually, we were headed to the 10,000 Islands just north of Everglades national park. We had a 3 1/2 hour drive, so we left early. Loaded up the boats and put them in the water just after lunch. Our intention was to paddle 9 miles to Panther key, stopping along the way as needed for the 2 novices to rest and stretch their legs.
At our first such stop, we saw a pod of dolphins in a feeding frenzy. After looking at the photos, we counted at least 9 members of the pod. A couple of them were quite large. We did not make Panther Key, but stopped at Hog Key when my guests had had enough time in their boat. We encountered some no-see-ums in camp, as the wind was not strong enough to keep them away. I was willing to eat a cold supper in my tent, away from the biting bugs, but Rebecca was kind enough to boil some water for me while she was boiling their water for their dinner. Thus, I was able to have a warm Chili Mac meal.
In the morning, the wind had picked up and there were no bugs bothering our breakfast. We took a leisurely meal, and saw a black tipped reef shark working the shallows. It was a bit cloudy when we put the boats in and turned for Panther Key. That was our first stop of Day 2, and Dave and Rebecca mentioned having some difficulty with the rudder, as a line had snapped, making it impossible to steer. I took some small line and fashioned a repair while they headed down the sandy beach. I stayed with the boats, eyeing the weather. There was a line of clouds headed our way, and I could not tell if we were going to get hit by rain, or miss it just barely. As I stood there watching, I also became aware of a group of 3 campers down the opposite end of the beach, with a canopy frame tent, and 2 smaller tents. They were 2 guys and a woman, with a small dog.
The storm was fast approaching, and I could see we were going to get wet. No big deal, as long as it wasn’t cold. The storm appeared to be a fast moving squall line, and it probably wouldn’t be around long enough to make our day miserable. Just as Dave and Rebecca came back into view, the rain hit. They covered their cameras, and scurried back to me. I turned to see how the tents were handling the burst of wind just in time to see all 3 of them take to the air. The canopy collapsed onto its frame in a twisted mess. One tent was blown up into the air and off 100 yards into the vegetation. The campers managed to grab the last tent before anything bad could happen to it.
I headed off that way to see if I could help, and Dave came along. He began to take some pictures when the little dog took umbrage, and was barking and lunging at his legs. Dave had had enough of the dog and returned to our boats. I helped recover the tent in the trees, and made sure they were otherwise OK before heading back to our boats. We pushed off from there in our newly assigned seating. I was now in the back of the tandem, adjusting the repaired rudder line as needed, and they took turns in my solo sea kayak. We were off to find Fakahatchee Key and the ruins on it from a long lost settlement.
I’ve been to Fakahatchee a few times, and we had a GPS along, so I wasn’t really concerned about how to get there. I should have been. We got turned around, and wandered about the many mangrove islands for a couple of hours more than we needed. We stopped for lunch, and gathered our bearings. By the time we arrived at Fakahatchee, it was getting too close to sunset for us to do much of an exploration and still get to camp before dark. Dave did a quick trot around and returned to the boats. Rebecca realized she could’ve gone with him if we had realized it was only a 15 minute trip, instead of the 30 I thought.
We powered our boats off Fakahatchee and made it to Picnic Key in plenty of time to set up camp before dinner and dark. Along our route, we spotted a loggerhead turtle twice poking his head above water for just the briefest of times. There were no bugs at this camp. We sat out on our chairs and admired the night sky until well after 8. It had been a long day of nearly 15 miles.
Morning of Day 3 was a beautiful sunrise, and another bug free breakfast. The goal for the day was not far off, a mere 8 miles. The proposed route would take us past Camp Lulu, a long since closed fishing camp, and then to Gullivan Key, passing by Panther. Hog, and White Horse along the way back towards the car.
Each day, we had the pleasure of dolphin company. This one was no different. As we retired to our tents at dark, there was a loud splashing and thrashing near my tent, in the shallows. A predator of some sort was working the shallow water for its own dinner. I figured dolphin, but it was too dark to see. I plotted a meandering route for our return to the marina, and our car.
Dave navigated this day, while Rebecca took the solo kayak. More feeding dolphins, but not much in the way of other wildlife. We had to walk the boats across a mud flat, and stopped along the way for a quick dip to wash the dirt from our pants, both our legs and our seats where the mud had taken us down. We got back to the car just after lunch, loaded up and started the drive home. Called M to let her know we were off the water, and would be home in time for a nice restaurant meal.
I’d say my guests saw more wildlife in their first trip than was normal. I’ve only seen one other loggerhead in nearly 8 years of paddling, and the shark at work was a sight to see. They flew home with plenty of pictures to keep them warm for the Winter. What I can do is add maps. Picture one is the Hillsboro River trip, with the start marked as A inside the circle and the end marked as B in the rectangle.
This map shows the entire area we paddled while looking at the manatees. Chass in the circle A.
This last map shows our 4 day route, with the marina as A, each night numbered 1-3, and the mystery Fakahatchee general area marked F.
Link to the pics.