Post by zeke on Jan 15, 2016 14:35:06 GMT -8
It's Winter time, so I will post about a kayaking trip. I know this is a backpacking forum, but it is all about camping.
Roger and I planned an early January trip to the Everglades to paddle north out of the park and to visit the Dome Homes off Cape Romano. The trip got of early Sunday morning, with Roger arriving at my house about 5:30. We loaded up my gear and headed off for a 3.5 hour drive. We were trying to be in the water and up the channel before the tide changed at 10.
We arrived at the visitor center and loaded up the boats, in the rain. There was a little lightning in the area, so we were hustling to get out of the bay. Not going to happen, though. We ended up not making it across the bay before the tide changed. The wind was in our face, and we spent 30 minutes fighting our way halfway to the channel. About this point, we decided to head back to town, grab a motel room, and get an early start the next day.
A change of clothes, lunch at Havana Cafe, and we felt better. We toured Loop Road, and the Clyde Butcher Big Cypress Gallery on US 41. Bak to the room where we caught the last 100 seconds of the Minnesota v Seattle game and then headed out for dinner.
Monday morning, we got up at 6, had a leisurely breakfast, and put in the water by 8. Much better weather, and the tide pulled us out to sea quite nicely. Still, not completely clear skies, but sunny enough. We stopped for a break at 10, and then again at 11 when we spotted some campers on an island. We visited with them until it was lunchtime. Off to our own campsite, paddling another 90 minutes to White Horse Key. It was still very windy, so we looked for site sheltered from the wind, but it wasn’t to be had.
Roger and I built some framework out of PVC to support bug netting and we put it to good use on White Horse. We sat out watching the various birds and ate dinner in a calm environment, mostly bug free. I’d rate the project a success, but we only got to use it the one night on this trip.
Tuesday morning, we headed off across Romano Bay, a full 7 miles and something of a short cut. We avoided hugging the shores and making the trip closer to 11 miles, but it took us out to sea and in more open waters. There was a fair wind helping Roger use his sail, but not much. We arrived at the Dome Homes about 11:30, but the current and wind were now against us, so we could not truly explore them like I wanted. I never even got closer than 100 yards, as I stopped to take a few pictures and the strong current took me backwards quite quickly. I zoomed out the camera lens, took a few pics, and decided I didn’t need to see the Domes any closer. Crossing gallivant Bay was tough. I had a time with the waves, and Roger had even more difficulties and that changed the way he paddled the rest of the trip.
.
By 3:30, we had reached our home for the night.
At about 4 PM, we noticed this strange 2 story power craft headed toward our end of Brush Island. As it neared, we could see the name on the second story, Don Tiki. Yep, it was all decked out like some Hawaiian bar, and the passengers were mostly in their early 30s. They ended up landing on the end of the Island closest to our camp, and one of the women headed down our way immediately.
“We are shooting a music video here and wondered if you guys would like to be in it?” What an introduction. No, there weren’t going to be any skimpily dressed performers, but it was a song about finding a bottle with messages in it, telling the true story of a woman abandoned at the altar by her lover. “Bugger You Tom Godfrey” You can see a live performance on YouTube. Left on Red is the name of the 2 woman band. Anyway, Roger and I acted out the part of 2 old guys (type cast again!!) who find the bottle. I would rate the experience as entertaining, and we had a hoot. We were paid with a Bud Lite each. We probably got overpaid.
Tuesday evening, as we were listening to the weather radio, it was forecast that Friday would be 15-20 knot winds in our face, with 3-5 foot seas, and that was close to shore. That was all it took for us to decide to end this trip a day early, and paddle for Lulu Key the next day. The remaining distance would make for a fairly easy afternoon of paddling, as long as the weather didn’t get any worse.
Wednesday, we set off in 2-3 ft seas, and 10 knot headwinds. We rested on a mud patch and I got out of the boat to tow us both across the shallows near Round Key. We made LuLu Lagoon at 2 PM and watched pelicans from the comfort of our chairs until dinner time.
We had a 2 hour paddle to reach Indian Pass and we wanted to be there between 12 and 1, so we could catch the incoming tide change at 1. We arrived about 12, and dropped anchor so we wouldn’t drift too far out to sea. As we ate and talked, we watched a community of white pelicans at the end of the island. When I noticed we had shifted around on my anchor, we decided it was time to head in. As we paddled in, just past the island, we spotted a tour boat and the porpoises entertaining it. So, that became our next destination. We watched the porpoises for 20-30 minutes while they swam closer to the boat. I would guess they were within 100 feet, maybe as close as 50 once.
Down the channel to the ranger station was mostly uneventful until we hit the large open bay just in front of it. There the wind started to kick up the water again, and we paddled at our own pace. That meant I got back to the land about 15 minutes before Roger, so I had a chance to mostly unload my boat before he landed. We got all the gear back into his car, the kayaks loaded on top, and headed home about 3:30.
It was a good trip. No one had to go to the ER, and that is ultimately the definition of a good trip. Looking at the map, we paddled 15 miles each of the first 2 days, then 7, and finally 10. Totaling 47 miles in 4 days. We saw white pelicans, porpoises, a turtle (probably a Loggerhead, but I am not certain), lots of brown pelicans, osprey, buzzards, small crabs, a reddish egret, and too many people. There was a large group camped on the other beach at Lulu, and they were loud. It’s one of the reasons we chose to camp at the lagoon.
Applebee’s will be getting a letter from us. We stopped there for dinner on the way home, thinking it would have some sort of Vegetarian choices for Roger. Nope. Nothing vegetarian on the menu at all. They did manage to make him something by leaving out the chicken from a pasta dish, but they didn’t try to add any colorful veggies to dress it up any.
Roger and I planned an early January trip to the Everglades to paddle north out of the park and to visit the Dome Homes off Cape Romano. The trip got of early Sunday morning, with Roger arriving at my house about 5:30. We loaded up my gear and headed off for a 3.5 hour drive. We were trying to be in the water and up the channel before the tide changed at 10.
We arrived at the visitor center and loaded up the boats, in the rain. There was a little lightning in the area, so we were hustling to get out of the bay. Not going to happen, though. We ended up not making it across the bay before the tide changed. The wind was in our face, and we spent 30 minutes fighting our way halfway to the channel. About this point, we decided to head back to town, grab a motel room, and get an early start the next day.
A change of clothes, lunch at Havana Cafe, and we felt better. We toured Loop Road, and the Clyde Butcher Big Cypress Gallery on US 41. Bak to the room where we caught the last 100 seconds of the Minnesota v Seattle game and then headed out for dinner.
Monday morning, we got up at 6, had a leisurely breakfast, and put in the water by 8. Much better weather, and the tide pulled us out to sea quite nicely. Still, not completely clear skies, but sunny enough. We stopped for a break at 10, and then again at 11 when we spotted some campers on an island. We visited with them until it was lunchtime. Off to our own campsite, paddling another 90 minutes to White Horse Key. It was still very windy, so we looked for site sheltered from the wind, but it wasn’t to be had.
Roger and I built some framework out of PVC to support bug netting and we put it to good use on White Horse. We sat out watching the various birds and ate dinner in a calm environment, mostly bug free. I’d rate the project a success, but we only got to use it the one night on this trip.
Tuesday morning, we headed off across Romano Bay, a full 7 miles and something of a short cut. We avoided hugging the shores and making the trip closer to 11 miles, but it took us out to sea and in more open waters. There was a fair wind helping Roger use his sail, but not much. We arrived at the Dome Homes about 11:30, but the current and wind were now against us, so we could not truly explore them like I wanted. I never even got closer than 100 yards, as I stopped to take a few pictures and the strong current took me backwards quite quickly. I zoomed out the camera lens, took a few pics, and decided I didn’t need to see the Domes any closer. Crossing gallivant Bay was tough. I had a time with the waves, and Roger had even more difficulties and that changed the way he paddled the rest of the trip.
.
By 3:30, we had reached our home for the night.
At about 4 PM, we noticed this strange 2 story power craft headed toward our end of Brush Island. As it neared, we could see the name on the second story, Don Tiki. Yep, it was all decked out like some Hawaiian bar, and the passengers were mostly in their early 30s. They ended up landing on the end of the Island closest to our camp, and one of the women headed down our way immediately.
“We are shooting a music video here and wondered if you guys would like to be in it?” What an introduction. No, there weren’t going to be any skimpily dressed performers, but it was a song about finding a bottle with messages in it, telling the true story of a woman abandoned at the altar by her lover. “Bugger You Tom Godfrey” You can see a live performance on YouTube. Left on Red is the name of the 2 woman band. Anyway, Roger and I acted out the part of 2 old guys (type cast again!!) who find the bottle. I would rate the experience as entertaining, and we had a hoot. We were paid with a Bud Lite each. We probably got overpaid.
Tuesday evening, as we were listening to the weather radio, it was forecast that Friday would be 15-20 knot winds in our face, with 3-5 foot seas, and that was close to shore. That was all it took for us to decide to end this trip a day early, and paddle for Lulu Key the next day. The remaining distance would make for a fairly easy afternoon of paddling, as long as the weather didn’t get any worse.
Wednesday, we set off in 2-3 ft seas, and 10 knot headwinds. We rested on a mud patch and I got out of the boat to tow us both across the shallows near Round Key. We made LuLu Lagoon at 2 PM and watched pelicans from the comfort of our chairs until dinner time.
We had a 2 hour paddle to reach Indian Pass and we wanted to be there between 12 and 1, so we could catch the incoming tide change at 1. We arrived about 12, and dropped anchor so we wouldn’t drift too far out to sea. As we ate and talked, we watched a community of white pelicans at the end of the island. When I noticed we had shifted around on my anchor, we decided it was time to head in. As we paddled in, just past the island, we spotted a tour boat and the porpoises entertaining it. So, that became our next destination. We watched the porpoises for 20-30 minutes while they swam closer to the boat. I would guess they were within 100 feet, maybe as close as 50 once.
Down the channel to the ranger station was mostly uneventful until we hit the large open bay just in front of it. There the wind started to kick up the water again, and we paddled at our own pace. That meant I got back to the land about 15 minutes before Roger, so I had a chance to mostly unload my boat before he landed. We got all the gear back into his car, the kayaks loaded on top, and headed home about 3:30.
It was a good trip. No one had to go to the ER, and that is ultimately the definition of a good trip. Looking at the map, we paddled 15 miles each of the first 2 days, then 7, and finally 10. Totaling 47 miles in 4 days. We saw white pelicans, porpoises, a turtle (probably a Loggerhead, but I am not certain), lots of brown pelicans, osprey, buzzards, small crabs, a reddish egret, and too many people. There was a large group camped on the other beach at Lulu, and they were loud. It’s one of the reasons we chose to camp at the lagoon.
Applebee’s will be getting a letter from us. We stopped there for dinner on the way home, thinking it would have some sort of Vegetarian choices for Roger. Nope. Nothing vegetarian on the menu at all. They did manage to make him something by leaving out the chicken from a pasta dish, but they didn’t try to add any colorful veggies to dress it up any.
