Day 83-85 (Sweetwater Kayak Symposium) 02/28/2010
The last three days have kept me busy from early morning till the wee hours as much as I wanted to get on my computer and share what was going on, I couldn’t keep my eyes open at the end of the day long enough to get anything posted. The 2010 Sweetwater Kayak Symposium was a rousing success. With people coming together from all over the state and country to paddle and have a good time.  I let him sign my boat but he wouldn't let me sign his leg. On Friday people started to arrive from all over the state some were taking classes that day while others simply came in a day early to get settled in. While the coaches and students went out on the water the rest of the staff and volunteers put on the finishing touches for symposium preparations. I came over to help out in whatever way I could be it filling in on a class, moving boats, or hanging banners. I explained to Russell that I was up for anything even washing dishes if that’s what needed to be done. Apparently he took that sentiment to heart when he found me and asked if I’d mind fixing the toilet in the store that picked this busy weekend to give him trouble. A quick run to Lowes for a new flush valve and a few good pulls with a plunger solved the problem. Afterward I helped out with a few more things then found a quiet corner to put the finishing touches on my slide show.  It isn't all kayaking The Bananna Boat Bar next door to the shop was the selected venue for end of the day off the water festivities. We feasted on Lasagna and afterward fired up the projector to share some of our adventures. First up was Kirsten (wife of famous Nigel Foster) who shared her artist’s perspective of many of the exotic paddling destinations she and Nigel have paddled. Afterward I took the stage and told a few of the many stories and showed a bunch of the pictures from the trip so far. Being my first ever slide show I was worried that I’d bore the audience. I did run a bit longer than I’d planned but the show seemed to be well received. What was great for me to see several of the people I’d met and stayed with along the route in attendance at the slide show. It truly is a small community in the paddling world after all.  The weather was a challenge when things got started on Saturday morning with rain and wind pushing people into dry suits and whatever other gear they could find to stay dry and warm. I dodged the rain while working in a storage building trying to diagnose and fix a mystery leak in the rear hatch in a kayak. By the time lunch was laid out the skies parted and it turned into a beautiful sunny day. Having not been on the water for a few days I jumped at the chance to go out for a short jaunt on a stand up board. I’d only ever done standup in San Diego in relatively deep water. Here in the shallow mangrove channels there was a never ending array of fish and bottom features that you can’t see while seated in a kayak but can while standing on a board. It made a quick run through familiar terrain seem like a completely new experience. I also took advantage of a quiet moment to demo a kit built skin on frame kayak that was a fun boat to paddle. My boat repairs on Saturday didn’t solve the problem so on Sunday I took the kayak in question out in the sun where I could take a closer look and I believe I found the source of the problem. While I worked on that boat I took advantage of the warm dry day and laid my Ikkuma out on the kayak stands to do some work on that boat as well. Over the last couple months of travel I’d begun to drag thin spots on the keel strip so I laid on an additional layer to further protect the hull from further damage. Later in the day as things started to wind down we began the process of wrapping things up and saying farewell to friends as they loaded their boats and headed home.  Hey Neil, I traded your truck for a faster ride Day 82 02/25/2010
I fear that these many days off the water may bore the readers of this blog but it's all part of the story so why not share it. Today, with the truck I borrowed from Neil, I drove from Fort Lauderdale back across the state to St. Petersburg where the Sweetwater Kayak Symposium is being held. I had planned on attending the event ever since the earliest planning stages of this trip. I thought early on that it’d be a great way to connect with paddlers from all around the state in one place. The symposium is put on by my friend Russell Farrow and is bringing in some of the biggest names in kayak instruction in the country. A list of people, because of my time at Aqua Adventures in San Diego, whom I consider good friends. The roster also includes Jen Kleck so the chance to see her again made the event something I wouldn‘t have missed for the world. I always thought the symposium would be a great place to connect with paddlers from the area which is one of the things I hoped to do with this trip. For anybody that has never attended an event like this I highly recommend it. Aside from the great instruction you can get, the opportunity to meet and network with paddlers from all around the country is amazing. I've attended and worked at many symposiums over the last several years and each one has been a great time. The coaches and schedule have been sorted out I'm slated to share my slide show with folks Friday night. Beyond that I'm here to be plugged into whatever hole needs to be filled. After helping Jen Kleck run the Southwest Kayak Symposium out in San Diego for the last couple years I know how every bit of help you can find is appreciated. For someone working (or volunteering) on the inside, the intensity around one of these events can be compared to a wedding. The organizer(s) are like the bride and groom putting on the show, they’re the center of attention but not the only reason people have come. The coaches are like the wedding party, they’re here to support the organizers and do a job to make sure the task at hand is accomplished. They’re here mainly for the big show of course but also (because they’re normally good friends) they help a lot with the final set up and execution of the event. The students are like the wedding guests, they are what the whole event is about. The fact that so many are good friends of the event organizers it really does seem like a wedding when everyone arrives and things get rolling. Not being on the actual coach roster and also not being a guest, I guess you could compare my role this time to the busy-body cousin that’s just there to help out… and get free beer at the reception. Anybody that has put on a big wedding can appreciate the amount of work that goes into something like this. A date must be chosen, a venue found, coaches selected, plane tickets purchased, invitations sent out (advertising), you have to help people find places to stay, people must be fed before during and after the event… you get the idea. Financially the event is usually barely a break even affair for the organizer, and you could wonder if it’s worth all the stress and work. However, the fact that it is so much fun to see everyone year after year and provide a venue for students and coaches to interact makes it all worthwhile. I for one, can’t wait to get back to San Diego at the end of March to help out with the Southwest Kayak Symposium once again. It’s going to be great to see all my friends out west all in one place for what is always a fun weekend. Day 81 02/24/2010
Today was another day off the water to be spent organizing gear and such before heading back over to St. Petersburg for the Sweetwater kayak symposium. My young friend Adam has been talking about my trip with his pre-school teacher so she invited me to come in and do a short presentation for the kids. Not sure exactly what I was getting into, but always up for something new, I figured I'd give it a go.  Never thought I'd see by boat in church At 9:00 this morning I moved my boat and paddling gear into the pre-school chapel and after all the kids in the pre-school were assembled and the normal business was attended to I tried to explain my trip and gear to the children ranging in age from three to five years.  Me with Adam's pre-school class As much as I tried to bring it to their level, I fear that the long distances and logistics of a trip like mine were lost on children so young. However, the highlight of the morning came when the kids got a chance to sit in the boat and play with some of my gear.  They loved playing with the gear.  They all got a chance to sit in the kayak as well. Day 80 02/23/2010
Daily stats Start: 7:15 AM- Virginia Key, FL (Miami) Finish: 4:30 PM - Dania, FL (Jake’s old apartment) Time: 9:15 Daily dist: 28 miles Total dist: 2221 miles Companions: Graceland the puppet Weather: Partly cloudy, calm, high 70’s (perfect South Florida) Notes: This was a neat paddle for me through the same waters where I started kayaking 10 years ago. After writing off paddling over the weekend, the plan was hatched to ride down to the office with Neil today and while Neil put in an eight hour day of work, I’d put in an eight hour day of paddling. When I launched into the glassy smooth morning water with a glorious day of weather predicted I know it wouldn’t have been hard to get Neil to trade places. Considering the mess I know I’d make of the NOAA fisheries data he works with I thought better of making that suggestion and stuck with paddling instead.  Graceland the puppet enjoying the early morning calm As I came down the west coast of Florida over the last few weeks many people e-mailed wondering what would come of me as I paddled through the big city of Miami. In their minds the area is nothing more than a scary crime ridden black hole. The city does have it’s rough side but it is most definitely not on the water. Paddling in Miami (and South Florida in general) is a very pleasant experience. The water is generally calm and clear, the boat traffic is tolerable, there are a thousand routes you can take on the hundreds of miles of canals, and there is a lot to see along the way ranging from wildlife such as manatees, and dolphins, to huge condos, mega yachts, and waterside mansions. You may have learned from my recent posts that the friends I’m staying with have a five year old son named Adam. Adam has been wondering when I was going to finally mention that I was going to his house in my blog. Adam lives a couple miles inland so I can’t quite paddle all the way to his house. His uncle Paul however, does live right on the water (in the same apartment we shared when I lived down here) so that became my destination for the day. The big surprise was the fact that today, after spending three weeks riding in steerage with a fuel canister as a pillow, Graceland the puppet got an upgrade to a first class seat on the deck of my boat for the day long ride to his new home with Adam. You may remember that Graceland (named after the answer I gave to win him at the weekly trivia contest at Two Al’s Restaurant) is the puppet that joined me on this adventure over 600 miles back in Carrabelle, FL. Today Graceland got to see some of the many things there are to see on the water between Adam’s parent’s office on Virginia Key and his uncle Paul’s house in Dania. Much of this blog written for five year old Adam to learn about what Graceland saw along the way.  After saying good by to Adam’s dad at his office, Graceland rode with me into the morning calm north around the island to the Port of Miami. There were no ships in just then, but we got a good look at the huge cargo cranes that unload the freighters that come into port.  You can see the huge blue and white cargo cranes behind Graceland  A big Coast Guard cutter Just around the corner from the shipping port is the headquarters for the US Coast Guard. Graceland and I were going to take a shortcut past their docks but we were quickly approached by guards in a patrol boat that politely suggested that we go the long way around. In South Florida the Intracoastal Water Way winds through the interconnected bays inside the outer islands that lie a half mile or less from the main land. The water in some of the bays can often be quite shallow so it’s important to follow the navigation aids to stay in the boat channel. Graceland got a good look at many of those red and green channel markers today.  A green channel marker with a Cormorant bird on top  There are lots of draw bridges along the channel that raise to let sailboats and other tall boats to go past. Graceland got a chance to watch one go up to let a construction barge come through. About half way through the day Graceland and I took a side trip to Oleta State Park. The park is an island of “nature” in a sea of city. In the park you’ll find a maze of great mountain bike trails wrapped around an equally interesting network of water channels winding through the mangroves. It was one of my favorite places to paddle when I was living in the area and it was fun to see it again.  Quiet mangrove tunnel in Oleta State Park The real reason for the quick side trip, however, was to check out the new rental/retail facility for Blue Moon Outdoor Center that is run by my friend Colleen Guido. I got my start in kayak guiding with Colleen’s fledgling Full Moon Kayak Company over eight years ago. Operating with a simple trailer full of about a dozen kayaks, we mostly did evening tours around the Las Olas Islands area in Fort Lauderdale with a few day trips to Oleta and other interesting and beginner friendly local spots. Colleen is a dynamo and I’m very impressed at where she has taken the business. The operation now has dozens of kayaks and canoes doing lessons, rentals, and tours in Oleta along with mountain bike rentals for the bike trails. Her new facility (on which the finish carpenters were still putting the finishing touches) is incredible and is sure to become a focal point in the park. Colleen wasn’t in when I arrived but I did hang out long enough to meet her crew and distract them from work long enough to sign my boat and pose for a group photo.  Me with the crew at Blue Moon Outdoor Center  On the way back out to the main channel Graceland and I discovered a raccoon along the bank foraging amongst the roots of the mangrove plants. Oleta is a special place and is a nice break from the city paddling that exists in the area. Much of the time today I paddled past towering condo buildings and hotels. It’s all interesting in it’s own way and there is never a loss for something to see.  Big condos and beautiful water. Typical Miami paddling. A few hours north of Oleta I finally turned west off the Intracoastal waterway that I was following much of the day up the Dania Cutoff canal. The canal extends all the way out into the Everglades (now pushed over 40 miles away by city) and the first several miles are lined with finger canals, that jut off like side streets, that are lined with apartments, homes, and businesses. It’s this sort of network of finger canals that gave Fort Lauderdale (just north of Dania) the nick name “The Venice of America”. When I moved to Florida ten years ago I was lucky enough to have an apartment that was adjacent to one of those finger canals. To add still more to the luck, my apartment was a one story affair with a long straight wall just inside the front door which allowed me to get a full sized kayak in without any fuss. To go for a paddle all I had to do was take my kayak off the rack in the living room, pull it right out the front door, walk 30 steps to the water, lower it in, and go on my way. If it wasn’t for the fact that it was so easy for me, I’m not sure I would have gotten into kayaking as much as I did.  The end of the finger canal by my old apartment When I first started planning this trip seven years ago I was living in that apartment and it was a dream of mine to be able to paddle from my home up in Wisconsin all the way to my place in Florida. Today that dream became a spooky reality as I turned the corner off the Dania canal and paddled up to my old apartment. My friend Paul (Adam‘s uncle), and roommate at the time, is still living in the same place so Graceland the puppet and I got to share the novelty of linking two important places together. He linked Adam’s parent’s workplace to his uncle Paul’s house and I linked my home in Wisconsin to my old place in Florida.  Graceland with Adam Day 79 02/22/2010
When I woke to the sound of rain blowing against the side of the house my first thought was "well it's going to be a rough wet day on the water". However, before I got ready and joined Neil on the drive down to work in Miami where I had left my boat, I turned on the weather channel to discover that while today's weather is dismal, tomorrows weather will be absolutely perfect. So why not wait a day and enjoy the 28 mile run I plan to do up to my old apartment in Dania. I had a slide show to tune up and e-mails to catch up on, so instead of slogging into the wind and rain I put my feet up and sorted pictures all day. Days 77 and 78 02/21/2010
Don't miss the recap of days 74-76 below this post. I added a bunch of great pictures and a video of the end of the Gulf and start of the Atlantic Coast sections of this trip.After a long hard push from St. Petersburg (near Tampa) to Miami I am finally with my friends in South Florida. Everybody I’ve crossed paths with over the last two weeks has heard all about how excited I was to get here. It is here that I moved after college and got my start in kayaking and I couldn‘t wait to be in my old stomping grounds with great old friends.  Me with my friend Neil I was also looking forward to making it here because it would mark the end of the Gulf Coast and beginning of the Atlantic Coast legs of this trip. What was more motivational still was the fact that here is where I plan to “base camp” while I deliberately slow down the pace of this trip while waiting for the weather to warm up north. If I continued on at the pace I’m going I’d be right back into Atlantic cold and storms way too early in the season. Over the next month I’ll be resting, and trying to put 15-20 pounds on my frame while I jump back and forth across Florida (and the rest of the country) working at kayak symposiums and ironically re-visiting the Everglades while I help guide a group down there. When I last visited four years ago my friends Neil and Heather (with whom I’m staying) had one ten month old baby. In the four years since they’ve added two more filling the house with a four month old (Zach), a two year old (Seth), and the four year old (Adam). It suffices to say that the energy level and intensity surrounding Neil and Heather’s home has changed. Yesterday, with a weekend of kids birthday parties already planned, Neil and I tried to coordinate a paddle together from Virginia Key (where I arrived Friday) up to Oleta park in Miami. The normal “three kids” morning chaos ensued and before we knew it we found ourselves racing the clock to try to pull the outing off. Finally we wised up and decided to give kayaking (and my body) a rest and concentrate on a well planned BBQ instead. While Heather went off to the bulk superstore to purchase the vast amounts of meat needed to fill my bottomless gut, I was sent on a mission to the local grocery to acquire the beer required to make good on the promise I had made down in Key Largo. Even my brother Aaron called to remind me that I had promised to drink a beer in celebration if I made it all the way to Miami by Friday. -- You see I don’t drink, for no real reason than I choose not to, so when I say I’ll have a drink it’s cause for fanfare amongst my friends. -- Neil and his brother Paul (also a good friend of mine) put their heads together to select the perfect beer for the occasion. Selecting the perfect brew turned out to be quite a process and I wondered if they thought that hard during their SAT tests. They both had given up beer for Lent but for this they were willing to bend the rules and have a beer with me. They selected Blue Moon as the beer of choice and I was sent out o acquire a six pack while they stayed home to watch the boys. When I got to the store and discovered there were no six packs, only cases of the selected beer, I phoned the house and got Paul. After explaining the predicament and asking what other beer I should get he quickly suggested that I “just get the twelve pack.” Apparently the Lenten rules would be bent a little more. By the time I made it back to the house (never send a hungry man to the grocery store) the brats and burgers were on the grill and the house was filled with the sights, smells, and sounds of old times with the addition of the kids adding to the excitement. I had set my tent up in the back yard to air out which, of course, quickly became a focal point for the kids. Neil was a bit nervous to have the boys playing in the tent but I assured him that after seeing the strong winds and rough handling the tent had been through that there was nothing they could do that would hurt it. As I watched them play for a while, however, I finally decided that perhaps it was time to put the tent away. If only we could bottle all that energy.  Seth and Adam  Adam and Seth playing in my tent. The brats and burgers were done to perfection and we feasted on those as well as salads and baked apples from Paul’s fiancée Stephanie . Finally Neil proposed a toast to making it to Miami and we celebrated the accomplishment with a tall cold one. Today (Sunday Day 78) I passed on the opportunity to join the family for a friend’s four year old child’s birthday choosing instead to get some quiet time and catch up on the blog and finally start to prepare the slide show I’ll be giving over at the Sweetwater Symposium next Friday. At this point I have over 1200 photographs to go through as well as a bunch of videos. It’s also time to start planning the Atlantic coast leg of this trip so I’m sorting through all of the e-mails I’ve received over the last three months from people along the route. I never thought the administrative side of this trip would be so involved but it’s definitely worth it in order to share the experience with everyone else. Tonight we’re planning on firing up the grill again, this time to burn some chicken in celebration of a visit from Susan (another old friend from South Florida) who is in town from Charleston on a trip for work. As well as Lisa and Bill who live not too far away. It really is like old times. Days 74-76 recap 02/20/2010
Ever since the moment I decided to do this trip I have dreamed of making it to Miami. Seven years ago I did a trip from Florida City through the Everglades and past Key Largo with hopes of making it all the way to the beach by my friend’s office the final day. Bad tides and persistent head winds wore me out however and I finally called for a ride from Alabama Jack’s bar just north of Key Largo. As great as the trip through the Everglades had been for me, loosing the chance at the novelty of arriving right behind my buddies office, walking in and saying hi, was always a disappointment to me. This time around I started plotting my arrival in Miami over a week in advance. It wasn’t the most important thing in the world, but in order to make the arrival on my “friend’s” beach work I’d have to arrive on a week day. There’d be no sense in having him drive to work on a day off to pick me up. All the way back in St. Petersburg I had carefully scaled the distances, found the camp sites, and calculated the daily mileages needed to make it happen. It all depended on the weather, of course. As you may have read the first four days out of St. Pete I ended up staying with people in their homes which allowed me to put on extra miles and stay “rested” on days that normally would have started to wear me out. By the time I was back in my tent on Cape Romano last Monday things looked like they probably wouldn’t work out for reaching Miami. Instead of arriving at the office on Friday I thought I’d be spending an extra night on an offshore island and possibly paddling all the way up to Fort Lauderdale on Saturday. Which would have made a perfectly fine “plan B”. Tuesday, however, brought a nice tail wind and I managed to put on some extra miles making it all the way from Cape Romano to Highland Beach in one day. Along the way I was stopped by some concerned game wardens that were wondering if I was OK as they don’t normally see paddlers out as far as I was. When I explained myself they relaxed a bit and were surprised to hear that I intended to spend the night on a beach twenty miles down the coast. When I explained that I have a 30 mile daily range and could do it they joked that their twin 250 HP Yamaha outboards could get them there in twenty minutes. As they sped off to do whatever it is they do I continued on at my comfortable 4 mph and reached Highland Beach well before sunset.  Matt. my neighbor on Highland Beach On the beach watching my arrival through the whitecapping waves with binoculars was a young bearded man named Matt. He was on an extended trip through the glades and (heading north) was weathered in on the beach for the day. He had already scouted out the camp spots that gave some shelter from the wind and suggested a flat spot behind a thicket on which I quickly set my tent. We were both happy to have someone to talk to on such a sunny but blustery day and we visited until the descending sun and mosquitoes pushed us into our tents. The next morning we both launched just before sunrise and said or good bys as he headed north and I turned south. It was Matt that suggested that the “inside” route through Whitewater Bay (and the maze of rivers and islands that make up the setting for the Wilderness Waterway) would be a great way to avoid the big winds that were predicted later in the day on Wednesday. My friend Russell back in St. Petersburg had also suggested that route noting that he knew of several people that had run it all in one day. I was leery because the few camp sites on the inside are on raised platforms (called cheekies) that are often occupied by other campers on weekends and difficult to access from kayaks even when they aren’t. That meant that once I committed to the inside route I’d have almost no choice but to make it all the way to Flamingo by the end of the day. After getting worked over in strong following seas for half the day Tuesday I was in no mood to repeat the experience on Wednesday so I decided the long run through the inside was worth it. Besides that almost all of my time touring the Glades had been on the outside and I was up for something new.  Calm water on the inside route to Flamingo After seeing just how beautiful it is on the inside route I am very glad I made that choice. I ran a route along Joe river which runs east and west on the southern perimeter of the interior. The relatively narrow “river” provided ample shelter from the wind and I paddled mostly flat water all the way to Flamingo. I did have to work against the outgoing tide a bit but by working eddies along the banks I was able to make good time.  Giant mangroves at Shark River Russell had mentioned the enormous mangrove trees at the entrance to the Shark River where I entered the inside route, but even his descriptions didn’t prepare me for just how huge the trees actually are. Most mangroves you see are relatively low growing plants with intertwined branches and exposed root systems that form almost impenetrable masses of foliage. It’s these tough trees that can withstand the hurricanes and tropical storms that tear through here every few years thus keeping the very low islands on which they grow from washing away in the big seas. I don’t know if it’s a quirk of the shape of the coast or bank erosion from the river, but at the Shark River the tallest mangroves that would normally be in the middle of an island (protected by those along the edges) are growing exposed right along the river. Towering well over 40 feet above the water with open air between the large trunks they look more like hardwood trees in a northern forest. It was only the shape of their leaves and exposed root systems that convinced me that they were indeed mangroves. It was inspiring to see the familiar scruffy low growing plants reach such lofty heights.  After reaching Flamingo I was helped around the dam that separates the Gulf from the interior by a kid named Alias who was working at the canoe rental outfit at the park marina. From there I paddled a mile back up the coast to the camp site and checked in. My neighbor in camp let me borrow his bicycle which I used to ride back down to the marina store to use the pay phone to check in. I was desperate to find out if anybody had replied to the e-mail my brother Luke sent to Florida Bay Outfitters in Key Largo. It was late notice but if I could spend the night there it would give me a better starting point for Miami the day after.   Sure enough the guys at FBO had replied and were up for a visit from me so the next day I pushed off from Flamingo and followed the network of channels across the shallows on my way to Key Largo. I watched my chart carefully and discovered that Low Key would be the southern most point of “land” I’d pass on this entire trip. After a few hours of paddling I reached the island and commemorated this turning point with a photograph and gulp of Gatoraid. I also called my mom with my cell phone and let her know I was finally on my way home.  Low Key the southern most land on this trip.  The actual southern most point A few more hours of hard paddling brought me in to the “Florida Bay Outfitters” kayak shop. As I approached the shop from the water I wasn’t sure how to find it so I called on my cell phone. It was Joel who answered and he immediately remembered who I was and that we had met out in San Diego when I gave him and two of his friends a ride to San Felipe in Baja for the start of a 30 day trip down the length of the Sea of Cortez. We had to laugh at how small the paddling community really is. Joel hooked me up with a hot shower and the owner Frank, Joel, and Josh took me out for some Mexican food. Fra;nk let me crash on the floor of the store which saved me the trouble of setting up my tent allowing for a quick departure in the morning. I learned that trying to sleep next door to what must be the busiest biker bar in the Keys is a bit of a challenge and I didn’t really get much rest during the night. It probably had a lot to do with the excitement of trying to reach Miami the next day that kept me up as well.  One small corner of the Florida Bay Outfitters Kayak Shop The next morning I got a very early start and was on the water by 5:50 AM with the wind already (or I should say still) blowing out of the NW at 15 mph. I knew it’d be a slog in the morning but the weather predictions showed that the wind was supposed to drop giving me a good chance to reach my destination on Virginia Key. The first few hours were challenging with the wind (and I’m convinced tidal flow) working against me I was moving a full mile per hour slower than my normal pace. Along the way I passed under the US Highway 1 bridge and commemorated the official end of the Gulf Coast and beginning of the Atlantic Coast legs of this trip. It was a long day but the winds did slow and the rough choppy water I had been paddling in turned to glassy smooth. It was a great day made even better by finally arriving on Virginia Key to the welcoming cheers of my friends.  Lighthouse on Key Biscayne  The welcoming committie on Virginia Key Day 76 (I made it to Miami) 02/19/2010
Daily stats Start: 5:58 AM – Florida Bay Outfitters, Key Largo, FL Finish: 5:19 PM – NOAA Lab -Virginia Key, Miami, FL Time: 11:20:36 Daily dist: 45 miles Total dist: 2,193 miles Companions: None Notes: What can I say... I'm tired. After eight days straight of grinding out an average of 35 miles per day, today I topped off the long run from St. Petersburg to Miami with one of the longest days of the trip so far. After starting the day at the Florida Bay Outfitters kayak shop in Key Largo at 5:50 AM I landed on the beach on Virginia Key at 5:15 PM after paddling 46 miles. Waiting for me there on the sand was a welcoming committee consisting of my friend Neil and a bunch of his co-workers. I truly am exhausted from the long week of paddling but at the same time excited to be done with the Gulf Coast portion of this trip and beginning the Atlantic. After getting a little well earned rest tonight I’ll be filling you in on the last four days as soon as I get a chance.  This crew was there to seem me land in Miami Day 75 - The Gulf is done 02/18/2010
Daily stats Start: 6:09 AM – Flamingo, Everglades National Park Finish: 3:27 PM – Florida Bay Outfitters, Key Largo, FL Time: 9:18:12 Daily dist: 38 miles Total dist: 2,148 miles Companions: None Notes: Clear with northwest wind at 10-15. Another call-in report from Jake today, as he’s getting his ‘beauty’ sleep for his first big push north tomorrow. Jake’s currently warm, dry and comfy as the good folks at Florida Bay Outfitters in Key Largo have put him up for the night. Tomorrow he’s planning to make a long run into the wind up to Miami. Stay tuned… he’ll be posting all the details of the past three days over the weekend. Day 74 (Payphone update from Jake) 02/17/2010
Daily stats Start: 6:40 AM - Highland Beach (23 miles SE of Chokoloskee, FL) Finish: 4:20 PM – Flamingo, Everglades National Park Time: 9:40 Daily dist: 38 miles Total dist: 2,110 miles Companions: None Notes: Partly cloudy. Sheltered water. Jake called me tonight (actually I had to call him at a payphone) from Flamingo Florida. He had a great day paddling the inside route on the Wilderness Waterway. Jake expects to reach Key Largo tomorrow and is trying to plan the next few days around the wind and weather. Jake is very excited about catching up with friends in Ft. Lauderdale. Right now the plan is for tomorrow to be the last day of the “Gulf Leg” and the start of the “Atlantic Leg” of Jake’s journey. Stay tuned for further updates once Jake reaches “civilization”. | Best of the Blog
|
RSS Feed