Day 69 02/12/2010
Start: 7:40 AM- Sarasota, FL Finish 2:40 PM - Manasota, FL Time: 7:00 Daily dist: 23 miles Total dist: x miles Companions: None Weather: NE winds at 15 mph switching to SE headwinds at 20mph Notes: I had planned on pulling off the water by noon but the weather looked like it was going to hold off for a bit longer so I cranked out another 8 miles. I did get caught by the weather and ended up paddling against a very strong head wind with big rain for the last three or four miles.  Curious heron checking out the Ikkuma Somehow I managed to string seven days of people to stay with right in a row. With that the “Portage to Portage Paddling Project” is rapidly running the risk of becoming “Jake’s Couch Surfing Safari”. After three nights with my friends Russel and Claudia I spent last night with Ann my buddy’s little sister and today I was picked up by Doug Gilliliam and stayed with him and his wife Debbie. At a certain level I must admit it feels a bit like I’m cheating. However, the goal of this trip is not to see how much trouble and suffering I can endure, it’s to meet the people who live along the route. Meeting Doug is an example of just how intimate the paddling community is. His son Taylor is going to school in San Diego and had stopped by Aqua Adventures several times to join us for our weekly Thursday night paddle. Taylor brought his own boat and Greenland paddle and watching him on the water it was obvious that he’d been doing this for a while. It turned out that he and his dad had done a lot of paddling out in Florida with his dad, everything from touring to surfing. I tried to find time to get out in the waves with him but his class schedule and my work schedule never seemed to allow it. Just the same he is a cool guy and a great paddler. When he heard about this trip he let his dad know and Doug, very early on, offered up a place to stay when I got to the area. These connections that came into focus very early in the trip are very fun for me. When I started out in Wisconsin the thought of catching up with somebody so far away in Florida was hard to grasp. But two months later here I am… it’s a neat feeling. As is so often the case in the kayaking world, Doug knows a lot of the same people I do. He invited one of his paddling friends, Dave, over for dinner and as we talked last night about our past paddling adventures and paddling friends we were often mentioning the same people. The paddling world is truly a small and tight knit community made up of exceptionally good people.  once again a good person braves a chilly morning to drop me off The day started out windy and chilly, this time it was poor Ann standing out in the cold to see me off. The wind was already up and predicted to blow hard then harder as the day progressed. My plan was to tip toe around the weather and get as far as I could before it swung to the south and shut me out completely. I made it to our pre-arranged pick up point by noon and the weather had yet to deteriorate so I decided to push on another eight miles. It was in those last two hours that the wind did finally swing and build to well over 20 mph blowing a hard driving rain right in my face. I crawled the last two miles hiding behind docks and boats along shore and was very grateful to finally pull off at a boat ramp near Manasota Beach just south of Venice. The extra miles were tough but it will pay off by shortening the miles to be covered tomorrow. While I waited under a park awning for Doug to catch up with me to give me a ride home I was very grateful to have a place to go to tonight. This trip has truly been much easier with all the people who have opened up their homes to me, I owe so many my eternal gratitude.  I sat out the rain waiting for a ride in this park shelter Doug is quite an avid kayaker himself who loves to paddle rough water so with big winds in the forecast tomorrow he’s sure to find a little adventure when he joins me for a while tomorrow. It’s going to be great to have company on the water if only for a few hours. Dave and I were also talking about meeting up for an overnighter as I pass through the Everglades. If we can make it work it would be an awesome and welcome change to camping solo. This trip just keeps getting better and better.  Sunset after the storm on Doug and Debbie’s pond CommentsScott S. 02/13/2010 7:31:09 am Jake, rj 02/13/2010 8:52:38 pm Watch out for geese. BananaTom 02/13/2010 8:59:42 pm After all your motto states, "Linked by Water", and now it must be amended to, "Linked by Water with a warm bed and food at the end of that day". Sherrie R 02/15/2010 9:41:40 pm Hope you enjoyed the Sarasota area and hospitality. It's a beautiful area (Live there for 10 yrs). Originally from Portage WI and have been following your awesome trip. Wish we could have offered you warmer weather during your paddle through the Tampa to Sarasota area! Leave a Reply | Best of the Blog
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