Wow things have been crazy for me lately, busy hardly describes it. I've hardly had time to sleep much less check e-mails and post on this blog. Sorry my reports have been a little thin over the last few days. I'd like to say that things are going to get back to normal soon but there really is no such thing as normal on a trip like this. Here is what's been going since you heard from me last.  Can't say we were not warned  After returning from the Everglades on Saturday we left our paddling gear in the truck for a trip back south with the “Brits” on Sunday to paddle with the big lizards on the Myakka River near Sarasota.
To say that it was exciting is an understatement. There is nothing quite like sharing a narrow river with literally hundreds of Alligators. We counted over 30 gators within the first half hour of paddling and later saw almost 30 on one beach. One woman in our group had a very close encounter when a gator diving off the bank barely slipped under her kayak and actually made chattering sounds as the plates on his back rubbed against the kayak’s hull.  A little one about to slip into the water  Wow that's close
After the gator experience, we returned to St. Pete and cleaned up all the gear from the weeks adventures. I then got myself all re-packed and organized before finally getting to bed just before midnight. At 2:00 AM my alarm clock rang and a few minutes later I was on the road for the four hour drive back to Fort Lauderdale where I was scheduled to do presentations to three high school classes from 7:00 to 11:00 AM.  Me with one of the classes I presented to Monday
The presentations went great and afterward I had lunch with some friends Colleen and Fred Guido who own the Blue Moon Kayak Outdoor company that I visited last week in Miami. After lunch I franticly checked e-mails and tried to plan the next week of paddling up the coast. Later in the afternoon I met up with another friend from the area Will Murphy and joined him and the a bunch of folks from the Blazing Paddles dragon boat team for a work out paddle on West Lake in Hollywood Florida. It was a fun time and an interesting change of pace from kayaking. Afterward we went out to grab a bight to eat where exhaustion finally caught up with me and I had to call it an early night and finally get home to bed.  A night workout paddle with the Blazing Paddles Dragon Boat Team I had planned on getting on the water early today (Tuesday March 9th) but decided that I better use the morning to get some rest and a little better organized before I get back on the water. So I’ve spent the balance of the morning catching up with more e-mails and ironing the wrinkles out of my plan for the rest of the week. I’m hoping to be back on the water by 11:00 AM this morning (as soon as I get done with this blog in fact) and finally paddling north up the coast again. Much like my run down the west coast of Florida (from St. Petersburg to Naples) the next few days will see me sleeping on couches in friends houses as I paddle through a heavily populated and very developed area of the state. There are plans being cooked for me to join a group paddle on the Silver River next Sunday (March 14th) and Juniper Springs the following Monday. After that I’ll be leaving my boat and gear with a kayaking operator in Cocoa Beach and catching a bus back to Fort Lauderdale where I’ll be flying out to San Diego to help out at the Southwest Kayak Symposium but on by Jen Kleck and Aqua Adventures. I know it’s been a strange ride over the last couple weeks and will continue to be so. But I’m hoping that I’ll still be able to share the interesting bits of my travels (which will include a trip to Baja) before I get back on the route full speed just after Easter. All I can say is stay tuned, it’s going to be an interesting month. CommentsLyn Stachovak Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:59:10 am When you said you went back to St Petersburg to clean out the boats and gear - what were you all cleaning out after the close encounters with alligators? Never mind... Just a thought that hit and had to be shared. Sounds like the "Brits" had quite an adventure in the States. Kathy Wilkinson Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:49:29 pm The gators really are more afraid of you than you are of them... :-) Tue, 09 Mar 2010 1:37:23 pm Jake, Andy Tue, 09 Mar 2010 3:12:58 pm Jake, berto Tue, 09 Mar 2010 4:11:21 pm Did your dragon boat experience come in handy? Aaron Stachovak Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:02:00 am Jake I may need you to pull off the water and paddle on my dragon boat team this summer :) we are defending 3 time champions and may need the help! Leave a Reply | Best of the Blog
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