A Great Day on the Water: Picnic Island

Ding Darling preserve is a highlight of the trip.

Named after one of the foremost saviors of the environment, the preserve provides a way for everyone to connect to nature. The info center has excellent exhibits and film, and the preserve is also accessible to the full spectrum of people. Some ride tour busses and snap pictures of the birds from the windows. Some drive their own cars and linger a little longer, or take a short walk. Others ride bicycles or paddle kayaks. It all works, and it works well together. The best insurance for the future of our environment is for people to connect with and fall in love with nature, and this preserve provides an opportunity for everyone.

We finish the day with a four mile open water crossing.
I love the experience of paddling itself, the water bouncing the boat as the hips automatically dance in unison, the torso providing effortless propulsion, the blade silently slicing into the water as the kayak glides past. On some foul weather days in northern Florida there was little other than the paddling, and it was divine. Even today after exploring a first rate wildlife preserve, we welcome the pure paddling essence of the crossing.

The crossing is fun to navigate, as we are attentive to the multitude of clues. We watch for when the causeway first appears around the point, or when we can see down into a bay, or when a day beacon shifts to true north. These clues, ranges and bearings help us ascertain the drift due to the side wind, and our watches determine distance. With the steady wind abeam, we maintain our heading of 130 and get a course of 160, and hit is perfectly. The only puzzle is that Picnic Island appears to be much too close. That riddle is solved when we find it forested with Australian Pine, towering two or three times higher than the native trees, thus making the island appear closer than it is.

As the sun sets, we are on protected dry land on the southern tip of Picnic Island, with 270 degrees of panoramic view of sand and water. Ah, so purifying for the soul.