Stickler: Back to Sarasota

On the way down the gulf coast in February, I was sick in Sarasota.  To meet Pat and Roger on time, we skipped about 40 miles. That was the right call at the time as I was pretty tired when we resumed, even with short miles.

As we drove back towards St Marks, I just couldn't leave that gap.
I can't explain why that was important to me, but it was. Fran disagreed but was understanding enough to stop and let me paddle.

The first day was just a long 23 mile slog. In our foldable kayak now, and with a 13 mph headwind, the miles were hard. The forecasted 70 degrees turned out to be just a high of 61, and the water felt colder still. I was seriously cold. Not much fun. Why am I doing this? Ryan and Mel are here and we didn't get to visit them as much as I had hoped down in the Keys, but here I am paddling.

The second (and final) day was more fun. The wind was calm and the air warmed quickly with the clear skies. I shifted to paddling on the outside, along the gulf beach and had a good day. By mid-afternoon the wind was blowing from the west and swells grew to a few feet. When I beached for lunch, I tried to exit the boat in the water to not scratch it on the coral sand, but I ended up filling the boat with saltwater and sand. At the entrance to Sarasota Bay it got a bit rough where the wind and tidal current met sand bars, and the water was chaotic with breakers everywhere. The Feathercraft performed just fine, albeit not as well as a real sea kayak, but I came back inside to the Intercoastal Waterway for the last couple of miles.

As I rounded the last bend I felt excitement and completion, perhaps even more so than at Key West. For me, paddling this gap was the right thing to do. Now the paddling segment is done.