And on the seventh day, Fran rested: Crystal River

Okay, it hasn't been seven days without rest and paddling may not compare to creating the universe and everything in it, but Fran's arm and shoulder muscles are sore and her energy reserves declining. Let's do a zero day.

Manatees: Crystal River

Today is a day that we had some trepidation about. Very early in our planning we had seen the Florida nuclear power jetty extending three miles into the gulf, and noted cautions that crossing it can be hazardous in bad weather. We are familiar with the jetties in the Northwest and they are serious hazards to get around. Second only to the Tampa Bay crossing, we have been concerned about this day.

The tide could not be worse.

In a Fog: Crystal River spoil island

The forecast is for morning fog and moderate wind (10 mph).

The route follows the shore of Wacasassa Bay. But the bay is shallow and we want to make up miles, so we talk about plowing straight across seven miles. Fran twitches at the idea of not being able to see land for two hours, but it appears that water never gets more than a few feet deep. We have lots of ways to navigate including two deck compasses, two handheld compasses, a mapping GPS, and electronic NOAA charts with GPS on both the cell phone and tablet. We decide to go for it.

We are flying on instruments.

Paddling like madmen: Kelly Creek

We are now seven days behind the itinerary. We might not make that time up and may have to skip some miles down the road to get back on track at Cayo Costa.

While I acknowledge that possibility, I am hoping somehow we catch up.

Leroy's turn: Deer Island

As if the hospitality yesterday was not enough, this morning Leroy picked us up and took us to breakfast and shared lots of great stories from his times in Germany, Tennessee and Texas. He has made the most of every day of his 80 years. Delightful breakfast.

An expert kayaker, Leroy lives in the perfect place. With his house directly on the canal he can shove off from backyard and explore. One day he logged nearly 30 miles just meandering through the maze of little creeks within a few miles of his house.

Southern Hospitality: Suwannee

We faced a big open mud flat again this morning. We took many trips out to the water's edge, hauling one boat at a time to the water's edge, and then several trips with the IKEA bags stuffed with gear. Over an hour later, we were ready to launch (and already tired from the slog).  Have I mentioned that we have too much stuff?

We set out and take forever to find deep water.  Check that; we do not find deep water. 

Sail Away, Sail Away, Sail Away: Shired County Park

The extreme low tides persist in the morning, and Horseshoe Bay is described as a maze of Oyster Bars in the Guidebook. Sure enough, looking out this morning we figured we could undo the gelcoat repairs I made in Steinhatchee in just a few minutes.

The marine weather forecast today is for a 20 knot tailwind. We chose to ride the wind across the bay rather than follow the perimeter.

Let's talk about food...

I'm really liking the way the food planning and prep is turning out.  Rod really freed me when he said..."don't make up individual meals, just cook the way that you do at home.  Just use ingredients."

So I took the one pot meal methods of the backpacking cookbook to an extreme.  I packed up rice, quinoa, red lentils and whatever grains, pastas and quick cooking beans that I had in the cupboards. Then I packed the mountain of dried food that I'd prepared.  Spices are in individual snack bags and packed into one quart freezer bag.  I also have salt & pepper, butter buds and oil (though I do need to find a better leak-proof container for the oil).  

When it comes time to cook dinner, I pull out the pot and start inventing.  I put a grain (or main ingredient) into the pan then add dried food and flavorings.  One favorite is 1/2 red lentil and 1/2 rice or quinoa.  The lentils cook fast and make a nice thick rice dish.  I like this method because I can be creative and I don't have to spend any time planning.

Its not a three course meal, but it fills the belly.  It's tasty and nutritious.

I have two food bags ...one for breakfast/lunch and one for dinner.  What's really sweet is that I can easily carry two weeks of food so that I don't have to stop for resupply so often.

Weight? Yes it's heavy, but I don't find that it makes much difference in maneuvering.  The boats are too heavy to carry when loaded, but that would still be true if you carried half of the food.

In search of Water: Butler Island

We've been doing very well so far timing our paddling with the tide. We usually had current with us on rivers, and haven't had any problems at campsites with low water.

Until today.

Neptune, Don't Take My Kodachrome Away: Sink Creek

We rose early in anticipation of meeting up with Liz.  It wasn't too difficult to break camp...climb out of the nice clean sheets and waddle over to the hot shower.  Ah, such luxury.

Liz and Melissa, her videographer, arrive at 9.  As we set up for the interview, I comment that with all of the wind and rain the water has been cloudy and we haven't seen much of the expected sea life.

"When is the best time to visit the Big Bend?" I ask.  "March, but then in October you get the large flocks of birds migrating through. I guess we are still waiting for the weather because the only two blue sky days were when we left St. Marks and the next.  As Tim the motel owner said, we must have lost some bet.

Liz and Melissa video as we packed the boats.  We made arrangements for meeting up at the end of the day at Sink Creek Campground.  They filmed from 2 locations as we paddled away, waving our goodbyes to the good people of Steinhatchee.

The paddling was mostly uneventful.  The weather was favorable and we made good time.  Since we had only 10 miles to cover we took more time to notice things along the way.  About three miles from camp we saw an island with a sign, that as we neared was indeed a stop sign.  Since I thought it rather humorous to see a stop sign on a deserted bit of land almost big enough to call an island, I stopped to take a picture.  Not heeding the sign, we also nosed onto shore for a brief pee break.

We reached the lovely treed camp at about 2:30 and saw that Liz and Melissa had not arrived yet. We paddled the extra distance to the boat ramp they would be launching from. As we were saying our greetings, I reached for the camera to photograph their departure.  The camera was not in my PFD, nor was it in the boat. Was it a gift to Neptune or was it on the island? Rod and I decide to paddle back to see if se can find it. Liz, bless her heart, says "Fine. We'll go on to camp, start a fire and have your dinner ready for you when you get back."

We didn't find the camera. But we did have an enjoyable evening with Liz & Melissa upon our return.  We watched the sunset over the gulf while the full moon was rising in the east.  Then we sat around the campfire enjoying the leftovers of Liz's Christmas dinner.  Yum.

Distance:  10 + 6 bonus miles

Baby It's Cold Outside: Steinhatchee

 

Steinhatchee, a drinking town with a fishing problem.

We are in Steinhatchee for the day and will be leaving in the morning.  It's been a delightful stay while waiting out the gale force winds and small craft advisories.  Tomorrow promises 5 mph winds from the north...pushing us to the next stop at Sink Creek.

We've made friends with Liz Sparks, the woman who created and supervises the Big Bend Saltwater Paddling Trail.  We initially spent a lot of time on the phone talking logistics.  I mentioned that I would like to meet her on the trail.  She also wanted to get video footage of people using the trail for use in promotional presentations.  She previously hiked into one of the camps to do some video and brought hot coffee and breakfast!  What an angel.  She'll be here tomorrow morning with a videographer and will meet us in the afternoon at camp.  It should be a fun day.

We're staying in a motel as there aren't campsites in town.  The first words from the owners mouth when we told him about the journey was "What bet did you all lose?  There ain't nothin' on my bucket list that comes any where close to what y'all are doing."  He's a great guy with a big heart and soon took us out to the American Legion hall for drinks.

I must say that after only a week the showers at the motel were very welcome.  And the warm bed seems like a luxury after the (literally) freezing temperatures in the tent.  It's been cold!   We started off without drysuits.  It was sunny and we had left them in the car to save space in the boats.  Bad decision. Getting out of the boats wet and shivering at the end of the day got old fast.  We managed to get our suits courtesy of Captain Mike and are much happier.  We could not have done some of the paddling we did without them.

Distance: 0
High 70, Low who cares -we're in a motel!
Wind 25-30, gusts to 40, overcast some rain

Christmas Paddle: Steinhatchee

Today was a good test. We faced 15 mph headwinds and moderately choppy water. We still cruised easily at 2.2 mph, and Rod was able to sprint at 4 mph, so there seems to be plenty of margin left.

Our planning assumption were the we could paddle in 15 mph headwinds, and 20 mph tail, abeam or quartering. So far that seems fine. I had compared those assumptions to ten years of daily weather statistics and estimated that we will have 20-25% non-paddling days, and that is dialed into the itinerary.

The water is cloudy, so not much to see except the birds.

We paddle up the Steinhatchee River for the night.

Distance: 8 miles
High 70, Low 45  partially sunny AM, then thunder storms and rain
Wind 10-15 headwind, then abeam.

A fine and pleasant paddle: Dallus Creek campsite

Nice easy paddle today. Early start, early finish.

Dallus Creek campsite is Hog Heaven! Unfortunately I mean that literally. As we paddle to the beach, we can see the sand torn up, big pits where the pigs rummaged, plants with their roots bare, and grass torn up.  Feral pigs are a serious environmental problem.

With each day we adjust what we wear to keep warm. Paddling isn't too bad with our full body dry suits. But at night it is dang cold. The tent is a summer tent, meaning just mosquito netting with a rain fly. My sleeping bag is an ultra-light summer bag rated for 45F. At night I zip my coat closed and stuff the foot of the bag into it. That adds enough to keep the feet warm. Then I wear a fleece top and wool hat, and am good to go.

I've updated the prior posts to add temperature and wind. The coldest night so far was 24F.

Distance: 8.0 miles
High 70, Low 45
Wind 5-10

A cold slog: Sponge Point

A slow news day. Some breeze until late in the day and quite cold, but easy conditions.

We have to paddle way offshore due to oyster bars that reach out into the gulf. We were in a bit closer yesterday and scratched the boats on oyster shells. The shells are very near the surface of the water, extending out from the shore in long bars, and crossing over them produces a very distressing scratching sound as the oysters gouge the gel coat.

So today we are farther offshore. Out that far there is limited opportunity to view shore wildlife. Late in the day we see a flock of pelicans travel in one line, like a ribbon of birds. Just as a single pelican in flight will bob up and down, so the ribbon undulates. Pretty cool to watch.

Distance 12.5
High 63, Low 26
Wind 10 dropping to 5