Resources for the Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail (CT)
FL CT Trail Segments
- Florida Office of Greenways and Trails – Official CT Site – This is the place to start when planning your paddle around Florida.
- Florida Paddling Trails Association
- Ardvark’s Florida Kayak Co. CT pages
Florida CT Paddler Websites / info (Just a few of the sites out there)
- Kayak Around Florida – Jim Windle and Marc Deluca have a very informative and helpful site.
- Thru-Paddle Florida – Mike Ruso and Dan Dick – This is another good site for CT info. The site is currently in an “overhaul” status but is still a good place to check out.
- Go Kayak Florida – Sean Bowers’ blog on portions of the trail. You’ll find some funny comments in here.
- Life at 2 mph – Warren Johnson’s adventure site. Good info on the CT as well as other adventures.
Smart Phone Apps
All of these can be found in the App Store
- Google Maps and Google Earth (of course)
- Launch Sites – This is a paddling.net app and I love it. Shows hundreds of launch sites. Directions and other info. I like to take pictures and leave comments for each site I visit.
- Tide Graph & Tide Graph Pro – You can download tide info a year at a time for the free Tide Graph version. Each year is $0.99 or you can get the Pro version for $2.99 that downloads for free. This allows you to have the info when off line. This is the best tide app I’ve found after playing with a lot of them.
- Commander Compass Lite (and Pro) – Many setting options and also has destinations and tracking. Good backup to the GPS if you have a cell signal
- Lat Lon Converter app – Converts from one format to another – Quick and easy – The best I’ve found
- Marine: Florida app – Not free but has a lot of good functionality and very good nautical charts
- Wind Vane Pro, Wind Geo, Humidity Dial, Heat Warning, Temp Style, Thermo HD – Very handy apps and can be purchased in a bundle
- Lunar Phase – This is a really nice lunar phase app
- MyRadar NOAA Weather Radar – This is the best weather radar app I’ve found
- Weather Channel App – My “go to” weather app
Additional Planning Resources
- NOAA Nautical Charts – Download the free full size PDF charts.
- NOAA Nautical Booklet Charts – These are the best for kayaking. Small size and you can select the pages from each “booklet” that are needed for your specific paddle adventure. Print them out on 8.5 X 11 paper and they are great for the smaller map cases.
- Wind History – Provides history by month for most airports around the country – quick and easy interface.
- WeatherSpark – Great site for evaluating historical weather trends anywhere in the country.
Books to read
- Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail Guide (Text Only), Florida Office of Greenways and Trails, Doug Alderson, Liz Sparks – Fifth addition has been released. Look for it online. A detailed search for good pricing is needed. I found it for less than $5.
- A Paddler’s Guide to Everglades National Park, Johnny Molloy
- Florida Keys Paddling Atlas, Bill and Mary Burnham – This is an exceptionally well-done sea kayaking guide to the tropical water paradise of the Florida Keys.
- The Florida Keys Paddling Guide, Bill Keogh
- Fundamentals of Kayak Navigation, David Burch – Highly recommended and you will learn more than you thought.
- Florida’s fabulous Canoe and Kayak Trail Guide, Tim Ohr/Pete Carmicheal – Great for all the possible side trips on your way around.
- Power to the Paddle, John Chase – Good exercise book for all paddlers
- Sleeping Bag Yoga, Erin Widman – List great positions and flags the ones specific to kayaking (as well as hiking and biking).
- Ultralight Backpackin’ Tips, Mike Clelland – You can only carry so much
- Dehydrator Cookbook, Tammy Gangloff