Paddle Posts

After the paddle yesterday I slept good last night. I did find wet, sandy raccoon tracks all over the kayak this morning ?. 

I was on the water at normal time and got some great shots of the morning colors. 

For the first hour I was running with the tide and made pretty good time. No wind and the water was like glass and all I had to do was follow the ICW markers. 

Here’s the first bridge I went under. It made for a neat picture. 

I made lots of new friends on the water today. 

This was a short day and I got in at noon even though most of the morning was against the tides. Here’s the motel with its own sandy beach. 

The kayak is right outside my room. Nice ?. 

Here’s the sunset and after it got dark. 

Susie came by as planned and we walked a couple blocks down the road to a nice restaurant for a great dinner. Now I’m full ?. 

It was a really nice paddle day. I needed that after yesterday’s hard paddle. 

Happy Paddling 

Yesterday was fabulous with everything in my favor. Today, not so much. I got on the water at the normal time before sunrise and the bungee holding stuff up on the inside of the kayak came untied and I had a bunch of stuff land on my legs. Back to the beach and ten minutes later I was back on the water. The first two hours were great with only a small tide against me. Here’s the sunrise and some early morning shots. 

I stopped at the Flagler Beach bridge to meet up with Susie. She’s a good friend from high school days that I have not seen since high school. We only spent a few minutes talking since I had a lot of miles to cover. Susie is going to drive up to St. Augustine tomorrow evening and will have dinner and some more time to catch up. It’s really nice meeting new and old friend on this adventure. 

Ok, now for the rest of the day. I left Flagler beach at about 1030 and the currents were ripping and the wind had picked up big time. I had strong currents against me and head winds between 15 & 20 mph for the rest of the day. The tide did turn for the better about an hour before I landed. All together it was a little over 27 miles with a 2.8 mph moving average. And, I had to work hard just to get that. I’m bushed!!!

The GPS coordinates were not getting me to the right spot for my landing today. I was looking for Mellon Island. I may have paddled up to it but with the tide so low I would have had a muddy mess to deal with. I found another spot up the river a ways that worked out great. You can see the kayak way up the bank. My beach rollers paid off big time here as well. I’ll be doing a post on how I put them together soon. 

And will end the post with the setting sun. 

Happy Paddling and good night. 

I slept good last night on Susan’s couch.  Thanks again Susan!

I had a good breakfast and then woke up Gus to help me move the kayak down to the water. With all the gear stowed and the kayak ready to paddle I was on the water just before sunrise. 

The channel heading out Ponce de Leon Inlet was full of big deep sea fishing boats. Where I crossed they all had to go slow but not to far down the were taking off and throwing huge wakes. I’m glad I was far enough away so it was no big deal. I took the inside route near the sand bars and headed towards the lighthouse. 

Getting to the north side of the Inlet was against the tides but not too bad. Once I got on the north side I was really moving riding the flood tide. 

About two miles north, all the fishing boat traffic ceased and for the rest of the day I was almost by myself. Surprising since it’s Sunday and really nice out. 

Lots of bridges in Daytona and one was really neat. Every pillar supporting the bridge had a dolphin and manatee painted on them. 

I followed the ICW channel markers staying just outside of the channel most of the morning but when I got near Tomaka State Park I went over to the west shoreline. There were no houses on that side and it was beautiful to paddle along. I stopped for a short snack break on a little sandy point at the south end of the park. 

While there I checked my progress. It was 1230 and I had already gone 22 miles with a 4.2 mph moving average. That made quick work of the day and I only had about two miles to go. Tomorrow is a 25 mile day and it looks like most of it will be against the tides. ? 

The Tomaka Basin camp site is really nice. And someone had built a nice fire ring. I collected enough wood for a fire and the wind died down just after sunset. 

But by that time I did not feel like messing with a fire. So here I am, inside the tent putting this post together. 

As a side note, I scored two boxes of Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies outside the restaurant last night. I just finished the first box ?. I’ll save the second one for tomorrow ?. 

Another fabulous paddle day. 

Happy Paddling 

This stretch was really nice to paddle. Not crowded and houses only along one side. Here is Mike leaving Canaveral #8 Spoil Island. 

Our camp site was the little beach that you can barely see on the right side of the island. 

We continued to have great moon light even when we got on the water. 

Sunrise shots were nice. 

Most of the days paddle was like this. 

We got to New Smyrna around noon. It was only a thirteen mile paddle but we were against the current all but the last mile. 

Mike and Gus were going to land at Susan’s condo on the water and I was going to keep paddling. Change of plans again ?, Susan offered her sofa for me to crash on and I took her up on the offer. Mike headed home and Gus was going to stay at Susan’s anyway so it all worked out great. 

The three of us went out to dinner and then over to Flagler street for a short walk. It turned out to be longer than planned since we kept stopping into bars to listen to the bands. We heard five different bands and had a great time. 

No sunset picture for today but I did get a shot of the moon over the Atlantic. 

It has been great paddling with Mike and a Gus again. They are good kayakers and fun to camp with. A special thanks to Susan for putting me up for the night!!!

That’s all for this day. 

Happy Paddling 

We had a good paddle today even though we were against some strong head winds most of the day and cool temps. 

I’ll start out with some new pictures from yesterday morning. We met Meena at the Manatee Hammock campsite and she had gotten up early to see us off. She took some nice pictures of us so I’m posting so everyone can see them. 

All those shots Meena took do an excellent job of showing our normal morning routine. 

So now on to today’s update. Last night got pretty windy and cold on our little island. I pulled out the sleeping bag for the first time in a long time. We were up at the normal 0500 time and I went out and got a great shot of the moon just before it set. It was really neat since it was so dark out. 

Hear are the normal morning colors. 

And of course, we need paddlers in the morning sun. 

A good start to the day. The water was a bit lumpy but the wind was light most of the way across Indian River to the Haul Over Canal that takes us into Mosquitoe Lagoon. Here’s the west entrance to the canal.  

Going thru the canal, we went into the little marina to check out the Manatee. It was pretty wild. There were probably more than twenty but we could not tell. The water was cloudy so we could only see noses snorting for air or hump backs and tails. Neat thing was that they were all around us. Here is one nose ?. Much better in person. 

After going thru the canal we went on the inside of the Spoil islands. Look at the Paddle Tracks and you will see we went in and out multiple times. On the outside it was pretty rough and very windy. On the inside, calm and some wind protection. Problem was, it was also very shallow and we kept running out of water. Here we are working our way back to the outside. 

We took a little rest break on one of the Spoil islands which was well deserved. ?

Our next stop was to find a restaurant that Gus knew of. On the way I met Ria as we paddled by a dock she was sitting on and I asked for directions which were easy as we were almost there. Ria took this shot of me and sent it over. 

She had also planned on giving us some warm bread when we paddled past the dock where she lives. After a great seafood dinner I went about a mile past our camp site but had to turn around so I could get back and set up the tent before dark. I’m sorry to have missed out on talking more with Ria and also some warm bread ?. 

In my rush to get the camp set before dark I missed the sunset picture. ?

This will be the last night camping with Gus and Mike. It’s been great paddling with them again. They will land in New Smyrna and I’ll keep heading north. 

That’s it for today. 

Happy Paddling 

Not a lot of sleep last night. Some guys came in late from fishing and were talking loud until around 0130 ?. Part of the deal with some campgrounds. Regardless, this was a really nice spot. We were launching just before sunrise as usual and several of the other campers came down to send us off. Really nice of them. Here are some morning colors after we got out on the water. 

The wind and waves picked up all morning long so we hugged the west shore as long as we could. We stopped for lunch on the south side (lee side) of the Titusville railroad bridge so we could walk to the other side and make a plan of action. We could see the two Spoil Islands from there and on the chart they were about a mile and a half to get to. The second one was our destination for the day. With strong winds and building waves we decided to go for it since they were pretty close. They also looked very small from where we were. Once we crossed under the bridge we were close to head on into the wind the rest of the way. Here’s our little Island for the night. We barely have room for three tents in the high area. 

And the camp is set. 

One or two more big storms and this island may be gone. 

So, I mentioned the wind building all morning. This will give you an idea. 

We were actually messing around in that shot. The wind was in the upper teens at any rate. 

What do you do on an island this small for most of the afternoon? Catch up on emails. 

Play games with shells. 

And just hang out and watch the osprey that owns this island. 

We made dinner around five and then waited for the sunset. 

With the sun down and it getting dark out at 1830 it was time to get into the tents and time for me to do my Paddle Post. 

On another note and to keep everyone posted I have changed the overall Paddle plan. I’ll be ending this trip when I reach Ft. Clinch and will save the GA coast for another time. I will have a little over three and a half months on the water so it’s a good time for a change of pace. I do have my next paddle trip planning in progress. I’ll be doing two weeks on the east coast of Italy later this spring. That will give me another adventure to look forward to. 

That’s all for today. 

Happy Paddling. 

We had some serious wind and rain last night but no tents collapsed. ?

As normal, we were up and on the water before sunrise. Here are the morning colors and some playing with shots. 

Gus and Mike at sunrise. 

Me at sunrise. 

We took the channel from Banana River to get back to Indian River and came across a small shipyard working in tugs. A big difference from the shipyards I’m used to. 

Here’s Gus after we hit the Indian River. 

And Gus and Mike. 

We made our fifteen miles easily and landed at the campsite at noon. This is another nice spot to camp. 

We had Chinese delivered for dinner. ? And the camp store has ice cream ??. 

Another great paddle day. 

Happy Paddling 

I’m paddling with Gus and Mike again. It’s nice to have paddle partners for a change. We had an absolutely beautiful paddle this morning and got to our destination at noon. Tides were with us and a slight tail wind as well. I’ve got a lot of good pictures so here goes. 

About a half hour befor sunrise looking out from the tent site. 

Gus and Mike unloading kayaks. 

I was out on the water getting morning colors while Gus and Mike were loading their kayaks. 

Crossing Banana River we kept on flushing big flocks of little birds from the water. 

Most of the morning was paddling in conditions like this. 

And we had to pass the sentry drying his wings. 

Way off in the distance you could see the Space Center assembly building. 

That building is many miles away but looks close because it’s so big. 

We had to get the kayaks over a bank since the entire shoreline at the park is severely eroded. Then we took turns with my wheels and got all three over to the tent site. 

And we are protected by a nice totem pole. 

Good thing we got in early. A big rain storm came barreling through but only lasted about a half hour. Then everything dried up nicely. We had wings and pizza delivered so no messing around with the camp stove. And we are all stuffed. 

Not much for sunset pics but I got the best I could through the trees. 

The staff at KARS Park that we have met are all very nice. It’s a good place to stop if you can get your kayaks up the bank. 

Well, that’s it for today. Happy Paddling. 

As you can see from the title of this post, I’m pretty sure I was on BC37 last night instead of BC38. 

The winds were down at my camp this morning and I was off to a good start. Here is the morning color about a half hour before sunrise. 

Once I got around the little island and out into the ICW proper I discovered that the wind was really not down. I fought a moderate head wind for the rest of the day. Here is the sunrise about a mile into the paddle. 

The water was a bit lumpy at best. I worked my way over to the eastern shore as the wind shifted to NNE and found some smoother water. The day was really nice so overall it was a very good paddle. Gus and Mike are joining me again for a few days and were waiting for me to arrive at the campground. 

After getting registered, setting up tents and taking a shower we all went for a good walk along the shore. I had a hell of a time getting Mike and Gus to stop throwing big rocks on the walking path. ? and with no success ?. 

We hung out long enough to get the required sunset pics. 

Then it was off to dinner at a local Tex Mex place. I had a huge burrito that deserved its own picture. I’ve already been working on it in this shot. 

It should be noted that the plate was pretty big and there was no way I was going to finish it. I did get close ?. 

That’s it for today. I’ll be paddling with good friends again for next few days. 

Note that the GPS coordinates are for BC38 and the Paddle Tracks show me landing on BC37. I have no idea which one is correct. Regardless, it’s a nice little island to camp on. 

With this being a short day I got a later start than normal. I spent last night at my sister Kim’s house again and we drove back to Sebastian Inlet to pack the kayak and launch. I was in the water around 0930. Here’s Kim sending me on my way. 

A special thanks go out to Kim and Gary for giving me a place to stay for a few days and to my little sister Terri for taking Kim and me out to dinner ?. 

While we were loading the kayak the fog rolled in pretty thick so I started out in pea soup. 

It cleared up about a half hour after I crossed the channel and turned into a pretty nice day.  

I landed on my camp island around 1300.

Not so nice for sailors who ground their boats. This boat is on the other side of the island. 

Life is not so EZ for this boat. It looks like a lot of stuff has been picked of if it and it has been abandoned. 

There were power boaters in and out of this island most of the afternoon. Now I have the place to myself. Very nice. ?

And now I’ll end this post with the setting sun ?. 

Happy Paddling.