Paddle Posts

I’m making my way north again. Days 95, 96 & 97 were no paddle days with family in Vero Beach. I’m still spending tonight at my sisters house. She drove up to Sebastian Inlet and picked me up when I landed. We’ll drive back in the morning, load the kayak and I’ll be off again. 

Today’s Paddle started out really nice. No wind and a blue sky. 

I’ve paddled this area many times before and know the area well. I always take a little shortcut thru a mangrove tunnel. 

After going thru the tunnel, the wind picked up and I was fighting it head on for the last ten miles. I took a lot of smaller bays to keep the waves down. Overall it was a pretty good day. 

I’ve topped off supplies so the kayak will be fully loaded in the morning. No room to spare so good packing will be in order. 

It’s been a nice break in Vero but it’s good to be moving north again. 

That’s all for today. 

This was a great paddle day with really nice weather. It did start out a bit chilly. I was toasty in my tent but the weather report said 43 degrees outside. I put on some extra clothes before venturing out to break camp. 

My little island proved to be a really great camping spot. Here’s the morning colors before getting out on the water. 

After about a mile of paddling the sun came up. 

For the first hour or so I had some moderate head winds to deal with. Around ten the wind died and the rest of the day was like this. 

Crossing Ft. Pierce Inlet between the bridges brought a big surprise. I was cruising along near shore and a dolphin jumped right out of the water about ten feet in front of the kayak. That gave me quite the start and also a big smile. I suspect he was welcoming me to the area. I had also seen a dolphin very close to shore while I was breaking camp. I was missing the critters all the way up from the Keys but am now seeing bunches of them every day. Really nice ?. 

The original plan was to do 27 miles to a camp spot about seven miles south of Vero Beach. With the weather being so nice and the prospect of such a short day to follow I decided it was not worth stopping and setting up camp so I was off to Vero Beach. I pulled in a little after 1700 having paddled just short of 35 miles with a 3.5 mph moving average. Not a bad days paddle. With that said, I was pretty pooped. ?

I’ll be in Vero Beach for a few days at my sisters house resting up and cleaning gear etc. The plan is to start heading north again on Saturday. 

Happy Paddling 

Day 92 was a no paddle day at Dan’s house and good thing. It was cold and rained all day. Today was a much nicer day. It was in the low fifties when I launched and that’s not bad. I got all the gear stowed in the kayak and was on the water just before sunrise. Dan and I tried a selfie ?. 

And then I was on the water as Dan watched me paddle away. 

Here’s the sunrise. 

About a mile into the paddle I was looking out the Inlet towards the ocean. The Inlet is right under the sun. 

Once I rounded the corner back into the ICW I had the tides with me and was making pretty good time. The best part of the day was paddling thru Hobe Sound. It’s a really nice area and not all built up. I had flat water, no wind and no boat traffic for a couple hours. 

The CT guide says to camp on Spoil Island MC3. That was the plan and I paddled up to land but continued on. The next little island looked pretty interesting so I did the extra half mile to check it out. This little extra distance was a big deal. I’d been fighting some really strong head winds for the last two hours and the waves were getting pretty big as well in the open areas. In any event, it was a good decision as this little island has a lot of nice spots to pitch a tent. It is nicer than what I saw on MC3. 

All together I was just shy of twenty miles and pulled in to the island just before 1300. I would have paddled farther but there are no good camping spots for quite a while. 

Another nice thing about this island is that there are places to set up a tent on all sides so it’s easy to get out of the wind. 

The sun is down. Here’s the sunset from my little island. 

I’m in the tent and will break out the sleeping bag tonight. It’s supposed to get down around 47 tonight. I’ll be nice and toasty. 

A special thanks goes out to Dan and MaryEllen for taking me in the last two nights. That really made a difference. Thanks Guys!!!

That’s a wrap for today. Happy Paddling 

It was a pretty short day today. Only twelve miles and I did it in a little over three hours. I had good tides most of the way. The only pictures today are the morning colors.  

When I got to Burt Reynolds Park, Dan was there waiting for me. Dan is the CT Trail Angel Coordinator and a really great guy. Since the forecast for tomorrow is thunder storms, I’ll be staying with Dan and his wife for two nights and will take off Monday morning. 

That’s all for today. Happy Paddling 

A little over 28 miles total today. I got a great start before sunrise with no wind and smooth water. And hardly any boat traffic until close to noon. Morning colors were nice. 

And the suburban sunrise. 

I was pretty focused on making progress since I knew it was a long day. I did stop on a beach for a short lunch break. My body needed the rest ?. I was  expecting to land at Peanut Island around three and that’s what happened. I did have some help with tides around mid day but the last two miles had strong headwinds and big waves to deal with. You just have to push thru it. The campground on Peanut Island is really nice. 

Sunset at the campground was ok. 

Campers are still setting up tents. The site next to me has a bunch of screaming toddlers ?. Not good. I said hi a couple times to the mom and got no response. That’s when I realized she can not hear. It also means she can not hear her screaming kids ??. 

That’s it for today. Happy Paddling 

Just to keep everyone in the loop since I intentionally did not mention my location in the first post. I am at the Spanish River Park in Boca. I waited until after dark and for the park to close before setting up the tent. No Rangers came by or I would have been kicked out. In any event, this is a really nice spot and good for a rest area or stealth camping. 

A one more shots to close out the day. ?

I took my time this morning since there was no need to head out early. I did get a morning shot before sunrise from Erika’s balcony. 

Pretty nice reflection on the canal. 

I was on the water a little after 0900 and paddled back to the ICW and over to say thanks again to Erika since I was going right by her condo. Thanks again Erika ?. 

I met up with Ted about half way through the day and he paddled along with me. We are currently cooking pizza at a nice little park in Boca. Here is Chef Ted preparing the pizza. 

I did have a chance to make new friends from Argentina and Columbia. It was really nice to talk with great folks like them. 

Looking across the ICW towards the west. 

And the last little bit of sun for the day. 

Happy Paddling 

Staying at the Oleta cabin worked out great. Any future paddlers should ask for cabin #1 since it is the closest to the launch and right next to the bath house. 

When I launched around 0800 this morning there was no wind and the sun was already warming things up. Here is the launch site near the cabin and the bay I left from. 

What a great way to start the day. After rounding the point and getting about a mile north I entered “city paddling” and the rest of the day was pretty close to what’s in this picture. 

Not a lot of boat traffic which was good. One guy came flying by in a big speedboat that was probably around 35 feet. He threw a huge wake that I had to deal with for the next 15 minutes since the wake was rebounding off sea walls on both sides of the ICW. I can only imagine if there were a bunch of these nuts out there. I did have to cross Port Everglades where there were a lot more freighters than what I saw in Miami. 

With low boat/ship traffic it was not an issue. I thought I had seen mega yachts in Miami. Boy was I wrong. When I crossed over into Ft. Lauderdale I was amazed at some of the yachts I passed. Here are just a few. 

The pictures don’t do justice for these ships. 

I got to today’s destination in Ft. Lauderdale at 1300 and gave Erika a call. Erika was paddling with us in the Keys as I mentioned in a previous post. I’m spending the night in her condo and will be back on the water in the morning. 

That’s it for another great paddling day. 

It’s good to be on the trail again after hanging out in Miami due to weather. A special thanks goes out to Jan for putting me up in her guest room for three nights. Thank you very much Jan!!! Another special thanks goes out to Esther and Wayne for storing my kayak and gear for the two days while the front moved thru. Ester was on the point when I left the cove where her shop is. 

Leaving the cove provided a great view of Fisher Island and all the mega yachts moored there. 

This was one of the smaller ones ?

As soon as I rounded the point I had to cross Government Cut and the commercial harbor. 

The currents and waves were not bad at all and my timing was good since there was no ship traffic to speak of. I headed up the east side of the bay and with a west wind and all the sea walls the water got really messed up and pretty rough when I was in the open areas. As a result, I moved into some of the smaller channels for the last third of the day. Much more pleasant. It also allowed me to shave off a little distance. When I got to Oleta I found the launch spot right by the cabins. Very nice to be close and I only had to put the wheels on and pull the kayak up a small hill. Here’s the cabin I’m in tonight. 

The folks at the park are really nice and very helpful. They brought the cabin key down so I could lock stuff up and then go to the Ranger Station to check in. I met Mark who is staying in another cabin and he gave me a ride up to the station and then out across the main road to a tavern for dinner. To top that, he gave me his number so I could call when I was done with dinner so he could drive out and pick me up. I am meeting all the really nice people on this paddle. 

I had dinner at Miller’s Ale House and Danniel at the bar brought me the best Seafood Mac and Cheese. Along with that I had a tossed salad and a really big piece of ice cream cake. I’m stuffed. Danniel also gave me another beer on the house. She said it was because I am awesome ??.  She has my vote for person of the year!

That’s it for today. 

Happy Paddling. 

Doing a little site seeing and updating the east coast plan. Tornado watch in place last night and Gale warnings yesterday and today. Good time to be off the water ?. I’ll be heading north again on Tue. 

Happy Paddling