Dateline: February 28, 2000 - Orange City, Florida I traded the 18 foot fiberglass Necky Looksha IV in for a 14 foot plastic Perception Acadia kayak. I plan on doing more inland paddling and this is more in keeping with the smaller waters while still being comfortable enough for some rough ocean going, if need be. The comfort factor was soon proven because the second day I had it I managed to get myself caught in a narrow (Sebastian) inlet between a strong outgoing tide and a strong incoming wind. This produced very steep and very fast 3 foot incoming waves (about eye level, every 2-3 seconds) and I also had to deal with 2.5 foot waves (about shoulder level) bouncing off a nearby jetty coming at me from the side at a somewhat slower pace. That's when I decided it might be prudent to get my sorry butt out of there because things were worse farther out. This made for a pretty wild ride, particularly in a new boat. I survived, so I'm pleased with the Acadia's performance in those conditions. A local claims 18 knot currents in Sebastian Inlet. I dunno about that. I'd guess 6-7 knots at whatever level the tide was at that day. I know if I hadn't been able to surf down the face of the waves on the way back, I would have had to ferry my way to one of the jetties to avoid being swept out past the turbulence. I couldn't make any forward progress in the troughs nor when there was a break in the waves. Others have told me people die in Sebastian Inlet every year. Kayakers, surfers, swimmers, boaters? I dunno. If you lost your boat out there and didn't have a PFD, I can see how you would be in some really serious trouble. You'd soon become exhausted being buffeted around in those kind of waves. If you were dumb enough not to have a PFD on you probably wouldn't have a wet suit on either and hypothermia would exacerbate the problem. What can I say about the Loxahatchee National Wild and Scenic River? If you're looking for open waters, go elsewhere, you won't find them here. This is a very narrow (30 feet average) river with a canopy of overhanging live oaks, palms and dead cypress. Vines and Spanish moss hang down from the oaks, often dragging in the water. Ferns with 6-8 foot leaves line the banks in some areas and saw palmettos provide a lush, but prickly, carpet for slash pines and cabbage palms in the background. With downed tress, mostly cypress, lying over the water, in the water and under the water, you often have to go over, under and around obstacles. For the most part there's no obvious signs of grooming the river for paddlers but it was fairly easy to get through. This one is a keeper. A funny thing happened to me on the way to Lake Okeechobee. I ended up in Brunswick, Georgia, 350 miles away. After I got myself straightened out and headed south again, I stopped off at Lake George in northern Florida at the suggestion of a local outfitter and got my first experience with alligators. Remember the old jungle movies of crocodiles sliding quietly into the water? That ain't necessarily so. The alligators I encountered that first day didn't do that. They exploded into panic mode when I surprised them. I was paddling along the shore and heard a great splashing and thrashing and saw one of those big lizard things plunging into the water. Yeah, you know the ones I mean, the ones with the great big teeth; alligators. And I ain't talking about them little dudes on the sport shirts, neither. Then another, and another and another plunged in. One of them tried to leap over a downed palm tree lying at a 45 degree angle to the bank but instead, did a belly flop right on it, ricocheted off into the water and followed the length of the palm to deeper water, passing right under me. Then I saw a fifth alligator still on shore staring right at me from about 35-40 feet. He seemed to be the biggest of the bunch. I got the camera out and snapped off one picture. When I turned it off, the zoom started making some brand new noises which finally spooked the gator and he too headed for deeper water and passed right under me. When I turned around towards the deeper water I saw all these beady little eyes and snouts sticking up out of the water all around me. Now that I was looking for them, I could also see several 'logs' floating on the calm surface in the distance. There is something primal in being in the water with a bunch of reptiles that date back millions of years and could very easily tear you apart and eat you with great enjoyment. And then there were the monkeys. Monkeys? In Florida? Hey, would I kid you? I'm talking about those screeching, sh** slinging little buggers. A half dozen juveniles scampered up and down trees extending out over the water while an older (probably female) and a teenager (also probably female) kept watch. There's no telling how many were back in the trees eating, sleeping, making more little monkeys or whatever. I got a couple of pictures (to back up my claim). I aimed at one little guy that was facing me and as I got him in the frame he turned around and all I could see was his butt. And he wouldn't move. Deliberate? I dunno. Silver Springs is where they made the original Tarzan movies and I think one or two others. Jungle animals had to be imported to the area to support the movies. The monkeys either got loose or were let loose. In any case, there's 3-4, maybe more, different troops ranging along different parts of the rivers in that area. Sightings are supposed to be comparatively rare so I was blessed on this day. Let's hope there's no lions or hippopotamuses or anacondas loose in the area to bless others. There's a lot more paddling to be done in the Ocala National Forest. Blue Spring (Orange City) pumps 104 million gallons of 72F degrees into the St. Johns River every day. When the river water becomes cool, manatees congregate in the spring to stay warm. They only venture out in the river to feed because there is little or no oxygen and therefore no plant life for them to feed on in the spring itself. I only saw 2 manatees in the spring the 5 days I was there, a full grown one and a small one just released from Sea World. We were on the tail end of a heat wave (yup, in February) with several days in the 80's. This probably heated the river enough for them to stay out. The St. Johns River and smaller back water channels more than made up for the lack of manatees with alligators. On a sunny afternoon, they can be seen on the grassy and sunny shores and in the backwater areas. It seemed like one appeared every 50 yards or so. Some of them were really fat and I suspect some exceeded 10 feet in length. I got so I could spot them in among roots and stuff a lot better. That means I didn't sneak up on them and scare the crap out of them and then get the crap scared out of me when they erupted in a panic, trying to get to deep water. The Wekiva River is another great paddle. Flowing into the St. Johns river at marker 96 below DeBary, it winds its way northward from Wekiva State Park, 20-30 miles to the south. I did the lower Wekiva River, paddling upstream (south) from where it entered the St. Johns. Averaging under 50 feet wide and 2-5 feet of clear, cold water, it's shores are lined with live oaks and cypress, draped in Spanish moss in the lower sections and cabbage palms and those thatched palms in the upper half near SR 46. Many great egrets, snowy egrets, blue and Ward's herons, coots, Ibises, hawks and ospreys along the way. Schools of bass in the water and many small, medium and large alligators on the shores and tons of turtles everywhere you look. Black Water Creek flows into the Wekiva River and is another great paddle. Lot more peace and quiet and beauty. Maybe not as much wildlife as the Wekiva but enough to keep you alert. The landscape varies from live oaks, cypress, maples and myrtle to palm trees and slash pine. The water's not as cold and is much darker and deeper. Lake Kissimmee and Lake Istokpoga are (in my opinion) lakes more for bass fishermen than for paddlers. Kissimmee is 10+ miles long and several miles wide. It has large concentrations of lily pads around the shorelines and large fields and islands of the stuff stretching a half mile or more into the lake. The Kissimmee River flows into the lake at the north end and out again at the south end. Neither end looked very attractive to me and there were no other creeks or rivers connected to the lake. Lake Istokopoga had marsh grass extending way out from its shores. It did have several creeks and canals connected to the lake. I did a couple and they were quite attractive. Air boats drove me out of that area though. Both lakes had a fair number of the usual birds scattered around in the lily pads and marsh grass along with many small alligators. One would assume there are large alligators where there are small ones. I just didn't see any large ones around these lakes. If you've been annoyed by the whine of jet skis or the drone of fishing boats, you ain't heard nothing until you've heard the full throttled roar of a jet propelled air boat. What a totally useless piece of crap they are. You can see and feel them for miles. I have to wonder about the mentality of people who have to don protective ear coverings to go out and supposedly enjoy the natural beauty and wildlife of an area. After my experiences with them, I now think fondly of jet skis and power boats. So, I've been having a great time in central Florida. Wonderfully mild weather (80's the past few weeks), no bugs, lots of birds, a few snakes but no manatees on the river nor river otters yet. I don't really expect to see any bobcats, black bears or Florida panthers. Maybe some wild cows and pigs though. Standard paddling gear has been sandals, no socks, swim trunks and synthetic T-shirt. I think it's spring in Florida now. Ospreys are building or repairing nests in preparation for the mating season. Gators are probably getting horny too about now. I'll have to be careful. I don't want to get mistaken for another male alligator. Or a female either, for that matter. I was supposed to be moving farther south with Lake Okeechobee my last planned stop (again) in central Florida. With the kind of lakes I had just paddled, I thought Okeechobee would be more of the same. And for some reason, unknown to myself, I decided against the Florida Keys for this year. Instead, I'm on the west coast of Florida, heading north. Ahhh! Life is good. Yes, life is very good. Clyde Sisler http://csisler.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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