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From: Albert Wang <albertwang1_at_home.com> subject: [Paddlewise] Stoned Crabs & Alligators Date: Mon, 7 May 2001 12:03:14 -0700 · This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:22 PDT

"What the heck is a 'stoned crab paddle'?"

Actually it's "stone crabs" and I found out how they got their name after
biting into a shell. BTW, it has nothing to do with drugs.

Last week I returned home after five days in Miami. Nominally, I was there
for a couple of days of meetings.

With months of drought, fires were raging and part of the Keys were
shutdown. I landed to cloudy skies and by the time I got my bags, the
streets were flooded from a sudden downpour. Off to meetings for the next
couple of days. The winds were kicking up all week as storms were sitting
off both the east and west coasts. Forecasts weren't good for the rest of my
stay.

I was doomed to meetings the first couple of days and stared longingly at
the water just outside my hotel room. Winds were up and it was cloudy. On
Friday after meetings in the morning, I skated (~10 mi) from Miami to Key
Biscayne and back to meet my group for a BBQ at the beach. I was looking for
kayak rentals along the way but did not find any. I also had my first taste
of stone crabs that night.

Anyway, I had plans to meet Sandy Kramer from PaddleWise and Miami to go
paddling both days  on the weekend. We had arranged thru our favorite
vehicle of communication these days - mail lists. I had traded emails before
with Sandy a couple of years ago but only recently subscribed again to
Paddlewise after being off for a year and a half. Sandy also graciously
offered to host me the whole weekend.

I really wanted to test the waters of the Miami area and Everglades. April
was an excercise in exploring the extremes in paddling. One weekend I
crossed to Catalina and back in my squirrely racing boat. Another weekend, I
was surfing the cold waters of California in my new carbon/kevlar
international class surf boat. My Mono lake campout was canceled. So I
missed the sharks and now was in search of the another major predator of the
water -  the alligator.

I offered to let Sandy off the hook Sat morning since i could catch a flight
back to Cal. The forcasts predicted storms on both days. I don't mind the
storms and am often out in rain anyway. Sandy would not let me go without
paddling.

Sandy picked me up at my hotel. It's sorta easy picking out the paddlewiser
with two yaks strapped to the top of a stationwagon. We introduced ourselves
and Sandy took me to north Miami to paddle in the mangroves of the Oleta
river. Very different paddling thru the mangroves in water that is a good
20F warmer than what I am used to. The weather was holding but threatening.
She explained to me that Miami was the lightning strike capital of the US.
Great....

Sandy also explained to me her rep as the paddlewise hostess. I ended up
being another notch on this grandmother's paddle. Oh well...

After pleasant accomodations at Sandy's house we headed off early Sunday
morning to paddle the everglades with Keith & Nancy for the "stone crab
paddle". For me, they were local tour guides, organizers and suppliers of a
nice yak for the day's trip through the Everglades. There were supposed to
be others, but they backed out. The forcast called for 100% chance of rain
but we went anyway. We brought a few pounds of stone crabs to eat on one of
the islands.

I had seen alligators on the drive out next to the road but none while in
the water. Just a manatee and lotsa tourists.

Well the storm winds picked up while we were out and we ended up not going
very far. On the way back, my rudder cable broke. I couldn't figure out why
I couldn't turn my boat into the wind after putting my rudder up. Keith
pointed out to me that the rudder fell back in and was turning me the
opposite way. I carefully locked it up and made it back with no more
incidents.

Back on land we cracked open the stone crabs and fiested on a picnic table.
Nancy produced a brick from one of her hatches for cracking the stone crabs.
I had the honor of carrying the brick for our fiest.

I flew back and was jerked back to reality with a pile of work. All in all a
good time and another notch in MY paddle.

Many thanks to Sandy, Keith & Nancy for hosting this left coaster. Next stop
Todos Santos for Mem day.

live long and paddle,

albert

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