Florida: Paddling Adventure at Weeki Wachee

Two kayaks run into a bar....

   First thing to know about Paddling Adventures at Weeki Wachee; though they list their hours as 8 AM to 3 PM, you should look further down the webpage.  Below those first hours is a note: if you are renting their boats OR plan to use their shuttle you need to launch by 11:30AM.

  Unfortunately we learned this the hard way, Sunday at 1 PM.  On the plus side we got to see all sorts of kayaks being unloaded from their shuttle service.  Lots of fine looking kayaks take the Weeki Wachee express on the weekends.

  The Weeki Wachee River would be a fun place to bring beginning paddlers.  The water moves swiftly and easily carries the boats along.  Summer is their busiest season, when all 120 boats in their rental fleet will be in the stream.  There is no swimming in the first half mile after the launch.  I get the impression that after that first half mile many people use their kayaks as float toys for a four mile ride.  For the last mile, or so, depending on the tide, they may actually need to paddle. 

Which leads to tip two:  you might want to call ahead for reservations.

Midway, showing the current better

  Paddling Adventures offers canoes, sit on tops and sit insides.  We were given Old Town Vapors which were comfortable enough.  The front deck was a bit high, and my boat had a slow leak (the keel line showed many patches), but for a glide on a river, they were fine.

Sponging out the kayak

The Weeki Wachee river has the beautiful clear blue water Florida springs are known for.  The water was partially shaded by tall trees, though there were also sections of marsh grass.  It also has a plant which looked like a water lettuce growing off to the side.  I saw this particularly near the start, where the water was quite fast-moving. I assumed I'd see more of it later, when the water was slower and the pictures would therefore be in focus.  In fact, I thought I'd see manatees chowing down on this water lettuce and get amazing shots.

Blue heron

  Turns out I didn't see the plant further down.  Also, manatees eat mostly sea grass, though they will eat random plants in their environment and even small invertebrates.  (I swear - at the Homosassas Spring State Wildlife Park the manatees are fed lettuce)  Finally, if it was water lettuce, Florida considers it an invasive weed plant.

Manatees hanging out in a pool

  We did see a couple of manatee hanging out further down stream, lounging off to the side.  By then, the forest lined stream had given way to houses and cottages. 

A cool house below Rogers Park

   We launched at 9:30AM.  It's five and a half miles to the pick up point, and wasn't quite warm enough for swimming. So we arrived at the end point, Rogers Park, well before the first return shuttle was scheduled (noon). Wanting to explore more so we continued on through the development until we happened on coastal marsh.  We were still a mile or so from the gulf, but making it to the grass and palm tree eco-system felt like a good accomplishment.

Coming into the marsh area

   Along our trip we met a few other paddles, all heading up from Rogers Park, four paddlers in wood strip canoes and one paddler in an nckayak.  We'd seen the nckayaker early on, charging up the Weeki Wachee.  And shortly after we returned to Rogers Park to await our shuttle, he paddled in. He'd paddled 11 miles that morning.  Mark helped him load his sparkling green kayak onto his car and they compared break-apart Greenland paddles.  Rogers Park is a very bland park; a dusty lot with a small swimming area, boat launch and restrooms.  However, paddling up the Weeki Wachee River and gliding back down seems like a great way to start any day.

A canoe heading up stream

Kind of a chart with two happy paddlers in front

Florida: Crystal River - Kings Bay

 Kings Bay is hardly a pristine wilderness.  The shoreline has been reshaped and extended to create access canals.  About half the shoreline is cement wall.  And if every available lot doesn't have a house or hotel on it, it probably will soon.

A more developed shore

   Kings Bay is rarely empty: motor boats, kayaks, paddle boards and boat-loads of snorkelers fill the bay.   Their quest:  the  West Indian Manatee.  In cold weather Manatees need warm water, such as is provided by springs in King's Bay.  Thirty springs, pump almost 1000 cubic feet per second of 72 degree water into the bay.

   Not just manatees are found in the area.  There are fish, birds and much more.  On an evening visit in 2010,  we watched a dolphin corralling mullet into a dead end canal by Hunter Springs Park.  In 2009, while paddling Buzzard Island we happened on a raccoon digging for shellfish.  But mostly people come for the manatees.

   Despite all the love people have for manatees, they need privacy and protection.  Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge owns most of the islands in the bay, and significant land along Crystal River (connecting King's Bay to the Gulf.)  Crystal River State Park also owns large amounts of land in the area.    The Refuge marks several springs and stretches of water for manatee access only. 

An anhinga uses a sailboat as a resting perch

I like Kings Bay because of its size and scale.  It's about ten miles around the bay, but broken up with islands and inlets.  It's a great area for puttering.  There are at least two parks you can stop at and at least one ice cream stand.

We started out our paddle at Kayaks and Beyond's rental location and store.  They have a variety of kayaks - our favorites are the Delta 14s.  These are ruddered boats, but have firm foot pegs. They're a nice solid boat for the area.

Mark creating another GP convert at the Kayaks and Beyond launch

 Kayak and Beyond is the closest launch to  Three Sister's Spring.  Last time we visited King's Bay  many people were working to preserve Three Sisters Spring.  Good news - it's now owned by the National Wildlife Refuge.  The rules for visiting the Springs are different now: no disposable items can be brought in and kayaks may enter, but you can not get out of your kayak while visiting the springs (although you may swim in from the outside.)

Heading into Three Sisters

I love visiting the Springs because it is a rare undeveloped area,  The water coming from the springs is so clear, it's hard to believe the springs are deep enough to hold a tree trunk.  But they do, without the trunk breaking the surface  We paddled in and looked about and decided against swimming.  These springs are supposed to be a big manatee area, but we didn't see any.  What we did see was snorkelers already exploring the area.

From there is was about the bay.  None of the islands may be landed on EVER, and between November and March certain areas near the islands are marked as off limits.  In lieu of an island there is a manatee observation boat to visit.    Because of recent warm weather, fewer manatees were in the bay than had been there a few weeks earlier.  But we still spotted several.

Gracefully climbing on to the viewing platform

Lots of birds:  eagles, egrets, wood storks, brown pelicans, anhingas, buzzards, coots, ibis and pelicans.

Wood Storks

 This osprey is bathing itself.  We also saw an osprey do this in Placida.  It must be osprey bathing month

For lunch we stopped at Hunter's Spring Park; where there are picnic tables and restrooms.  That's where we spotted this:

At first I took it to just be a buoy showing the current.  Kings Bay has about an 18 inch tidal range, but certain areas get more current from nearby springs.    But no, it was a tagged manatee.  We were able to capture these  shots above and below water while standing on the stairs in Hunter Springs Park. 

Kings Bay has its struggles.  As you might suspect, heavy population and usage is damaging water quality.  But it is still amazing and a wonderful place to explore by kayak.

Boats lined up at Three Sisters entrance

Hunter Springs Park is on NE 1st Avenue, Crystal Springs.

Ibis at Hunter Springs Park

This last photo, is of two manatees swimming away from Three Sisters Spring.  It was taken one evening from the bridge on  SE Kings Bay Road.  Just after the bridge is a pullout for two or three cars. 

Resources and References:
Kayak Rentals:  Kayaks and Beyond.  Aardvark's Florida Kayak Tours (spoiler alert - we will use them for a custom tour in a post or two)  
This pamphlet has a chart of Kings Bay and shows off limits areas http://library.fws.gov/refuges/crystalriver02.pdf
Boat Launches King's Bay, Crystal River http://www.crystalriverfl.org/index.asp?Type=B_LIST&SEC={F3937449-7ED3-4687-8F25-E692B2D9309E}
Area Parks: http://www.crystalriverfl.org/index.asp?Type=B_LIST&SEC={607CC37E-4964-4967-8E36-1FC827923F13}
Kings River Fact Sheet http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/documents/plans/crystalriver_kingsbay-factsheet.pdf
  Save the Three Sisters Spring http://www.savethemanatee.org/three_sisters/savethreesisters.html
  Struggles to keep King's Bay clear  http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/water/drive-to-keep-kings-bay-from-being-smothered-by-toxic-algae-treats-symptom/1266444
We also enjoy the Eco Walk at the Crystal River State Park Preserve.  We've spotted deer, feral pigs, armadillo and more while on their trails.  http://www.crystalriverstateparks.org/Trails/Ecowalk.pdf

This picture is from last time, this time we paddled further, but much the same route

Sanibel: "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge

 We arrived in Sanibel an hour before their annual Luminary Festival, for which Periwinkle Way is lined with luminaries and light displays.

   We settled into a efficiency room at Shalimar Cottages and Motel.  Our room had a small kitchen, a huge bed and a screened porch on which we could watch the sunset on the beach.  This is not our normal accommodations, but at off season rates, we could pretend it was.

Porch view just after sunset

  An evening stroll along a shell strewn beach, a quick tour of some of the luminary displays, a late dinner all made for a grand introduction to Sanibel.

   In the morning we went to Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge and rented kayaks from Tarpon Bay Explorers.

   "You're the third person to show up with a Greenland paddle this morning." the outfitter told us, "There were two others here before you."

    "So are they out on the trail?" Mark asked.

   "Nah, they were headed out of the bay.  But you can't take the rental boats there, they have to stay in the bay or on the trail."

Ruddy turnstones waiting to take a boat out

   There were a lot of "don't"s - Don't take the boats out of Tarpon Bay, don't land on any islands, don't enter the mangrove maze at the far end if you don't have a GPS. ("We got tired of launching search and rescues.")  Mark packed a GPS, but it refused to work, so we crossed that area off our list.

On the bay

   Tarpon Bay Explorers offers single or double kayaks, but they are the same boats, just with one or two people inside.  Most of the kayaks were Acadias, but the Greenland Paddle, or perhaps our sizes, led him to pull two Loon 160's for Mark and I.  "These are the guide boats," he explained.  (Later we did see a guided group and the guide was in a Loon 160.)

The trail is well marked, note the wire used to keep birds off

   We followed the other paddlers in exploring the Commodore Trail through the mangroves.

Mangrove trees nicely reflected

  There we found very accommodating  calm birds to photograph, other explorers and an array of tiny (1") to mid-sized (4") sea stars.  The trail was wide and high, a pleasant shady place to paddle.

Yellow Capped Night Heron

Anhinga

  Afterwards,  we explored the bay for awhile.  The bay is where dolphins and manatees are frequently spotted.  We didn't see any though, and as the temperatures rose to the 80's, I was ready for a break from the sun.  I had hoped the Loons would handle like our Palmico, but they seemed wider and slower.  The front seat didn't fasten in place (maybe because it was a rental?) so as I used my legs while paddling the seat moved back little by little until I needed to scootch it forward again.

   We arrived back at the launch, and met the Greenland Paddlers, a couple from North Carolina, who summered in Maine.  We talked for quite awhile, comparing destinations, paddles and boats, before heading our separate ways.

Little Blue Heron on Wildlife Drive

  Later we explored Wildlife Drive, which I hear is a great place to launch.  Certainly it is a wonderful place for spotting wildlife.

View from a platform along the drive.  Ibis in flight, a barely visible rainbow

   We also checked out two other rental agencies, both on nearby Captiva.  Adventure Sea Kayak and Captiva Kayak and Wildside Adventures.  Both offered rentals of true sea kayaks, but both had a restricted rental paddling area; basically a bay and a trail through the mangrove island.  Adventure Sea Kayak had many Wilderness System ruddered models, Capitva Kayak Company had Current Design kayaks with skegs.  Both also had other boats, but I only remember the ones we were considering.

A royal tern on the beach in the morning.  Be sure to take morning strolls on the beach as well, so many birds then!

   We had a wonderful sunset dinner in our room, another stroll on the beach, but we were ready to go.  The heat and sun was too much, there were too few hours when I felt like moving.  When we'd planned our trip, we thought we'd stay in Sanibel; spend a day biking, try all the kayak rentals.  If we got bored,  we planned to go south to the Everglades, a place I'd never been.  But feeling a bit burned, we reversed course.  On Sunday we'd drive north four hours to Crystal River and King's Bay.  There, even if the day was hot, area springs would create a cooler climate over the bay.
 

Florida: Placida: Don Pedro Island and the Woolverton Trail

Don Pedro Island State Park claims to be where "Peace and Solitude Meet the Gulf."  A nice slogan, and by the time we arrived there we were ready for some of both.  Our rental car, from Alamo, had neither a fob nor an electronic button which locked all the doors.  We'd picked up the car at midnight, and didn't notice the problem until we'd arrived at the hotel.  The next morning, certain we were missing something, we went back to the Alamo office, where the lot attendant verified we hadn't missed any buttons and the other person at the front desk explained that that was Alamo's standard practice: in small and mid-sized cars automatic doors or windows were not guaranteed.  Alamo really did mean for us to be reminded each time we stopped the car that we had selected the wrong car rental company.

   Our drive south had been crowded with traffic which eased only as we pulled onto Placida Road.  Don Pedro State Park has two pieces, a section by the road with parking and restrooms and a section on the gulf, accessible only by boat.  In keeping with that theme, the dock was accessible only by water, or by working your way carefully over a few scattered boards designed to test for winter weight gain.

Testing boards at Don Pedro

     It wasn't far to the launch, which had many mini crabs and lots of fish to view.  At Don Pedro we met a pleasant kayaker coming in from his morning on the water.   He had an early version of sit-on-top Kestrel by Current Designs.   Those weren't made any more, he told us, "too unstable."
   Sleek, slim and white, it seemed a good fit for the trim man.  He'd just finished a wonderful paddle.  He'd traveled between two tiny islands and landed on the outer section of Don Pedro Park.  He'd crossed the island to a beach on the Gulf.  Sightings of dolphin and rays were common, though he hadn't seen any this morning..  Now that he was back on the mainland, he could rinse his boat off by the parking lot.

    "Don Pedro," he stated with confidence "has the best launch facilities on the coast."  Then after a short pause he repeated, "and the beach is on the Gulf.  The Gulf."

   And because he was so positive about Don Pedro, I've included it here, though we did not paddle there. It was as if he spoke with enough emphasis, we'd pull out the origami kayaks we'd hidden in the trunk and launch them.  But, alas, we had no kayaks, only a few addresses for rentals.  One of which was just down the street.

    Grande Tours Inc offers kayaks and Paddle Boards.  Their location has an access to Coral Creek and is just a short trip to the Intracoastal Waterway and the Woolverton Trail.

Launch at Grande Tours

   From their launch it's about a mile to the start of the Woolverton Trail.    We were given several visual cues to guide us.  Will, who'd come in just to pick up a check and stayed to help us (since a shipment of boats was also arriving), even warned us that the main entrance canal to the Woolverton System had a bogus sign cautioning that it was private.
    In no time we were outfitted with a pair of Wilderness System Pungos (13 and 12) and an Aquabound aluminum paddle for me.  Mark used his own carbon Northern Light Aleut Paddle.

    Along the first mile the most impressive sight was of men casting nets to catch mullet.  They gathered the nets in their arms and somehow flung them out to form perfect 20 foot wide circles on the sea before pulling them in again and repeating the process.

   The entrance to the canal was indeed marked private.  It's about a quarter mile down to the entrance to the trails.   Starting from mosquito control ditches through the mangroves, Ed Woolverton carved out, and most importantly, carefully marked several miles of trails.  Now in his 90's, Ed Woolverton still lives in the area and an interesting carved paddle he made graces the showroom at Grande Tours.  The paddle is pictured above.

   The trails are indeed an accomplishment, but I found them a bit claustraphobic and abandoned them at the first turnoff, choosing instead to paddle across the shallow waters of the bay and into a few inlets.

Mark lazes in a cove

    Jumping mullet were out in force, as were boats filled with fishermen cursing about their inability to be where the fish were.  Other wildlife spotted were Osprey, bald eagles, green herons, white and brown pelicans, and vultures.   A small pod of dolphin made their way down the deeper boat canal, just in front of us.

      The Pungos were good little boats with sturdy foot pegs.  With a long straight keel line they were steady trackers, but not great turners.  The Aquabound paddle was pretty good.  It was a four mile paddle, a refreshing break in our drive south

Willets?? on an oyster bar with some Condos behind

LINKS
    Ed Woolverton receives an award for promoting tourism  http://www.charlotteharbortravel.com/cms/index.php?id=188
    Blueway Trail discussion of the Woolverton Trails  http://www.charlotteharbortravel.com/cms/index.php?id=394
     Grande Tours offers several tours and other services

Florida

 While others are dreaming of a white Christmas, Mark and I have been dreaming of a land of sunshine and warmth.  A place where you can walk without ice crawlers and paddle without a drysuit.  A place where tinsel flamingos look like they belong, and a big old Sanatee fits right in.

Florida is just three hours from Bangor by plane.  When we left Bangor it was 27 degrees, when we landed the digits had reversed, 72.  Amazing!  By contrast, three hours of driving will bring us to the Maine/New Hampshire border, where the temperature was 28 degrees. 

Florida is filled with tourist attractions and activities that are open, even in the winter!  Best of all, the regions low cost airline, Allegiant, has been sending Mark emails promising low cost flights, from just $70 (each way luggage not included.)  So we packed up our paddle gear and suncream, left our cats in the house-sitter's care, and took off for a week.

And we had an amazing time.  But how could we not?  A winter trip to Florida can never disappoint; since we aren't looking for great water, just water free of large ice sheets. 

Look; A November Post!

Forget April, November is the cruelest month.

In October everything is easy; the sun is never too bright, the temperature is never too hot.  It's easy to get up, get a quick paddle in and go about our days.  Every day I can feel myself getting a little faster, my lung capacity growing.  Want to squeeze a six mile paddle in? Head out of the house at 6:30, hike down the hill, launch, paddle, place the kayaks back on their racks and be back at the house by 8. Plenty of time for a full day of work.   Every day the leaves are a different shade, every cove has a different species of waterfowl migrating south.

But November, everything is tougher.  The deciduous trees are bare.  The variety of birds whittled away to a huge flock of geese and a few mallards.  The sky?  Fortunately that's still amazing.

      But it's cold; our outfits need to be warmer, just paddling clothes won't do, at first we shift to wetsuits then soon after drysuits. Those take care of the bodies, but the hands?  Mark has shifted to warmer gloves, then to carrying hot water to warm his hands midway, now he's given up his Greenland paddle for winter, compromising with a Euro paddle. 

      We still get out, but far less often.  And there's a definite endurance vibe, even on short paddles.  Can we keep warm enough to make a full circuit, or will be be forced back by frozen fingers and noses?  Just when we think we've adjusted, the temperatures drop again, and the wind picks up more. 

    It's just a good thing that there are so many off water distractions: so many chances to get together with friends and relatives.  I hope you've all enjoyed your November, both on and off the water!