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The never ending outage continues - at least for a few days. The weather is warming up and I will be camping soon! Trips this month: 7
5/5/04 I got a treat today when I made some unexpected discoveries on what I thought would be a simple trip out to my hammock spot. I have never explored the marsh behind the island I have been frequenting of late - the area that is bordered on the west by Big Talbot and on the east by Coon Keys and Simpsons Creek so today with the tides high as I set out I decided to spend some time back there exploring. What I found was unexpected - a nice long deep stream that winds around behind the two largest islands in the chain. The biggest - the one opposite the entrance to Myrtle Creek, I have explored in the past and it is a well used and thoroughly trashed out campsite. The one to the south of that I had never explored since I rarely paddle on that particular stretch of Simpsons. The part of the island that borders on Simpson itself is directly opposite the ranger's residence on Little Talbot and the entrance to the creek is located just to the south of the island. The stream heads due west into the middle of the marsh but about 200 yards in there is a small branch that heads north and I took this as it wound toward the middle island in the chain. It eventually meandered down to a stream a little bigger than my boat but it passed by a few spots that led to the mudflat surrounding the island and then looped around the westernmost point where there were about six tall palm trees in a clearing and a nice place to beach my boat on the flat. I got out and began to explore the island - walking around the flats that were covered by a bright green covering of glasswort. There were several places to enter the island and I found many clearings under the oaks, pines and cedars. There was a fair amount of trash but as far as I could tell - no one has camped there recently. Most of the cans were completely faded and many were of the old "pop top" variety making them at least 25 years old. I continued to explore around the island, eventually walking around the entire circumference. It seemed to me that the most ideal camping spot was the first one - on the westernmost point as it would be the most inaccessible by anyone else. I was amazed by how much quieter it was out there than it was only a half mile away on the FGR. I could also look out into the grass and see the heads of several Great Blues and Whites stalking in the grass. After exploring the island I got back in my boat and headed west thinking that the stream I was on would eventually dump into the FGR. The flow was very intense meaning that it had to be connected to a good source of water. Just when I was sure the stream was about to turn south it took a dramatic turn north and headed toward the back side of the largest island in the chain. The current stayed steady as it went due north and by now I was sure that it would take me out into Simpsons Creek. Again - just when I was ready for that to happen the stream suddenly turned east and then quickly became narrower and narrower. The path squeezed down to just a bit wider than my boat and began to meander but the flow remained quite intense. I decided to turn back and leave further exploration for a day when I had more time and so I let the swift current carry me back to Simpsons and the FGR where I ate, drank, swam and slept for a couple of hours.
5/6/04 I'm still in my FGR rut but its not a bad rut to be in. Today I continued my exploration of the marsh to the west of Simpsons Creek - this time checking out the stream that runs along the south bank of the FGR from the island I have been hammocking on lately and heads west where it exits just east of the Sarabay Society House dock. It wasn't quite as interesting as my paddle yesterday but it was still a pleasant paddle and the water is so clear right now that I could easily see the redfish swimming below me as well as some pretty large blue crabs. Several times I was "attacked" by the redfish hiding in the grass. I've encountered gators, dolphins, sharks and hungry manatees in my outings but nothing makes me squeal like a little girl like a redfish roaring out of the grass a few inches from my boat. At one point the stream came very close to an outcropping of Big Talbot but not quite close enough to get out. After an hour of exploring I headed back out to the FGR and went back to my hammock spot to spend the rest of the afternoon.
5/7/04 Just a wonderful little trip out to the same spot with my wife, Hope. Hot temps, cold water along with some cold beer and sandwiches from Nicole's made for a great day out.
5/12/04 My night shift and our outage at SJRPP is finally over after nine long weeks and today was my first opportunity for an afternoon paddle since before the time change. Once I got out to Hannah Mills I realized that the wind was a lot stiffer than what was in the forecast - at least 15 knots and gusting up to 30. The water on the river side was very rough but on the marsh side it wasn't too bad so I set out into the easterly wind and headed towards the ICW. A White egret in the grove of trees opposite the fish camp caught my eye and so I headed that way initially. As I approached, a clapper rail flew off and then a night heron. I then could see that about a dozen night herons had taken up residence there, much the way they did last summer, and as I paddled by they flew off one at a time with their signature "WOKS!" I stopped briefly at the old cedar and noticed that it has been joined by another cedar that has washed up on an oyster bed in the middle of the channel about 30 yards away from my usual resting spot. I doubt that this will be its permanent resting place since the current there is pretty swift. I didn't stay long there, heading across and then north along the parallel stream that dumps into the ICW across from our original ICW campsite. We are thinking about camping out this weekend and I wanted to check the site out as I try to decide where to go. The crossing of the waterway was quite rough with white caps of 1-2 feet rolling up the stream. As I approached the campsite I noticed a female Osprey eating on a branch that was hanging a few inches over the water. She didn't stick around for long and flew off with her remaining meal. After checking out the site and taking a brief swim (the water in the ICW is a LOT warmer than the FGR) I headed south and crossed at Shad Creek to head back into Hannah Mills. I noticed several vultures circling over the island on the west side where the Great Blues are nesting and I watched carefully to see if I could observe if the herons were still in their nests. With that end of the island taking the brunt of the wind they were hunkered down in their nests for the most part and I could just barely see the heads of a couple of herons. Occasionally, one would fly up and then settle quickly back down. As I floated by I watched another heron fly in with a tiny amount of nesting material in it's beak and it was greeted by the excited grunts of its mate. I had no sooner turned to leave the Herons when I saw the shape of three dolphins rising in the glare of the evening sun on the water. I watched for a while and after not seeing them re-surface decided that they must have continued on into the ICW. I continued on back toward the old cedar and took a quick look behind me to see them surface about 20 yards behind me. From that point on I spent about 10 minutes keeping abreast with them - sorry that I didn't have my camera but in a way it was better because I could concentrate all if my efforts on keeping close to them. At one point I approached to within 10 yards of the trio and they quickly submerged and I could see the blossoms from their tail fins passing directly beneath my boat. Finally we reached the old cedar and I lost them temporarily and decided that it was a good time for us to part company anyway so I pulled to the side to drink a beer. As soon as I pulled over and popped my beer I saw them on the far side of the stream continuing on their way toward Cedar Point. I enjoyed watching their sleek silver, grey and tan sides shining in the sun as they rose and disappeared in the water silhouetted against the grass. The rest of the trip was uneventful and easy with the wind at my back. The night herons were not back in their roosts yet but I did hear that stray peacock again.
5/14-15/04 Our first camping trip of the year! After our near disastrous experience the last time we went camping I have adjusted the way I do things and one of them is where I put-in when we camp on the ICW. Today we put in at the Kingfish Park and headed north where we immediately cut in to Hannah Mills and continued north along the feeder streams that parallel the waterway. It was a good move because the wind was blowing from the east at about 15 knots and it was nice to be able to have some protection. We stopped briefly so that I could point out to Hope the Great Blue Heron rookery and we could see a couple of Herons sitting on their nests. From there we continued on northward until we came out in the ICW directly across from the island where I first took Hope kayak camping three years ago this month. We have decided to name this island "Bottle Island" because we found some really cool melted glass when we first camped there and this time there was a beer bottle stuck in a tree so the name seemed to fit. We crossed over and began setting up camp around 4:15 and by 5:30 we were ready to take a nice relaxing swim in the waterway and drink a beer before starting the coals for dinner. We had a pleasant dinner of steak and a bottle of wine and then sat at the water's edge and watched the sunset. We then sat around our campfire for a few hours as we watched the stars come out and as we started to nod off we crawled in our hammocks. We had no sooner zipped ourselves in when we heard the familiar sound of dolphins puffing close by. We both scrambled down to the water to watch but we could only hear them as they headed north. Around 2 or so I awoke and as I lay there in the hammock I heard the dolphins again and I got up to see if I could see them this time. In the glare on the water from the lights on Blount Island I caught a glimpse of them surfacing a couple of times as they headed south and I stayed there listening to them for 10 minutes or so as they went on their way. I dozed off and on for the rest of the night before finally getting up for good around seven. I was surprised how quiet and devoid of boat traffic the ICW was for a Friday night but as soon as it turned daylight the traffic picked up and continued non-stop for the rest of the morning. We had a lazy morning on the island since we knew that tides were no longer a concern. Finally, we packed up to leave about 10:30 and let the current carry us back on the waterway. I pointed out to Hope the Osprey nest on the Manatee Zone sign and the female was working intently on her home. She chirped as we passed and then flew up and did a quick circle around her nest before settling back down. We could see what appeared to be the male sitting on the bank nearby. Because of the low tide we decided to take out at the beach behind the old marina but I had anticipated this in my planning and I had left my kayak cart locked up in my truck. That made the end of the trip a lot more pleasant than the last time we went out.
5/17/04
Well, the Fuji is back and I have been itching to get it back out on the water (not too literally!) since Saturday afternoon. Today, I took off about a quarter to 8 in Hannah and headed out to the ICW hoping for some good photo ops to test the camera. I was shooting anything that caught my eye on the way out but nothing too special. I visited our campsite from the past weekend in order to place my garbage bag container and also to clean up the trash we couldn't get ourselves. I stayed there for a while in my hammock reading and then took a brief swim as I watched the snowbird yachts roar by and then I headed south. I went by the heron rookery to check them out. On the way out as I stopped by the old cedar to eat an energy bar I could see that four or five or them were flying up from the tree-tops and circling before landing. They repeated this a few times and I have observed this in the past since they have been nesting there. I wonder if it is some kind of morning ritual - heron calisthenics? From there, the current was carrying me toward the marina so I stopped by to visit the Manatee Sign Osprey. When we passed by her on Saturday the noise from the boat traffic was too great to hear whether or not her eggs had hatched but today there was no mistake as she was obviously surrounded by a gaggle of chicks that she was attending to. I let the current sweep me in way too close but unlike in the past she merely warned me away with her fierce stare and loud chirps and stayed attending to her unseen brood. The rest of the trip was easy and uneventful - enjoy the pics. See the pictures from this trip
5/28/04 Too long between trips! Couldn't be helped what with end of the school year activities and Little Sister in for a visit but with our impending trip to St. Joe's I felt like I REALLY needed to get an east coast paddle in. My back, which has been doing terrific was starting to get a bit gimpy and I think it needed a good workout. The tide was already heading out by the time I set out so I knew that I couldn't really dally much. It was been swelteringly hot this week and a swim would have been nice but exercise was what I was out here for so after scaring off some Night Herons near my put-in I paddled steadily toward the waterway with a stiff wind behind me and a current that was picking up in a hurry. Not many photo ops on the way out - a flock of black headed gulls were swarming near the old cedar and it was evident that something small was running in the waters. This fact was confirmed by the activity that I saw from the large redfish that were swirling after the bait fish. The gulls were very excited and were hovering and dropping near my boat. I was surprised that the activity didn't attract more predators and I think had I been able to stick around I may have seen a dolphin or two visit but I headed on toward the Great Blue rookery. The Blues were still on their nests staying pretty well hidden but popping their heads up above the branches now and again. I need to do some research about when their chicks should begin to hatch - no evidence as yet. I continued on my circuit south on the ICW, hoping to make a visit at the Manatee Sign Osprey nest but as I approached I could see that it was unoccupied by the female. I circled it a couple of times and expected to see the female sitting on an island nearby and figured that my presence would bring her hurriedly back to the nest with her scolding powers on full blast but there was no appearance. The nest was strangely quiet too - not a peep from the chicks who I heard so clearly ten days ago. Was mom out hunting and the kids under strict orders not to let anyone know that they were there or has a predator already gotten to them and the nest now abandoned? I guess I will have to make a visit in a couple of weeks to see. If they are still there, they should be big enough by then to start practicing their menacing stares like they did last June when my daughter Hannah and I floated by. The rest of the trip was uneventful - I was paddling against both the wind and the current so I got my workout in and felt better for it. |
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