Dark Waters & Kayaks.

One of the many sunsets enjoyed at Cedar Key

KAYAKING AT NIGHT.
We have been out in Kayaks a couple of times in the last few days. Yes it is true Barb is beginning to see that I too like this type of activity. I never thought it would be true.

There's few things better than being out on the water and although I usually like to do it in a boat with a loud and fast motor! The peace from a quiet Kayak trek is so much like sailing. Like with our new bikes I have found another new activity to enjoy.

Our first venture a few days back was one that was advertised as a Moon-Light Kayak Trip on a river. Enjoy the moonlight and the stars as we wander up and down a river was what we were told to expect.

Barb wearing her night-time Kayak gear. 

Note the incredibly stylish water shoes!

Well, we never did see the moon until after the trip was over.
But.. the stars were amazing! Millions of them in a very dark black sky out in the country and backwoods of Florida!

It gets a little soupy around here.

The Suwanne River in daylight.

Manatees live here when it gets cold.

SUWANEE RIVER.
Many of you have heard the song;
"Way down upon the Suwanee River, far, far away..."

Well that's where we were... the same river!
That's two famous rivers now, the other was Moon River a couple months back.

I would like to give you some advice though.
If you are not an experienced Kayaker don't do a dark night trip like this until you are experienced. There were about 15 or so of us out there in both canoes and Kayaks. It was an organized trip with Guides. However the organization went a bit downhill as soon as the boats hit the water.

Two of the people who brought their own Kayaks wore wetsuits as well.
I was a little overwhelmed by this at first as all I had on was 3 layers of sinking clothes and a ball hat that didn't do anything but cover my baldness. I thought to myself these guys really look like Pros and obviously know what they are doing. I need to get a better look!

As it turned out that wasn't the case. Shortly into the trip upstream they were having problems balancing one of their two Kayaks while the rest of us were off like Pelicans after a dead 4 pound Mullet.

Later we found out one of the Guides suggested they just go back to the launch area and wait in the warm van until the rest of us were done.

Once out into this very dark river I did have a bit of a "this could go very bad" feeling if something were to go wrong.

Barb in her Kayak out in the river - You can see how dark it is!

Jimbo Kayak style!

At the time I didn't know about these other two Kayakers having problems but I did realize that I could not see a thing! In fact unless I called out I couldn't even see Barb or the others!

At times I could see shadows of other boats out there but they were few and far between unless we happened to get within 5 feet of each other.

Wondering what was down underneath you in the deep black water (remember that song by the Doobie Brothers) was just one more entertaining thought my mind was playing with me.

There were signs warning us of alligators and all sorts of water snakes including ones that will bite you and they grow very, very large!

Even though the water was freezing cold (52 F degrees) I used the power of positive thought to get my mind onto a positive course to enjoy the adventure. Hypothermia won't happen unless I fall in I told myself.

This all coming from a guy who has been in the water a lot during his life including midnight Police Boat trips in which I was the Captain. Who knows maybe that's where the fear and mind games were coming from?

We paddled up the river for what seemed like miles but in reality it wasn't much more than one or two miles. It just seemed far as we were going against the current and tide. Once up there we held our position, all got back together in a circle and talked for a while. It actually was quite enjoyable even tho one couldn't see a thing other than the stars. Once we were moving we were warm for most of the trip.

Once done we used the currents to power back down the river towards our launching area.

On the way downstream I asked one of the Guides, "how will we know when to go to shore?" I still couldn't see a thing it was so dark. I thought they may have marked it with a beacon, but they hadn't. (We were headed downstream southbound towards the Gulf of Mexico).

His reply (in his southern accent) was my favorite part of the whole trip:

"If you see a bunch of guys coming towards you, paddling like crazy... in a 57 Chevrolet... you know you have gone too far!" 

We laughed and we laughed!

Even though Barb and I brought LED Flashlights they were not near powerful enough. Fortunately one of the Guides brought a spotlight with about a billion candlepower. We found the launch ramp nestled over on the shore amongst the trees and the mangroves.

We all eventually got our little ships into shore and then we noticed the two other Kayakers were not in the van staying warm like they were instructed to do? In fact we couldn't find their Kayaks either? Where did they go?

As we packed up our gear one of the Guides jumped back in a Kayak and went downstream to try and find them. He finally found them about 1.5 miles or so down the river.

As it turned out they were not able to find the launch in the dark and went right by it. We were just thankful the one with the tipsy balance issue didn't overturn in those dark waters! They eventually made it back to camp.

It was a good thing they had those wetsuits on! It re-taught me a good lesson. Judging the outwardly appearance of someone doesn't always give you an accurate picture of who they really are. 

Nice people but I don't think they should have been sent back on their own at night.

Would we do it again?
I can't say that I would do it again, for a couple of reasons.
None of us were properly prepared and I don't know that the Guides were prepared for that size of crowd either.

We didn't have lights strong enough and warm waterproof pants & boots would have been a great idea. Another reason is that unless you have a strong desire to see the stars from the water side of things just go out side of town and stand in a dark field and look up. You will get the same view.

We didn't bump into or encounter any alligators, snakes or manatee's
It was cold, cold, so they were likely hiding out somewhere.

But if any of us would have hit one of these or had one approach us I can't imagine how loud the screams would have been. It would have been quite a sight (in absolute darkness) I am sure. So save your money and/or your time and go Kayak in the daytime... that would be my advice.

Loading up and done - We made it back in one piece!

DAYTIME KAYAK TRIP.
After that trip we waited a day or two and went downtown to the beach in Cedar Key and rented a tandem Kayak. It was the nicest day we had seen in quite some time. It has been very cold and windy.

Ocean Kayaking off the coast of Cedar Key

As we were getting ready to hit the water I noticed some people getting their Kayak ready as well and low & behold we knew them from a chance meeting the other night. Small world!

We agreed to Kayak together over to a small island about 3/4 mile from the beach. We went together and had a great time! You may have had this happen to you too, sometimes you meet people that it seems like you have known them for years. This was one such couple.

Standing on the island beach.
No more people here! No cars or bridges just a long lost town.

We made it over to the island and beached our Kayaks. The weather was really cooperating for a change. After walking the beach and hunting for some shells for Barb we found a path that went into the tropical and heavily treed island.

The old island Pier is being rebuilt but not quite ready yet.

It led us to a an old and likely for most people a forgotten cemetery. Most of the graves here were from the 1800's and some from the very early 1900's. It was a bit of a sad and eery feeling at the same time to wander around this.

A scene from the long lost cemetery in the jungle.

There used to be a small town and a pencil factory on this island and in fact due to the last devastating hurricane they all moved over to where Cedar Key is located now. One couldn't help but to wonder when the last time a family member came over to visit one of their deceased relatives here. No bridges, no ferries just small boats, that's the only way of getting here. It was a deserted island the last people moving off about 100 years ago.

Our RV friends LuAnn and Terry.

On the way out we followed the path and this photo shows something else we found. None of us knew what it was or could even guess. So we decided that it must be a secret missile silo from wars gone by. Not likely accurate but fun, I think?

What did we find here?
Jim on left and Terry on the right.

If you are a "Birder" you will like it here!

Back at Cedar Key - Shops, Bars & Restaurants.

Another sunset at Low Key Hideaway where we stayed at Cedar Key.

Our friends LuAnn & Terry pulled out this morning and we pull out tomorrow (Friday, Jan 24th) morning. I am sure that we will all make sure to cross paths again sometime soon even though we are headed in different directions now.

Until then - Safe Travels!