I paddled 21 miles today with a full camping load. Hard paddle out to Gulf but smooth ride in with the tide.

I went out and sailed today. 20 miles of sailing followed by a 3 mile paddle.

I could only fit in 6 miles this morning. Hopefully I'll get more time on the water in the days to come. The weather looks great this coming week.

A simple day at Collier Seminole State Park. I covered 10 miles.

A 15 mile day. I paddled up to US 41 and to Rattlesnake Hammock Rd. I would only have to portage 2.5 miles to put in at that point from my home.

A ten mile day. I did lots of stretching.

Now it's time to mow and weed eat.

It never ends.

Paddled 10 miles in the dark before camping. After 5 am, 6 am, and 7 am rain storms I got about and paddled an additional 22 miles for a total of 32 miles. Spent about 10 hours camped.

Went out for a windy paddle in my whitewater boat. I covered a little over 8 miles. Super low tide.

What a day! Covered 8 miles sailing in approx. 15 knot winds with higher gusts. I'm impressed with anyone sailing a Kruger in the dark with winds in excess of 20 to 25 knots. I'm a long way from trying that. I wanted to go out on the Gulf today but found the conditions on the Marco River to be quite adequate for a novice like me.

My purpose on this trip: To see if a person can go from Ferguson Bay to Barron River near Everglades City. It's a long trip so I put in Wed. at 4 p.m. and headed out to the Gulf to spend the night. Thursday I'd try the loop and then make it back to Collier Seminole State Park on Friday morning.



Note now: This is Airboat country and they don't like canoes in thier world; hard to see us. I made it through with ease but fought some super strong currents. I only slept a couple hours Thursday night before using the tide to make it back in by 4 a.m. On the water 36 hours and covered 69 miles.

On September 19th I launched my Sea Wind (#228) for the first time. I had installed a Balogh 32 w/BOSS and sailed most of the day. I covered about 14.3 miles and had a lot of realizations to ponder in the weeks to come. More to follow...