Circumnavigating Atlantic Coast to Gulf Coast

[rudderless]

Planning my annual trip now and of my 3 possible routes, I am leaning toward putting in near Hillsboro Inlet in northern Broward County and paddling around the tip of the peninsula into Florida Bay, and time/conditions permitting, continuing on to Everglades City for pull out. In a more or less direct route, this looks to be somewhere around 240 miles. I have yet to get my hands on Waterproof Chart #33 so I am not sure how direct of a route I will be able to take. Obviously tides and winds will make day to day contingency planning necessary, but does anybody have any advice as to a route that is passable on most tides from Card Sound area through the maze of keys and on toward Flamingo? Tentative departure will be around November 10th, and looks to be solo unless someone here feels like a bit of fun. I will be paddling a decked canoe with a class 1 (1 meter) sail. 

[vivian]

I would also post this question on the Watertribe site.  They race through Florida Bay on way from Tampa to Key Largo in March and from there up the coast for the Ultimate Challenge.  In the old forum where the race results are you can also look at SPOT routes from previous races.  Here is the forum link:

http://watertribe.org/forums/

As an example, I pulled up a Class 1 boat route by AlexO  press regenerate view then go to show tracks and all waypoints.  You can do that for all Class 1 which is paddle canoe or kayak with 1 meter sail

http://www.watertribe.com/Events/ChallengeGMapper.aspx

Keep in mind that some of these people choose the inside route and others choose the outside route, it depends on whether they want an alligator tooth or a shark tooth for their award.

 

[Terry]

In at Hillsboro Inlet and out at Everglades City?  That's not circumnavigating.

The circumnavigating route is St. Lucie down the Atlantic to Biscayne around through Florida Bay up the

Wilderness Waterway to the Blueway in at Ft. Myers and across Lake O.   One of the government agencies,

I forget which one, promotes that route with glossy brochures.   I got the fliers on it years ago when I was

thinking about doing it in my powerboat.   Do it all if you're gonna do most of it.

No shuttling vehicles!

 

[rudderless]

Thanks for the advice, Vivian. That's just what I needed. Suffering some sleep deprivation so not firing on all cylinders last night.
You are right Terry, regarding my improper use of "circumnavigating". To be able to get enough time off to do a true circumnavigation of the peninsula... is just what I need. It would probably be worth quitting my job, although my wife might not think so.

[Jay]

This might be of some help.....or TMI.

Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail

[rudderless]

Thanks, Jay. I picked up Chart 33 today and things are much clearer. I'll check out your recommendation too. My soul is aching to get out there. Day paddles out on the Atlantic are nice, but don't compare to extended paddles in remote areas.