Advice for kayak trip.

[Dave Briggs]

Hi, just found this website, a great source of information,thanks.

I am planning a 9 day kayak trip in the Everglades this February. There were to be 3 of us but they pulled out so it will be a solo which I am looking forward to. My route is from Flamingo to (1)Mid Cape, (2)Graveyard Creek,(3) Rogers River Bay Chickee via Rodgers river, (4)Highland Beach via Lostmans River, (5)Camp Lonesome via Wood River. (6)Harney River Chickee via Broad and Nightmare, (7)Canepatch via North Harney River,(8)Watson River Chickee via Shark River and Labyrinth. (9)Flamingo.  Anyhow I have a few questions someone may know the answers to.

1. Would there be any fresh water around the Camp Lonesome / Canepatch areas, they seem so far inland.I am allowing a gallon a day but it would be good to supplement that if possible.

2. I have a one year old fiberglass sea kayak and an old beat up Tempest170 rotomoulded sea kayak. Is the glass one going to be beaten up on this trip especially thru areas like Wood River, Nightmare etc. I did a 5 day canoe trip out of Everglades city in the Park service Aluminum Grummans a few years ago and remember the sharp oyster beds everywhere!!

3. Any advice on my route would be appreciated.I have the "Waterproof Chart" charts and a Google Earth image of the Labyrinth.

4.Anyone know the most accurate GPS waypoints, every website that has them shows different results!

5.. Any idea if I would have to book a site at Flamingo at the beginning and end or are there usually plenty of places that time of year.

Many thanks

Dave

 

[Keith W]

1. No fresh drinking water, even inland it's a little brackish, but I've filtered water at Willy Willy with a Bota Bottle and used it to cook pasta.
2. The shallow flats around Graveyard Creek and Highland Beach will scrape up the bottom of your boat pretty good if you land on a low tide and have to drag it.
3. You've picked a very nice route, not much room for improvement that I can see. If you're a strong paddler and don't mind a 20+ mile first day, you might try making it to NW Cape via East Cape Canal, Lake Ingraham, and Little Sable Creek. The prevailing SE winds on Florida Bay would help that along very nicely if you should get so lucky. You will also stay off the Gulf for almost the entire distance.
4. The waypoints on my other website are pretty good. The site may be out of date in some respects, but waypoints don't change for WW campsites.
5. Flamingo can get pretty busy around Presidents Day weekend and spring break, but even then there is almost always room. You might get pushed into the overflow area near the Bay, but that's not much worse than anywhere else in Flamingo.

Just my $.02...I'm sure you will hear plenty more from the others!

[Dave Briggs]

Thanks Keith. I did check out your website when I decided to make the trip, made great reading in the busy summer months up here in the cold north(Cape Cod, Mass)!!
Still debating on the glass vs plastic boat.
Roll on February....
Thanks Dave

[Bob Bonnen]

Hi Dave. I did a 7 day trip in a wood stitch and glue kayak the week before Thanksgiving and scratched it up a bit - I'd do the same again though. Depends on how pretty you need to keep the boat. I also think you picked a great route.

Cane Patch and Willy Willy water was pretty fresh when I was there and you can suds up and bathe at the dock. To me it seemed I could have filtered it to drink it but I wouldn't count on it - probably depends on wind and tide. I bought 4 10 liter MSR Dromedary water bags that packed up nice and made it easy to distribute weight.

Waterproof Charts GPS coordinates that I used were all off by 1/4 to 1/2 mile. Keith's coordinates are good - I checked them against my corrections when I returned and will use his next time. Also several Waterproof Charts creeks shown were impassable for example Wood River shows a tributary that goes south to Broad creek which is impassable (on the south end this is close to WWY marker 16). I also couldn't go east from the south side of Lostmans Creek and make it to Indian Camp Creek to get from Willy Willy to Rogers River Bay Chickee the back way. The GPS grid on the charts is accurate for establishing waypoints to lay out a route though.

I went through Labyrinth on high incoming tide and had to pull through branches in several spots but it was plenty deep and very pretty with lots of birds. Rogers river Bay had a big gator that was too friendly and hanging around looking for a handout. If you get off of Highland Beach as soon as you can with the rising tide you should have the current with you going into Broad and Wood Rivers for a while.

Has anyone been the length of Wood River recently?

I just got back and I'm still jealous - you're going to have a great trip!

Here's a link for some photos - I wrote up a summary and will forward it if you send me your email.

[toofaraway]

that big gator still is at Rodgers, wow he's legendary and a bit of an jerk, heads up with him.

I think having copies of the satellite images is a great adjunct to a map or gps.

Seems like you've put in a lot of back and forth between the coast and the inland. I'd consider spending more time in the deep BC around Willy W. and consider skipping either Lonesome or Canepatch. Zoom in on Willy/Rocky Creek and you'll see myriad creeks and ponds with loop opportunities. Once you're back there it's easy to slow down and let the area reveal itself.

Have a great trip, love the loop idea. Plus saving a few days to paddle the day trips around Flamingo is always rewarding. Much of the best the park has to offer is within sight of the radio tower.

TFA

[Dave Briggs]

Thanks for your replies. I'll probably take the new glass boat, why buy a jeep and never go off road....right!!! I decided on a kind of figure of eight route so it wouldn't be coast, coast, coast, coast, BC, BC,BC, BC, but I am already planing a canoe trip with a few buddies the following year so I'll bear that in mind your info regarding the BC around Willy Willy etc, thanks. Good idea about day trips or a single nighter around Flamingo, especially if my chosen sites aren't available when I arrive.
Thanks for your input folks
Dave

[Dave Briggs]

OK I'm Back.... Had a blast . Many thanks to all folks involved in this website,so much good info and help.I took 2x10 liter Dromedary bags and a cheap plastic 10 liter bag as well as 8x20oz Gatorades which I squeezed in the gaps. Bob... couldn't fit the chair in but have it for next time. Keith.. Your GPS waypoints for the sites are super accurate thanks. You must have been sitting on the outhouse at Rodgers River Bay Chickee when you pressed the "mark waypoint" button!!!! 

I wrote a trip report for my local kayak website, read it here....  www.wtpaddlers.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2353

Looking to get back down next year in the canoe this time. Cheers   Dave

[Dave Briggs]

 How to unpack sea kayaks at chickees.

[Michael Waldman]

Dave,

 

Love the pictures, sounds like you had an amazing time!

 

What kind of kayak did you do your trip in, because I am looking to kayak for longer with my CD Rumuor and my wife's CD Kitsalino. We recently went out on a three nighter and I believe I can fit enough stuff/water to pull off a four nighter! How did you fit enough water in your boat for eight days?

[Dave Briggs]

Michael, I have a P&H Cetus

In the front hatch I put in a shaped seal line dry bag with a few clothes in.(extra paddling clothes and long pants,long sleeved shirt,thin fleece pants and top). Next in was small dry bag with personal items (fm radio,flashlight, toothbrush etc) and another stuffsack with the pouched food in (Uncle Bens ready rice, tuna salmon etc...doesn't matter if it gets wet) and next to the bulkhead squeezed in a Reliance plastic 10 liter water container.The gap that was left I fit in a pack of crackers afew gatorades ,small single serve red wine bottles, bug spray .

 In the day hatch , 1x 10 liter Dromedary water bag, 2x5liter dry bags with emergency, first aid and repair gear in, cans of food, short sleeve splash top, 5 liter dry bag with maps , johnny molloys book, toilet paper and hand sanitizer.

In the rear hatch, tent poles, small mat to sit on and tent groundsheet wedged behind the skeg, tent,sleeping bag,half length thermarest, stove, fuel, another bag of food,6 large plastic pegs(for pitching tent on sand). The rest of the gatorades and wines I squeezed in to any gaps left. The last 10 liter dromedary I put in the cockpit.

The first day was 20kt crosswind and it weathercocked even with the skeg down, this was due to either a small drybag I had strapped outside with some bread rolls in between the rear and day hatches or too much weight at the front or a combination of both. I found I had taken slightly too much food and about 5 litres too much water.

The Cetus is rated for 300lbs and I am 200. the water alone was at least 60lbs so I was up to the limit or just over but literally after only one night it got lighter and easier to pack.Eat the heavy bulky food first!!.And have a full practise pack AND paddle before you go.

I planned on 4 liters per day, which over 8 days/7nights is  actually 6 full days and 2 half days (7 days total)....no breakfast and water bottles already full when you set off and no dinner to cook on the last day...does that make sense???

 I have a 1.5 liter hydration bladder attached to my pfd.

So 1 gallon (8 pints) is 3.6 liters, this is how I rationed my water.....

1 pint...big coffee in am....3pints in hydration bladder....1 pint of tea in the pm....1 pint "cytomax"(powdered rehydration), 1pint for cooking (sometimes used sometimes not) 1 pint reserve.  plus I had a 20oz gatorade bottle every day.

I was never thirsty and never had any cramps and pee'd a lot so I definitely had enough.

 If I was doing the exact trip again I would take the 2x 10 liter Dromedaries one in the rear hatch and one in the day hatch and the cheap plastic container half full ( in the cockpit) plus the 8x20oz gatorades squeezed in but mainly in the front hatch and forget the 1 pint reserve which equals 7 pints per day.

7pts x 7 days=49pts = 6.125 galls= 22liters. I would immediately save about 8 liters ( 20lbs).

All the food that was not in a pouch I repackaged into ziplocks. Put instant mash potato in a ziplock and add the hot water into the ziplock...works great.A good space saving lunch is...half pack of Near East Mediterranean curry +half the spice pack it comes with in a ziplock. An hour before lunch add some sun dried toms and 3/4 cup water, zip it up. At lunch add a small can or pouch of chicken and some cranberries and mix it up. Really good. I got a whole bunch of ideas form Backpacker magazine website. Most of the food I used did not need water as that means you have to carry more.

I backpack a lot so am used to downsizing. When I started backpacking I would see what I hadn't used at the end of the trip and not take it again. This was my first big kayak trip and I learned a lot. I think we all take too many clothes which can be bulky.

 Hope all that makes sense

Cheers   Dave

 

[Jay]

You know what I have been doing???  I just pull the yak up on the platform and unload up there.  I have not been out to any of the really high platforms. I paddle strip kayaks  and the new artificial wood decking on the Chickee does not mar the varnish badly.  Let's put it this way, there are far worse things that are maring the varnish.

 

A boat is a boat.  If you want a wooden cored fiberglass boat (stripper or S/G plywood boat) to look good, give it a light sanding and a couple of coats of varnish and they look good as new.  They are just as tough as any production boat...maybe tougher.

 

Jay

[Michael Waldman]

Dave,

 

Thanks for the advice.

I compared your boat with both my CD Rumour and my wife's CD Kitsilano. They seem to be pretty much the same size, maybe your's is alittle bigger. This means with alittle better packing my wife and I can get 7/8 day's in the everglades. I like the idea of using 10L water bags and putting some stuff in the cockpit. We have been using 100 ounce camelback waterbags, but to go longer I would need tons of them. Were you worried about puncturing the bags in the cockpit? Where did you put them? By your legs?

 

We were actually in the Hell's Bay/ Roberts River on a three nighter while you were on your trip! It seemed like we overpacked on clothing, but food and water were right on!

I really loved your route! Which was some of your favorite campsites?

 

Mike

 

[Dave Briggs]

Mike,

Funny, I left Flamingo on 12th Feb

 I used the 10 liter MSR Dromedary bags. There are 2 types, Dromedary(black), made of heavy duty nylon material and Dromlite (red) made of a more lightweight material.Use the heavy duty ones.I wasn't worried about puncturing them, if you get one you'll see why. You can get good deals on amazon as they are not cheap. The one I had in the cockpit just went between my legs. Thats why if I was doing it again I would put the cheap plastic one half filled in the cockpit and obiously use that first. There is the safety issue of having something loose in the cockpit if you should capsize, so be aware. In some kayaks you will have some room beyond the footpegs that you may be able to store smaller bottles in and secure them with bungees.Also you can jam stuff in behind the seat back.

Oh yeh, by the way...In my previous post about packing ,that lunch recipe should've read "Mediterranean curry Couscous"

All the sites were great, Graveyard Creek was the buggiest. My favorites were Rodgers River Bay Chickee (a long way from anywhere,great view and peaceful) and Highland Beach(Great sunset and fire on the beach. If you use the Gps Co-ords for Highland beach from Keiths website,very very close by is a prominent stand of 7 or 8 palm trees with a perfect clearing underneath).....

I had originally planned another day on that trip but unfavorable tides screwed me up. I was to go from Highland Beach to Camp Lonesome via the Wood River, then to Harney River Chickee via Broad River and the Nightmare.So would have been 9 days 8 nights.

Have fun Dave