Wood River

[Keith W]

Date: Friday Dec. 19 2008

Location: The Wood River is a tributary of the Broad River and provides an alternate route between the Gulf and Camp Lonesome. The western entrance is at N25°28'36.44" W81° 8'45.36", about a quarter-mile west of the Broad River campsite. The east entrance is at N25°29'14.45" W81° 0'7.12", about 250 yards from the dock at Camp Lonesome. The Wood River is better known as the north entrance to the Nightmare.

Condition: The Wood River is passable along its entire length. There are many snags and the mangroves grow across the river in many places along a section starting a little over a mile in from the western entrance. You will need to pull your boat through the numerous overhanging branches and roots for a mile or two, and allow extra time for the slow going. Low profile kayaks should have an easier time than canoes in here. This section is vulnerable to closure from blowdown following a storm.

[rudderless]

Sorry, I meant Mini Buddy Anchor Line by Anchor Buddy... 

[Jay]

I just pull my boats up on the Chickees nightly.  Those with the synthetic planking don't scar my varnish at all.  Peace of mind that I know the boat will be there in the morning and less chance of damage.

[rudderless]

Always my first choice, too, Jay. Seeing your boat sitting on the chickee across from you is just pretty - and even more so for YOU having your hand-built beauty. Being by yourself ensures you need less room, too, facilitating that arrangement. But traveling with another boat while staying at single chickees along with not needing to totally unload all of one's gear, provisions and water, especially at the beginning of a longer trip make this an essential for me. It takes no space & weighs nothing, while giving you another option for securing your boat near shore, at a chickee or dock. Grabbing your essentials & leaving the bulk on board in areas where you have non-threatening conditions and/or protected waters shortens your camp breaking time in the AM. Also, keeping the boat secured away from harm creates a challenge for scheming critters - not that we had a problem this last trip. 

But you may not need one after all. I'm guessing that with your boat building skills you can fix any scars the worst barnacles & oysters could inflict. 

[Jay]

I am definitely going to look into the system.  I do almost all of my trips solo or with my wife.  I can see that getting a 3rd or 4th up on deck would not be an option. I hear you on partial unloads. 

Battle scars are part of the deal. Rarely do they penetrate deeply enough that a couple of coats of varnish wont do the trick.  I sand and re-varnish every 3 years or so.  I have been fortunate enough to avoid high speed encounters with Oyster banks.

[Kim Gass]

Most of my  boat scratches are from the unfortunate Sunday Bay chickee that had nothing to tie to for unloading really. We snugged up to unload and tethered to boards as in Vivians system. Standing in a 23 inch wide boat is a bit of balance though snug lines help. We had one boat on the chickee at night..the 20 inch wide yak. And the other in the water. Night time bobbing is not an issue.. simple clear pvc pipe over the gunwales takes any scuffing though many chickees (Harney Bay for example) have a u shape that allows for multiple tie offs to hold the boat off the planks.  I am not a big fan of getting whacked by a boat on my chickee..so that is always in the back of my mind if its windy though it could also function as a windbreak.

I am all for partial unloads. The seven gallons of water I need the second week can well stay in the boat on day 2.

[Kim Gass]

Made the Wood trip last Wed. There is one  new mangrove down blocking most of the river toward the eastern end of the narrow section. Nevertheless we were able to break enough twigs off in about twenty minutes of work.  Total time for the eleven miles was four hours and fifty minutes at low to mid tide.

This section was memorable as it was the only part of our loop trip out of Everglades City that did not involve full on headwinds over 15 mph.

[vivian]

That is one river I have yet to travel all the way from backcountry to gulf.  I've only explored the upper portion and it has been on my list since. Have you had time to put together your trip report :-)

[Kim Gass]

No...we are now paddling Central Florida Springs till Saturday  And I have some 300 pictures to sort through

[SteveS]

Going to try the Wood from Lonesome to Highland beach in a few weeks assuming it is clear. Anyone done it this season?

[Kim Gass]

Its wide in places. No I have not done it this year. You might consider a small folding saw.. ( though not sure that is entirely legal)  We used 15 foot boats and the maneuvering was quite easy. No get outs. But that was two years ago.

[vivian]

Steve, found out from the Buckley's this weekend that a couple of parties had been through it this season. I too would bring a small folding saw as Kim suggested.

[SteveS]

Thanks. Seems like it would be a good alternative to some of the other routes especially if the winds are blowing.