New Kayaker in SWFL

[David]

I should've stopped by here before posting a question. Didn't mean to be rude!

My name is David. I'm 32 and originally from Florida, having grown up in Jacksonville. Moved to Ft. Myers 18 months ago and have been exploring the area by kayak since day 1. 

Recently, I've been getting very interested in kayak camping. I do a lot of fishing out of my yak (a WS Ride 115) and am beginning to do expand out to overnight camping/fishing trips. I started reading up on trips to the Everglades and wound up on the EEN, which has been a great resource. I think I found it via the Everglades Diary blog, which was another great site to look at.

I'm looking to do my first solo camping/fishing trip out to Tiger Key in mid-December and signed up to get some advice from people and join the conversation. If you've got some advice for a new-comer, please chime in on my post in the Exploring the Everglades forum about 1st time trips.Cheers!

Paddle on,

David

[Amazon Bill]

Welcome David. I got started with Connies website Everglades diary. It has a series of posts that step by step can prep you for you trip. Best way to get input here is to post your planned route and days then folks will give you input. Search this site using key words to find blogs about your topic.

[Jay]

Tiger Key - if it is blowing stink and cold out of the north through southwest, there is a really nice protected hideaway site on the southeast side of the island - just across the channel to Picnic Key.  Has deep water at all tides. If it is not cold - it will be a bug site from hell.  If the wind blows hard out of the north through ENE it can blow all the water out of the bays and out into the Gulf leaving a very long drag out to deep water on the front side of the island.

Fortunately we camped on the east side. NOTE - this was an extreme low tide with a hard north wind.

With all of that said - it is a great island!

[David]

Hey gentleman, thank you both for your replies.

Bill - Yes, I've bookmarked her site and read through it. Great advice there and the community on the forum here has been super helpful. 

Jay - Thanks for sharing the pics! That's the type of insight you only get from going there. It helps me prep and gets me excited to go at the same time!

Right now I'm targeting early Jan for a trip and just going to let the weather dictate the exact dates. Apart from storms, I'm mostly looking at the wind forecast and, to a lesser degree the tides, to determine when/where I go. A few questions:

• Do you sleep in the hammock? If so, do you use any kind of bug net?
• What kind of shoes do people wear when needing to get through the muck?
• What do you (or anyone reading this) bring for safety/navigation? 
  • I'm debating on buying a handheld GPS and am in process of learning how to navigate w/map & compass

Thanks!

David

[Jay]

Thanks David.  A couple of comments and answers.

You can battle the wind - you can battle the tide - you will lose if you try to battle the wind and tide.

When possible, I try to leave Everglades City on a falling tide.  Once you get across the bay you can almost literally lay back and let the tide take you to the Gulf (provided the wind isn't against you.)  Of course you will probably pass paddlers battling against the tide as they curse you floating out.  Same goes for returning from Picnic and Tiger (or any time you are planning a return through the passes)  Catch the last couple of hours of the rising tide and it will be a nice easy ride back home. Crossing the bay on a return can be challenging if the wind is up - it gets nasty choppy.

As for that hammock - that is just something we put up to get away from the campsite to for an afternoon snooze or to read.  I wouldn't spend the night in it.  I do have a Hennessy with a built in no-seeum net.  Works great!

Even at really low tides, most of the west side of Tiger is not mucky.  The east side is not mucky.  Picnic is not mucky.  Lots of other places further east are very mucky at low tide.  Again, pick departures and arrivals with the tides in mind and choose landing sites based on the bottom condition if known.  I use Keen camping sandals cinched up very tight.  The muck can be so sticky that it can suck off about anything you put on your feet.  If there are not oysters in the area, I will go barefoot.  Again - avoidance of low tides landings and departures when able.

Navigation - 2 charts.  One I use and another as a backup stored in the boat if that one blows away. Compass, GPS.

Safety - 2 way marine radio, whistle, flares, first aid kit. Space blanket. Water - 1 gallon per day planned plus another gallon.  More in the summer - maybe a little less in the winter. Spare hat, Spare glasses. Clothes to spend the night out - in the boat.

True story @ 7-8 years ago in Hells Bay area, we were set up on the Chickee and I went out alone to fish for a couple of hours on a very windy afternoon.  Was poking around a lot of little creeks and bays and lost track of where I was getting blown about.  GPS died, radio died and was absolutely unable to figure my position.  Was circling around and couldn't find the Chickee (I was in a bay @ a mile west of where I thought I was).  It was mid-December and the days were short.  I was resigned that I was going to have to nose into the Mangroves for the night when my last try at finding the Chickee resulted in success.   I would have been fine, I had a fleece, foul weather jacket, warm hat, water and snacks.  Would have sucked - but I would have been fine.  Ann would have been worried stiff.  Bottom line is plan for things not go as planned - so when they do - it is not a big deal.

You are going to have a great time. You are asking all the right questions. 

[Kim Gass]

Ditto on the above. If you wear sandals they should have toe protection. I have used Crocs but its no fun losing them in the mud so don't do that.  Lately I have been using zipped up wetsuit booties. Also thicker soles are handy for protection from sandburs.  Picnic at least has few of those.

I use chart and compass and GPS. I find the latter helpful in intimate little mangrove islands . Chart is for the bigger picture.

[David]

Jay - What an incredibly helpful post.Thanks for sharing. I'm keeping an eye on the weather for early January and hoping for good conditions so I can get out there for a few days. 

Kim - I was going to buy some crocs just for my usual kayak fishing trips (and still may), but it sounds like I need something else all together to face the everglades mud!

[vivian]

We were camped onTtiger last weekend. Lots of sand burs on the beaches and the raccoons are out of control. They are worse I have seen in a few years there. Make sure you have had sided container for water if in a canoe or store inside kayak hatches. I have the boat crocs so harder sole than regular crocs for camp shoes. For paddling I have sperry kayak shoes that secure with Velcro so mud does not pull them off. That is for launch site and backcountry, tiger and picnic are not an issue with bad mud flats.

[Kim Gass]

David  Crocs are so comfy in camp.. but the sandburs will go right through the regular soles.  I was not aware there were boat Crocs, so thank you Vivian.. I'll get a pair before our winter trip.

You probably know sandburs. We don't have them here so my experience had to come from the practical lab..don't recommend it.

[vivian]

Kim, I have the crocs ace boating type but see there are other models with similar hard sole. I bought them mainly for the slip resistant sole to prevent accidents on slippery boat ramps when I use them in the canoe. But found out that the sole actually is harder since these are also my camp shoes and burs can't penetrate as easily into the shoe. They will still stick but won't poke your feet.

http://www.amazon.com/crocs-Unisex-Ace-Boating-Clog/dp/B008M3GW4U

The beaches are losing a lot of sand making us have to camp in areas previously green. I am thinking of bringing a small plastic rake to go over area where I will set up the tent. My friend wants to bring a snow shovel to pop them out next time. Those dang burs poke through tent floor unless you have a 10 mil thick ground cloth. Which may not be a bad idea. I also love my sand free mat by C-Gear.

[David]

Thanks everyone for chiming in. This is an interesting, helpful thread. 

Are there any other small things that people use that make a big difference? Things you wouldn't normally think of until you go a few times (like the extra thick ground cloth, rake, etc.)? 

[David]

One additional question: Does anyone own the Garmin eTrex 10? I'm looking at buying this one as a starter GPS but want to make sure it will suffice. I just need something that will get me to-from where I'm going and can save waypoints to mark fishing spots.

Any suggestions on GPS models that won't break the bank?

[Kim Gass]

I just use a five by five foot packcloth that I hemmed for a ground mat to keep sand out of the stove and my food and avoid losing things.  Not put a tent on top of sandburs yet.   The packcloth fabric I got at a outdoor store that sells outdoor fabric by the yard near home. it cost about six bucks.

Next time we are bringing an adjustable beach umbrella for the Cape beaches.  It is small and packs up to about two feet long and  four inches across. It screws to the sand and articulates. Easier to set up anywhere than a tarp..Does not blow over. We have used it in the desert with great success and its easy to adjust as the sun moves.

The e trex should work fine for marking  It does not seem to take any other maps other than what is in the unit and I dont know how good that is as a marine chart.