I love being on vacation.
I do not love getting up early on my
first day of actual vacation, but Key Lime Sailing Club really wants
their sailboats to remain in one piece so on our first day in Key
Largo I crawled out of bed to attend SAILBOAT ORIENTATION.
A bit of info here: Key Lime Sailing
Club provides, with cabin rental and appropriate credentials-for me
this included US Sailing 101 for my husband US Sailing 101 and ASA
Sailing 103-104 as well as previous sailing trips on our log-, a 22
ft Catalina, swing keel sailboat. Having your own sailboat available
the entire time you are staying somewhere is HUGE. Renting a sailboat
can cost upwards of $300 a day and then there is no guarantee that
the weather will be cooperative in the sailing of said boat. Which
was dully noted as it rained our entire first day in Key Largo.
At 9am sharp, six
of us met under the semi-leaking Tiki Hut. (As noted above, it was
raining. Sometimes sideways...) CJ, manager of Key Lime, proceeded to
go over navigational maps, keel operation, easy sails, longer sails,
mangroves, a mysterious steel post somewhere in the middle of the
Intercoastal Waterway, curfews, boundaries and the status board
which proclaimed the weather conditions and encouraging words for
each day.
The others all
followed along, nodding their heads wisely. Asking questions about buoys and depths and motors. I, too, nodded along but in my head,
this is what I heard:
Of course, you need to substitute 'sailing' and 'sailboat' for 'parachute' and 'airplane'.
Thirty minutes
later I had a moderate understanding of how to read the fuzzy map
with multiple lines and numbers and triangles on it. We left the
meeting with a solid plan to kayak the mangrove swamp as the status
board proclaimed RAIN-NO SAIL today.
Because somehow
kayaking in a swamp in the rain was OKAY.
Two of the
volunteers from Key Lime and CJ loaded our double kayaks into a
monster truck and escorted three couples to a good launch point. We
are pretty sure they all had bets on who would back out first and who
would actually come back alive and/or still happily married.
I should note here
that I have never kayaked. I have canoed, the last time in the rain,
so I feel this trip was really no big deal.
Getting into the
kayaks proved the most challenging task. And while providing a whole
lot of laughs, no one actually fell into the water. Which was a moot
point as now it was once again raining sideways. Raining so hard, in
fact, that our friends kayak filled nearly to the top with water...
Anyway, single file
we set off across Tarpon Basin, approximately a mile but in the rain
at times endless, towards what we hoped was the mangrove swamp with
the solid direction to 'cruise along the shoreline and keep a close
eye for the opening. It looks just like a dead end until you get
inside...'
Turns out this was
actually really true advice.
We attempted
several dead ends before finally, to a chorus of heavenly soaking wet
angels, found the entrance.
Mangroves are an
interesting species of plant. Growing half in water and half in soil,
their intricate root pattern stabilizes coastlines from erosion and
provide a home to multiple species of bird, amphibians and fishes.
And gators.
While
we never saw any gators, we did hear a SLAP on the water which was
way too big to be a frog and way more chompy as though a large wide
open mouth and smacked flatly on the surface of the water leaving a
very large concentric circle looping outwards towards my fingers
which were dangling over the edge of the boat.
That
stopped immediately.
the dangling pieces are growing downward and anchor the mangrove plant under the water's surface |
we were escorted through the swamp by these two guys |
I kind of like how the raindrops add to the mysterious qualities of the landscape |
Around
two hours later with the rain finally giving way, all six people –
still married- and three double kayaks returned to the designated
spot. We dined on slightly soggy pretzels and waited for some
slightly surprised guys to pick us up.
We had
survived the mangrove swamp.
In the
rain.
Just
like a Hemingway novel...
Again, pardon the raindrops on the lens, it was raining...
Come
back on Wednesday Saturday...for He's Singing My Song! Open Ocean
Sailing!!
If you go:
The kayak across Tarpon Basin is not difficult. You do need to be mindful of power boats when you cross the Intercoastal, which is marked with red triangle numbered signs. It is possible to sail to the entrance area and anchor your boat, cutting down on the distance you kayak.
Be mindful that mangroves are protected - it is a pack in-pack out area.
This. Is. Amazing!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd funny. I love your writing!
Thank you Diane! This was one of the best trips I have ever taken!
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