Foo - I'm packing for a Kayak trip!

Me and Fiance are going to paddle 8 miles down river tomorrow morning, navigatin' through gator infested waters, under the shade of snake inhabited threes, in full view of butt-biting Floridian bears playing on the shore. :thumb:

Me and Fiance are going to paddle 8 miles down river tomorrow morning, navigatin' through gator infested waters, under the shade of snake inhabited threes, in full view of butt-biting Floridian bears playing on the shore. :thumb:

Your threes in Fla are snake inhabited? Watch it, the rest of the numerals might get infested with snakes too, and the 10s and above can handle a LOT of snakes, mi hermano! ;)

I need a better spell checker :(

I've never heard of a canoe going whacka whacka so I'm sure you'll have fun!

'gators huh? Well enjoy. Bringing any weapons in case a gator gets a bit frisky?

Have you and the boss ever kayaked that far, or at all? What kind of kayaks? Sit-on-tops? Kayak types vary nearly as much as bicycles. Some resemble short canoes more than kayaks. Will you rent? Can you out-paddle a bear? Best not wear your Bacon Spice™ cologne.

Be sure to bear arms. Shooting snakes that fall into your kayak adds a whole 'nother level of excitement.

What you doing - paddling Juniper Creek?

Going down Crystal River?

In summer camp I went on a canoe trip down Crystal River. The river was great, but I got stuck with the fat kid and he didn't want to paddle, just steer, so I ended up doing the muscle work for both of us.

The waters of the river lived up to their name. You could see all the way down to the bottom of the river, and it wasn't Pepsi brown like the Hillsborough or Swanee rivers.

The most amazing part was that the leader of the trip, the counselor of the oldest boys' cabin and a swimmer on the local university team, knew a spot on the river with an underwater cave that was about 50 feet long. We stopped there and watched from our canoes as he swam down about 20 feet, then swam through the cave and out the other end. It was pretty amazing to see him come back up. Quite a tribute to his swimming abilities.

By the weekend he had been fired. He was a jerk, so I looked on this as a pleasant turn of events. It took me a few years before I figured out why he had been fired.

I no nothin' bout kayaks, I rented this thing:

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn53/RubenX_Longwood/0c34c24d.png

Here's me thinking "this is easy":

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn53/RubenX_Longwood/261d31c2.png

I started on a place called Kings Landing and Ended up at past Wekiva. I think the whole river is the wekiva river but U'm not sure. I wanted to bring back many gator pictures. The camera was inside a plastic bag, on a backpack, on the back on the kayak. When the gator, a water animal, is in the water with you... you kind of rething the whole "smile gator" idea and forget about the pictures. Gators being almost the size of the kayak didn't helped much either. Most of the scenery was like this:

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn53/RubenX_Longwood/c882af73.png
Paddling down river.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn53/RubenX_Longwood/1d7dcbbf.png
Rube @ mile 1 (I got this!)

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn53/RubenX_Longwood/78985854.png
One of the stops (gatorless, thanks God)

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn53/RubenX_Longwood/8a12abf5.png
Rube @ mile 8... somebody call the choppa!

Couple of things I learned:

1) Kayaks need a rudder, seriously.

2) Each kayak mile causes the same amount of butt soreness as 10 bicycle miles.

3) You'll get just as wet as if you were swimming the miles.

4) The current doesn't "carry you down" that's pure BS.

5) Dodging oncoming kayaks/canoes and their paddles is near impossible.

6) I need a wet suit, triathlon style

7) I need a kayak specific front-pack.

8) Gators don't look so "cool" when there's no fence between them and you.

9) When the guide at the starting post say 3 hours, it will take you about 6.

Wekiwa Springs State Park !! The gators are trained there and the coons (racoons you race baiters) are hand fed from birth. Why don't you be a real Florida Man and go on down to Boggy Creek into Lake Toho? Now that is what a real man with a paddle would do.

I need a better spell checker :(

No.
Stick to writing with that Ricardo Montaban accent to give this thread a continental flair.

You don't have to splain yourself to anybooty.

Didn't an Austrailian TV series explorer guy get gobbled up by a crock while in a kayak 2 years ago in Africa?

Glad to see the Rube wearing his crimson Ohio State shirt in honor of them wining the NCAA BB final soon.

Didn't an Austrailian TV series explorer guy get gobbled up by a crock while in a kayak 2 years ago in Africa?

Glad to see the Rube wearing his crimson Ohio State shirt in honor of them wining the NCAA BB final soon.

Yep, snatched him right outta the boat like me snatching an hor deurve from the buffet line. Thanks for sharing Ruben!

I am in extreme pain ATM. Can't lift my arms properly. I guess I'll have to cancel tomorrow's range shootout.

I am in extreme pain ATM. Can't lift my arms properly. I guess I'll have to cancel tomorrow's range shootout.

Ibuprofen is your friend, here.

I am in extreme pain ATM. Can't lift my arms properly. I guess I'll have to cancel tomorrow's range shootout.

Did you at least get the 5 minute Paddling 101 course from someone who knows what they're doing. 8 miles can a rather long distance for anyone if they've never had proper paddling technique instruction. Basically, if you paddle using your arms you're doing it wrong. The power should come from your core/trunk. 8 miles is a respectable distance even on flatwater in a boat like that (wide and heavy)...for anyone.
Still sounds like it was fun. Thanks for sharing, and nice pix!

^ Rather long is putting it mildly... There are so many bents and turns that if stop paddling for 10 seconds you will get stuck on a branch or a patch of lily-pads at the side of the river. If you are not paddling to propel the craft, you are paddling to steer it. It was indeed an endurance sport.

What we need, as cyclists, is THIS:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R83c_gKTGY4

Rube -

Most kayaks won't benefit much from a rudder. They're great for open water to keep a straight course. Paddling technique on a boat the size you had should be fine for keeping the boat headed where you want. With good technique I can paddle even a whitewater boat in a straight line without much trouble.

You got wet mostly because there are no drip rings on those paddles.

If your butt was sore you were probably leaning back too much. Looks like your back support wasn't good.

If the current isn't moving much, it can't carry you much. Often the wind will overpower the current. Drive up to GA and take a whitewater course :)

I don't think I'd like paddling with gators. I've only paddled in FL twice - the first time ws in the keys. My wife and I rented boats (we were already experienced paddlers) and camping gear and paddled out to Little Rabbit Key (I think that was the name) in the middle of Florida Bay. Was about a 13 mile paddle, and the water in that bay gets really shallow -- so we ended up pushing over mud flats at points -- to shallow to not hit bottom, too muddy to get out and walk. It was pretty cool though - saw sharks, sea turtles, schools of tarpon, and the biggest blue claw crabs I've ever seen. At the island we snorkeled and saw dozens of spiny lobster in the mud (can't take them because I believe it's a national park area). Around 3 a.m. a couple guys showed up in a small motorboat off the island and sat there and fished...I laid awake with my knife by my side!

In the morning, a troop of boy scouts showed up to share the island and the small camping area. Needless to say we headed back - into the wind for 13 brutal miles!

Don't give up on boating...just find a different place and different boat.

Short wide recreational kayaks like the general purpose one he rented would definitely benefit from a rudder, especially for newbs. Rudders are the training wheels for kayaks. Purists tend to shun them. Rudders are like condoms, better to have one and not need it than need it and not have one (or two) :rolleyes:

Short wide recreational kayaks like the general purpose one he rented would definitely benefit from a rudder, especially for newbs. Rudders are the training wheels for kayaks. Purists tend to shun them. Rudders are like condoms, better to have one and not need it than need it and not have one (or two) :rolleyes:

If you say so. I disagree. Proper paddling technique is what's needed. Rube's new at it - why handicap him with a rudder? In 18 years of paddling sea kayaks and whitewater the only time I ever really felt the need for a rudder was in a double sea kayak, or paddling with a strong rear quartering wind. Maybe every sea kayaker should spend some time in a whitewater boat, trying to paddle it straight. You quickly learn where to put your paddle in, where to take it out, and all the subtle corrections you can make without losing forward power.

A 2.5 hp Mercury on the back for Rube?

A 2.5 hp Mercury on the back for Rube?

win