Day 5: Rogers River Bay to Flamingo, 55 miles
Another beautiful day dawned on Roger's River Bay chickee. We were on the water at 8:30 AM, feeling very refreshed after a nice, hot dinner and long sleep. The entire back side of my body was quite sore from paddling, but the muscles soon loosened up.
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We had been monitoring the forecast, and were aware that high winds and thunderstorms were predicted on Thursday afternoon, the day we planned to cross Florida Bay to the finish. The wind was predicted to be even higher on Friday. High cirrus clouds in the sky reminded me of the old sailor's advice, "When the sky appears scratched by a hen, reef your topsails then". We felt the need to hurry in hopes of finishing before the weather turned bad.
The current was with us on Broad River, which was good, but made us wonder if we would be stuck in the Nightmare at low tide. A man in a Kruger Sea Wind was going the other way against the current. He thought there was still two hours to low tide.
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White ibis patrolled the mud banks on Broad River, while swallow-tailed kites swooped gracefully over the mangroves. At this point we were nearing the place considered to be the most remote spot in Florida. It's about 30 miles as the crow flies to the nearest road or city light.
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As we approached the entrance to the Nightmare, we saw a kayaker in the distance. We did not know it at the time, but it was our coincidental companion AlexO. He did not want to mess with low water in the Nightmare and took the alternate route out to the Gulf. The water was low. We pulled off on a mud bank to take a short break.
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We did not know if there would be enough water to pass through, but we decided to try. A gator guarded each bank at the entrance to the Nightmare; the first and only gators we would see.
Paddling through the Nightmare was beautiful and relaxing. We could not go too fast because of all the woody obstacles. The shade felt good, and to our surprise there were no mosquitoes.
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These were the biggest mangroves we had seen: old, gnarly things with little mangrove crabs crawling all over them.
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Upper Broad Creek is just as narrow as the Nightmare. We were almost to the end of it. We took a Spiz break to rehydrate and get some calories. After two hot days of paddling, the water supply was running low. It was still about 35 miles to Flamingo, and we had about a gallon of water left.
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After leaving Broad Creek, the way opened up and we were able to paddle faster again. We paddled up Harney River and down Shark River through the remainder of the afternoon. A camper at Harney River Chickee cheered us on.
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As the sun was getting low over Shark River, we spotted a kayaker ahead and picked up the pace to catch him. It was our coincidental companion AlexO!
In a replay of our pre-dawn meeting at Wiggins Pass, it took some effort to rouse him from his trance-like state. But, soon we had him talking. He had left Lostman's Five Chickee at 5 AM, and had come about 45 miles today. He commented on the good weather we had enjoyed so far this year (imagine the stoic Romanian accent), "The race is easy, you just put your head down and it is over".
My Dad will be embarrassed by my bird mis-identification in the following video.
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We did not know it, but at the same time, MicroTom and WaterLilly were approaching Whitewater Bay (gold), a few hours ahead of us (in blue). NiteNavigator and WhiteCaps were at Flamingo (in white). PeacePaddler was heading south on the Gulf (yellow).
We paddled on in the vicinity of AlexO as night fell. Lauren and I had originally planned on staying at South Joe River Chickee because the sleeping situation at Flamingo was questionable. However, with the need to beat the weather across Florida Bay, we wondered if we should press on to Flamingo. I asked AlexO where he was planning to go. He replied, "Flamingo", as if there was no other option. That would make it a 67 mile day for him, 55 for us.
If we chose to cross Whitewater Bay, we would not have the option to stop at South Joe River Chickee. Alex had caught a forecast through the radio static indicating calm conditions after midnight, and pointed out that it was three miles shorter than the South Joe River route, so we decided to go for Flamingo via Whitewater Bay. Lauren and I took turns paddling and eating a hot thermos meal as we skirted Oyster Bay and passed through Cormorant Pass to Whitewater Bay.
It was a windless night on glassy water. As we passed the last mangrove island on the approach to Whitewater Bay, we heard a strange sound. It sounded like waves crashing on the other side of the island, but how could that be when there was no wind? When we came around the end of the island there was a stiff quartering headwind and chop on the dark expanse of Whitewater Bay. We paused and discussed with Alex whether we should backtrack to Joe River, but we decided to be brave and press on with faith in the forecast.
The crossing of Whitewater Bay could be divided into three passages between mangrove islands of three to four miles each. We were off my planned route, so I put a waypoint at the first group of islands and we began paddling into the wind and chop toward the black horizon.
After a half hour or so, the wind died and we enjoyed calm paddling, as predicted. At the first group of mangrove islands Lauren and I took a short break. I asked Alex if he was ready to go or if he needed a break. He replied "Whenever you are ready, I am ready".
A red blinking light appeared on the horizon. Alex pointed out that it was the tower at Flamingo. When we can see it, we have cell phone service again (if we have AT&T). This is the kind of priceless tip that makes paddling with the veterans profitable. Lauren checked the forecast on the iphone; wind and rain for tomorrow, same as before.
After Whitewater Bay, we were back on my route from Google Earth, and the waypoints led us to the narrow entrances at Tarpon Creek and Buttonwood Canal.
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We had our headlight on as we paddled down Buttonwood Canal, but we did not see any gators or crocodiles. Crocodiles are known to hang out at the boat launch at Flamingo, making the portage to the saltwater side an adventure. We coasted into the marina at Flamingo at 2:30 AM. I expected more activity, but only saw one Watertriber. Deke reported an "epic day" in his 17' CLC Dory; he decided to go inside at Shark River due to rough conditions on the Gulf and had to row for hours into a stiff headwind to make the entrance. I recalled the wind in the treetops as we passed through the Nightmare.
Alex showed us where to bivvy behind the fish cleaning station, and we hurried to lay down so that we could get a few hours of rest and try to beat the weather across Florida Bay. He planned to leave at 6 AM to avoid adverse tidal currents in Tin Can Channel.
I put on all my day layers over my damp, salty paddling clothes, put on my headnet and neoprene gloves to fend off mosquitoes, and crawled into my SOL bivvy. It wasn't the deepest sleep I ever had, but being extremely tired helps. During the night a gust of wind preceded a rain shower. I pulled the SOL bivvy sack over my head and curled up.
We did not know it, but MicroTom and WaterLily were at Flamingo at the same time on the saltwater side of the marina. NiteNavigator and WhiteCaps were on their way across Florida Bay in calm conditions.
http://lmsmallcraft.blogspot.com/2014/03/everglades-challenge-2014-day-6.html
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