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PostPosted: Sun Feb 26, 2012 8:09 am 
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Joined: Tue Jan 18, 2005 7:43 am
Posts: 110
Location: Lakeland and Anna Maria Island, FL
Keith - It was good to finally meet you, InTents, and the legendary Whitecaps! Although I'm out there fishing in my Hobie quite often, I am totally an armchair kayak sailor. Thanks for letting me go along with you guys via your stories and photos!

That wind you referenced at 3 a.m. woke me up in Everglades City at 4 a.m. and pushed our fishing plans into the backcountry. I'm sure it was quite lively out on Tiger.

When will you arrive in St. Pete for the WaterTribe? I have planned on going over on Friday to fish.


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PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 7:44 pm 
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Location: South Florida
Hi Terri,

Just got back from a 3-day, 2-night fishing trip to Pavilion. Terrible fishing yesterday--one trout ONLY. Wind was totally wrong. However, today we got in some fishing before heading back to Chok, and it was spectcular--largest trout I've caught in several years. Fun!

I'm shuttling Bosab (Charlie Fast) back from Placitas where he is leaving his truck & trailer. We hope to be at Ft De Soto by 2:45. I'm camping at site 235 with Josh Morgan--he is doing the EC. Charlie is doing the Florida Marathon--Ft De Soto to Placitas.

Hey, great to meet you. Are you going to be at Ft De Soto? I'll be there for the start Saturday at 7 am.

Keith

_________________
2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon


Last edited by Chekika on Wed Feb 29, 2012 5:56 am, edited 2 times in total.

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PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 9:51 pm 
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Posts: 151
Location: Tampa Bay, FL
ft desoto this weekend?

I'm dyin to bust out my new TI, was thinking of heading that way after my sons baseball game saturday AM.

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2019 Hobie Outback Slate Blue
2018 Hobie Compass Seagrass Green
2012 Hobie Pro Angler w/MD180 Papaya Orange

ex 2012 Hobie Tandem Island
ex 2011 Hobie Pro Angler
ex 2011 Hobie Adventure Island
ex 2010 Hobie Adventure Island


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PostPosted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 5:01 am 
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Joined: Tue Jan 18, 2005 7:43 am
Posts: 110
Location: Lakeland and Anna Maria Island, FL
Keith - Shoot me a private message on here or the Hole with your cell phone #. I'm not sure if I'll be going to St. Pete or to Anna Maria to fish this weekend. If I'm in AMI, I can see the WaterTribers come into Sarasota Bay.


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PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 9:25 am 
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Posts: 3323
Location: South Florida
Watertribe race or not, life must go on. We have an AI/TI camp trip planned.
Back to Pavilion, Mar 16-18, 2012.

We will launch from Chokoloskee on Mar 16 at about 1:00 pm. We will return to the same spot on Mar 18, about 1:00 pm.

In between those times, we will sail to Pavilion, spend a day there fishing, sailing, hiking the beautiful beach, and relaxing. Night 2 is always a big fish fry. This time of the year large sea trout have moved into the area. Reds are coming around.

Sorry for the “late” announcement (actually this trip has been announced informally for a few weeks.) I hope you can join us. I know some of you have received the earlier, informal announcement. This is your chance to decide to do the trip.

Long range weather forecast, which is totally untrustworthy, looks good although there may be some rain on Day 2. Again, this weather forecast is totally worthless—it will change all over the place for the next 4 days. Still, it is fun to check.

Let me know if you will be coming. Gil Companiori and wife, Yidera, are confirmed, as is Charlie Fast and Jim Quinlan.

I can be reached at 305-666-4184 or 305-979-3362. email: kwellma at bellsouth dot net, or reply here.

Keith

_________________
2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon


Last edited by Chekika on Thu Mar 15, 2012 10:49 am, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 6:22 am 
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Joined: Tue Jan 18, 2005 7:43 am
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Location: Lakeland and Anna Maria Island, FL
Keith - On average, how long of a trip is it to Pavillion for a pedaler, sans fishing along the way? I had really hoped to do an Everglades camping trip this year, but don't see that I can do so this weekend.

I found these marked charts. Do you know where there are others?
http://www.tenthousandislands.paddletour.com/route.html


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 7:14 am 
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Location: South Florida
Hi Terri,

It is about 9 mi to PAV. Is that within your range? It is a bit short notice, but you could have used my wife's AI.

Keith

_________________
2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 7:24 am 
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Location: Lakeland and Anna Maria Island, FL
I'm not much of a sailor, Keith, but thanks for the offer.
Let me know when your next trip will be. I realize that we are quickly running out of time for camping in the Everglades before skeeter season starts.


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 7:35 am 
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Location: South Florida
Will do. I've put you on my email list to notify--how about that. BTY, those charts were very good, however, I think their distance from Chok to Rabbit is off by about a mile.

Keith

_________________
2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon


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PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 6:07 am 
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Location: South Florida
Pavilion Key—New Faces and Good Fishing

This trip was planned with 2 friends in mind. As the date approached, they along with a third regular could not do the trip, so it was beginning to look like it might fizzle. As it happened, we had a very good group. Gil Companiori brought his charming wife, Yadira. Kayakers Erika Fitzsimmons and Alex Oancea joined us. Alex had just finished the Watertribe Everglades Challenge (300 mi—now that is an expedition.) Then, to my surprise, 3 young people from around Orlando came at the last minute. We had 9 people Including Jim Quinlan and myself.

Jim and I were the first to reach Pavilion on Friday afternoon. Gil & Yadira were behind us by 30 minutes—Gil had been fishing. Here is Jim & my campsite Saturday morning. Beautiful and tranquil, yes, but Friday afternoon when we landed there was rain all around. We rushed to get our tents up, but the rain hit just as I was getting my poles up. By the time my tent was up & I had jumped inside, it was pouring. Buckets! Winds were on the order of 25 mph. I heard Jim exclaim, “This is a disaster!” Still, it was not so bad. Both of our tents worked just fine. In the middle of it all, Jim was staking out my tent guy lines. Thanks Jim!
Image


The rest of the group arrived Saturday. First, Erika and Alex paddled in. Then, Denise & Joshua Bowers arrived in their Tandem Island along with friend, Nickolas Bongiovanni. Nick being the sport & athlete he is, paddled this Ocean Kayak out (9+ miles)—ugh!
Image


The young people definitely added a new dimension to this trip. They all had interesting stories. When Denise and Joshua Bowers were not posing for me,
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they were stretching.

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Turns out, Denise and Josh are professional athletes. They also began the Watertribe EC in their new Tandem Island. This year the winds were absolutely brutal. Because of their lack of experience and their new boat, coupled with absolutely the worst winds/weather of any Watertribe Everglades Challenge, they were forced to drop out. I’m sure they will be back next year smarter and stronger.


Gil and Yadira

Image


Much of Saturday was spent fishing, at least by Yadira, Gil, and myself. Yadira loves to fish and caught the biggest sea trout of the trip—a 23” fish. I accidentally cut Gil out of the picture, but I got the important aspects.

Image


Gil also set up the largest tarp I’ve ever seen on Pavilion Key. Yadira, Erika, Gil, and Alex exchange stories. Later, we had our traditional Saturday night fish fry.

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Erika & Jim catching a little tarp shade.

Image


Jim won the creative prize of the trip when he converted a haka into a table. For the story of hakas see http://www.hobiecat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=69&t=37645


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Everyone was up bright and early Sunday morning to begin the trip back to the main land.
Alex and his trusty kayak—not the one he did the Everglades Challenge in. Alex and Erika left early to catch the best tidal current through the passes.

Image


I got the kids to pose with me for a morning picture: Josh, Nick, Denise, & me.

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Shortly after, everyone got serious to return to Chokoloskee.

Image



Image


What was I doing? Drinking coffee and taking pictures. I did catch a nice 20” trout on the return.

Image


This group was great. They all independently made their way back to Chokoloskee. Getting back is no small feat. The area is known as the "Ten Thousand Island" area of the Everglades. Here is an overview Google image.

Image

Sand bars (SB) and oyster bars (OB) can be "found" throughout the area. The boater who finds a sand bar is usually just stuck. If the boater "finds" an oyster bar, he may damage his engine (powerboater) or rip out his transom (AI/TI). More images are posted below. Also, if you want to peruse the area on Google Earth, the Lat/Lon for Pavilion is given on the image.

Keith

_________________
2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon


Last edited by Chekika on Sat Mar 24, 2012 8:01 am, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 12:31 pm 
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Location: Kailua 96734
Looks like a great trip Keith, thanks for writing it up so well. Post a map if you have one.

So refreshing to see the ladies roughing it out there - and outfishing the guys.

Nick and Alex must me hardy dudes, and a little crazy.

Your coverage highlights a whole new side of Hobie ownership that few of us get to experience. Felt like I was there. Well done.

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PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 2:47 pm 
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Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2012 9:12 pm
Posts: 42
Location: South Florida
Image

Cautght five Spotted sea trouts thanks to Keith leading us to the hot spot.
Keith is a very good Angler.

Gil


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PostPosted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 8:46 pm 
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Location: Lakeland and Anna Maria Island, FL
Thanks for your continued trip reporting, Keith. Someday, I hope I can be part of it.


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PostPosted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 4:27 am 
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Joined: Sun Jan 16, 2011 9:18 pm
Posts: 287
Location: Virginia Beach, VA
Keith,

Nice Report. Pavilion did NOT look like that a couple of weeks ago when I passed through during the EC. I think that you have some secret switch that you flip just for the event. Also your sand is not sand. I am still cleaning the tiny shell specs out of my boat and gear. It sticks to everything. Some day I hope to come down just to relax, camp and do some fishing...

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DogsLife
2011 Adventure Island


http://dogslifeadventures.blogspot.com/


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PostPosted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 6:39 am 
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Joined: Tue Jun 19, 2007 6:14 pm
Posts: 3323
Location: South Florida
Terry--you need to either upgrade your Adventure to an Island or, better, trade it in on a new AI. Sailing an AI is EASY. It is for people like me who are not sailors first. You would do just great.

Dogs--anytime you want to come down for a true leisurely week during the camping season (Dec-Mar), we will set a trip up. It will be leisurely. We don't sail at night, we don't slog thru calf-deep muck, and we don't sail/pedal thru opposing tidal currents in the passes. We do take time to fish.

NOHUHU--I'm working on a Google image for the area.

Keith

_________________
2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon


Last edited by Chekika on Sun Mar 25, 2012 8:56 am, edited 2 times in total.

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