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PostPosted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 12:04 pm 
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Location: St. Charles, IL
That's what I like to hear!

Dan

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PostPosted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 12:35 pm 
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Location: South Florida
Tiger Key, a Paddle-In, Fishing—an Everglades trip

Quote:
I put five dollars, a jackknife, fishing reel, and associated paraphernalia into a box and secreted it in my desk drawer. If disaster struck, I would be ready. If anyone survived, it would be me.

Steven Callahan, “Adrift”

It is about 8 mi from Everglades City Ranger station to Tiger Key. The route is straight-forward since it is clearly marked to Indian Key. Then, make the turn to the northwest to sail up Gaskin Bay, finally, turn left into a cut. Once through the cut, you can see Tiger Key beach to the west. This is a “beginner” trip. Of course, if the wind is ripping, or you are sailing against the incoming tide with a strong off-shore wind coming through Indian Key Pass, it can be tougher, a lot tougher. And, if you have never done this sort of thing before, it is still pretty easy to get lost if you don’t pay attention to your charts and compass (modern day people put a route on their GPS and simply follow it—others hate that simple-minded approach, and they don’t trust the electronics anyway.) Here is my track as I and 3 other Hobie Adventure Island sailors did the trek. We also had a kayaker (Bob Manz) with us. The winds were light, and we had to tack into Gaskin Bay, so the kayaker got to Tiger Key first. That used to bother me, but today I accept it as luck-of-the-draw, or should I say the weather. The AI pilots were Bill Waller (Polecat), Bob Quirk (Quirkster), and Lou Greenwell. Four AIs in the Everglades National Park—that has to be a fleet record.
Google Earth image of my track to Tiger Key spit.
Image

Do you know what a “spit” is? Here in Florida, it is a long, narrow sand bar—an extension of an island, and it can be quite large. It often has the shape of the trajectory of one’s spit. In the everglades, a spit frequently can be found at the northern end of an island. Indian Key has a pronounced spit as does Pavilion Key. Sometimes the “spit” curves around so much the area becomes like a pancake, making a great camping site. That is the case at Tiger and New Turkey Key 20 miles southeast.
Here is the Pavilion Key spit from eye level:
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We often camp on these spits, because they have a breeze reducing bug problems.

Chokoloskee Bay after our launch from Everglades City
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Lou in Indian Key Pass
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Quirkster took this picture when we were in the wide part of the Pass.
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The boys have made the turn into Gaskin Bay—we had to beat into the wind as we made our way up the bay.
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Evening on Tiger Key spit—it is near high tide. The tide has reached the back of my AI on the right.
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The tide is receding. Not much free board on these spits at high tide. With really high tides in September-October, a spit can be under water. High tides and high winds can make for interesting times on a spit.
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Guess which one is the kayaker. Bob Manz on left. AI drivers are Quirkster, Lou, and Polecat.
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Quirkster took this picture—I’m on the left. Note the nice fire pit which Lou dug. Lou is very environmentally conscious. When we leave this campsite, there will be no evidence of a campfire thanks to Lou.
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Sunrise
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Today is a fishing day. This is my track starting and stopping at our spit. My track covers about 3.5 miles. I fished shorelines and deeper water. I had my sail up—the other 3 (Quirkster, Polecat, and Lou) fished in Adventure mode. My big screw-up of the day came when I caught the mainsheet under one untethered rod/reel (I had 2) and dumped it in the water. Dumb! The kinks in my track are because I was not trolling. Rather, I would go some distance either by sail or fins, stop, cast for fish, then move to another. I’ve put some red dots indicating a couple of my stops—but there were many, many stops.
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Quirkster takes a picture of me as I talk about the one that got away. We have a visitor, Miles, seated on the right listening politely.
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Quirkster displays the ONLY fish we caught—he is too embarrassed to bring it in close to shore—I used my zoom. It is a Spanish mackerel—we usually don’t bother with these but in a pinch….
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The 3rd day out is going to be a big day. The Bob’s are packing up and leaving, but first we will travel to Indian Key for the “Capt. Wright’s Paddle-In.” Capt. Wright runs a successful kayak fishing guide service. Probably about 100 people will show up—but, we will be the only Hobie AIs. This is my route to and from.
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We deliberately arrive in formation. Cindy arrived ahead of us and took this picture of our approach. You don’t know Cindy. The Bob’s will leave us, but we picked up Cindy Augustyn.
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Polecat (in black), Lou (in red), and Quirkster (in grey) check out the buffet set up by Capt. Wright and his crew. Each of us donated $10—it went to a school in the Chokoloskee area for student environmental studies
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These paddlers are fishermen and women. Most are checking out each other’s gear.
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Back at camp. Meet Cindy. She is a kayaker and a strong paddler.
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On the last day, after we were all packed and waiting for favorable tides, Cindy, Lou, and I did a hike to the front of Tiger Key. It was beautiful.

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Cindy can always improve a picture.
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Cindy expresses her disapproval of some clueless campers. These are the ashes they left. It is a pet peeve of mine. How can campers be so disrespectful of the beaches? This is a wilderness area. You don’t leave trash on the beaches. Many people have a fetish about campfires—to them, campfires are like Motherhood and apple pie. If you MUST have a campfire, dig a deep pit near the previous night’s high tide line, have your fire, burn all the wood to ashes, and fill the pit in before you leave. Otherwise, DON’T HAVE A CAMPFIRE. It is pretty simple. DO NOT LEAVE ASHES AND PARTIALLY BURNED FIREWOOD ON THE BEACH—THAT IS A NO-BRAINER. Be good stewards of our beaches.
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More of Tiger Key
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A couple of Ibis (Chokoloskee Chicken, Curlew) walking with us. The white one is an adult. The brown one is a teenager—it will turn white when it reaches adulthood.
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Lou got this great picture of an osprey at its nest.
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Sunset on Tiger Key by Quirkster
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Concluding comments:

Fun trip. Great people, good spirits, good weather, and a beautiful setting made for a quality, relaxing trip. No problems with boats or gear. Fishing could have been better, but recent, unusually cold weather has put a dent in the fishing. Frankly, our group seldom has good fishing at Tiger—next trip we will be heading 35 mi southeast, where the big fish hang out—stay tuned.

Lou was using my wife’s AI. It was his first time sailing an AI. At times he suffered from lack of knowledge. For example, as we returned from Indian Key and passed through a shallow area by the Stop Keys, I’m calling to him to uncleat the rudder line. I could see him looking around, but he doesn’t understand. Of course, we had not told him to cleat the rudder line. Things like that kept him on his toes most of the trip—but he loved it.

Keith

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PostPosted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 7:49 pm 
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Joined: Thu Aug 16, 2007 2:25 pm
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Location: Central Coast NSW Australia
Great report once again Keith! 8)
I can see how easy it would be to get lost in that maze of channels.
Why is it that Red AI's are always outnumbered? :wink:


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PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 12:51 am 
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Joined: Fri Jan 05, 2007 9:21 pm
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Location: Central Florida
Great pictures, again!

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PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 7:31 pm 
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Location: South Florida
Thanks, fellows. It was one of our more relaxing, social trips.

Stringy, that red boat is my wife's. Don't you think red is a bit effeminate? These were all men.

Keith

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"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

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PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 8:52 pm 
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Joined: Tue Dec 01, 2009 4:30 am
Posts: 128
Location: AUS: Sydney midweek - Murrumbateman weekends
Great story, great pics - makes me think seriously about visiting the Everglades in an AI.


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 7:18 am 
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Location: South Florida
Okz00k, Kayaking Bob, and Aloha Dan (& others) -- you are invited to visit us here in S FL, just make it during the "winter months" of Dec, Jan, Feb,...maybe Mar. This year Mar is going to be a "cool" month. I have lots of gear, but only one spare AI.

Our next trip is going to be Mar 12th. We are actually hoping it will warm a bit, since that will make for better fishing. It has to be better than our Tiger Key trip--and it will.

Keith

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"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

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PostPosted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 9:19 am 
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Location: Central Florida
You mean we'll have to go in a RED AI? :shock: :)


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 10:29 am 
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Location: South Florida
You could have your choice of matching paddle gear...

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"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

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PostPosted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 10:39 am 
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Location: Central Florida
Thanks for the offer... maybe someday... brrrrr

And when it gets too hot for you there, come visit us out in Hawaii. We can practice not diving the hulls in 6' wind waves. :)

Your trips do look wonderful! (but the Aussie's have you on camping deserts)

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PostPosted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 11:16 am 
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Location: South Florida
Those blokes have sure thrown down the gauntlet, haven't they. We will see. With our coolers there is little limitation. I did do a couple stir fries that last trip--included sauteed shrimp in one. One of the delicacies that we occasionally have when we sail out of Chokoloskee/Everglades City is stone crab claws--no prep, just set up on the beach and enjoy. The area is one perhaps the stone crab capital of the world. Never had stone crab? Don't know what it is? Go to "Joe's Stone Crab" on South Beach. Here is the link: http://www.joesstonecrab.com/

Or you could just come w/ us--we will bring the key lime pie, too.

Keith

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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 04, 2010 5:34 am 
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Location: Lake Macquarie NSW AUSTRALIA
Thanks again Keith. Sounds, and certainly looks like another great trip. Great report mate.

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PostPosted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 2:23 pm 
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Location: Gippsland Lakes Victoria Australia
Keith - great photos and trip report. 8) :wink:
I did say to slaughter that he could have included ice cream with the Pavlova :lol:

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PostPosted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 9:40 am 
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Location: Lafayette, La, USA
Just a quick note to say how enjoyable and informative this thread is. There is tons of good info to pull from too. Nice job to all involved ! Certainly makes me want to expedition my new Revo & sail kit.

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PostPosted: Tue May 18, 2010 12:18 pm 
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Location: Ft Lauderdale FL
I used to go on trips with my REVO it's OK for camping but more limited in payload than the AI. So water is a limiting factor and there is room for few luxuries such as coolers nice chairs and tables. But pack lite and use backpacking meals and a 4 - 5 day trip is totally doable.


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