For anyone interested in cruising an area with no civilization or man
made structures for many miles, no fuel, no supplys, no cell phone or
internet service, shallow water, dubious charts, no obvious means of
rescue, a serious mosquito problem - but lots of exotic wildlife and
countless miles of navigable wilderness - I've got just the place for
you.

We just returned from a cruise that took us to the Everglades back
country via the Little Shark River in Florida, and it was an awesome
experience. The charts and cruising guides report shoaling to 4 ft of
depth at the inlet but we entered on a rising tide and carried our 5
1/2 ft of draft with no problems. Once inside the water deepens up to
9 feet for several miles but the more interesting routes inland
require finessing a number of shoal areas. Rising tides and a keel
under the props are your friend because chart errors of well over 100
feet are common. Our course track showed us going over dry land in
several locations but we never bumped.

The other big issue is mosquitos. Winter is the only time that visits
are recommended, and this winter is reported to be particularly
favorable because last summer's hurricanes disrupted their breeding
cycle for the near term. We had no problems with bugs.

All that aside, the scenery is magnificent, wildlife abundant, and the
solitude and quiet are not to be believed. We did dinghy exploration
of the waterways further inland covering over 50 miles in the 2 days
we were there. In that entire distance we encountered two other
trawlers and several small flats boats, one of which had become
disabled and needed a tow. We did the best we could with our small
RIB and 15 hp Merc and eventually got him reunited with his buddy in a
Carolina Skiff. The nearest Sea Tow is 50 miles away to the south in
the Florida Keys if you can somehow manage to contact them.

The National Park Service maintains a few temporary camping sites
called Chickee Huts which are built on small decks over the water, but
other than that there are no man made structures in an area of well
over 1,000 square miles. Back country permits are required for
overnight camping in the shelters but not for sleeping aboard your own
boat.

There are two choices for anyone wishing to explore or fish the
Everglades wilderness in a smaller boat. There is a ranger station
and launching ramp at Flamingo, Florida 20 miles to the south
accessible via 40 miles of back roads from the Miamia area, or you can
launch at Everglades City about 60 miles to the north. From either
launch site there are inland routes via the Everglades Wilderness
Waterway which continues for about 100 miles through the back country.
Good charts, GPS, VHF and lots of supplys are essential.

I've posted a few pictures of "point and shoot" quality on
alt.binaries.pictures.sports.ocean