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

On Thu, 23 Feb 2006 00:23:56 -0500, Wayne.B wrote:

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.

I'm envious. For years, I've wanted to canoe that section of the
Everglades. I've blamed it on not having the time, but I think there was
more than a little fear involved. ;-) The bird life this time of year
must have been incredible.

"thunder" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 23 Feb 2006 00:23:56 -0500, Wayne.B wrote:

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.

I'm envious. For years, I've wanted to canoe that section of the
Everglades. I've blamed it on not having the time, but I think there was
more than a little fear involved. ;-) The bird life this time of year
must have been incredible.

I was nervous enough just driving across Alligator Alley in my truck, hoping
it didn't break down.

RCE

On Thu, 23 Feb 2006 06:28:23 -0500, thunder
wrote:
'm envious. For years, I've wanted to canoe that section of the
Everglades. I've blamed it on not having the time, but I think there was
more than a little fear involved. ;-) The bird life this time of year
must have been incredible.

The park service recommends 7 to 10 days for canoeing the entire
wilderness waterway which is probably about right, but you could do
some short stretches out of either Everglades City or Flamingo on a
long weekend. If you have access to a cruising boat, enter at Little
Shark River the way we did and use the big boat for a base of
operations. The tidal currents in and around the Shark River area are
fairly strong in some places however, and paddling against them would
be difficult. The park service also runs a tour boat out of Flamingo
which goes north about 6 miles into White Water Bay before turning
around.

Getting lost is probably the biggest risk since one mangrove estuary
begins to look just like all the others after a while. I was carrying
a pocket GPS in the dinghy which leaves an electronic trail of
breadcrumbs behind, but even with that, managed to take a few wrong
turns. Next time I will go to the trouble of setting up a lot of
waypoints in advance for critical junctures.

I'd estimate that we saw something like 30 or 40 different species of
birds in a 2 day period including several types of Ibis, 3 or 4
different types of egret and herons, white pelicans, vultures, hawks,
osprey, the occasional eagle, etc. Of course, most of these can be
seen with much less difficulty further north in the Cape Coral/Ft
Myers/Sanibel Island area.

Wayne:
I can attest to the serious mosquito problem. We anchored in Little
Shark River when I moved my boat from Mobile Bay to the Chesapeake in
1989. The mosquitos were ferocious. At the time I had been reading
about "skin-so-soft" being a mosquito repellant. What a farce! Even
full-strength Deet was questionable as a deterent.
The area is beautiful. Inspired by your report and now being retired
in the Panhandle of Florida, perhaps I'll visit the area again - in the
winter.
Dave

On Thu, 23 Feb 2006 08:27:15 -0500, Wayne.B wrote:


The park service recommends 7 to 10 days for canoeing the entire
wilderness waterway which is probably about right, but you could do some
short stretches out of either Everglades City or Flamingo on a long
weekend. If you have access to a cruising boat, enter at Little Shark
River the way we did and use the big boat for a base of operations. The
tidal currents in and around the Shark River area are fairly strong in
some places however, and paddling against them would be difficult. The
park service also runs a tour boat out of Flamingo which goes north about
6 miles into White Water Bay before turning around.

I used to drive into Flamingo quite often, for fishing or birding and, as
I said, always wanted to canoe the area. But the thought of getting lost
out there with all the critters and insects cooled any attempt. I've been
to Flamingo in the bug season, and can not fathom how people lived there
before screens and AC. Tougher stock, I guess.

"RCE" wrote in message
...

"thunder" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 23 Feb 2006 00:23:56 -0500, Wayne.B wrote:

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.

I'm envious. For years, I've wanted to canoe that section of the
Everglades. I've blamed it on not having the time, but I think there was
more than a little fear involved. ;-) The bird life this time of year
must have been incredible.

I was nervous enough just driving across Alligator Alley in my truck,
hoping it didn't break down.

RCE



I can understand that with a ford 6l diesel.

You are bringing back memories of this past spring. We took refuge in the
Little Shark River when we got overtired and the winds kicked up at
night...entered around 7am...what a transformation from the dark sea. As we
entered we saw the sun as a golden ball rising over the fabulous rich green
of the everglades...the water reflecting the gold of the sun. The picture
of peace.

After anchoring, we heard a noise that had me pulling looking around the
boat checking wiring. It sounded like wiring sizzling...since we'd had
electrical problems durring the night (raw cooling water spraying on the
back of the electrical panel...I love duct tape in a pinch) I was concerned
that we were having further problems and was trying to avoid fire. Suddenly
I realized it was something like crill kindly eating the growth from the
bottom of my hull (thank-you very much). With that. we collapsed in bed.

We awoke to a fabulous sunny day...yes mosquitos but some heavy duty spray
made it tolerable. None of us wanted to leave and continue on to
civilization...we spent that day resting...fitting that it was a Sunday
(day-of-rest). We met a fishing guide that gave us a bit of information on
the wildlife. We saw HUGE turtles! Catfish were very plentiful and
provided lots of entertainment.

Wayne is right, I anchored in a strong tidal current and was thankful that I
had set an oposite anchor for the change in current...woke up securely
hanging on the second anchor. We did read about some shoaling at the
entrance, but if I recall, it was supposed to be on the port side entering
the river. We carefully kept a little to the right of centre and carried
lots of water under our keel (5' draft).

I think of this place often...we well go back when we once again sail back
south to the Keys on our way to the Bahamas.

Glenn.
s/v Seawing
www.seawing.net


"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
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