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Friday, November 6 At Key Largo Kampground
Nanci and I had an awesome nature watching paddle today with the under sea viewing as good as it gets.
The wind was out of the north east at 15 MPH, so we opted for the wind protected west side of El Radabob Key.
We left our campground and paddled several miles through Largo sound via the canoe trails at John Pennekamp Coral reef state park . At the north end of the sound, we continued north via ?Figment Creek? which is a no motor boat zone and parallels ?North Sound creek? which is the main channel out to the Atlantic. After about a mile and a half we cut east into the dense mangroves of El Radabob via narrow ?Shark Creek? that is a half mile long short cut out to the Atlantic if you are brave enough to take it and can find it. The first portion of the creek is so narrow, and canopy enshrouded that it is impossible to use a paddle, and you simply pull yourself using the mangrove roots. There are constant ninety degree turns and with my eighteen foot long kayak, I have to inch forward and backward to make the swing
It is all worth it though since the last several hundred yards is as good as being out at the reef.
It widens out to about ten feet and the bottom is a mixture of white sand, sea grasses, and old dead coral with small caves and holes to hide the various brightly colored fish. The depth varies from a few feet to five or six feet and the water is crystal clear.
We found this area seven or eight years ago, using it as a short cut on a circular route from north Largo Sound to south Largo sound, but never realized how alive the bottom was until a few years ago and then last year we tied our kayaks at the mouth where it meets the Atlantic and snorkeled it, which we will do again this year on our next trip to it.
On todays trip we hovered over schools of Parrotfish, (Stop Lights and Midnights), French Angle Fish, Sargent Majors , jacks and of course Mangrove snappers. In several places we had spiny lobsters peering up at us as we peered down at them. On the way we passed a Nurse Shark that never even paid attention to us we were drifting so slow, and then on the way back we passed two more that were laying side by side on the bottom, the largest being four or five feet long
Going and coming back in the sound we saw two Lemon sharks.
On our return I topped off the day by tipping over. Notice I said: ?I tipped over? the kayak stayed up right.
We were in the Flats of the sound, and after having been in the kayaks for about seven miles decided it would be nice to get out and stretch our legs. I headed for the shallows and when we were in about two feet of water on top of what looked like a nice sand bottom put one leg over the side and onto the bottom. I made the mistake of putting all my weight on it in order to bring the other leg up and out, and it just sunk in mud and kept sinking. I jerked my in boat leg out, and away I went plopping in the water. After a little bit of berating myself, I actually enjoyed wallowing in the 83 degree bath tub like water. I just had to watch out that I didn?t sit on or step on any of the thousands of beautiful upside down jelly fish, (Cassiopia) that covered the bottom
Over all, the bottom viewing was as good as it gets and was well worth the ten mile round trip to our hidden waterway gem.
The next time to it we?ll have our our snorkles , fins and face masks and swim with our underwater friends
Miles paddled for the day = 10.8
Nanci and I had an awesome nature watching paddle today with the under sea viewing as good as it gets.
The wind was out of the north east at 15 MPH, so we opted for the wind protected west side of El Radabob Key.
We left our campground and paddled several miles through Largo sound via the canoe trails at John Pennekamp Coral reef state park . At the north end of the sound, we continued north via ?Figment Creek? which is a no motor boat zone and parallels ?North Sound creek? which is the main channel out to the Atlantic. After about a mile and a half we cut east into the dense mangroves of El Radabob via narrow ?Shark Creek? that is a half mile long short cut out to the Atlantic if you are brave enough to take it and can find it. The first portion of the creek is so narrow, and canopy enshrouded that it is impossible to use a paddle, and you simply pull yourself using the mangrove roots. There are constant ninety degree turns and with my eighteen foot long kayak, I have to inch forward and backward to make the swing
It is all worth it though since the last several hundred yards is as good as being out at the reef.
It widens out to about ten feet and the bottom is a mixture of white sand, sea grasses, and old dead coral with small caves and holes to hide the various brightly colored fish. The depth varies from a few feet to five or six feet and the water is crystal clear.
We found this area seven or eight years ago, using it as a short cut on a circular route from north Largo Sound to south Largo sound, but never realized how alive the bottom was until a few years ago and then last year we tied our kayaks at the mouth where it meets the Atlantic and snorkeled it, which we will do again this year on our next trip to it.
On todays trip we hovered over schools of Parrotfish, (Stop Lights and Midnights), French Angle Fish, Sargent Majors , jacks and of course Mangrove snappers. In several places we had spiny lobsters peering up at us as we peered down at them. On the way we passed a Nurse Shark that never even paid attention to us we were drifting so slow, and then on the way back we passed two more that were laying side by side on the bottom, the largest being four or five feet long
Going and coming back in the sound we saw two Lemon sharks.
On our return I topped off the day by tipping over. Notice I said: ?I tipped over? the kayak stayed up right.
We were in the Flats of the sound, and after having been in the kayaks for about seven miles decided it would be nice to get out and stretch our legs. I headed for the shallows and when we were in about two feet of water on top of what looked like a nice sand bottom put one leg over the side and onto the bottom. I made the mistake of putting all my weight on it in order to bring the other leg up and out, and it just sunk in mud and kept sinking. I jerked my in boat leg out, and away I went plopping in the water. After a little bit of berating myself, I actually enjoyed wallowing in the 83 degree bath tub like water. I just had to watch out that I didn?t sit on or step on any of the thousands of beautiful upside down jelly fish, (Cassiopia) that covered the bottom
Over all, the bottom viewing was as good as it gets and was well worth the ten mile round trip to our hidden waterway gem.
The next time to it we?ll have our our snorkles , fins and face masks and swim with our underwater friends
Miles paddled for the day = 10.8
