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Will you be dropping by RC III this year, if so, I'll see you there.
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Earlier this year (last year) I was considering attending RC III, BUT as I mentioned in my earlier post, I don't usually make plans very far into the future, I just kinda meander along and if I happen to be near a gathering or it's happening within just a few days of where I happen to be, then I would probably atttend. You can never tell...I might be there.
Charles... I've been in Everglades National Park, several years ago though. I kayaked into the bay and around those "islands". Also, I went to mud lake. I now know why it's called mud lake. Being from Michigan I don't have a need to pay attention to tides when I'm kayaking the big lakes. The same is NOT true down there in Florida. Anyway, I paddled to the far side of Mud Lake and tooled around for a little while. When I decided to return, I got about a quarter of the way back across the lake when, all of a sudden it seemed, I was hitting the bottom very frequently (I can usually move along pretty well in as little as 6 to 8 inches of water.) and before I knew it I was caught on the mud flats. I WAS going to try and drag the boat but I soon discovered that there was no way I'd be able to let go of the boat and not be up to my waist in mud. I resorted to straddeling the boat and scooted along that way. I worked at moving the boat in that manner for about an hour and then I spotted a channel of water that was 6 to 8 feet in width and 3 or 4 feet deep. Took me another 20 or 30 minutes to get to that channel...it was a VERY welcome bit of water for me. I launched into that channel and beat a hasty retreat from that area. As luck would have it the channel lead almost directly back to where I needed to go to get back to my original launch area. Later I talked with one of the park rangers about the lake and he said that numerous boaters get trapped out there when the tide goes out, and most of them have to just sit there till the tide comes back in. Obviously, when I'm away from the Great Lakes and kayaking along any of the coasts, I pay strick attention o tides and tide tables.
Russell