Urban Kayak

The day after Turkey Day - Susan and I loaded the Kayaks on the Jeep and decided to explore MacArthur State Park on Singer Island. Singer Island is a barrier island dotted with ocean front, high rise condos. The intercoastal waterway cuts behind the island and borders the State Park. We stopped by our favorite deli, Seaside Deli, and loaded up with a big "Hoagie" and sodas. We drove the scenic drive up A1A that ribbons along the coast and found the entrance to the Park. The Rangers discouraged us from launching, because it was low tide. There was alot of wisdom in that warning. We saw some other kayakers sliding their boats in off of the road - we figured we would too. They got off unscathed, we got caught by the Game Warden who informed us that this was not a boat ramp. We were already in the water about 15 yards out - either he get his feet wet, shoot us, or let us go - he let us go. As we paddled out with all of the exotic birds of the Florida wetlands, the tide went out and left us on a large mud flat. After dragging the boats about 30 yards, we found deep water.

We paddled out to a little sandy spit - meanwhile pelicans were swooping down to gobble the stranded fish left by the low water, and fish were jumping clear out of the water escaping prey from below. Susan and I ate lunch on the sandy spit - she expressed some concern about the menacing clouds. We decided to return to the Jeep - but take a different route. We paddled along the Mangroves, and navigated a deep channel back to the road. We got the kayaks on the racks and headed south to avoid the rain. We were pooped - kayaking-dragging-ankle deep mud-kayaking-dragging-kayaking. good adventure - next time we'll check the tide chart!