Ring Dike, St. Mark’s NWR: Day 32, Florida CT Paddle 3.16.18

Dear Reader, Today was a gorgeous day of paddling! When I awoke in the night, the marsh was alive with the chattering ruckus of seabirds! I had never heard such a midnight chorus of seabirds before. Who was carrying on and why? Surely it wasn’t a way to stay warm? The morning’s low temperature of 39 was five degrees warmer than it has been recently, and thus felt downright balmy. And when daylight arrived the seas lay flat. Such a glorious site! Blue above and blue below, with just a smudgy pencil line of land in the horizon. We paddled …

Continue Reading

Fog Island, St. Mark’s: Day 31, Florida CT Paddle 3.15.18

Dear Reader, This mid-March morning it was colder at our Florida campsite (near Panacea) than in Seattle or the two Colorado towns where we used to live or the one where our grown son lives. San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, where we live when we’re not paddling or camper camping, seems to have the best temps of them all! This is what I slept in: 2 pairs of socks, underwear, long stretch pants, fleece tank top, paddling rash guard shirt, sweatshirt with hood, fleece hat, two sleeping bag liners (I gave up my pillow) and my summer-weight sleeping bag. Oh, …

Continue Reading