Getting My Teeth Cleaned: Nica Nugget #1

susanafield1 Comment

I had my teeth cleaned by the actual dentist, Dr. Cora, who’s also an orthodontist (vs by a dental hygienist which is more typical in the U.S.). At noon, which is also a perfect time for a nap for her husband/receptionist/driver (he drives her from the capital city of Managua to see clients in San Juan del Sur two days a week). The air conditioning is on (and only available here, at the bank, at my lawyer’s office and in the bank’s ATM booth). The sole reading material is a book of classic Colorado outdoor scenes (including Echo Park, Dinosaur …

Continue Reading

FCT Phase 1 Finale Homosassa: Day 53, Florida CT Paddle 4.07.18

susanafield6 Comments

Dear Reader, Yesterday was Miss Pink’s and Baby Blue’s last day on the water during our Phase 1 paddle of the Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail. We stripped them both down of all deck bags, under deck bags, spare paddles, contact tow lines and map/chart cases. Then, using two plastic chairs in place of saw horses, we hosed them down and sponged them out. And gave them a good looking over. They’ve held up incredibly well, despite our oyster bar thwacks. We let the hatches dry, lubricated the hatch covers, and then got back in them for their final paddle …

Continue Reading

Homosassa : Day 53, Florida CT Paddle 4.06.18

susanafield9 Comments

Dear Reader, I am, uncharacteristically, writing to you in the morning. At least the opening part of today’s post anyway. John and I are still at our campsite, and I am still in our tent, while we wait for the current to switch from ebb to flood and hopefully help us during our paddle. We only have about 7 – 8 nms of paddling today, which should take us maybe 3 hours or less of paddling, depending on the current and successful navigating. We’re meeting my sister, Tania, at her friend’s house at MacRae’s Fish Camp in Homosassa this afternoon, …

Continue Reading

Salt River Narrows: Day 52, Florida CT Paddle 4.05.18

susanafield2 Comments

Dear Reader, John and I had a special treat today. Our new friend, Maureen, was kayak guiding a high school group for The Crystal River Kayak Company this morning, and while there she arranged for Buffy, John and I to have use of three of their sit-on-top kayaks for a quick jaunt into the Three Sisters Springs area of King’s Bay. In the winter, hundreds of manatees congregate in the warm springs, and the springs are then closed to kayaks but open to swimmers. As of April 1, though, most of the manatees have dispersed into the warmer Gulf, allowing …

Continue Reading

Crystal River: Day 51, Florida CT Paddle 4.04.18

susanafield0 Comments

Dear Reader, Do you want to know what is one of my favorite things about doing this trail? It’s the unknowing. The surprises. The whole day and night spreading out in front of us like a blank slate, with just a map for general directions. And today was an exceptional day for ending in a way I would not have predicted. We woke up to a beautiful, albeit humid and buggy, day and an easy launch atop a broken slab of limestone rock ( our second only sighting of rock on this trip – our first being on Fog Island, …

Continue Reading

Withlacoochee Bay Primitive Camp: Day 50, Florida CT Paddle 4.03.18

susanafield3 Comments

Dear Reader, This morning began in a mud bog full of bugs. The tides have been high and the land is low. And when the wind disappears n the evening, and the sun sets or rises, the bugs come out to say hello. For the first time on this trip, we had to take our shoes off in order to get through the mud and into our boats. We paddled a gorgeous 12.38 nm today, through mangrove islands and islets, past oyster bars and reefs. And even at one point, dead ending, and backtracking the way we’d gone in. Egrets …

Continue Reading

Waccasassa River Camp: Day 49, Florida CT Paddle 4.02.18

susanafield6 Comments

Dear Reader, Despite our love affair with Cedar Key and our staying up late (for us) to watch Return of the Jedi on tv, we got up at 6 a.m. and got going. It’s been so rare to have calm, beautiful, paddling days from first thing in the morning that we couldn’t pass it up. We were even half tempted to do the 17.5 nm open-water crossing towards the blinking lights of the distant power plant, saving ourselves a day’s paddle. But chose to be conservative because of our age. No need to take unnecessary risks. Paddling the shoreline is …

Continue Reading

Cedar Key: Day 48, Florida CT Paddle 4.01.18

susanafield0 Comments

Dear Reader, I’m in heaven! Which is very appropriate for Easter, and fortunately it’s No April Fools joke. The day opened with fog and then progressed from a sky colored white to one colored blue, with various permutations along the way. It was a perfect day of paddling through a navigationally-challenging but fun maze of exposed oyster bars and mangrove islands filled with bird life: Oystercatchers, egrets, great blue herons, pelicans, cormorants and osprey, as well as flocks of sandpipers and shorebirds which we couldn’t approach close enough to identify. The tide was low, exposing both crab traps and scattered …

Continue Reading

Deer Island: Day 47, Florida CT Paddle 3.31.18

susanafield0 Comments

Dear Reader, This morning we got a late start leaving Suwannee, the town of canals and where everyone has waterfront property. The ceiling fan in our motel room had done a crappy job of circulating air around our rain-drenched paddling clothes which we’d draped over the three chairs – one to go with each bed in the otherwise spare room. It’s uninspiring to crawl out from under warm covers when wet clothes await you and grey clouds are outside. Besides, the tide was too low. So we dawdled until the sun peeked through the clouds around noon. We’d left our …

Continue Reading

Suwannee: Day 46, Florida CT Paddle 3.30.18

susanafield9 Comments

Dear Reader, I’m writing to you while laying on a motel-room bed in Suwannee, Florida, trying to focus while the TV drones in the background with the nation’s weather forecast. It’s dry in here. And the hot shower was sweet. Now, getting here was a different story. We packed up this morning while the winds were still kicked up and blowing foam upon the grasses. Rain clouds were moving in and we wanted our gear to be packed and stowed while dry. We succeeded with that but started to get cold while we waited for the winds to slow, so …

Continue Reading