Florida Circumnavigational Paddling Trail Archives

Panama City Layover: Day 15 Florida CT Paddle 2.27.18

February 27th, 2018susanafield3 Comments

Dear Reader, Today was a lazy day for Miss Pink and Baby Blue. They just lounged around on the dock all day while John and I laid all of our gear out to dry after yesterday morning’s deluge, filled water bags, charged all of our electronics, made a grocery list and tossed old ziplocks and food that was starting to go off. John and I did snatch moments of just lazing around and this boat was just the place to do it in. It was super comfortable and clean and well stocked and cool and bug free. I could live …

Panama City in Style: Day 14 Florida CT Paddle 2.26.18

February 26th, 2018susanafield1 Comment

Dear Reader, Today I woke up at 1:30 am with the rain on our tent fly and immediately took to the internet in search of, what seemed like for the tenth time, lodging in Panama City, tonight’s stop. The CT trail guide would have us camping at St. Andrews State Park but said State Park was booked – and booked for the next two months solid. And I haven’t been able to find a hotel with access from the Bay. Nor have we heard from the local area Trail Angel who often helps paddlers through this section, so John and …

Paddling The Ditch: Day 13 Florida CT Paddle 2.25.18

February 25th, 2018susanafield5 Comments

Dear Reader, This morning we woke to still air and heat. We had sweat running down our faces as we loaded up the boats and began our first day of paddling in the Intracoastal Waterway, aka The Ditch. Gone were the houses. Gone were the docks. And save for one kingfisher, one pelican fishing by the culverts, one cormorant and one hawk, gone too were the birds. For 12.5 long nautical miles we paddled a line of dark water bordered by sand embarkments topped by soil and pine trees. Some pine trees were barely holding on, like this one with …

Point Washington, Day 12 Florida CT Paddle 2.24.18

February 24th, 2018susanafield1 Comment

Dear Reader, Today was an incredible day. Although it started bad. (But maybe the fact that it didn’t stay bad contributed to being incredible.) The bad was the bugs. The bugs were SO bad that we resorted to peeing in a coffee cup inside the tent so we didn’t have to go out. The bugs were SO bad that we poured our morning coffee into our empty water bottles so we could drink our coffee while out on the water in our boats. SO bad that our breakfast was a shared granola bar while out on the water in our …

Live Oak Point: Day 11 Florida CT Paddle 2.23.18

February 23rd, 2018susanafield4 Comments

Dear Reader, Our stealth camp last night below the Destin bridge was a success in that we weren’t bothered. The golf course groundskeeper even discretely waved at me as he drove by on his lawnmower. But I paid for it today in my lack of sleep. That’s a busy bridge! All night long. And our tent was pitched on a slope. Add to that a dash of nervousness that we might be bothered, and I might’ve only slept a few hours. We got an early start though, breaking camp at first daylight and eating leftovers for breakfast, and then paddled …

Destin Stealth Camp: Day 10 Florida CT Paddle 2.22.18

February 22nd, 2018susanafield3 Comments

Dear Reader, This morning at our hotel in Destin Harbor we were visited by Tim the Baker who was passing through the area after having just completed his final leg of the Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail. Woohoo! It was an honor to meet him, and it was fabulous to pick his brain for almost two hours about the trail. He looked healthy and strong and was beaming as he shared his paddle stories and campsite tips. John and I then left our hotel, in no real hurry since we only had 6.5 nm to go to our first stealth …

The Inn at Destin Harbor: Day 9 Florida CT Paddle 2.21.18

February 21st, 2018susanafield2 Comments

Dear Reader, We got back on the water today. Miss Pink had bird poo on her this morning and she looked not too happy. The birds were getting all too familiar with her. She was ready to move on. And John and I and Baby Blue were too, despite the 13 mph winds that would be in our face. But we made an important course change. The Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail route called for us paddling about 15 nm northeast to Fred Gannon State Park, which is where we’d booked our campsite for a night or two ago, before …

Layover Day #2, Wind at Spoil Island: Day 8 CT Paddle 2.20.18

February 20th, 2018susanafield1 Comment

Dear Reader, If you are expecting wild tales of John and me paddling in high winds today, I will have to disappoint you. One thing about being retired is that we don’t really have to be anywhere other than where we are. So if it’s windy, we don’t necessarily have to force ourselves out on the water and beating our bodies up in the process. Fortunately, we enjoy camping as much as we like sea kayaking, so a day on the beach with a good book or two or three is a good day indeed. Sometime we might not be …

Layover Day, Spoil Island: Day 7 CT Paddle 2.19.18

February 19th, 2018susanafield3 Comments

Dear Reader, Yesterday we began Segment 2 of The Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail when left the Navarre Waterfront Best Western, just west of the too-pricey Navarre Campground shown on this map, far left. Arriving at the Spoil Island primitive camp exhausted, we decided to stick to our plan of making today a layover rest day. The day broke windy and overcast and remained so most of the day, which was great for this layover day. The wind meant no bugs. The overcast meant no desperate searching for shade. And both meant none of the beach-loving crowds that were so …

Spoil Island near Fort Walton: Day 6 CT Paddle 2.18.18

February 18th, 2018susanafield2 Comments

Dear Reader, Tonight I’m exhausted and cranky. Maybe it’s because we’ve paddled 37 nautical miles in the last three days, since our layover day. Maybe it’s because today’s 11.4 nm paddle was in a fully loaded boat, after shopping at Winn-Dixie this morning, and it was mostly against the current. It could be that I stayed up late last night, fielding birthday phone calls and FB messages, and a Whatsapp business meeting with our Nicaraguan property manager. Hotels and electricity. You’d think last night’s comfort would’ve been relaxing. We awoke to an absolutely flat sea and paddled back across Santa …