Seventy miles, seven days along the SW Florida coast

Keith Wellman, Pinecrest, Florida

On Feb 25, 2008, Bill Waller and I started our 70-mile, 7-day Hobie Adventure Island (AI) trip along the Gulf Coast of Florida’s Everglades National Park. Weather permitting, we would start from Flamingo at the south end of the EvergladesNational Park, sail 20 miles each on Days one and two to reach Highland Beach. We would stay two days at Highland fishing and relaxing, then sail another 20 miles to Pavilion Key. After a day at Pavilion, we would sail the last 10 miles into Chokoloskee. That was the plan.

This Google image shows the Gulf coastline of Everglades National Park.

We got a late start from Flamingo, had light headwinds, and made only four miles. We camped at East Clubhouse Beach. I should not have been surprised. This was a typical starting day for my AI trips. The good news: we were underway. More bad news was that I had started the trip dehydrated—yeah, I had not been drinking enough the previous couple days. I had thigh cramps every hour on the hour from 6:30 pm to 1:30 am. I understood the problem and got re-hydrated the next 24 hrs. No more cramps the rest of the trip.

Sunrise on East Clubhouse.