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    Lost in the Everglades and Other Florida Kayaking Adventures
    Lost in the Everglades and Other Florida Kayaking Adventures
    Lost in the Everglades and Other Florida Kayaking Adventures
    Ebook102 pages58 minutes

    Lost in the Everglades and Other Florida Kayaking Adventures

    By Ken Weyand

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Ken Weyand discovered kayaking late in life, but it added a world of fun (and occasional excitement) to his retirement. For the past several years he has spent winters in Florida, where opportunities for flat-water paddling on rivers, creeks and estuaries are plentiful.

    Each year he explores new paddling areas, occasionally with fellow kayakers, but usually alone. A newspaperman by trade, he has kept a journal of most of his kayaking adventures – including one lowlight that turned out to be on the scary side.

    The book contains plenty of highlights as well, including sharing Florida waterways with gators, manatees, and more dangerous creatures – humans in powerboats. It also includes stories of Old Florida, paddling tips, and many photos that show the beauty of the state as seen just above the waterline.

    If you’re a paddler or would like to be, you’ll enjoy this informative and entertaining look at Florida kayaking.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKen Weyand
    Release dateJan 6, 2016
    ISBN9781310308451
    Lost in the Everglades and Other Florida Kayaking Adventures
    Author

    Ken Weyand

    After receiving a degree in Journalism at the University of Missouri, Kenneth Charles Weyand worked ten years for the "Kansas City Star", becoming Advertising Copy Chief. Later he published several publications, including "Discover North", a monthly history and travel newspaper. After expanding the distribution from a single county to more than nine states, Weyand sold the publication in 2001, but continued to write for the paper, renamed "Discover Vintage America". For the past ten years, he has written a monthly history and travel column, “Traveling with Ken.”"Fiddling with Friends in the 1920s: A Chautauqua Trouper’s Story" is Ken's first book, capturing the life of his mother who, as a young woman, left her small town behind for a great adventure and a chance to get a first-hand look at a changing America in the early 20th Century. A much larger book, "An Unlikely Love Story," tells the unique story of two people from vastly different backgrounds who overcame great odds to begin a new life in the country during the depths of the Depression.The author's own remembrances of a country life are recounted in "Dirt Road Diary: Recalling a Country Childhood." It picks up where “An Unlikely Love Story” leaves off, and includes a lot of country-style memories. Both books will be published in the near future.Another book, "Early-Day Flying in Kansas City", based on a similar history published in 1970 and including material not in the original book, was released in October 2015.Weyand’s passion is kayaking, particularly in Florida. He is currently working on two eBooks on kayaking, both non-fiction, and plans to release them in the near future."Lost in the Everglades and Other Florida Paddling Adventures" recalls a harrowing experience, but is balanced with other experiences that were equally adventurous but more successful. If you’re a paddler or would like to be, you’ll enjoy reading this one."A Florida Paddling Bucket List" is currently being compiled for paddlers (and would-be paddlers) looking to make the most of their free time on Florida rivers, creeks and estuaries, with helpful tips on where to launch and take out, and what to expect at each location. Factoids of local history are included.Contact Ken at kweyand1@kc.rr.com.

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      Book preview

      Lost in the Everglades and Other Florida Kayaking Adventures - Ken Weyand

      Lost in the Everglades

      and Other Florida

      Kayaking Adventures

      By Ken Weyand

      A Kyakker Book, in partnership with Caroline Street Press

      Copyright 2014 by Ken Weyand

      Smashwords Edition

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be

      used without the written permission

      of the author/publisher; except in the case

      of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

      The author is indebted to his daughter,

      Holly Weyand, who designed the cover of this book

      and provided editing and production expertise.

      Thanks also to the Collier County Sheriffs Department,

      Miami-Dade Air Rescue personnel,

      Physicians Regional Medical Center staff,

      and others who made it possible for him

      to write about his paddling misadventure.

      Finally, he’s grateful to Justin Shurr and

      Warren Wortman, professional guides and

      naturalists, who rescued his kayak and later

      helped him successfully paddle the Turner River.

      Gators are never far from paddlers in Florida. But kayaks aren’t part of their normal diet.

      CONTENTS

      Introduction

      PART ONE:

      Lost and Found

      1. Wrong Turn on the Turner River

      2. Collier County to the Rescue

      3. Out of the Everglades

      4. Redemption

      PART TWO:

      Some Adventures (and Misadventures)

      1. It all started in Cedar Key

      2. A wild time at Four Mile Cove

      3. Estero River adventure

      4. Paddling with Alligators on the Myakka River

      5. Exploring the Woolverton Trail

      6. Back to the Everglades

      7. A hard paddle to St. Marks Spring

      8. The ‘Creature’ in Biscayne Bay

      9. Cheeseburger in Cabbage Key

      About the Author

      Back to Top

      Introduction

      When it comes to kayaking, I came a little late to the party. Recently retired, I was a snowbird in February 2006, when I first tried kayaking in Cedar Key, Florida. My wife, Karen and I had been spending part of the winter in the Sunshine State, initially spending most of our time on Pine Island. Cedar Key was a favorite stop on our way back to Kansas City.

      Tom Liebert, of Kayak Cedar Keys, gave me a five-minute introduction to paddling on the tiny beach near the docks and shoved me into the water in a kayak I’d rented. I paddled to Atsena Otie, an island a half-mile away, did some exploring, and returned. I was hooked.

      After that experience, I rented kayaks in various parts of Florida, and discovered some of the amazing creeks, rivers and estuaries that can best be explored by kayak or canoe. In 2009, Karen gave me a Hurricane Santee 116 Sport kayak as a birthday gift. Since then, I’ve hauled it to Florida and throughout the state, each winter averaging about 130 miles of paddling.

      My appetite for adventure began when I was very young. As I relate in my ebook Dirt Road Diary, I grew up as an only child on a northeast Missouri farm, and was given a lot of freedom to explore my isolated surroundings. One snowy winter before I started first grade, I took my sled about a mile from our farmhouse and parked it on a bridge that spanned a creek running through our farm. My father followed my sled tracks and found me as I sat on my sled and pondered the icy water, 20 feet below. Although he gave me a pretty stern lecture at the time, compared with the helicopter parenting that some kids experience these days, I guess I had it pretty good.

      Growing up, I loved adventure stories and maps of exotic places. My grandfather had left the family a large collection of National Geographic magazines, and their maps intrigued me. Even roadmaps showing remote places accessible by gray lines denoting unimproved roads and trails caught my eye. Also captivating were the spidery light blue lines showing meandering streams and creeks.

      When I was barely a teenager, two young friends and I completed a hike of about 120 miles that began at our farm in northeast Missouri, and took us down a creek-bed through three counties and across the Mississippi River to Illinois. After a night of camping in my aunt’s back yard, we passed through a corner of Iowa and returned to the farm by way of an abandoned railroad. Throughout the 5-day trip, we camped mostly in the open and often in the rain.

      So I guess it’s only natural that as I’ve gotten older I’ve continued to be curious about the world, and eager to explore new activities. As I said, I discovered kayaking late in life, but it’s added a world of fun (and occasional excitement) to my retirement years. Luckily I’ve been blessed with reasonably good health and the resources to spend a few winters in Florida, where the opportunities for flat-water paddling on creeks and estuaries are plentiful.

      Every hour on the water has been a learning experience – with some experiences being more exciting than others. A newspaperman by trade, I’ve kept a journal of most of them. This book details some highlights (and lowlights) of my paddling adventures over the past several years.

      If you’re a paddler, these stories may give you a chuckle or two. Or you may pick up something that will improve your paddling experience. If you’re considering kayaking as a way to add adventure to your life or as a

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