Exploring the everglades from a canoe

Preparing for the Canoe Expedition

Until now, I have paddled the Everglades only in my kayak when out there more than 2 days at a time. Over
time, I've shedded my kayaking skin and have taken the canoe on more trips, but only 1-nighters so far. And
every day trip on Chokoloskee Bay, Biscayne Bay or any of the rivers in Florida have been in the canoe. My
Necky Looksha sea kayak has been fantastic and has taken me safely to many remote waters of the
Everglades. I have felt very comfortable in my 17' sit-inside boat and it has cut through 3-5 ft waves like a
knife slicing butter. It's a fast boat and remarkably seaworthy, particularly in rough waters. So it is with some
fear and trepidation that I sold the Looksha and headed into the glades with my Wenonah Vagabond canoe.

Why the canoe and not the kayak? Despite the wide popularity of the kayak, I find the canoe to be much
more appealing. There are several reasons for this. One, getting in and out of the boat is easier. Two, I have
much more room in the canoe and have two different paddling positions to choose from, sitting or kneeling.
Three, there are areas in the Everglades where getting out on foot is impossible. What to do when nature calls
in such times? For me, answering the call inside the kayak is not something I wish to do. On the other hand,
I can answer that call more easily in my canoe. Without going into detail, I simply carry a large-mouthed
nalgene bottle with me. Four, packing the canoe is easier and I can carry more stuff. Five, it is easier to get
to my stuff. Six, I can carry my photography equipment in front of me, always accessible and inside a pelican
case. In a kayak, this is not possible to the same extent.

Our trip plan is to paddle 9 days to Camp Lonesome and back beginning December 24th. We will return to
Chokoloskee Island on January 1, 2009. If a big blow is expected during that period, we will completely
change our plans and do a trip in the more wind protected areas east of Whitewater Bay (Lane, Hells and
Pearl Bays). As of now, we have every intention of doing the Camp Lonesome Trip. Now for the preparation.

Canoeing in the Everglades is different from any other area popular for canoeing. The Everglades is a
continuous connection of salt water bays, creeks, rivers and the wide open gulf. And none of it is accessible
by land vehicles. Hence, you have to bring in everything you need, including water. But, you will not have to
portage your boat and gear across land. Rather, you simply have to make sure you don't get stuck in a mud
flat at low tide. Forget about getting out of your boat and dragging it, unless you don't mind sinking up to your
hips in mud.

Thus, planning a trip in the Everglades is much different that a fresh water or river trip. With this in mind,
planning begins with how the boat will be packed. I have to admit, I am not a student of boat design and
have a difficult time remembering boat terminology. Nevertheless, I had to put some serious thought into how
I was going to pack my canoe for a couple reasons. Its ability to track in the water would be greatly affected
by the bow and stern weight ratio. To make it even more difficult, the canoe is rudderless, unlike my kayak.
The other concern was how I was going to pack the food and water for protection against raccoons and other
critters at the campsites. With my sit-inside kayak, I only had to throw everything into the hatch and seal the
covers. For the canoe trip, hard plastic, sealed containers would be required for all the food and water. I had
to figure out where these large volume containers would fit in the canoe.

Although many people make these trips completely solo, I have the benefit of sharing my load with my
paddling partner, who also paddles a solo canoe. We can split some of the gear, which lightens each others
load. In my boat, I will carry all the cooking and eating hardware, and hygiene items. Each will carry her own
supply of water, about 7 gallons. I will also carry about 2/3 of the food. We figured this out based on
poundage, without taking into account the additional pounds (about 25) of photography equipment I would be
carrying. I weighed each separate item and estimated the food weight. The total poundage came to about
145 lb. Here is a list of what I planned to put into the boat:

Hard plastic container filled with about 6 gallons of water
1 100-oz camelback filled with water
2 hard plastic buckets (with sealed covers) filled with food
1 collapsible cooler filled with cooking and eating hardware (mugs, stove, utensils, thermos, etc)
1 3-liter boxed wine
3 dry bags of clothing
1 dry bag with odds and ends (flashlight, mosquito netting, rain pants, memory cards, batteries)
1 dry bag with sleeping bag and pillow
1 tripod and monopod, wrapped in plastic and nylon covers
1 1500 Pelican case holding 2 cameras and 2 lens
1 camp chair

The next step was to figure out where each of the items would fit inside the canoe. I drew a diagram of the
boat's interior and divided the cargo such that about 20 lb more weight would be behind me in the stern area.
This would help track the boat, especially in strong winds. Below is the diagram. I wanted the stern to be
heavier under most conditions, but also arranged the items so I could easily move some weight to the front on
the occasion that I had a strong head wind. After figuring out the cargo load, I was ready to test paddle my
boat fully loaded.

Testing our canoes with 9 days of load

I did not want to take the maiden voyage without knowing how my boat would handle approximately 300 lb of
weight. To test it, we planned an overnight trip in November. Much of the weight would be simulated using
water and other weighty items. All the containers I would use on the trip would be taken along, weighted
accordingly.

The weather forecast for the weekend called for 20-30 knot northeasterly winds. This would be perfect for
testing the boats under typical winter weather conditions in south Florida. Instead of heading out to the gulf
however, we decided to play it safe and head into the backcountry for a little more wind protection. We got
our permits for Lopez River, our night's destination. We left Outdoor Resorts marina and crossed Chokoloskee
Bay to the mouth of Turner River. From there, we headed up the river and into the Cross Bays. Then, we
paddled into the Lopez River where the campsite was located. This is a beautiful 8-mile paddle, one of my
favorites (see description among my favorite overnight trips).

Today, we would experience head winds gusting to 25 knots on occasion. We also had a slight tide against us
as we paddled up the Turner River. As soon as I begun to paddle my boat, I realized that this was going to
work well. The boat felt a bit sluggish, but I expected that. I used the bent-shaft paddle the entire trip but had
brought my extended kayak paddles for the occasion I felt I needed extra paddling power. I never felt the
need for it on this trip, not even with the strong head winds.

The Wenonah is a deep boat, so the 300-lb load did not appear to affect the freeboard. I was well above the
water line and never saw a drop of wave water splash over the gunwales. Paddling was a bit challenging
while crossing one of the Cross Bays with a strong side wind. I adjusted the weight as the side wind was
pushing the stern more than the bow. I was a bit surprised at this given the 20-lb heavier load in the back.
But, I had gotten into a kneeling position which shifted my weight forward. To correct the effect, I threw my
Camelback containing about 6 lb of water to the back. That seemed to help and I continued paddling while
the boat tracked well enough.

I was so pleased with how the Wenonah performed with a great load and in high wind conditions. Now I was
looking forward to my expedition with confidence. Not only that, the entire camping experience was a joy and
so much easier than from a kayak. After packing up the boat again the next morning on our campsite, I
thought that I must have done something wrong because it seemed too easy to be true. That's canoe
camping at its finest. While our kayak friend continued to load her boat (with one day of supplies), we waited
for her on the water while photographing and fishing the Lopez River as the morning sun glowed across the
mangroves and water.

My test run worked and with only one minor adjustment to be made (I will be adding some additional load as I
will be taking the emergency kit, approximately 5 lb), everything worked to perfection. For the expedition, I will
also have a deck cover made by Dan Cooke. Other than those changes, this one-night trip simulated my
upcoming 9-day trip, at least the first day of it!

My next entry will be a description of the expedition. I can't wait!