Hobie Cat Forums

Darwinian and Polecate, Ron and Bill, respectively, have had to drop out.

So, I am still looking for a partner or 2 (the more the merrier) to do this trip.

Keith

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I sail: S FL, Key Largo, Everglades to Cape Romano, Ft Desoto, Cedar Key

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

Chekika. As i said in the other post I have vacation 2 to 8 feb. My last trip of January is on the 27th and 28th. If I get a good February bid line I should have off from the 29th to the 8th. If I do all of the above and drop the Jan 27th trip I would be free after the25th. right now my plan calls for a trip during that time frame out of Choko. I was thinking: Mormons, Hog Key, Highland beach, back to pavilion and home. However my plans could be altered. I have an older AI. Right now this is a solo for me but would be open to some company. I figure we would be safer from those giant pythons if we stick together.

I have training in late feb and I am not sure of march.

Chekika, email me if your interested. bquirk@aol.com

Bob,

I'm sure we can work some dates out. I'm very comfortable doing these trips solo, but, as in any endeaver where you have some serious consequences if things go wrong, it is smart to have a partner or 2. I'll drop you a line.

Keith

_________________
I sail: S FL, Key Largo, Everglades to Cape Romano, Ft Desoto, Cedar Key

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

Chekika. got your email. so it's on. Tentatively we leave early on the 1st and try to make New turkey on day one. As far as launching I have never launched off the causeway but I wonder if the vehicles and trailers will be OK for 5 days. Not that my vehicle is anything special. I will leave that decision to you. I guess we will plan on working down to Lostmans area for some fishing. We should at least be able to score some trout and mackerel posibly some Redfish.

I'm thinking about converting to that cooler setup you have. Do you carry most of your H2O frozen in that thing? I tip the scales at about 205 so I tend to travel light most of my gear is backpacking stuff left over from years past.

Are there any other takers out there for this trip Leave on 1st of Feb get back on the 4th or 5th

Hi Quirkster,

I have 2 3-liter frozen Zephyrhills bottles of water that fit nicely in the bottom of that cooler. I also put maybe 6-8 20-oz frozen bottles of Gatorade. Anything else that I can freeze goes in there. Finally, if doing a "long" trip like this one, I will dump ice cubes in. If kept out of the sun, that will easily keep our fish until we get back to Chok. The cooler and contents are usually close to 50#. I weigh 200# and have lots of gear, so I'm sure you will be fine. The 2 Zephyrhills bottles are not for drinking, except in an emergency--which I have not experienced, yet. They are for cooling.

Yes, lets plan on fishing around Lostman's. We can camp at either Hog or 6 mi further south at Highland. Actually, I've just looked at the tides in the area and they are quite unsymettrical--fair tides at night, but rather low tides in the morning when we will launch. Highland is awful on low tides and would likely limit our fishing. Hog will be a better place, and you can fish around Hog as well as Lostmans.

Regarding parking at Chok. I've never thought much about it, but there was an incident between a powerboat fishing guide and kayakers which resulted in some tires being slashed last spring. On the other hand, a friend and I are doing a trip out of Chok starting tomorrow for 4 days (3 nights). We plan to park on the causeway. I think it will be fine, but, if not, I will let you know.

As Quirkster says, any of you want to join us on this fishing trip (or to sight see), you are welcome.

Keith

_________________
I sail: S FL, Key Largo, Everglades to Cape Romano, Ft Desoto, Cedar Key

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

Chekieka, what size is that colman cooler? I just measured a 60 qt and it was 28 inches long I only have 25 inches behind the AKA bar.

The cooler I use is a Coleman Xtreme 36 qt. The base is about 25" long--it just fits in the space behind the aka bar.

Keith

_________________
I sail: S FL, Key Largo, Everglades to Cape Romano, Ft Desoto, Cedar Key

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

Yo AI's,

did you guys go on the trip? How as it? I just saw recently another AI in the Miami Bay, which was the first time for me.
Next time you go, please ping me! I would love to join since my wide is not a big camper and therefore I usually go by myself.

Cheers,
Torsten

Sorry Miami AI I should have posted earlier. We did go it was the week of the coldest of the cold fronts so the fishing was only good on the first day. You can find pictures of the trip at:

http://bobsevergladescampingtrip.shutterfly.com/

Another interesting post about the trip is by Paul Sedwick in a sailing canoe with an AI sail at

http://paulsedwick.com/everglades2/index.html

I would post more but it's all on the other sites. Chekika has since done a Flamingo Choko paddling trip I don't know if he will post a report.

As far as the performance of the AI on the trip: It hauled an incredible amount of stuff plus my 205 lb butt in realy rough weather with no problem at all. I sailed in 20 - 25 kt winds and choppy seas most of the way and although it was real wet I never was fearful of an upset and nothing broke. The hull did take on the normal amounts of water and anything in the aft end sat in water. Most of my legs were 3 hrs and I usually took on about a quart or so of water.

I browsed the pix and read your stories. I'm sure that was a great trip. Please keep me posted when you plan another trip in South Florida.

I would love join next time.

Cheers,
Torsten