Well, here I am, back again behind the keyboard, all rested up! Some days, those creative juices are just all dried up and the tank is empty... that was yesterday!
Today, well, that is a different story... we got our heart pumping today!!!
Yesterday, we talked about what we wanted to do today, and one thing that come to my mind was to head out in our Sea Eagle Kayaks. The last time we had them out was back at Christmas time with Tom and Cheryl over in Port Charlotte.
We had noticed one day, while driving across Highway 60, towards Bartow, that there was a canoe launch.
This is a public Canoe Launch, and what a perfect place to launch our boats.
It was a beautiful day, with temperatures up into the low 80's, but with some sun and cloud. Perfect to hit the water. It only takes about 15 minutes to have the Sea Eagles ready to travel!
We both always make sure we wear our life jackets while on the water...
The Peace River flows all the way from north of here, right down to Punta Gorda, Florida. Yup, it kinda looks like this all the way down... lots of trees, swamp areas, you get the picture.
No, this guy was not hiding behind the trees, waiting for us. He was out fishing. He had caught a big old catfish when we went by... He told me he had been coming here fishing, for 4 days a week, since last July! Must have a lot of fish somewhere!
As you can tell by the pictures above, the Peace river actually looked kind of peaceful today! We carried on up past the fisherman, making our way along the bending river... All of a sudden.........................
I was in the lead, turned a corner, and came across 2 alligators, at least 8 feet long each, laying on the bank of the river, and then they slinked into the water!!!!! YIKES.... Scared the you know what out of me! No, I did not take the picture above at the time... this is off the internet, however it looked exactly like above, only 2 of them side by side!
So what would you have done under these circumstances????
1. Simply ignore the alligators and confidently paddle right past them?
2. Wave at them, splash your paddle in the water to scare them, and then wait a minute and go by?
or
3. Quickly turn around, change your underwear, and paddle as fast as you can back to your Jeep?
Now, before you make your decision, take into account that the river was only about 25 feet wide when we came upon the alligators, and I figured only about maybe, 5 feet deep in the centre....
So, not wanting to appear like a wimp, I quickly turned around in the kayak, didn't have a spare pair of underwear with me, so just paddled like mad back to the Jeep! Judy made the wise decision to come back with me!
We decided to leave the fight with a pair of alligators to another day! In reality, we could have probably just paddled past them, as they are just as afraid of us, as we are of them, but man, at the time, that is a hard concept to wrap your head around! At least we still have our heads tonight!
Enough excitement for today...
Till tomorrow...
Posted with Blogsy
I miss not having had our Sea Eagle on the water this past month. The last time was on the Colorado River in Moabi Regional Park, CA.
ReplyDeleteI think I would have had a similar reaction upon seeing those Alligators.
Sounds like a good plan to reverse direction and head back home. Don't really want to deal with those guys either.
ReplyDeleteStill you had a great day anyway.
We have a double kayak like yours and have considered paddling in Peace River but was hesitant with the alligators... now we know.
ReplyDeleteNo questions about it - I would turn tail and paddle like crazy. Hope you didn't leave Judy too far behind!
ReplyDeleteI mean, the kayaks are INFLATABLE, nuff said
ReplyDeleteI've NEVER believed that theory that wild animals are more afraid of us than we are of them. It's not possible as far as I'm concerned.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't go in a small boat anywhere in the state of Florida - too many gators!
Good move in turning tail and paddling like crazy.