 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
The outer limits
By GREG AUMAN
© St. Petersburg Times, WEEKI WACHEE -- If only I'd done my homework. In preparing for a weekend excursion canoeing on the Weeki Wachee River, I thought about the obvious things -- sunscreen, insect repellent and a cooler full of iced tea. What I really needed, in retrospect, was research. The computer library system at the Times is a thorough one, and a search for "Weeki Wachee" and "canoe" yields 59 stories from the past five years. Poring over past writers' works before the trip would be smart. Doing so afterwards is a little cruel. Barbara Fredricksen will laugh when she reads this, as will most people who have figured out the best way to enjoy a day on the river. Three months ago, one of Fredricksen's stories specifically warned river neophytes not to go on the weekend. Five years ago, she wrote about the relative uselessness of Deep Woods Off against the river's ravenous population of deer flies and yellow flies. I know that now, but a week ago, I was on the river, on a weekend, swatting at flies. Originally, the plan was to go in the middle of the week. Twice before, my wife, Nicole, and I had called Weeki Wachee Canoe Rentals on a Saturday morning, only to find out that all the canoes were on the river. Nicole didn't want me venturing out on the river by myself during the week, however, because she's seen me in boats before and feared for my life. Our only previous canoeing together was at the University of Florida, where nearby Lake Wauburg is a great little-known perk for anyone with a student ID. The canoeing is free, the water is calm and the lake has just enough alligators to make the ride interesting. We had survived the gators, and just as important, each other, figuring out some semblance of navigation along the way. Since then, we even rented a tandem bicycle for a day on Sanibel Island without significant injury. The challenges are similar to a canoe, in that one person can't see the other, who in turn has no choice but to look at the back of the other person's head. One has to shout, one still can't hear and, inevitably, both think the other could be pedaling/paddling a little harder. But once you get the hang of things, it's fun. So, of course, the canoes were all spoken for when we called on Saturday, but they referred us down the river to Weeki Wachee Marina. It had a few left and slightly cheaper rates to boot, so we were on our way. The marina, located on Shoal Line Boulevard just past Rogers Park, was as busy as expected, with cars filling the parking lot and spilling onto Hushpuppy Lane. A big dog was sleeping in the doorway, and since it was 1:45 p.m. (this is another novice mistake we'll get to later) and canoes are due back by 5, we got a three-hour rental for $15. An ominous beginning: as Nicole went to step into the canoe, her sunglasses fell into the water in the little canal by the marina. I expertly shot my arm into the water and retrieved her sunglasses, and in doing so, saw mine fall out of my shirt and disappear in the dark green. I hopped in, cautiously poking around the bottom with my feet to no avail. This is why I buy $10 sunglasses: at least I know where this pair is. Shortly after we got our bearings, we reached the river and faced an important choice: left, where the Gulf awaited 20 minutes or so downstream, or right, where eventually we'd find the Weeki Wachee Springs near U.S. 19. We went upriver. Eight miles upriver, the Weeki Wachee Canoe Rental's slogan is "Go with the flow," and that seems trite only to people who haven't tried going against the flow. Everyone has a different answer on the strength of the current. James Lanier Jr., whose family has run the marina for 26 years, said it was 7 miles per hour, and Dave Lowerre, who runs Canoe Rental upriver, said it was about 4 or 5. "A little faster than you can walk," he said. This is the first challenge of canoeing upstream, but the burn in your shoulders isn't as much fun as trying to keep the canoe straight. If the bow points to one bank or another, the current gets hold of it and pushes it to the side, so inexperienced canoers wind up bouncing from one bank to the other -- a zigzag pattern handy only when being chased by alligators. Until two years ago, when Lowerre started renting from behind the water park off U.S. 19, the only canoeing option was paddling upstream a few hours and enjoying the relaxing ride back down. "That's the big draw for us," said Lowerre, whose company allows customers to call from a pay phone at Rogers Park to get a ride back to their cars. Lanier, by comparison, has nature working against him in a way, and despite lower prices, he said he's only sold out of canoes on two days this summer. "Personally, I don't go out in a boat unless there's a motor on the back," Lanier said, noting that in upstream traffic, expert canoers can keep up with the motorboats that are limited to idle speed on the river. For the second weekend in a row, I had enough difficulty with our main activity that the most memorable aspect of the day was interaction with wild animals. A week earlier, we had golfed with my in-laws at The Groves, a nine-hole course in Land O'Lakes. Given that our experience with golf barely is stronger than our canoeing background, I had managed to bring water into play there as well. The highlight, along with far too many 7s and 8s, was seeing five alligators on the course -- four babies left of the fourth fairway and a six-footer lurking right of the fifth. We saw no gators on the Weeki Wachee on our trip but were rewarded with encounters with a trio of river otters and two manatees. Lowerre said most people encounter 4-6 if they run the length of the river. As big as the manatees are, it's easy to miss them if you're not keeping careful watch, which makes the threat of injury from motorboat engines all the more obvious. The first one came past us with surprising speed, stealthily gliding downstream with the kind of effortless silent propulsion Tom Clancy would respect. For an hour, we had to settle for birds and schools of fish, but as we approached our turnaround point (not in distance, but in time), we heard a collection of oohs and ahs around a bend ahead that convinced us to paddle on another minute. Several boats had stopped to watch three otters, who poked their heads out of the water, equally amused at the characters staring at them. I gave a group of teenagers a handful of Wheat Thins, which the otters crunched without a blink. Nicole, a marine science teacher, later reminded me that it wasn't a good idea -- or a legal one in this state -- to feed the animals and get them conditioned to handouts. Again, to reiterate to all would-be river-goers and letter to the editor writers: do not feed the otters. If you don't think this will forever change the way they live, I've got a beagle at home who can smell cranberry muffins from miles away. On the way back, we stumbled upon a second smaller manatee chowing down on a bed of grass in the middle of the river. We stopped to watch, seeing the animal's hairy nostrils pop up for a breath of air every few minutes. This one, like nearly everything else on the way back down, was much more relaxing. We noticed a fair number of canoers wearing long-sleeved T-shirts, which now makes perfect sense. You're protected from the sun, which peeks through the canopy of trees enough for a bad burn after a few hours, but smarter still, you're reducing the exposed skin the flies have to land on. Despite a generous salve of repellent, the flies were merciless. The only difference between myself and Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen were the leaches. These flies are slower than houseflies, thus can be slapped dead much easier, but often you're too busy negotiating the river to notice them until it's too late. I had a dozen welts on my ankles, but Nicole had a veritable constellation of bites along the back of her swimsuit. Like Fredricksen wrote five years earlier, she found little relief in anti-itch creams or even an oatmeal-water bath. Hindsight is 20-20, and it sleeps a lot better at night as well. "Those are horrible right now," said Lowerre, who sells Citronella spray to customers to help ward off bugs. "A heavy DEET will keep them off. But an organic Citronella, which works great for mosquitos, the deer flies laugh at. The little green flies laugh at Citronella." So, having learned some lessons, some of which are itching, here's what you need to know to enjoy a day on the river. First, go early, whether you plan on canoeing both ways or just down. The best value is an all-day rental anyway, and with more time, you can enjoy more breaks for swimming or a picnic lunch. "People that come in at 1 o'clock kick themselves," Lowerre said. "They get out there and say, "If I'd only come at 10 o'clock, we could have had so much more fun.' Our repeat customers wouldn't make a reservation past 10:30." Better yet, call way ahead and reserve an early slot. If you want to avoid the fumes of passing motorboats, traffic is much lighter during the week -- especially now that school is in session. "A good rule of thumb is a week in advance," Lowerre said about the need for reservations on weekends. "During the summer, we were sold out sometimes every day of the week. But now, if you come on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, it's very slow." Do not bring any alcohol. Possession or consumption of a single beer is good for a $148.50 fine, and the canoe rental folks won't give you a boat if they see you have alcohol. I had enough trouble staying in the boat sober, so there's no sense in making things harder. Give yourself time to get to the springs. The manatees tend to hang out in warmer water there, and the water is much clearer, though you can see the bottom nearly all the way. There are beach areas about halfway downstream, and the upper half of the river is much less developed. Do some research. If you're new to canoeing, there are helpful sites online, such as canoekayak.com, "the No. 1 paddlesports resource," which has features covering basic strokes, safety tips and other suggestions to make your trip as stress-free as possible. CANOEING: WHERE TO GOWEEKI WACHEE MARINA: (352) 596-2852. Located at 7154 Shoal Line Boulevard, off State Road 50 west of U.S. 19. Canoe rentals for two are $15 for three hours, $18 for four hours or $23 for all day. Kayaks are available, as are johnboats, which run $50 a day. Boats are due back by 5 p.m. WEEKI WACHEE CANOE RENTALS: (352) 597-0360. Located behind Weeki Wachee Springs Water Park, with the entrance at the back of the parking lot. Canoe rentals are $31 and kayaks are $22, and the company offers a pickup and ride back from Rogers Park. Last launch is 1 p.m., and boats are due back by 5.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
Citrus Times |
