Hey y'all, Welcome to my Website, courtesy of the University of North Florida

Saturday, May 13 was a truly fun-filled day. Kathy Westberry and her daughter Beth joined Dot and I for a downstream paddle on the St. Mary's River. We put-in at Stokes Bridge and paddled downstream to C.R. 2 . According to my Mapsource program, I thought it was about a 13.5 mile paddle. Well, my estimate was a little off. It was actually a 15 mile paddle. I know that a mile and a half may not sound like much, but it is a lot of paddling. Undoubtedly we all slept very well Saturday night. 

We decided to put Beth in a single. Beth is an arm-wrestling champion here in the state of Florida. I think she said she is in first place left-handed and second place right-handed. In Georgia it is the opposite, she is in first place right-handed and in second place left-handed. When we first met, Kathy told Beth to 'make a muscle' and for me to feel it. The only muscle in my whole body that even comes close to being as hard as Beth's  bicep is my jaw muscle. 

We also decided to put Kathy in the tandem with Dot so I could 'scout' ahead for obstacles. It didn't work out that way. Beth took to kayaking like a duck takes to water. So for the most part Beth was in the lead. And as usual I tended to fall behind since I take a lot of pictures. Beth would go out again in a heartbeat. Kathy too. So, Beth and I were in the singles and Dot and Kathy were in the tandem. Once again Dot became the 'teacher' and instructed Kathy as to how they had to work together to make the boat go in the direction they wanted it to. Watching those two was hilarious. Anyone who knows Kathy knows she is one of those bubbly personality types who tends to be the life of the party. 

Weather-wise, we could not have asked for a more perfect day, full sun and a little breeze. The water flow and height was almost identical to what it was 3 weeks ago when we took Oupa Seane out for his initiation kayak ride. Flow was around 70 cu. ft. per second and the height was about 2.5 feet. So needless to say we had quite a few shallow spots and a lot of logjams to deal with. All that said, on with the show.

We got Beth in her boat first, then we dealt with Kathy and Dot. 

As I said I tended to bring up the rear. Here because I got the others off first. That's Dot and Kathy in Big Red, and Beth is already out of sight.

It didn't take me long to catch up to everyone though. Here I got in front of the pack. I don't know if you noticed or not, but Beth is coming downstream right at me. Kathy [with the red bandana on her head]  is in the front of Big Red, Dot is in the rear. But wait . . .  aren't they pointed in the wrong direction? ? 

Still aimed in the wrong direction, but the current is taking them in the right direction . . . backwards.  I told you they were hilarious.

Taking a break?    No . . . Grounded out on a sandbar.   I got out of my boat to get them started again. And to take this photo of course. 

Gorgeous, isn't it?

It wasn't wide like this all the time as you will see, but it did broaden out in places. 

There were a LOT of cypress trees on this stretch of the river.

As you can see, the scenery is almost beyond words. And no 'people noise'. No cars, no radios, not even the sound of airplanes. It was funny. At one point Beth got a call on her cellphone from a friend and Beth told her friend she was screwing up her nature experience. 

This is a nice picture of Beth. Darn good-looking arm wrestler ain't she? This was our first leg stretch stop. 

And Kathy. Kathy started off wearing her life jacket which she soon shed. Under the blue shirt is her bathing suit which came out later. 

And Dot of course, trying to hide by putting on a ball cap. Too late!

And here is the 'gang'. 

Looking downstream from where we were in the last photo. So beautiful !

An idea of how shallow it gets in places. Just out past Beth you can see where the water gets dark. That's the 'main channel'. 

Off again with Beth in the lead, which was pretty much the 'norm' for the day. 

You see things like this a lot on the river. Really big logs jammed up against trees from a time when the water was higher. As I said the water was at a height of around 2.5 feet. And that is based on a gauge near MacClenny. Of course the water is deeper in places . . much deeper, and much more shallow in other places. It just gives one a good reference as to how high the water is throughout the course of the river. Charlie Bear and I have been on this river when the level was 13 to 14 feet. Imagine where we are in this photo with the water level being 10 to 11 feet over our heads.

For me, this is one of my favorite pictures for the whole day. That's Beth going through a 'wall' of green. Dang ! . . Makes me want to go back there again . .  right now.

Here's the comedy duo of Kathy and Dot.

There was one 'lane' that went through this logjam . . and they just couldn't seem to hit it.

They would make the attempt . . . back up . . . and try again. And  again.  And again.

And again.

It got to a point where they were both laughing so hard that neither one could paddle. 

Is this hilarious or what ?

And  again.

Laughing themselves silly.

I dunno. Maybe Kathy is singing praises to the kayak god for some help.

And again.

Believe it or not, they are in the 'lane'. 

I didn't say it was easy.

A few hundred yards from the logjam, they found these shallows. 

Row   Row   Row    your    boat  . . . . 

Or   push   or    pole  . . . or whatever works.

But this is what made it all worthwhile. How blessed Dot and I are to be able to share this with our friends. 

Boy . . now here's a story. You might want to look ahead to the next picture to see what I am talking about ... but come back here.

This was our one 'stopper'. There was no going [paddling] over it. There was no portaging around it. We had to get out of the boats and pull the boats over the log to get past it. Having had some experience at this I went first to show how it is done. As a note, we approached this from the other side of the log as you look at the photo. I took this picture after we were all past this point. Before tackling this one, I stowed my camera and telephoto lens back into the 'waterproof' bag. I pulled my boat parallel to the log, swung my leg out of the boat and over the other side of the log and hoisted my butt out of the boat and onto the log. So I was now straddling the log with my legs in the water. I then grabbed hold of my boat and pulled it over the log. Since my boat was now 'in the way' of things, I used the anchor rope to tie off the kayak to the log.

We got Beth over first since we all knew the tandem was going to be a problem and it might help to have Beth in her boat on the other side of the log. Beth handled it like a pro. In less than 5 minutes, she was out of her boat, onto the log and back into her boat on the other side. 

Now for the tandem. Ugh. Of course Dot and Kathy had to both get out of the tandem, which they did. While they were out of the tandem, I managed to drag it over the log. Little Dot decided she was going to walk on the log (show-off) to get back into Big Red on the other side of the log. She quickly realized the log was too skinny to walk on with no hand-holds. Besides, Kathy was in the front of the boat and we had to get her in first. I really missed seeing how she did it [Darn !!] but the SPLASH made me look up to see that Kathy had fallen off the log into the water [on the left side of the photo]. 

Needless to say we were all in hysterics laughing. Kathy included. 

Kathy was able to get back onto the log, straddled it, and made her way over to me. I was sitting on the far right side of the log in the photo. We  managed to get Kathy back into Big Red. I think Dot learned a lot watching Kathy and she was much more careful in her movements. We finally got Dot back into Big Red and everyone cleared the area while I got back into my boat. I guess they all figured I was an 'expert' at this sort of thing and they all took off downstream. I made it back into my boat without mishap but it was a bit disconcerting to know that if I got into trouble I was on my own.  H'mm. I'll have to talk to them about that.

But the whole episode sure was the highlight of our whole trip.

It seemed like the scenery just kept getting prettier. And this was only about half way through the trip. 

At some point, I took over the tandem with Kathy and put Dot into the single I was in. We had to start making better time and I am the strongest paddler. And it's not a 'guy thing'. I have been kayaking for three years now and pretty much have got it all figured out. And I am a man and stronger . . so I guess it is a 'guy thing'. I hate to say that around Beth because Beth could whip my butt with one hand tied behind her back. 

We saw numerous cypress trees and cypress knees on this run.

As you can see there were numerous shallow spots. Kathy and I would be going along good [Dot IS a darned good instructor] when all of a sudden the boat would lift out of the water as it ran over some unseen log underwater. There were a couple that really put our hearts in our throats. I told Kathy [after the 1st or 2nd boat 'riser'] that so far, out of the 'regulars' [Charlie, Donna, Pete]  I was the only one who hasn't rolled over in a kayak. And as such every time I go out, my chances of rolling over go up. I don't know why she didn't find that humorous.

'A' sand pattern. I thought it was a really neat one.

God, this is S-O-O-O beautiful ! ! !

I think this was our lunch break. I must have walked into the shallows in the river to get this shot. That's Dot and Kathy. 

At one point in the latter part of the trip, while I was taking pictures, my paddle got 'away' from me and Dot retrieved it. Thanks Cupcake ! 

The last part of the trip I didn't take as many photos as I did on the first part. We were all 'struggling' to get to the boat ramp. 15 miles is a LOT of paddling. Even paddling downstream. Until you've done it, you just can't appreciate how much. If you know Kathy or Dot, ask them. On my part  .  .  . 15 miles . . . hurts.

But we all had a truly wonderful tine. Dot and I told Kathy and Beth that they are more than welcome to join us anytime they want. 

Dot and I both love to take 'newbies' out kayaking. It shows them first hand what they have been missing. And this outing was no exception. I know for a fact Kathy and Beth would go out for another kayak ride in a heartbeat. 

Now if Dot and I can just talk them into doing the C.R. 2 to Thompkins Landing run, that would be S-O-O-O much fun. Oh - - did I mention that C.R. 2 to Thompkins Landing is about 22 to 24 miles ?  

Enjoy !!

P.S. 

If you want me to ADD your name/email address to my emaillist when I add new photos to this website, email me at the address below and I will gladly add your name and address. If your name is already on the list, no problem.

Email to Jack Woodward      mailto:  jackwoodward66@hotmail.com

Link to HomePage Welcome to my website