Yesterday we found another new spot to explore by kayak. This time we launched at the Charlie Leighton Park in Palm City, along the St. Lucie River and the Okeechobee Waterway. The adventure was nicely diverse with mangrove island wilderness coupled with homes, canals, marinas, and boats. Unfortunately most of the canals we tried to go up had tons of non-stop barking dogs...good for the owners' security, but annoying for us quiet paddlers. They ranged from these chihuahuas, which we were hoping they wouldn't fall in and needed to be rescued (I originally was trying to get a photo of the pretty Whitehall dories)...
To a couple of big labs (we also saw what we were sure was the Abaco version of a mutt, called a potcake dog, complete with curled up tail and howling at us). Below you can also see that the water is quite high, most likely from the outflow of water being dumped from Lake Okeechobee, because of its high water levels. It is better to do it now than wait until hurricane season when there is more of chance of algae blooms with the hotter weather and water.
The labs had the quaintest house and huge property that they lived at (and being worked on). Notice the palm tree growing through the tiki hut...
Up one of these canals there was a dismasted sailboat. It brought back quite the memories from when we used to spend the winter in the Florida Keys and our friend Gary had a boat just like this. The boat, named Ara, ended up sinking down in Key West, making a fun salvage operation for the guys. This boat's name was the Lucky One, which was ironic considering its condition.
This No Dog canal was peaceful, lined with condos.
Then more memories came pouring back to us when we saw a Caliber 28, which we bought new and took to Dry Tortugas and our first ever trip to Abaco and Hope Town, way back in 1986. Ours was trimmed in burgundy and named Celebrity, because it drew lots of attention.
This Mainship photo is for Barry and Barb...
Back out in the waterway, what a line up of these Fleming motoryachts, all worth at least a million dollars!
While crossing the St. Lucie River, on the way back to the launch ramp, we spotted several dolphins feeding in the shallows. It was so much fun watching the mullets jump out of the water as the dolphins tried to catch them. What a turmoil they made too! Plus, since it was so shallow, they couldn't dive deep and were doing what I call sharking...going along with their fin out of the water.
Back at the dock, I couldn't resist taking a photo of this perfect pelican, all decked out in its summer plumage. It was funny to see it looking down at me.
Despite being barked at 😉, this was still another fabulous morning on the water. It will also be a great place for the guys to go sailing next time.
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