Catch Of The Day

Since we didn't quite make it to the south fork of the St. Lucie River a few days ago, we decided to launch the kayaks at our usual spot in Hosford Park this morning. What a surprise to arrive and see a kayak floating upside down just off the ramp. We immediately put our yaks in the water and tried to retrieve it. It was so filled with water that it was barely afloat. We managed to push it to shore with our yaks and paddles, but when Dave tried to flip it over and haul it out of the way so no boats would hit it, he could barely move it, with its added water weight. He got it to drain a bit and pulled it up as far as possible, but we had to get out of the way because someone with an empty boat trailer was waiting to haul their power boat out. After our outing, we noticed that another good Samaritan must have pulled it up higher and flipped it over when it had drained. With the super high tide today, we presume it had floated from a dock (several docks were underwater along the way), and hopefully the owner will come looking downstream for it.

Once we were paddling we got to see more nature than we did at Halpatiokee. This turtle was high and dry, with its legs fully extended to keep it out out of any predators' mouths.

The turtle was smart, because not too far away from it we saw this alligator! At least it was only about a 4 or 5 footer, so we weren't too concerned with it (I also had a tarpon come to the surface and roll right next to me, which startled me more than the gator).

We also saw lots of boats from gorgeous 50+foot Grand Banks and Palm Beach yachts, to the complete opposite of them, boats that were salvaged by Sea Tow. The Sportfishermen was being kept afloat by the heavy ropes held up by the crane. The huge tour catamaran next to it was covered with barnacles, so it must have been underwater for quite awhile.

With all the things we experienced today, I would say that we had more than one catch of the day...or at least I caught them with my camera. 😉