Great Loop: Little Shark River
February 9th, 2022
Our Voyage to Little Shark River was a fatiguing, 70 mile
run, due to the marginal weather and sea conditions. Winds and wave heights were just below the
maximums we use for our Go-NoGo decisions.
Despite the bumpy ride, we were OK with our decision.
On the trip south from Marco, we stayed offshore to pass the
Cape Romano Shoals and then set a direct course to Little Shark River. In this stretch you are travelling with the
Everglades on your port side. The
mangrove forests along the coast are verdant green and about 40 feet tall. They are punctuated by rivers, creeks, and
inlets thru which fresh water meets the gulf.
These ingress points can all be explored. Albeit at some risk as there
is no depth information on charts. The entrances
and channels are also constantly shifting. Another hazard were the crab pots. Hundreds of them... We soon tired of crab pots.
We found ourselves on a parallel course with a sailing
vessel, Blue Highways. We talked with
the skipper on the VHF and, as these were his home waters, he was a wealth of
knowledge on the area. We were pleased
he was willing to share. He provided
much useful information and freely answered questions. Thanks Skipper!
Beth is spotting wildlife
We had the hook set by about 3:30pm in the shelter of the
small bay just inside the mouth of the Little Shark River. There was room for many vessels. Tonight, there would be three of us. One of the boats was Mirth, a 42’
trawler. We first met them in October on
the Tennessee River. Since then, we had
periodically visited when in the same port or anchorage.
A Pelican in a tree
By 4pm we had the dinghy in the water and set off to explore
up the river into the Everglades. Prior
to visiting the Everglades, you should try to complete the Everglades
Boating Education Course. It is
a free course to orient and educate boaters to the unique features of the
park's marine waters.
A Heron
We felt like we were on the Disneyland Jungle Cruise as we
travelled the tributaries and creeks off the Little Shark River. Trees overhung the water, and we were careful
to look up to ensure no snakes were waiting to drop into our dinghy! We did not see any gators…. Can’t say I was disappointed. We did see a great variety of birds. Including Pelicans which clung to tree
branches with their webbed feet. Ibis
birds were prolific and reminiscent of
the carvings on ancient Egyptian artifacts.
An Ibis
We were startled to see a canoe emerge from creek. We motored over to talk with the
occupants. They had been paddling for 7
hours, making slow progress against wind and currents. They had 4 miles to go before they could camp
for the night and less than 2 hours of remaining daylight. We bid them adieu and good luck and let them continue
their way. Their campsite was to be a
platform, set on pilings, somewhere upriver.
We were happy we had Amy Marie, and her creature comforts, waiting for
our return.
A canoe in the Everglades
We visited with our friends on Mirth, prior to returning to
Amy Marie. We agreed to “buddy boat”,
travel together, to the Keys in the morning.
Everglades Sunset
We rose about 7am, on the 10th of February, raised
anchor at 8:30am and set a course for Bahia Honda State Park.
Trip Log
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