Just received a e-mail letter from a wander who does a lot of camping , wandering around , fishing , hunting and anything outdoors , A good buddy of mine John Depa.
He thinks nothing of spending 30 or more days in the Canada area ( Trips report section ) paddling by himself and enjoying every minute , he came down here ... Paddled the 100 miles from Everglades City to Flamingo (where most normal folks pull out ) Not John he resupplied and paddled back to Everglades City on the inland route for an additional 100 miles.
After that he meet me at my place and I set him up for a 5 to 7 day trip on the St.Johns ...Yep you guessed it almost three weeks later he is off the river.
I always look forward to paddling and camping with him and if not them a letter about his latest trip .... This one was something , I can't wait to get him by a campfire and find out all the details.
That's John checking on my cooking abilities at Floyd's Island in the Okefenokee Swamp.
Anyway ... Let me share the information with all of you.
Chuck.
************************************************************
Hey Y'all,
Sorry I didn't get to see you guys again this winter, I spent 2 months in Fiji and 2 more in New Zealand. No particular agenda, just took a sleeping bag, tent and some fishing gear and played it by ear. Ended up visiting 14 islands in Fiji, mostly by small boats called a panga. Some islands were so small that I was the only white person - the rest were native Fijians. These people were still practicing cannibalism 3 generations ago, and I have my suspicions that in a few of the more remote areas it may still occur. Guess they just didn't like the looks of my skinny little Yankee ass.
As for New Zealand, I rented a car for the entire 2 months and circumvented each of the two main islands - 3 weeks in the north and 5 in the south. Did a LOT of 3-5 day hikes some famous, spectacular trails (Tramps, as they are called in NZ). Only real paddling was a 3 day (54 mile) trip down the Whanganui River. It's similar to the Suwannee, but with a few more rapids. Not one house on the entire river!! Near the end of my NZ stay, I spent 5 days on a smaller island called Stewart, which is 97% a bird sanctuary, but sparsely populated with about 350 people. On my first 3 day hike I arrived at the campsite to find a guy sleeping in (what appeared to be) a Hennessy hammock. When I asked if it was, in fact, a real Hennessy the guy answered, "Yes it is". I told him that I use one as well and am very happy with it. He replied, "That's nice to hear, I'm Tom Hennessey, the guy who designed it". He had not planned to camp overnight, but we got to shooting the breeze (about southernpaddler.com, among other things) and he stayed over. We were the only two campers on that beautiful beach. I mentioned kayakjack and he remembered him as "the guy who has a lot of suggestions". Anyway, Tom is building a house on the island that he will use to escape the cold of his home in British Columbia. Small world, I just thought the meeting might be of interest.
While there camping, Tom was field testing his latest innovation to the hammock. One short-coming is that your butt gets cold on chilly nights. His idea is to add a piece of 1/4" open-cell foam to the outside of the bottom, to be held in place by a secondary, light weight nylon cover secured with elastic. By placing the foam on the outside, Tom hopes to gain the maximum insulating factor, with a minimum of weight, since the foam would not be crushed flat by your body weight. Seems like a well thought-out addition to me?? It could be used, or not, depending on the weather conditions.The guy is always thinking!
Other than that, I have been keeping busy fishing, paddling and sailing here in the North East. Guess you guys are doing the same down there? I check the website from time to time, but really don't spend much time on the computer.
Hope all is well with you guys and I sure hope we meet up again.
John Depa
He thinks nothing of spending 30 or more days in the Canada area ( Trips report section ) paddling by himself and enjoying every minute , he came down here ... Paddled the 100 miles from Everglades City to Flamingo (where most normal folks pull out ) Not John he resupplied and paddled back to Everglades City on the inland route for an additional 100 miles.
After that he meet me at my place and I set him up for a 5 to 7 day trip on the St.Johns ...Yep you guessed it almost three weeks later he is off the river.
I always look forward to paddling and camping with him and if not them a letter about his latest trip .... This one was something , I can't wait to get him by a campfire and find out all the details.
That's John checking on my cooking abilities at Floyd's Island in the Okefenokee Swamp.
Anyway ... Let me share the information with all of you.
Chuck.
************************************************************
Hey Y'all,
Sorry I didn't get to see you guys again this winter, I spent 2 months in Fiji and 2 more in New Zealand. No particular agenda, just took a sleeping bag, tent and some fishing gear and played it by ear. Ended up visiting 14 islands in Fiji, mostly by small boats called a panga. Some islands were so small that I was the only white person - the rest were native Fijians. These people were still practicing cannibalism 3 generations ago, and I have my suspicions that in a few of the more remote areas it may still occur. Guess they just didn't like the looks of my skinny little Yankee ass.
As for New Zealand, I rented a car for the entire 2 months and circumvented each of the two main islands - 3 weeks in the north and 5 in the south. Did a LOT of 3-5 day hikes some famous, spectacular trails (Tramps, as they are called in NZ). Only real paddling was a 3 day (54 mile) trip down the Whanganui River. It's similar to the Suwannee, but with a few more rapids. Not one house on the entire river!! Near the end of my NZ stay, I spent 5 days on a smaller island called Stewart, which is 97% a bird sanctuary, but sparsely populated with about 350 people. On my first 3 day hike I arrived at the campsite to find a guy sleeping in (what appeared to be) a Hennessy hammock. When I asked if it was, in fact, a real Hennessy the guy answered, "Yes it is". I told him that I use one as well and am very happy with it. He replied, "That's nice to hear, I'm Tom Hennessey, the guy who designed it". He had not planned to camp overnight, but we got to shooting the breeze (about southernpaddler.com, among other things) and he stayed over. We were the only two campers on that beautiful beach. I mentioned kayakjack and he remembered him as "the guy who has a lot of suggestions". Anyway, Tom is building a house on the island that he will use to escape the cold of his home in British Columbia. Small world, I just thought the meeting might be of interest.
While there camping, Tom was field testing his latest innovation to the hammock. One short-coming is that your butt gets cold on chilly nights. His idea is to add a piece of 1/4" open-cell foam to the outside of the bottom, to be held in place by a secondary, light weight nylon cover secured with elastic. By placing the foam on the outside, Tom hopes to gain the maximum insulating factor, with a minimum of weight, since the foam would not be crushed flat by your body weight. Seems like a well thought-out addition to me?? It could be used, or not, depending on the weather conditions.The guy is always thinking!
Other than that, I have been keeping busy fishing, paddling and sailing here in the North East. Guess you guys are doing the same down there? I check the website from time to time, but really don't spend much time on the computer.
Hope all is well with you guys and I sure hope we meet up again.
John Depa