This is the tail of four brave, adventuresome guys or four nuts .. you decide.
John Depa , Mac McCullough , Joe Fennell and myself in the Everglades of Florida or the 10,000 Islands which ever you like to call it.
We meet at the Motel in Everglades City, Thursday evening, and I had reserved two rooms so we could relax after the drive down there and to have some time to make final plans before hitting the back country and then enjoy a supper and in the morning a breakfast at The Oar House (A restaurant right next to the Motel and they have some good chow)
We decided on going to Watsons Place on the Chatham River for two nights then to New Turkey Key for two nights and move over to Turkey Key for one night then move down to Pavilion Key for the last night out fishing and camping. As you will see the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray thanks to Mother Nature.
The next morning (Friday) John and Joe put there boats in at the marina while Mac and I got the backcountry permit for all of us then we put Mac's boat in and off we went ..... sights set on Watsons Place. About 3 1/2 hours later we arrived at Watsons Place by going the inland route and unloaded the boats, set up camp and then got ready to slay the fish.
The fish had lock jaw so it was a camping supper and a beautiful sun set then off to the sack for a restful night.
Later that night a cold front moved thru and the rain started along with the wind. The wind was blowing so hard the left side of my tent was actually pushing down on my chest as I lay there.
The rain came in sheets almost like someone had a fire hose aimed at us and going from tent to tent.
All the rain flooded the area, the tents, everything and almost sank Mac's boat due to the amount of rain that fell even John had to bail out his sailboat and it is self bailing. Mac had to bail out his boat 3 times during the night between the harder bursts of rain. No one got much sleep, anyway not more then a short cat nap.
Check out the tarp.....
One reason no one got out of the tents during the bad parts of the storm (which was most of the time) was the lighting, we had a fire works show that would put any fireworks show or a combination of them on the 4th of July to shame but Mother Nature is the master at it and she sure proved it that night. This is the worse storm I have ever camped in and I have camped in a couple of hurricanes , NOT by my choice.
We believe that we received from 5 to 7 inches of rain over night , I think it was more then that.
Saturday Morning... Things have to be better ....... Wrong.... More of the same all day long ... rain......wind .....rain .....wind. Bail out the boats, try to stay dry in the tent or under johns tarp........ This continued into the evening hours and later when we were able to hit the sack then the coons invaded the campsite so it was trying to stay dry ... chasing the coons out of the camp ... checking the boats and then doing it all over again.
Joe & John sitting out the rain
John Depa , Mac McCullough , Joe Fennell and myself in the Everglades of Florida or the 10,000 Islands which ever you like to call it.
We meet at the Motel in Everglades City, Thursday evening, and I had reserved two rooms so we could relax after the drive down there and to have some time to make final plans before hitting the back country and then enjoy a supper and in the morning a breakfast at The Oar House (A restaurant right next to the Motel and they have some good chow)
We decided on going to Watsons Place on the Chatham River for two nights then to New Turkey Key for two nights and move over to Turkey Key for one night then move down to Pavilion Key for the last night out fishing and camping. As you will see the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray thanks to Mother Nature.
The next morning (Friday) John and Joe put there boats in at the marina while Mac and I got the backcountry permit for all of us then we put Mac's boat in and off we went ..... sights set on Watsons Place. About 3 1/2 hours later we arrived at Watsons Place by going the inland route and unloaded the boats, set up camp and then got ready to slay the fish.
The fish had lock jaw so it was a camping supper and a beautiful sun set then off to the sack for a restful night.
Later that night a cold front moved thru and the rain started along with the wind. The wind was blowing so hard the left side of my tent was actually pushing down on my chest as I lay there.
The rain came in sheets almost like someone had a fire hose aimed at us and going from tent to tent.
All the rain flooded the area, the tents, everything and almost sank Mac's boat due to the amount of rain that fell even John had to bail out his sailboat and it is self bailing. Mac had to bail out his boat 3 times during the night between the harder bursts of rain. No one got much sleep, anyway not more then a short cat nap.
Check out the tarp.....
One reason no one got out of the tents during the bad parts of the storm (which was most of the time) was the lighting, we had a fire works show that would put any fireworks show or a combination of them on the 4th of July to shame but Mother Nature is the master at it and she sure proved it that night. This is the worse storm I have ever camped in and I have camped in a couple of hurricanes , NOT by my choice.
We believe that we received from 5 to 7 inches of rain over night , I think it was more then that.
Saturday Morning... Things have to be better ....... Wrong.... More of the same all day long ... rain......wind .....rain .....wind. Bail out the boats, try to stay dry in the tent or under johns tarp........ This continued into the evening hours and later when we were able to hit the sack then the coons invaded the campsite so it was trying to stay dry ... chasing the coons out of the camp ... checking the boats and then doing it all over again.
Joe & John sitting out the rain