Everglades back country wilderness cruise report

We just returned from a cruise that took us to the Everglades back country via the Little Shark River in Florida, and it was an awesome experience. The charts and cruising guides report shoaling to 4 ft of depth at the inlet but we entered on a rising tide and carried our 5 1/2 ft of draft with no problems. Once inside the water deepens up to 9 feet for several miles but the more interesting routes inland require finessing a number of shoal areas. Rising tides and a keel under the props are your friend because chart errors of well over 100 feet are common. Our course track showed us going over dry land in several locations but we never bumped.

The other big issue is mosquitos. Winter is the only time that visits are recommended, and this winter is reported to be particularly favorable because last summer's hurricanes disrupted their breeding cycle for the near term. We had no problems with bugs.

All that aside, the scenery is magnificent, wildlife abundant, and the solitude and quiet are not to be believed. We did dinghy exploration of the waterways further inland covering over 50 miles in the 2 days we were there. In that entire distance we encountered two other trawlers and several small flats boats, one of which had become disabled and needed a tow. We did the best we could with our small RIB and 15 hp Merc and eventually got him reunited with his buddy in a Carolina Skiff. The nearest Sea Tow is 50 miles away to the south in the Florida Keys if you can somehow manage to contact them.

The National Park Service maintains a few temporary camping sites called Chickee Huts which are built on small decks over the water, but other than that there are no man made structures in an area of well over 1,000 square miles. Back country permits are required for overnight camping in the shelters but not for sleeping aboard your own boat.

There are two choices for anyone wishing to explore or fish the Everglades wilderness in a smaller boat. There is a ranger station and launching ramp at Flamingo, Florida 20 miles to the south accessible via 40 miles of back roads from the Miamia area, or you can launch at Everglades City about 60 miles to the north. From either launch site there are inland routes via the Everglades Wilderness Waterway which continues for about 100 miles through the back country. Good charts, GPS, VHF and lots of supplys are essential.

I've posted a few pictures of "point and shoot" quality on alt.binaries.pictures.sports.ocean

Getting lost is probably the biggest risk since one mangrove estuary begins to look just like all the others after a while. I was carrying a pocket GPS in the dinghy which leaves an electronic trail of breadcrumbs behind, but even with that, managed to take a few wrong turns. Next time I will go to the trouble of setting up a lot of waypoints in advance for critical junctures.

I'd estimate that we saw something like 30 or 40 different species of birds in a 2 day period including several types of Ibis, 3 or 4 different types of egret and herons, white pelicans, vultures, hawks, osprey, the occasional eagle, etc. Of course, most of these can be seen with much less difficulty further north in the Cape Coral/Ft Myers/Sanibel Island area.

RCE