Canoeing Among the Alligators

by Jim Powers

(first in a series of articles by Jim and Betty Powers. Photos by Jim and Betty Powers. –ed)
 

During the first week of October I returned to Tampa, Florida, my birthplace, with Betty to celebrate my 75th birthday and 70 years of paddling/rowing.

Returning to where my interests in paddling/rowing got its start was somewhat of a shock. The home where my family lived east of Tampa was on a lake known as 10-Mile Lake. When I returned, I found that an Outback Steak House was now located where I use to live. The depression era community as I knew it consisted of around 2,000 families. Today, it has sprawled to over 200,000.

Betty and I used my sister and brother-in-law’s Bell tandem canoe for our four canoeing experiences. Using a canoe was somewhat different than when I was a child on 10-mile lake. Back then I used my father’s rowboat. The alligators are still there. If we had brought our canoeing Beagle, Katie, with us she would have been gator bait.

While in high school on the Atlantic coast side, I canoed on the Halifax river which flows through Daytona Beach. I used the canoe of my employer, Cuban president-in-exile Fulgencio Batista. At Florida State University, my Alma Mater, I was a member of the canoe club. The club canoed on the rivers in the Florida panhandle. On one of the FSU club trips I was in tune with Steven Foster, way down upon the Suwannee river. On one of my favorite rivers, the Withlacoochee, I did a most unforgiving thing, I used an outboard motor on a flatbottom boat. Catching fish in that river was a little too much to handle in a canoe. My favorite of all rivers was the Myakka river, southeast of Sarasota (of Ringling Brothers fame) and adjacent to the northern edge of the Everglades. Incidentally, Myakka River State Park is the largest of the Florida parks with nearly 50 miles of river. It was here that I became acquainted with the Park Superintendent, Alan Crowley, and used his canoe to explore the Myakka. Alan will always hold a special place in my memory as it was he who gave me my interests in nature. What better place than the Everglades to learn about the wonders of nature. I would go with Alan as he made his rounds about the park. He would tell me about the many flowers (orchids growing wild), animals, and explain Everglades ecology. It was at this point in 1960 that I took the advise of Horace Greeley and came west. It wasn’t until Betty and I moved to Prescott and got involved with the Prescott Paddle Club that I got interested once again in canoeing. Betty had a plastic rowboat which she rowed on the Upper Back Bay in Orange county, California. I convinced her that paddling was better than rowing.

Fortunately, in Tampa, we were lucky with the weather - no hurricanes. However, the hurricanes did change some of our plans. Many rivers, such as my old favorite the Hillsborough river, were still running with high water and blocked by fallen trees. Fortunately, the canoe/kayak outfitters had cleared many rivers.

Florida has seven areas of canoe trails across the state. Tampa is located in the West Central area which has seven rivers for canoeing/kayaking . We canoed on the Weeki Wachee river, the Little Manatee river, and the Tampa Bay mangrove trail (similar to Topock marsh on the Colorado). Most of these canoe trails have outfitters that will meet you at takeout and bring you back to your put in point.

Canoeing a river with obstructions was a bit different type of experience from our open calm-water lake canoeing in Prescott. We did flip once while going around a tree. I failed to account for the force of the current as the canoe was turned at an angle to the current to go around the tree obstruction. Fortunately, there were no alligators around. I was told that if we flipped and there were alligators, swim faster than your canoe partner.

The Weeki Wachee river was our favorite. The water was crystal clear. This river is famous for its mermaids (with costume of a fish tail) show in an amphitheater where the river comes out of the ground as a spring. The Weeki Wachee as well as the other rivers we canoed are wonderlands of flowers and wildlife, especially in the spring of the year. In the clear water you could see bass, turtles, and mullet. We canoed very close to a blue heron and observed many egrets. The river meanders slowly, curving gracefully. The profusion of palmettos, oaks, cypress, and tall grasses along the banks closed out all evidence of civilization except for a few areas.

The Little Manatee river waters were colored dark brown with tannin from the cypress trees. But it, too, was a delight to canoe on for its beauty. You paddle through a variety of habitats including sand pine shrub and hardwood forests. One feature that I has forgotten was the Spanish Moss that hangs from trees. Florida is flat, (highest point is 334 feet in the panhandle) so as a result, the river currents flow at about two miles per hour.

This makes it nice to just sit back, let the current take you down stream as you enjoy all that surrounds you.

Unfortunately, we did not see any manatees or river otters on our trip.

The Tampa Bay mangrove trail was different. It was sea water of Tampa bay. We traded alligators for sand sharks. Both provide a great incentive to not flip the canoe. I use to hunt sharks in the bay (St. Petersburg side) with a bow and arrow. I missed many sharks because I never could get that refraction right. The mangrove trail for a couple of miles goes through a tunnel of mangrove cover, then continues on the open bay.

Two rivers that we visited, but did not canoe, were the Myakka and the Braden. I could not leave Florida without revisiting the Myakka for old times sake where I developed my appreciation for Nature and the environment.

It was just as lovely as before. However, much of the area was flooded due to the recent hurricane rains.

The Braden river was a different kind of treat. Although I had been at the river as a child I had not canoed/ paddled on it. That was still the case for this trip. However, we did “linger” on the river. Overlooking the river is a quaint restaurant called Linger Lodge. As you would expect, fish is its specialty. Betty got her first taste of alligator steak.