photo courtesy of DEP
With August more than halfway over, now is the time for paddler enthusiasts to strap on their life jackets and make plans to participate in the upcoming kayaking events for the 2010/2011 paddling season. Kicking off the season in Cedar Key on September 18 is the first ever Hidden Coast Paddling Festival which runs through September 25. The eight-day event begins Saturday at dawn with the First Annual Kayak Fishing Tournament. Afternoon weigh-in will be followed by a clam bake hosted by the Cedar Key Aquaculture Association – free to participants, and later paddlers will be treated to Movies in the Park featuring A River Runs Through It, directed by Robert Redford. On Sunday, a guided paddling/walking tour of Atsena Otie will precede the departure to the Suwannee River.
Festival events on Monday will include paddling from Fanning to Manatee Springs followed by movies and socializing during the afternoon and evening. On Tuesday paddlers will embark on a guided trip into the backwaters of the Suwannee River Delta. Tuesday evening, the Suwannee Chamber of Commerce will host a Chicken and Rice dinner with all the ‘fixin’s’ followed by a presentation by Eye of the Eagle Wildlife Sanctuary veterinarian Dr. Dawn Miller, featuring live birds.
Wednesday’s event begins at Horseshoe Beach with breakfast optional in the Horseshoe Beach Café, followed by self-guided tours to Shired Island and/or Butler Island. Dinner will be available for menu prices and two local historians will share information about the area. Thursday morning the Horseshoe Beach Library will provide a pancake breakfast (library donations will be gratefully accepted). Kayak adventures include two separate trips – one to Fireworks Island, the other to Butler Island.
On Thursday evening a ‘Meet & Greet’ will be held at Steinhatchee’s River Haven Marina. Friday’s breakfast is scheduled for 6 a.m. with paddling on your own to follow. Dinner will be available at the River House for $7. Saturday the 25th, breakfast begins the final day of festival paddling. To learn more about the first annual Hidden Coast Paddling Festival and about paddlers’ dinner discounts, go to http://hiddencoast.net/hcpf1.html.
Next on the paddling calendar is the tried and true, and always exciting, Calusa Blueway Festival to be held October 29-November 7, 2010, www.calusabluewaypaddlingfestival.com. Other paddling adventures, arranged by Paddle Florida who is known for its guided group trips on the Suwannee River, include an ambitious schedule covering regions throughout the state. Between Christmas and New Year’s, December 27-30, 2010 a 36-mile paddling trip down the Wekiva and St. Johns rivers is planned. This is closely followed by the second annual 42-mile Peace River trip over the Martin Luther King holiday weekend, January 14-17, 2011. The Florida Keys is on tap for President’s Day weekend, February 18-21, 2011. And spring break for many college students works in well for the seven-day Ochlockonee River trip in the Big Bend, March 12-18, 2011. For more information, log on to http://www.paddleflorida.com/. To learn more about the state’s longest and most ambitious sea kayaking trail, the Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail, visit www.dep.state.fl.us/gwt/paddling/saltwater.htm.