In early December we will be at Long Point County Park with 3 days of paddling, and have never been there before.
If anyone can give us any heads up, launch sites or trips for all day paddles it would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
JackL
Launch from your area
Get a water front site and you can launch from your area. I was there last weekend. The dolphins were showing off.
Yes, Jack, I grew up near there . . .
– Last Updated: Oct-30-09 1:48 AM EST –
A lot of great memories of Sebastian Inlet in the old days, even before the bridge! The old fishing cottages and their crusty old occupants, fishing out on the jetties, swimming all over the place and gigging mullet off the rocks.
There is one caution, however . . .
The current as the tide goes out can be a killer! If your timing is wrong, it will pull you out to sea! I've seen helpless big fishing craft lose power and become helpless in the current, so you can imagine what it can do to a kayak.
I do look forward to visiting there someday with the sea kayaks, but I intend to watch the tides for one full cycle, so I am not off on the timing. Also, it has been built up a lot, with the park across the bridge and all - lots to see and do. If it hasn't changed, the fishing is awesome, especially when the blues are running! Expect to see dolphins and other wildlife, including sharks. Pelagic species as well.
Just remember to watch your timing on the tides; you can get caught off guard . . . and the current going out is virtually a tidal race. You can go around the rock jetties and come back in on the beach, though the risk of swimming the course might be high.
Edit: I am talking about the tidal current in the actual inlet, itself, which of course diminishes as you are removed from the inlet area.
Oh, I forgot . . .
There are outfitters there who can give you some nice tours of the inland waterways. You don’t want to miss the Canaveral area tour, though you will have to paddle a good piece or drive north to put in. Remember mosquito repellant - even in December. Rinse the inland waterway soaked gear daily, or it will stink in short order. Read up on the fascinating ecology of the region, if you are into that. Have fun! Did I mention the fishing?
Been there. paddled that…
OK,
Sebastian inlet itself… avoid like the plague. There is a current in there you can not paddle against. I have seen power boats full throttle barely making way against it.
Now the rest of the area inside in the river is all good paddling. Lots of small islands etc. If you end up over in Palm Bay there is a paddle trail that goes up Turkey Creek that is very nice. You can read about it here…http://www.paddling.net/places/showReport.html?559
Here is a great listing of paddling places all around the space coast area.
http://spacecoastpaddling.com/
I did a gator paddle down near the cape that was thrilling, just me and about 250-300 gators of all sizes. Only a few were bigger than my canoe.
Have a blast!!
Awesome info!
We’ll print it out and take it with us.
there is a ton to choose from there.
many thanks.
Cheers,
JackL
Man… you are going to have so much fun.
I really wish I were going down. I love that area of Florida…
Don’t forget you aren’t that far from Silver Springs. you can pop up there and paddle the crystal waters up to the spring then float down.
Yes, we’ll be doing the Silver river.
We are very familiar with it and paddle it most years as well as the other spring runs.
We are pretty familiar with most of the good places in Florida, and spend four months in South Florida,(the Keys, the Everglades, and the south west coast) each winter, but we have only been to the Canaveral Seashore once before.
Thouroughly enjoyed it as well as the Econlockhachee, and many times to the Loxahatchee.
Cheers,
JackL
Sebastion Inlet is tough at times
A long time ago I caught some trouble in that same inlet. I saw a cloud of fish in the water and threw my net. The current pulled me and the net full of fish into deeper water and out toward the inlet. A friend quickly tossed me a rope and secured it to his jeep so he and my brother could pull me and the fish in against the tide. I felt like stretch armstrong at the end of the day. There were 34 fish in the net!