Inevitably the water soon became very shallow and paddling turned
into dragging oneself through the wet sand using the paddles like punting
poles. Tim blithely declared the water would get deeper again...and then gave
up and tuned us around. By this stage the S.S. TNT was moving slower than
all the other boats as we skated close to (or perhaps over) the recommended
weight limit for the trip (too much Denny’s for us!) We got very stuck but, with
lots of effort/cursing and mud splattered clothes, avoided the ignominy of
having to be towed back to deeper water by the ranger. It was a close thing
though. Oh, on the plus side Emma saw a ray fish – not much compensation
for the aching shoulders.
The last part of our excursion consisted of a slow paddle back to the
dock while Doug told us more stories. The highlight among these anecdotes
was that the bald eagle, national animal of the USA, is a scavenger and thief.
How refreshing to meet an American not so blindly patriotic.
After we docked Emma and I hung around helping Doug load up the
canoes onto a trailer, and discovered he had known we would not make it
round the key. He thought our group could cope and that it would make the
trip more memorable, which it certainly did. Fortunately for Doug we lacked
the energy to throw him in the sea. Instead we made our achy way to the
overpriced Flamingo restaurant to re-fuel.
Leaving the Everglades for the last time we drove back out to Homestead
after our early lunch. That night was meant to be spent on the first of the
inhabited keys, Largo, but we had been unable to secure a campsite so had a
limbo night teetering on the edge of the Florida mainland. We stayed in a no-