Got It Done!

I wanted to do this for a really long time and it finally got done. It's a funny thing about endurance stuff. You just want to see if you can do it. For many years I have fished around the islands of southwest Florida and for almost as long as I have kayaked, I knew people made a big deal out of an excursion from Pine Island to the barrier island, Cayo Costa. I knew it was only about a 15 minute trip by our fishing boat, but about 4 hours by kayak. I always wanted to see if I could make it, but could find no one else foolhardy enough to come along. Then came Janne, young, fit, and ready for just about any challenge. I took him kayaking once, and he lasted 2 hours and wanted more. That was the hook. I told him about my plans, but that he probably was not ready and needed to really think about it....yup, he fell for it! We paddled 8 miles and made the island in the 4 hours and then paddled back to Cabbage key for lunch (a big cheeseburger). Finally we made the journey back to the house on Pine Island. All in all, we traveled 16.1 miles in 7 1/2 hours of travel time. We had good weather, but it was boiling hot and the water was almost as hot as the air. The lesson I learned from this trip is that the only hour that matters is the last one, the one in which you would trade your mother for an easy chair and some air conditioning...