I had to work on Thursday but got back just early enough time to get ready for the hash run and drag Jason out of the computer room. Houston residents Finger in the Dyke and Goldilocks (old time Tampa hashers) were haring the trail in South Tampa. One what was promised to be an easy trail, Goldi lead us on another 4-5 mile death march that I actually enjoyed since I hadn't been running in a couple of days and needed the exercise anyway. We all convened at Tiny Tap and had a really good turn-out (~38 folks showed up) with several visitors as well. We didn't get to stay too late and really hang out since we had to get up early in the morning for a trip to Crystal River for some manatee viewing and kayaking.
It was a bit tough to get myself up at 4:30 so I could load up the kayak gear and take off some of the extra kayaks from the previous week's trip downtown. I finally got everything together at we took off around 5:30AM. With no traffic and the Veteran's Expressway, it took a lot less time to get there than I had expected. We parked at a hotel/marina right across from Banana Island that is the place where most people go to see the manatees. We paddled over to the island (only a few hundred feet) and swam around for a while with the manatees. I took a small 40cf decompression bottle and regulator so I could swim around the cavern for a little while and not have to deal with all the dive gear. I did get a few strange looks from divers when I swam to with just a tank, light, and dive reel in my hand without any other dive gear in the back of the cavern, but otherwise the cavern was empty of anyone else. This was the site where I did my first open water training dives so many years ago, so it was nice to be back for a bit.
After playing around Tarpon Spring, we decided to leave the packed area and head around
King's Bay a bit. I had never really had a chance to explore the area, so I really enjoyed paddling among the various islands in the bay and checking out the local wildlife. I've always wanted to check out several other numerous springs in the area. Unfortunately, I don't have a depth finder, so finding a particular fifty foot hole (Shark Sink) in the middle of the bay somewhere is a bit hard. Since Jason was done with swimming, I didn't want to take a lot of time to keep jumping in the water in a search. We paddled around toward the Three Sisters springs where I happened to run into my friend Jon and his son.
I liked paddling around the area but had to leave sooner than I would have wanted since Jason had already headed back to the truck to rest. I'd definitely love to come back and spend the day when there are no crowds around (the place was quite packed later in the morning with dozens of people). We got back by 2 o'clock, so I had time to run several errands. I had to run to a body repair shop to collected the personal effects in a friend's car that unfortunately got totaled just before they left for a month's trip. I then had to head to the garage in Brandon to take back all the kayaks and then load up the camper for the weekend's events. After getting a quick hair cut I got home with just enough time to have a great dinner, pack some personal clothes, and get some well needed sleep.
I had to work on Thursday but got back just early enough time to get ready for the hash run and drag Jason out of the computer room. Houston residents Finger in the Dyke and Goldilocks (old time Tampa hashers) were haring the trail in South Tampa. One what was promised to be an easy trail, Goldi lead us on another 4-5 mile death march that I actually enjoyed since I hadn't been running in a couple of days and needed the exercise anyway. We all convened at Tiny Tap and had a really good turn-out (~38 folks showed up) with several visitors as well. We didn't get to stay too late and really hang out since we had to get up early in the morning for a trip to Crystal River for some manatee viewing and kayaking.
It was a bit tough to get myself up at 4:30 so I could load up the kayak gear and take off some of the extra kayaks from the previous week's trip downtown. I finally got everything together at we took off around 5:30AM. With no traffic and the Veteran's Expressway, it took a lot less time to get there than I had expected. We parked at a hotel/marina right across from Banana Island that is the place where most people go to see the manatees. We paddled over to the island (only a few hundred feet) and swam around for a while with the manatees. I took a small 40cf decompression bottle and regulator so I could swim around the cavern for a little while and not have to deal with all the dive gear. I did get a few strange looks from divers when I swam to with just a tank, light, and dive reel in my hand without any other dive gear in the back of the cavern, but otherwise the cavern was empty of anyone else. This was the site where I did my first open water training dives so many years ago, so it was nice to be back for a bit.
After playing around Tarpon Spring, we decided to leave the packed area and head around King's Bay a bit. I had never really had a chance to explore the area, so I really enjoyed paddling among the various islands in the bay and checking out the local wildlife. I've always wanted to check out several other numerous springs in the area. Unfortunately, I don't have a depth finder, so finding a particular fifty foot hole (Shark Sink) in the middle of the bay somewhere is a bit hard. Since Jason was done with swimming, I didn't want to take a lot of time to keep jumping in the water in a search. We paddled around toward the Three Sisters springs where I happened to run into my friend Jon and his son. 
I liked paddling around the area but had to leave sooner than I would have wanted since Jason had already headed back to the truck to rest. I'd definitely love to come back and spend the day when there are no crowds around (the place was quite packed later in the morning with dozens of people). We got back by 2 o'clock, so I had time to run several errands. I had to run to a body repair shop to collected the personal effects in a friend's car that unfortunately got totaled just before they left for a month's trip. I then had to head to the garage in Brandon to take back all the kayaks and then load up the camper for the weekend's events. After getting a quick hair cut I got home with just enough time to have a great dinner, pack some personal clothes, and get some well needed sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment