I decided to push myself on the new surfski. Cayo Costa is my favorite island in the area with amazing beaches and crystal clear water, unlike our river water. While it’s way too far to paddle from the property, I found a launch site on Pine Island that made it about 20 miles round trip. The kids went with me and launched their boat from the same marina I launched the kayak from. I could cut across the shallows, while they had to stick to channels and we met up on the island.
That’s the first time I’ve seen a sea star in Florida! Much smaller than our California tide pool habitants. We lashed my kayak to the back of T’s boat and doodled around to the gulf side of the island. There was a house for sale on it I wanted to check out, but couldn’t find once I started walking inland.
Eventually we parted ways and I (stupidly) thought going south completely around the island would be the fastest way back to land. I think going back to the north side actually would have been faster.
All in all, I paddled well over 20 miles that day. By the time I got back to the marina, my body was so cramped, I had to roll off the kayak onto the pier because my legs didn’t work anymore!