01/02/2025 ICW Day 2 : Poking the Bear

by Brian · Published January 2, 2025 · Updated January 23, 2025

We spent the night on a beach of a former campground. I’m not sure what happened, but they had removed the camping - but left the hot showers (which I used in the evening and in the morning).

We were approached by John, who initially showed curiosity in our boat. He helped take Janet’s place in sliding it into the water. After that, he explained that he was retired, but he still worked. I didn’t exactly understand what he did, but he described it as “Poking the Bear,”

John used to work in the front-country in Yosemite.

“There is this 8 mile stretch of railway that collapsed in the last hurricane. Now they want to rebuild it; it used to transport 8 coal trains a day, but by the time the hurricane hit, they were down to one. They hardly need this section, but now they want to rebuild it. Since it is closer to quarry river rock, they are using that…. Round….. rock. Guess what happens when there is vibration from trains on round rocks?”

I knew from building patios that there is a special rock shape that locks together, so he was making sense.

“I get in there and then get out so they can sue the right people. I get out before they can sue me. There is standing
In the tent and pissing outside… well I’m standing outside the tent and pissing inside. Actually, I’m taking a dump inside, if you know what I mean.”

John seemed to enjoy talking in metaphors, which made him more entertaining, even if we didn’t totally understand his avocation.

We set sail with following seas and perhaps the best possible sailing conditions you could hope for. This lasted the entire day.

We had a lot of strife, though- all due to shallow waters. We constantly had to clean sea grass out of the pedals and where they had accumulated on the boat (slowing us dramatically). Also, at one point, the rudder cable came loose. At first I thought it had snapped. I was anticipating and hour plus repair, but when I found that it had just slipped, it was a major relief and a quick fix.

Because we were back into a populated area, and camping grounds are tricky and expensive, we pulled into the lee of some mangroves and set a bow and stern anchor. We had a nice evening together, kinda wishing for a glass of wine, and then assembled our tents on top of the paddle boards. It was a super excellent day !

Photos:

This is where we camped last night.

Thanks Janet for thinking to take a picture of John. He says that if he ever needs to go to court, he will “get a haircut and a shave”

We didn’t need to pedal today, it was almost entirely sailing. Nevertheless, we would sometimes sit down to pedal for the sake of exercise. Janet helped control the heel by moving onto the paddle boards. She also sailed by herself several times while I attended to chores such as repairing the pedals after sea grass encounters.

Tonight we camp here on the boat!

Strava Comments:

Janet W.

We had an exciting day today going fast. Now I like sitting up high on the SUP as long as I have something to hang onto!

Jarral R.

Monkey wrench gang?

Scooter R.

Looks simply magical! Interesting character.

Marty P.

Glad to see that you made it to Florida and already set sail. Did you bring a fishing pole to catch dinner?

Nancy P.

Those paddle boards seem to make a huge difference in this experience 👍🏻 Will the manufacturer catch on to this enhancement 😉. Any sightings of creatures … other than John and sea grass? I’m hoping for at least a manatee sighting at some point 🤩. 🐊 optional!

Brian L.

Nancy Prier - yeah, me too on the manatee hope! The paddleboarders right next to us pointed out a nurse shark last night, but we couldn’t see it from our angle and we were anchored.

Paula G.

So glad the weather was perfect for sailing! I didn’t picture this to be so pretty. Glad you have the drone. Does it have a floatation device on it?