Wednesday, May 4, 2022

Paddling the Little Manatee River



My friend Mike and I were looking to do a Florida paddle we had not done before. My wife Catherine and I had visited the Little Manatee River State Park, and there I saw a new paddling opportunity, the Little Manatee River. We spoke to rangers at the entrance station about kayaking and canoe put-ins. We were very impressed with the cleanliness of the Park and the staff, who was very helpful with my many questions since I had never paddled the Little Manatee River.

I researched the Little Manatee River and found the article by James Steele referenced below.

The Little Manatee River flows 40-miles from east Fort Lonesome, Fl, into Tampa Bay. It is listed as "Outstanding Florida Water." The Little Manatee River includes a 10-mile designated paddling trail near Ruskin. The Designated Paddle Trail runs from the US 301 bridge nine miles downstream through the Little Manatee River State Park to Wildcat Park Boat Ramp.

Our paddle time would be limited to four hours. We would paddle two miles downstream and then back to our launch area.

We put our kayaks in at the State Park's new boat ramp, some of which are still under construction. The launch ramp is excellent for experienced paddlers, including handicap paddlers.

A word of caution here. This ramp, straight forward to launch, immediately drops you into deep water, so novice paddlers should put in at the Pavilion launch beach area. I suggest stopping at the entrance Ranger Station for put-in and paddling suggestions.

From the launch, we went river left, meandering downstream for two miles. We then turned back and returned upstream to our launch area.

The Little Manatee River is tannic and usually shallow with a sandy bottom. Rainfall runoff from a watershed of over 140 sq miles determines its clarity, depth, and flow. There is a rich diversity of Flora along this river, which is part of the Cockroach Bay Aquatic Preserve. Spanish Moss, including many-colored flowers, was seen throughout our paddle. Songbirds and beautiful egrets were seen.

There are turtles galore. And, as the Warning sign specifies at the put-in, there is an abundance of alligators. We saw four gators, ranging in size from a few feet and one over ten feet. Read the warning CAUTION sign

and stay away from riverside and swimming gators.

On the day of our paddle, Mike and I stopped at the Ranger Station, and received maps and advice from the most helpful rangers. We were told we might expect to see a manatee.

Alligators, turtles, manatees, exotic flora - wow - make an exciting trip.

We felt a four-mile paddle would be within our time and distance journey. Our trip would first entail testing the upstream current flow, as we wanted to be sure once we paddled two miles downstream, we could quickly return upstream to our starting launch area. Then we proceeded to paddle two miles downstream, monitored by my iPhone app with GPS and map.

Directions

Located off U.S. 301 five miles south of Sun City Center on Lightfoot Road, and seven miles north of Parrish, FL.

The Little Manatee River is designated an Outstanding Florida Waterway. The river is referred to as a blackwater stream because of its dark, tea-like color caused by the organic debris in the water.

Other Florida Paddles by OutdoorSteve are listed in References.
" Everyone must do something. I believe I will go outdoors with family and friends"
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Sunday, May 1, 2022

Winter Rowing with the Sarasota County Rowing Club (SCRC)

 


Background

In 2015 I regularly passed a road sign advertising Rowing Lessons by the Lake Sunapee Rowing Club (LSRC). With my wife’s urging and my mantra of “Never say I wish I had…,” I decided to sign up for four weeks of rowing classes. I continued my sessions the following year.

A friend read my Rowing through the eyes of a Beginner blog post and called me. I accepted the offer of his 20-plus year single scull. Since then, my summer morning rowing has included three-plus miles two to three days a week.

Sarasota County Rowing Club

I joined the Sarasota County Rowing Club (SCRC) during my 2022 winter visit to Florida. Under coaching supervision, I rowed the quad scull, doubles scull, single scull, and Sweep 8 plus coxswain. We rowed along the Intercoastal Waterway (ICW) in the Gulf of Mexico.

Racing shells range in overall length from 62-feet for an eight, 44-feet for a quad scull, 34-feet for a double scull, and 27 feet for a single scull. 
The difference between sculling and sweep is that the sculler rower has two oars, whereas the sweep rower has one oar.

My Quest

My quest to join SCRC was to improve my rowing skills and be an SCRC crew member in a competitive race. My goal was to participate with the SCRC in regional and national regattas, specifically when the SCRC hosts the nationally recognized Sarasota Invitational Regatta (SIR) held annually in February at Nathan Benderson Park. My journey was stifled when the SIR was unexpectedly canceled, followed by another local regatta withdrawal due to Covid-19. Further, in late March, I had a medical issue that stopped me from rowing for six weeks.

Leadership

Coach Dragos Alexandru is head coach, and a former Olympian. He is ably assisted by Coach Ray and Coach Joe. In addition, experienced rowers are always available with suggestions and guidance.

One of our quad rows was exciting as four 12' dolphins swam around our scull. Seeing such magnificent and large creatures swim a foot away from our scull was a thrill - and admittedly a bit scary.

The Videos

The below pictures and videos are shared moments I enjoyed with SCRC at their Blackburn Point Road boatyard, Osprey, Fl, and their ERG training center. And of course, I made many new friends.

The three videos below are a mixture of my eight weeks of rowing with SCRC:

1. The First Video is an overview of my first SCRC Quad row: the SCRC boatyard storage, boat launch, and intercoastal waterway (ICW) where we did our rowing in a bay of Siesta Key.


2. The Second Video is the importance of caring for the rowing boats after each use.


3. The Third Video is my Sweep 8 plus coxswain rows with Coach Joe.

Summary of Steve's Rows with SCRC Coaches

Scull/Sweep

Coach

Quad

Coach Ray and Coach Dragos

Single

Coach Dragos

Eight plus Coxswain Sweep

Coach Joe

Double

Peter

Casey Key - SCRC Training Location

Casey Key is a barrier island off the coast of Southwest Florida, located south of Siesta Key.

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