Part Four:

Summer Paddling

You’ll hear a lot about why you shouldn’t paddle the Everglades in summer: the heat, the no-see-ums, and those “swamp angels” known as mosquitoes. Well, we aren’t going to deny that heat and insects are an issue in a South Florida summer, but we’ve done some great summer paddling in the areas north and south of the Everglades Wilderness Waterway and on parts of the 99-mile Waterway that are conducive to day and overnight paddles. If you’d like to give summer paddling a try, or if summer is your only opportunity to explore these areas, we would suggest that you read this section carefully.

Throughout this guidebook, we have commented extensively on the importance of preparation for any Everglades paddle trip—whether for a few hours or for several days. That information applies anytime, but there are some special considerations, additional equipment, and safety issues to factor in if you’re setting out in the Everglades in June, July, or August.

WHY DO IT?

Why not? It’s beautiful out there. Summer reveals still another of the many moods of the Everglades—bright and sparkling; colorful and changing; monumental clouds moving and sometimes issuing blue-black warnings; mangroves and islands awash in the summer abundance of water; marine mammals moving among bays; and herons and ibis, pelicans and shorebirds, ospreys and swallow-tailed kites dipping and diving. Compared with fall, winter, and spring, it’s a quieter season on the water, even in the day-paddle areas, as there are fewer motorboats, and tour boats go out less often. You don’t have to venture out as far to get the feeling of being in wilderness. While summer paddling in the Everglades should be undertaken thoughtfully, with careful planning and attention to safety, it can be fabulous.

THE HEAT

We generally don’t feel the heat when we’re on the water, especially in the vicinity of the Gulf or on Florida Bay, where there’s almost always a breeze. But please follow the precautions we describe here.

► When you’re on the water and there’s a good breeze, you’ll feel great, but this makes it all the more important to monitor your exposure time. The rays out there are intense, and you must be diligent about sun protection. Use sunscreen and lip balm with both UVA and UVB protection, and reapply the sunscreen and balm at least every 2 hours.

► Shade your face with a ventilated hat or a visor. Wear polarized sunglasses to protect your eyes.

► Ideally, wear lightweight long pants and a long-sleeved shirt, both of which are available permeated with sunscreen and insect repellent.

WATER, WATER, WATER!

The importance of staying hydrated cannot be overstated. Water is best, but you also may want to carry some electrolyte beverages (Gatorade, for example). Drink before you’re thirsty. Repeat: Drink before you’re thirsty. Try to drink at least every 15 minutes.

The standard guideline for a water supply is 1 gallon of water per person per day. In summer, that’s not enough. You will need more water, especially if you’re planning an overnight excursion and intend to make coffee or tea, or if you will use water in cooking. In those cases, take at least 1.5 gallons per person per day. It doesn’t hurt to have more water than you think you’ll need. Water makes great ballast.

COOLING STRATEGIES

Try the bandanna technique. Wet a bandanna and lay it on top of your head, under your hat or visor. Or wet it and tie it around your neck. You could also use two bandannas and do both.

Where you know it’s safe—no motorboats in the way or alligators around—you may want to take a swim at some point in your paddle. If you don’t want to take a swimsuit, just give yourself a good dunking in your clothes; they will dry quickly. Or you can just splash water on your clothes from time to time.

STRATEGIC FOOD PLANNING

Keep snacks handy in your craft. Water-rich fruits (such as apples and pre-peeled oranges) and protein-rich nuts are hydrating and nutritious choices. Snack often.

For dinner, keep it simple in summer, even if you’re inclined to be an outdoor gourmet. After exerting yourself in heat during the day’s paddle (although you may not feel it till you land), you might not be inclined to chop onions or prepare multiple dishes. Think about energy conservation (your own energy, that is).

INSECTS

They’re out there, for sure. But with a few clever strategies and some special equipment, they become a manageable issue.

You are likely to have to deal with two kinds of insects: no-see-ums and mosquitoes. The no-see-ums are those tiny biting sand flies (also called midges) that you can’t even see to swat, and, well, you know about mosquitoes. In some areas, you may also encounter biting flies.

You probably shouldn’t try an overnight trip in summer if you can’t stand being bitten at all by such insects, which live in the mangroves and on the islands. Mosquitoes and no-see-ums come out about the time the sun goes down and can be there in swarms until after the sun comes up. Even with all the strategies we recommend below, you’re bound to get bitten a little (though perhaps no more than in a lot of backyards).

As for day paddles, these should be carefully selected because some paddles may take you into territory where the insects are out all day; others won’t. Head toward open water for insect-free paddling during the day.

Repellents & Bites

This goes without saying, perhaps, but we’ll say it anyway. Take insect repellent. Although many guides insist that only a repellent with DEET will work under Everglades-type conditions, recent research reports have found that other active ingredients, including lemon eucalyptus oil (now commercially available), are as effective as DEET, though for shorter periods of time. Combination sunscreen and insect repellent, with and without DEET, is available from several makers.

Regardless of any “foolproof” repellent, do carry anti-itch medications, such as Benadryl cream or its equivalent. It’s inevitable that you will get a few bites, and you’ll be glad you have some relief on hand.

Meshing It

A bug suit is essentially a fine-mesh net garment that you wear over your clothes to keep the insects out. You can purchase a whole suit or buy pieces separately—a head net, a bug jacket, and bug pants. You can even get bug socks. These should fit loosely, kind of balloon-like, over your clothes. If the mesh lies close to the skin, insects can still do their work on you. For summertime camping in the areas we describe, bug suits are a great source of comfort.

When planning for a summertime camping experience in the Everglades, be sure that the mesh of your tent screen is small enough to exclude no-see-ums. Not all tents are created equal in this regard.

Outwit the Bugs

If you have good insect repellent, a bug suit, a no-see-um-proof tent mesh, and a supply of Benadryl, you’ve done a lot to assure your comfort in the insect season. But you can take that even further:

First, for an overnight trip, time your paddle so that you don’t end up cooking after dark—and plan to be comfortably inside your tent before dark. Try to reach your chickee or campsite early enough to cook dinner and clean up before the swarms arrive looking for their own dinner (that is, you). And be aware that mosquitoes prefer shade. If you pitch your tent in the shadiest spot, you are positioning yourself in the insects’ favorite place.

The most challenging time for dealing with insects is overnight. If you’re someone who never has to get up at night, then you are the perfect candidate for summer camping in the Everglades and environs. If you do have to step out of your tent before dawn, then put on your bug suit.

If you are a coffee drinker, you probably want coffee when the sun comes up. And often the mosquitoes don’t want to go to bed by the time you want to get up. Sometimes a hopeful congregation of them will stay attached to the tent mesh well beyond the time when you want coffee. It actually works pretty well to put on the bug suit and go out to make coffee, but we’ve found another solution: a 24-hour thermos. Make coffee the night before, put it into the 24-hour thermos, and it’s still steaming in the morning. Have early-morning coffee in the tent while the disappointed mosquitoes drift away to their daytime roosts. Then step outside and enjoy your bug-free day.

SUMMER ROUTES

In summer, the choice of route can matter in ways that transcend scenery. When deciding where you’ll paddle, keep in mind conditions related to heat, insects, weather, and tide. If you want to paddle the entire 99-mile Wilderness Waterway in summer, careful planning is of urgent concern. When you’re 5 days out and a yellow biting fly gets your ankles burning, there’s no place to get the Benadryl you forgot to bring. If you didn’t bring enough freshwater, the consequences can be deeply serious. Check, double-check, and triple-check your supplies before you head out, to be sure they can accommodate the period of time you expect your route to take. On the next page are two more guidelines for summer routing.

Choose Shorter Trips

In summer, most people will opt for shorter trips, which give less exposure to intense summer sun, greater comfort in relation to insects, and a better chance of paddling without having to deal with lightning. Further, we highly recommend that you plan for paddling with the tide, rather than against it. In summer, you want to be especially savvy about not exerting unnecessary effort beneath intense sun. Reducing your paddling time leads to a timely arrival at your destination, too, so you can have some fun exploring on land, fixing dinner, cleaning up, and getting inside the tent before the insects come.

Follow the Open Sky

You may want to make your short trips in the direction of the Gulf (when launching from Everglades City) or Florida Bay (when launching from Flamingo). On the rivers and in the backcountry, in dense mangrove areas not open to sun, the insects never seem to sleep. In those places, if you choose to go, you may need to wear your bug suit during the day. Toward the Gulf, however, or in Florida Bay, where there is plenty of moving air and open sky, you will generally encounter few or no insects while paddling.

SUMMER WEATHER

In any season for paddling in the Everglades, you will want to follow the weather reports and get to know the seasonal weather patterns. In summer, this is more important than ever. It is, after all, the rainy season, and rain clouds often deliver more than rain.

Lightning is a real threat that must not be taken lightly. We find that it is the most serious consideration of all. Be aware that the typical tropical summer weather pattern is a sunny morning with thunderstorms in the afternoon. With that in mind, an early launch is wise. Be aware, also, that there can be significant variations in this pattern. And if it’s clear that there will be thunderstorms all day, or if the forecast indicates a high possibility of thunderstorms, the safe, wise thing to do is to stay off the water.

There are many summer days, however, when chances of scattered thundershowers are low or when there is no predicted storm activity at all. These can be great paddling days. With that in mind, we recommend the following precautions for dealing with the exigencies of summer weather.

Be a Radio Ranger

Before launching in the north or south Everglades, check forecasts at the Gulf Coast Visitor Center in Everglades City; at the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center at the park entrance near Homestead; or at the Flamingo Visitor Center in Flamingo. Regardless of the forecast, carry a weather radio and use it. Short-term forecasts that detail the position and movement of thunderstorms are updated every hour. Know what’s likely to be coming up within the next 24 hours, and keep in mind that conditions can change rapidly.

Be a Cloud Watcher

Stay alert for signs of imminent change. Make it a habit to check the sky in all directions—often. If you see thick, dark clouds forming in any direction, monitor them closely. If it becomes clear that they are moving in your direction (the weather radio can help you determine this), decide where you will head and what you will do if you begin to hear thunder.

Be a Lightning Mathematician

Thunder travels 1 mile every 5 seconds. If you see lightning, count the number of seconds before you hear thunder. Divide the number of seconds by 5, and you’ll know the number of miles the lightning is from you. In quiet areas, like the ones in which you will be paddling, thunder can be heard for 10 miles. So if you counted 50 seconds, and divided it by 5, you would know that lightning is 10 miles away. Also, lightning can strike up to 10 miles from the area where it is raining. So if you’re counting 50 or fewer seconds between lightning and thunder, you should carry out your lightning safety plan immediately.

There used to be a 30/30 rule—meaning that you would activate your safety plan at 30 seconds between lightning and thunder, and then take shelter until 30 minutes after the last bang. However, Jonathan Rizzo of the National Weather Service in Key West has advised us that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) “has recently abandoned the full 30/30 rule, based on advice from William Roeder of the 45th Weather Squadron, a recognized lightning expert.”

Instead, you should adopt the 50/30 rule: Take shelter if the flash-bang interval is 50 seconds or less. Remain in your protective position until 30 minutes after the last bang. Lightning can and often does strike within 30 minutes after the storm seems to have left. In short, Rizzo says, “NOAA has adopted [the guideline]: ‘When thunder roars, go indoors.’ The advice is [that] if you can hear thunder, you are close enough to be struck by lightning. So that’s the point to begin seeking safe shelter.”

Be a Squatter

During our first few years paddling in south Florida, mostly in the dry season, we often wondered aloud what we would do if we were caught in a thunderstorm. On land, we consulted books and asked a lot of people, “What do you do if you’re out there and a thunderstorm comes up?”

The most frequent advice: “Get off the water immediately.” But there is no land in some areas, only those impenetrable interlacings of mangrove prop roots known as mangrove islands. Getting off the water is not exactly an option. In that case, the advice is to get off the expanse of water: get to an edge and tuck the boat into an area of low mangroves, avoiding any individual tree that is higher than the others. Then keep yourself and your gear low in the boat and wait until the storm has completely blown over.

If you are on land or can get to land before the storm strikes, avoid the open beach or other exposed area. Seek low vegetation and minimize your contact with the earth. This translates into what is known as the lightning crouch: squat, tuck, and cover.

►	Squat on the ground, keeping your feet close together. If you have a sleep mat handy, you can squat on the mat.
►	Tuck your head down.
►	Cover your ears with your hands and open your mouth for protection from changes in air pressure.

The lightning crouch advice replaces the old maxim of lying flat on the ground, an act that gets you low but increases your exposure to ground currents. And it definitely supersedes heading for the cone of protection you may have heard about—an area within 45 degrees of a tall, isolated object in which lighting will not strike. That one is a myth.

One more note: If you are with companions, do not cluster together during the storm (though that might be your impulse). Spread out. You will be less likely to attract a strike separately than you will together.

Be a Responsible Companion

Before you head out, discuss with your paddling companion(s) what you will do if you have to deal with lightning during your adventure. As you paddle, communicate about what you observe in the clouds. When you set up camp, talk about what you will do if a storm comes up in the night. Don’t wait to confront it until you are within the 50/30 zone or until you wake up in the night with thunder crashing around you. (In the latter case, keep in mind that a tent offers no protection.)

Get CPR training and keep it up to date. With CPR administered quickly, very few people die of lightning strike. And don’t worry about getting a shock from the body of a person who has been struck. It won’t happen. As stated on the FEMA website fema.gov/hazard/thunderstorm, “Lightning strike victims carry no electrical charge and should be tended to immediately.”

Lightning Watchword

These notes on lightning may be sobering. They should be. Lightning is dangerous. Be informed, be aware, and be careful. We haven’t let the high frequency of storms in Florida’s summers keep us from paddling, but we are hyperalert in summer. And when we know a storm is out there, we don’t go.