St. Johns River Trip - Latest Map Update



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30 March, 2009

New Book...

In my spare time these last several days, I have been writing down every tiny detail that I can remember from my trip. My hope is that I will be able to write another Riverbluff book which covers all the events of the trip. When it will be finished is anybody's guess, since I will be moving back to Central Florida next month and getting married in June. But who knows, maybe I'll finish it quickly :) Anyway, if you're interested, stay tuned and I'll let you know how I'm progressing on it!

-Daniel

25 March, 2009

Back Home...

Hi everyone! I'm back home at last! Like Jay said, I finished my journey around 1:30 yesterday and got to be on the news and everything! Keith Legette was there, too, which was awesome! It was weird traveling in a car after traveling for nine days at no more than 5.1 mph; I kept finding myself tensing up as the car approached red lights, still going at what seemed to me to be incredibly reckless speeds, but it was just normal driving :)

So, yes, I did it. Yes, I now apparently hold the record for the fastest time kayaking the entire St. Johns River. It's funny though, how little that kind of stuff matters by the end. Some of the things that have really meant to the most to me are the new friendships and experiences that I have developed along the way, and also realizing the devotion and determination of old friends. There are so many people that lent a helping hand or a word of encouragement that I am so grateful for. Here is just a short list:

David, Jay, Jimmy, Nicole, Lauryn, Carl and Danny at Holly's Marina, Zach at the Astor Bridge Marina, John and Bubba, Dan and Jenny, Eli, Lane and John, Matt, my dad (Carl) and my mom (Cheri), Sarah, Beebs and Noah, and the whole rest of my family, Big Country and the whole UNF environmental group for the warm clothes, and specifically Captn. David for all his help with Lake George info, Pat Hatfield, Dinah Pulver, and all the other news guys, Pat and Dennis, Josh, (the other) David, Katie, Jessica and Emily, that guy with the old tin boat and the NOAA radio 7 miles south of Lake George, the father and son that I met on that windy Sunday who offered to let me stay on their dock if I couldn't cross the River, plus all of the other families along the St. Johns that opened their homes to me as possible stopping points along my trip.

My deepest thanks to all you guys; you not only helped me to complete my trip, but you became a part of it.

I also learned a lot about myself from this trip; especially when it was just me the last four and-a-half days. I am positive that wilderness requires something from us for us to successfully pass through it. It has a way of stripping away all of the superfluous and trivial aspects of our selves through relentless tests, trials and obstacles until our deepest intents are brought to the surface.

To pass through wilderness, one must find a cause and a purpose deeper than "breaking a record" or "just to say I did it". Wilderness shows us that we are the one that must be conquered; we who so often hide behind sarcasm, fads and empty pursuits. Wilderness leads us through those veils to what we truly are. When you can come to terms with that, you find the strength, the discipline and the endurance you seek. I will never, ever be the same because of the way God has changed me through wilderness. He began years ago with the very first Canoe Trips, and has continued up to this very day. And I am confident that I will continue to be transformed, being washed ever cleaner by our wild River, the St. Johns.



24 March, 2009

Day 9 - Successful Completion


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Daniel completed his voyage today at 1:30pm with a big welcome from family, friends, and the media. Hopefully he will post/edit this blog with his personal observations of the trip. Here is a link to more media coverage: Firstcoast News I am very proud of both Daniel and David. They showed tremendous determination and resolve. This is truely a great accomplishment and I'm sure one they will remember for the rest of their lives. Thanks to everyone who gave them encouragement and a helping hand. - Jay

The Last Few Miles

daniel is just a few miles away and the plan is to finish by 1:30 pm.

23 March, 2009

Day 8 - Getting Close


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Daniel has stopped for the day after completing about 33.5 miles. Only 26 miles to go. I spoke Daniel at 7:30pm and he is tired but in good spirits. He is camping on the property of a St. Johns Riverkeeper supporter/member. Thanks to Jimmy Orth for setting it up. He is planning on reaching his final destination - Huguenot Memorial Park between 2pm and 3pm. Please come out and welcome Daniel as he completes his journey. David and I will be there cheering him on. - Jay

22 March, 2009

A Special Thanks

Daniel and I would like to thank Jimmy, Jenny, Dan, and Eli for their gracious hospitality. Jimmy spent a good bit of time trying to find a place for Daniel to camp. There was some uncertainty on how far he was going go today so it made finding a place to camp a little difficult. At first we thought he was going to camp at the Riverdale boat ramp. Eli drove to the ramp to meet him and bring him a hot meal only to find out that Daniel was going a little further down river. Jenny and Dan offered to have Daniel camp on their property. Eli found out and drove over to Jenny and Dan's. So thanks to all of you, Daniel got a hot meal, hot shower, dry clothes and great companionship. The River really does bring out the best in people. - Jay

Day 7 - A Battle Against the Elements, Again


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Daniel gutted out another tough day of high winds and waves completing 35 miles. Only 59 more miles to go. Daniel said the morning was OK, but later on the wind kicked up with gusts over 30mph causing 4 foot swells. Near the end of the day Daniel said he was getting cold because the temperature dropped and he was getting soaked by the wind and waves. He said today was the hardest day of his life. He needed a place to camp where he could warm up and dry out. See next post. - Jay

Another Story in the Media

From the Deland Becon River quest — kayaking all 310 miles of the St. Johns River

21 March, 2009

Saturday Night

Getting ready to go to sleep. Lake George was pretty hard, but even the rest of the day was rough: big winds and waves. A couple of times I was afraid old orange wouldn't make it, but I'm still on schedule. Got a big day tomorrow, hopefully the wind will calm down a bit. - Daniel via text message at 8:30pm:

Day 6 - Big Wind and Swells


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Daniel finished a litte early today getting to his camp site by about 5:00pm. He had an extremely productive day by doing about 32 miles in pretty rough conditions crossing both Lake George and Little Lake George. According to my calculations he is about 96 miles from his final destination. If he can stay on schedule the last 3 days he will finish on Tuesday. There is no doubt about it, Daniel is a kayaking machine. BTW, there is a good article about this trip in today's Daytona Beach News Journal Pair aim to kayak St. Johns in record time - Jay

Daniel Crossed Lake George Safely

I just got off the phone with Daniel and he has safely crossed Lake George despite the strong wind and swells. Congratulations to Daniel. - Jay

Bummed out... =(

well today is my first day at home and im pretty worried about daniel crossing lake george alone. he called this morning and said that the lake looked like an ocean and the day before when i was with daniel at astor landing we were talking to a couple gentlemen about the lake, and what they had to say wasnt very comforting. they pointed to motor boats between 16 and 25 feet long and they said right now if you were to take that boat in the lake you better be prepared to sink. with the small 16 foot kayak that daniel has he wasnt looking forward to entering the lake.

march in florida is known for having lots of wind and the wind is what did me in for the trip. i have had a torn rotator cuff in my shoulder now for about three years now and paddling with the wind in my face for many miles and trying to keep an average of about 4 miles an hour in my kayak was just to much. daniel and i both knew that my shoulder was going to be an issue for the trip but we both had hope that it wouldnt be. after the second day on the river my shoulder had become aggravated with the constant stress i was putting on it. the next two days after that i was fine. which is really weird because once my shoulder begins to ache the pain slowly but surely gets worse. but as i was saying day five took its toll on me. i would still have to say that the third day was my hardest but the fifth day was just the most painful. we only had about 32 miles that day which is normally cake for us. about 5 miles away from lake george i couldnt take anymore. every stroke i was taking for about 3 miles i was practically grinding my teeth because of the pain.

i have to say that personally i didnt think i was going to make it as far as i did and for me to surpass that im very proud of myself even though i didnt make it the whole way. but as soon as i get my appointment to get my shoulder worked on im going to be planning to take four more days off to finish what i started. i feel like i have to complete what i started and thats what im going to do. i made it to far to just stop completely. but jay and i are talking about dong it together as soon as im well enough to take on the river once again.

i would like to give lots of props to seth and kieth for giving us the inspiration to even attempt the entire st. johns and for them to complete it is even more mind boggling. for the record im not out of commission yet and soon enough im going back to make sure next time that im standing on the beach in jacksonville staring at the ocean.

to everybody thats reading our blog please just say a short prayer for daniel as he completes this journey alone.


- David Heath

20 March, 2009

Day 5 - The Team Takes a Hit


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I am posting for the guys again tonight. There was some saddness today as David reported that he was unable to continue the trip due to a shoulder injury. He has had a torn rotator cuff for some time now and the team was aware that he might not be able to finish. It took a lot of guts for David to attempt this trip with his injury. While his shoulder may have given out the rest of his body and attitude is still strong. He has vowed to finish the trip after his shoulder is repaired. He completed over half the trip (appox. 160 miles). It is now left to Daniel alone to complete the trip.

Daniel reported via phone and text messages that he made camp at the Astor Bridge Marina this evening. He unexpectantly met a group from UNF at the Marina (Daniel is a recent UNF grad). He is planning a very early start for Saturday in order to cross Lake George before the NE winds pick up. He plans to make camp along the river about 4 miles north of the Ocklawaha River. - Jay


19 March, 2009

Day 4 - Another Good Day


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I am making the post for the guys today. They got an early start from the Jolly Gator Fish Camp and made it all the way to our home on the river near Highbanks Marina by 5:00pm. They had a home cooked meal and are camping on our property. They plan to make camp near the south end of Lake George tomorrow. They were interviewed by a reporter from the Daytona Beach News Journal this evening. - Jay


18 March, 2009

Day 3 - 43 MILES LATER....


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today daniel and i woke up outside of lone cabbage fish camp, hurriedly we packed up our stuff and left. shortly after leaving we made up the 7 miles that we couldnt finish the day before. with such a strong current and wind to our backs most of the time made us go pretty fast for a while with a top speed of 6.5 miles per hour. i dont care what anybody says. thats hauling butt for a kayak! today was nothing more than cows and a windy river. sounds pretty boring right? but with all the grass going on for miles and palm trees off in the distance it made the river much more exciting. kayaking into the night was very exciting after all. going through puzzle lake with nothing but a flashlight was pretty risky. but when you turned your light off there's millions of stars everywhere. in my whole life ive never seen as many stars at once than i did tonight. but we only made one mistake throughout our whole night time expedition. after we got to jollys gators i called jay to tell him about the trip. i stated that we had only gone 37 miles today. but once i checked the reliable source ( gps) it said that we went a whopping 43.7 miles today! well tomorrow im comin home only to say hello and goodbye within minutes of each other. but its ok because the hardest day is over now.

17 March, 2009

DAY 2. the "ouch" day


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this morning me and daniel packed everything up and hit the river again. going through lake washington was pretty darn exciting. we got to paddle right into a cold front which had winds strong enough to push on your face and make your cheeks flap. all the sudden the temperature dropped like a rock and the wind blew hard all day because of the front. after lake washington we got a little surprise, shallow shallow and i mean shallow water. we nearly had to walk our kayaks a half mile down this crazy gator infested river. then lake winder happened to sneak up on us with gail force winds right in our faces. we eventually pushed through it and headed toward lake poinsette. and there better not be another lake as rough as poinsette for the rest of the trip. after that lake i noticed i wasnt going as fast anymore only to notice that my kayak was swamped from the waves in the lake. now me and daniel are posted up on a little beach right across from lone cabbage fish camp. once we actually got to the camp we were burnt out. we still had another 7 miles to go today but we wouldve never have made it in time. we wouldve been lost and worst of all, in the dark. but anywho were super tired and were about to eat some tylenol like candy. not really but you should be able to catch my drift. tootles
- David Heath

16 March, 2009

DAY 1

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well this morning jay erndl dropped daniel and i off into blue cypress lake which surprisingly we crossed very quickly. after the lake we came up to a very long and straight canal that merely resembled a never ending runway. after the first canal me and daniel came up to our first portage. unaware of what dangers that lurked on the other side. daniel and i pulled our kayaks over to the other side when daniel stopped and said calmly, "bees." which the next words that came out of his mouth was" BEES!!!!" daniel was standing over a huge colony of bees then suddenly every last one of them wanted daniels blood. i turn around and see daniel hootin and hollerin and dancing around like a chicken with his head cut off when suddenly, they came for me. after seeing what torture dainel was enduring i bolted! running nearly a quarter mile to get away from these things i turn back to find them right on my tail. suddenly i noticed myself doing the same dance daniel was. finally after running around and swatting wildly for about a half an hour the seemed to calm down. me and daniel werent scared of them anymore, we were P.O.ed. we ran back to the kayaks to pull them away from the underground hive and hopped in then took off! we had to portage over 3 areas today, kayak through 3 lakes, counted 440 alligators, and then to top it off we got chased by bees. tomorrow is going to be our hardest day on the trip. going 37 miles through a labyrinth of small rivers, big rivers, and also dry rivers. this place is not traveled very often anymore due to how shallow it is. the only thing we can do is pray and hope that tomorrow will go according to plan. ( chances are that it wont) but we'll stay in high spirits and hopefully get the job done. - David Heath

The Voyage Has Begun


At 7:15 this morning March 16, 2009 Daniel and David have begun their voyage. I dropped them off at Middleton's Fish Camp on Blue Cypress Lake and hope to pick them up by the mouth of the St. Johns in Jacksonville 9 or 10 days from now.

- Jay

15 March, 2009

This is it...

The time is finally upon us! David and I are getting ready to get some sleep before we head out at 4:00 am tomorrow. I think that we both feel about the same way. You know when you're on a roller coaster, and you're climbing up to the really big drop, and you get to the very edge, and you can see down, but you haven't gone down yet? You know that feeling you get in your stomach; that nervous, excited sort of thrill? That's what we're feeling right now.
We know that, above all else, such travels as these require humility. The River has a way of squashing the ego, confounding logic, and casting doubt in the proud. While these attributes of the River may not at first appear favorable, it leads us to get ourselves from the center; from the driver's seat, if you will. We find peace in our lives, not when we put ourselves first and foremost, but when we see ourselves as part of a much bigger and grander story. The vastness and wildness of the River gives us a much bigger, transcendent sort of perspective; one that I have always tried to retain, on it and out in everyday lives.
If you try to take on the River in pride, you'll get beat down. I've always felt that wilderness is a sort of gateway; an experience that one can truly take in only when they have entered in humility. Humility gives us the eyes to see; the ears to hear, and the inspiration that draws us back again and again.

Ais dar ain rend, lie ruin saifyae foldaez usyen lore; sin hedel lae holel; sin hedel lae oday-el; sin hedel lae wan
"In the dark of night, and through the far lands under the sun; we travel to see; we travel to feel; we travel to be."

12 March, 2009

The Cell Test

well daniel and i (david heath) have finally after 30 minutes of messing with my cell phone, fgured out how to access the website. so now we are able to document our events that have happened throughout the day on our trip. well anywho were about to crash. hope you all enjoy the posts. please comment!!!


- David Heath

11 March, 2009

The Deeds of Riverbluff

Since we've started getting ready for this trip, I've had several people ask me a lot of questions about the neighborhood of Riverbluff and our previous Canoe Trips. To those of you reading this who have questions of your own, you may be interested to know that I have written a book which sort of chronicles our previous trips, starting from the very first one. The title of the book is called "The Deeds of Riverbluff", and you can find it by simply clicking this link:

http://www.lulu.com/browse/search.php?search_forum=-1&search_cat=2&show_results=topics&return_chars=200&search_keywords=&keys=&header_search=true&sitesearch=lulu.com&q=&fSearch=the+deeds+of+riverbluff&fSearchFamily=0

It's only $15/$16 or something like that (that includes standard shipping). I originally wrote it thinking that only the actual canoers of Riverbluff themselves would find it interesting at all. But a bunch more people have gotten their hands on it since then, even people who have never canoed/kayaked in their lives, and they still really enjoyed it. If you do purchase it, I'd love to know what you think!

Heading Home...

Finally, we are in the final days before the Big Trip! I'm hauling all my stuff down to Riverbluff tonight. Technically, I've never actually lived in Riverbluff, but it has always felt like home to me, and it has been way too long since I've been there. Jacksonville's got some cool stuff and all, but I was born for wilderness, and all the manicured lawns and occasional palm trees up here just aren't cutting it.
The middle basin of the St. Johns River is Riverbluff territory; that's where the party's on! The River is larger than the upper basin, but not too large like in the lower basin. Plus, this area has a bunch of other rivers like the Wekiva and Little Wekiva, Black Water Creek, the Brocco, Destin Pass, etc. that connect up with it. If you want to explore, the middle basin is your ticket to paradise!




08 March, 2009

"K" to the "I" to the "L" to the "T"

A wise man once told me, "only the bad wear plaid". You better believe it; those words are all too true. The kilt is the all-purpose garment, I don't care how you feel about it. You can't beat the ventilation, and it's incredibly compact for easy storage. You can use it as an umbrella over your head, a jacket, a blanket, roll it up for a pillow...the list goes on. You can't beat the kilt...period!

Packing up...

It's time. I went to the store a couple of days ago and bought all the stuff I need for the Big Trip. It took me about all day to get everything in it's proper place, but I think it's ready. First light on Monday, March 16, is still "go". This coming Wednesday night, I am driving down to Riverbluff to meet with David, and together we'll load up our kayaks and have them all ready to go for Monday.
Just yesterday, I had the priveldge of meeting a whole room full of legends at the St. Johns River Revival Conference: Bill Belleville, Keith Legette, Seth Dent, Michelle Thatcher...WHOA! My head's still spinning! I am hopefull that my and David's experiences in Riverbluff have adequately prepared us to follow in their footsteps, but I suppose that now only time will tell.

04 March, 2009

Dang!

Bad news on the wonder kayak; it's not actually so wonderful. I drove over to the house to check it out yesterday, and realized that it was, in fact, not 16ft, but 12ft long (I must have misheard my stepdad). On top of this, it ended up being one of the those rare kiddie kayaks that are only made for kids. I could barely fit my legs down into the opening! I think it's safe to say that I definately won't be taking that thing on the trip. Looks like it's back to the orange one, but that's okay. In a way, it's kind of fitting that we should bring "Old Orange", because we took it on the very first Riverbluff Canoe Trip; just that and a canoe. Old Orange is the wonder kayak now!