Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Survival Tips

     My dad has been sending me pages from an old desk calendar where every day was a new tip for surviving an extreme situation. I would like to say I'll never need that information but my mind gets wrapped up in the possibility that I'll be faced with jumping out of a building into a dumpster and if I don't know how to do it correctly, well, it's my own damn fault.
     One of the tips, however, dealt with escaping from quicksand.  I haven't ever experienced true quicksand but here in Florida there is some serious muck that has given me pause.
     I originally got into the kayak lifestyle when an acquaintance offered to step up my game of surf fishing for pompano to kayak fishing for redfish in the Florida lagoons.  On one of our first outings, I was walking a muddy shoreline of the Indian River Lagoon when I instantly sank to my knees in muck. There was a moment of panic until I realized the sinking part of the experience had gone as far as it would go, but I was stuck and my fishing buddy was on the other side of a tall gravel embankment and it was very windy so he couldn't hear me.  I pulled myself together and slowly worked my way out of the goo.  It was an interesting wake up call about being aware of your surroundings in an unfamiliar environment.
     This redfish was the most amazing payoff from those years and I still show off these photos every chance I get.
     And just so you know, I resuscitated the fish (in progress in the above photo) and it swam away.
     Fossiling in the Peace River has presented a new set of challenges...
     ...with equally enticing payoffs.
     The cypress trees along the river beg to have their photo taken and I begged to have my photo taken with them.  I started to wade over to this tree...
...but when the murky waters went over my thighs I retreated and paddled over instead.  I'm the first to admit I'm a puss but for all the time I'm spending in the river, I like to err on the side of caution.







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