| Paddling John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park |
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| Written by Jon | |
| Sunday, 03 January 2010 00:00 | |
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What better place to spend your honeymoon than the Florida Keys!! Having finished Honeypot, a cedar strip canoe built for my new wife, we decided to bring our boats with us on our honeymoon in Key Largo and Key West. We had no definite paddling plans, but knew there would be countless great places to put in.
The weather gods were kind to us for our outdoor wedding, but the cold snap that hit on New Years made even the Florida Keys quite chilly. On Sunday we were supposed to dive the reef, but the chilly water and boat ride were too much. Instead we drove up the road a bit to John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. There we spent the afternoon sheltered from the wind by the beautiful mangroove lined canoe trail.
![]() We were pretty well bundled up against the wind. My buddy Chad had made a thwart which Lexi and I installed just before the trip. Worked out great with the folding cushion from my old sailboat. After initially heading north from the canoe launch we decided that it was too open, so we turned around and went under the wooden bridge.Going under the bridge was pretty cool with the gin clear water we could see fish and plants inches beneath our hulls.
![]() ![]() ![]() Once there we found the well marked canoe trail. We spent much of our time drifting with the outgoing tide in here. We tend to be very relaxed paddlers, no real destination. It really allows us to see what is going on as we ghost through the channels.
![]() We paddled back against the current easily, and hit one of the pavillions for lunch. There is a Publix on US 1 nearby, and if you aren't from Florida, you need to get their deli subs. Yummy easy kayaking lunch!
![]() After lunch I hopped in Honeypot to try her out with the new thwart. Felt like I was sitting a bit forward, but the in the pics she looks balanced. What a fun little boat!
![]() As I paddled by the canoe rental, the guys working there stopped me to ask questions about the boat. That is a pretty cool feeling, when folks are interested in something you built. It happened all week in the Keys and was quite and ego boost ;)
I got back to the launch spot and just picked up Honeypot, carried her to the truck and threw her up on my new racks. Tied down in less than 2 minutes, then I rolled back to the lunch spot to pick up my wife. Great afternoon on the water!
![]() More information about the park on the Official John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park website.
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