Canoes 'N Kayaks!
If It Floats, We Bring It!
Pictures from the Kayak-Cam
Underwater Camera

Tom always marvels how the US ever beached at Normandy;
he knows how difficult it is to get 30 or so people in the water
at the same time and headed in the same direction! 

Ike loads up the truck with tubers--it's off to the Santa Fe juncture! Canoes and Kayaks headed to the Ichetucknee Head Springs to put in.	Kerry, John and Tom--"Well, we got the damn canoe off the truck, now what?  Tom is crippled and can't help us carry it!!!"
Tie up at Leroy Brown park for lunch--these weren't all the boats, just what would fit in this picture!	Suzanne and Kerry depart the Ichetucknee Headsprings as Tom gazes on wistfully. He can't paddle with broken ribs, so he was a landlubber at this event.
Let's get back on the water!   RD helps Danielle, Randy, Maura, Darla and Sharon launch.  Hmmm--how did RD get all the wimmin?	Beth hangs aside at the headsprings, under the "No-No" sign.  There is no food, beverage, tobacco, spittin', carrying on, or other such activity allowed at the Headspring.  Break the rules, they release the alligator!
Darla and John embark in the canoe--up ahead are Lynne and Shane--they got way ahead of us so we didn't see them the rest of the trip.	DEVIL'S EYE-Here's Darla watching Kerry do his Tarzan fling into the water near Devil's Eye--water is crystal clear, you can see 30 feet to the bottom.
Suz does her mermaid impression surfacing from the depths of Devil's Eye. This is one of the areas where the underground springs release water. Note how clear the water is, even at 23 feet deep!	Darla keeps a watchful eye for critters while everyone swims at Devil's Eye.  Last year there was a snake hanging out on this tree. At this event, there was a snake napping on the water lettuce 20 feet from where we dived.
Kerry plunges into Devil's Eye!	Little Sean, anxious to get to the river, drags John's inflatable kayak.  At RiverMadness, we let the kids do the work!
John and RD have launched the gang, now it's their turn to get waterbound!	Sean finds out how well the sexy swim goggles work...
Sharon and Maura ready to roll down the Headsprings.  These are Tom's kayaks and these things are great!  Very maneuverable and lotsa fun!	We came down the weekend before Memorial Day so we wouldn't have to dodge thousands of tubers on the lower Ichetucknee--but the weather was so nice they were out and having fun, too!
Cypress knees in the sun and shade, taken from the Kayak-Cam.  (That's an underwater camera attached by elastic to Suz's left wrist!)  This place is so hauntingly beautiful!	RD successfully navigates the rapids under the bridge.  This is a treacherous area, fast water with a big dropoff.   You either make it thru, capsize, or slam into that cement wall there!
Suz in RD's long sea kayak.    Harder to navigate, but this a FAST craft! (Handy for running from snakes & gators!) Webmistresses DO float!	While Darla and John paddle ahead, Beth admires the scenery from her sea kayak.  Beth has more sea kayak time than the rest of us! Experience is helpful, for if you capsize these, it's Eskimo Roll to get out!
Apparently the girls, altho impressed with Sean's goggles, don't have the same enthusiasm for his rubber yacht.	Here's Maura in the sit-atop. Maura is a certified dive instructor, and we have other pictures of her geared up underwater.
Kerry pushes off in the Old Town canoe.  This is the touring version, very slim profile with shaped keel--they're fast, but easy to tip over.  Gotta be graceful getting in!	RD stops to chat with Sean in his Heinie float farther down the river.  It's nice to pull aside for awhile and just bask in the dappled sunlight and enjoy the scenery.
At the end of the day, Sharon is still all smiles--she really enjoyed that kayak.  Hmmm--will she soon have a roof rack on her car and be lugging around a floatable?	Suzanne from St. Louis-Good girl in an emergency, as she's a doctor of internal medicine.  If you get hurt, she gives you sympathy and a Band-Aid, but draws the line at kissin' boo-boos.
Kerry relaxes in the sunshine, drifting by the cypress trees.  There's just no better way to spend a weekend!	Suzanne stands next to a huge cypress knee--that dark section to the right is the INSIDE of the tree!
The teens horse around while the food is cooking at Leroy Brown Park.	Little Sean and Moose--there's nothing happier than a boy and a dog!

A visit to the CRITTERS page will give you a close up of a real live manatee!

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