A Man With a Mission

We decided to stay on a mooring in St. Augustine harbor for a week. You can anchor here but they have seriously reduced the size of the anchorage area with the new moorings. Many people (boaters) are pretty angry about that, they feel that they have the right to anchor anywhere for free.  While I agree with that,  this area is very close to the inlet and has very strong currents, so being on a mooring will prevent a lot of boats from swinging or dragging into each other. So we decided to pick up a mooring which also allows us to use all the marina services (it cost $20 per night or 7 nights for the price of 6), although you can pay $10 per day for the same services if you are anchored.  

After our first night, as we were getting school going and checking things out on deck, we happened to meet a kayaker paddling through the mooring field. He stopped to ask a couple of questions and then he ended up coming on board for a while and talking with us. 

Jason the Kayaker

He is two weeks into a solo kayaking trek that started 200 miles ago from the St. Johns River (near Jacksonville) to end in New Smyrna, FL about another 70 miles.  He's paddling along the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway), having to stop and spend the night along the way. Those bright orange paddles of his, help his visibility; there are a lot of boats (most headed north) on the ICW this time of year. 

All his gear is carried in this kayak, a Wilderness Systems Tarpon 120: clothes, food, water, stove, pans, sleeping bag, tent, and two fishing poles you can see standing up in the back. Quite an adventure, but Jason seems to be up for that and we don't doubt that he will complete the trip. A year in the planning, this isn't a trip many others could do, but Jason seems like a guy who could do just about anything he puts his mind to, especially if there is a challenge in there. He had been told that it couldn't be done on a 120, which is why he is doing it on a 120.