A day with a lot of lasts on this journey. Last long paddle day, last time I launch from a boat ramp, last night I sleep in the tent (and good timing; one of the poles snapped and I’ve had to patch it with duct tape), last use of the bug spray can, last cliff bars and sardines I’ll be eating for a while, and last Nutella breakfast. There was, however, one first. As I rounded the last protruding arm of mangrove trees on the north of Eliot Key, I caught sight of the skyscrapers in Miami Beach and Downtown Miami. For about a minute I stopped paddling, looked at those familiar buildings shapes which I know as well as the faces of old friends, and thought how in all the days of the journey, no matter how far was the next headland I could see into the horizon I knew I would always pass it eventually. Now however, that won’t be so, there is where it ends.
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I’m the only person camping in Boca Chita tonight. There were a few boats on the harbor when I arrived, a group of French Canadians, who were getting frustrated with the mosquitoes and a few other day trippers from Black Point Marina, but by half an hour after sunset everyone had left. Everything here is so quiet; all I hear is the churning of the water being pulled from out of Biscayne Bay by the falling tide, a few crickets and the occasional bird quack. The human sounds of Miami will feel so strange when I’m back.
Sea Kayak Florida Circumnavigation
