FLAMINGO FLOTILLA 2006: Jan. 28 - Feb. 5

[annd]

Mark your calendars! Flamingo 2006 starts with a new moon, and ends on the quarter. Stay an extra week to prowl through the back-country, and you'll be camping out in the 'Glades by the light of the full moon!

Believe it or not, this will be the Fifth Annual Flamingo Flotilla!

The Webmaster has kindly posted a calendar entry for us on the Folbot web site. Check it out for an overview of the event.

I sent out the first back-channel mailing of the season tonight. If you didn't get it and you'd like to be on the list, please let me know.

[Thomas Lundeen]

I plan arrive via the 99 mile Wilderness Water Way with the help of a few friends. Only 6 months to go...

[cliffy]

Please keep me on the list.. I'll keep trying ..
I do enjoy that gatering.....

[BOBK]

The rules have change for this year Cliffy. You have to bring your own alligator.

Bob K

[cluster148]

New Greenie owner here.Please put me--two of us--on the list for the Flamingo 06.Thanks

Cluster148@aol.com

Clark Luster

[annd]

New Greenie owner here.Please put me--two of us--on the list for the Flamingo 06.Thanks

Hey there, welcome Clark! I'll put you on the list. There should be several paddling G2s at the shindig, as well as a couple of sailers, so you'll have plenty of company.

From the hot, dry Sacramento Valley, pulling up star thistle and dreaming of wet, steamy mangrove marshes....

[jbcoleman]

Ann, Please put me on the list again. Now that I have a new knee, I will be there. Trying to decide on a room or camping. What kind of temperature can we expect? If you had to choose just one set of charts which would you buy. Its knid of confusing site unseen. Thanks
John Coleman

[annd]

Ann, Please put me on the list again. Now that I have a new knee, I will be there.

Cool beans, John! I look forward to meeting you. And your knee.

Trying to decide on a room or camping.

Tough one. Camping puts you more in the middle of things, since most folks stay at the campground. But I don't think the Lodgers have felt too left out in past years. A couple of us have bikes, and we jet on over to the Lodge to leave messages about impromptu pot-lucks and popcorn socials and the like. Plus you can always come visit. And the daily morning planning sessions at the campground will keep you as in sync with the day's activities as you want to be.

Last year, at mid-to-high tides, it was possible to launch into Florida Bay from a spot within easy carting distance from the campsites, but that is not true every year. At low tide, don't even think about it! If you're staying at the Lodge, you'd probably prefer to cartop the half-mile to the marina ramps to get to Florida Bay.

What kind of temperature can we expect?

Coldest-ever in Jan-Feb is 35 degrees (Fahrenheit!); warmest-ever in Jan-Feb is 89; avg. high in Jan-Feb is 77; avg. low 61. So bring clothes for all kinds of weather, including rainy, even though it's the dry season.

In past years, it's been so hot that we were actually grateful for the campground's cold showers; so cold that we shivered under sleeping bags and blankets; so windy that screen tents blew over (well, ok, my screen tent blew over; so rainy we were huddling under tarps tied to car mirrors and barbecue pits (you can't tie anything to trees in the campground). So come prepared for anything!

If you had to choose just one set of charts which would you buy.

Depends how far you plan to roam.

For day-paddles in the Flamingo area, including the near-shore waters of Florida Bay, I'd just bring Waterproof Chart #39 (“Lostmans River to Whitewater Bay”). This will also serve you just fine and dandy if you want to take an extended back-country camping trip, looping through Whitewater Bay and back down the Florida Bay beaches. You can spend a happy 3-10 days camping with this chart alone.

If you want to overnight on keys in Florida Bay, or sail farther out into the bay, you'll also want Waterproof Chart #33E ("Florida Bay”).

If you want to head north of Whitewater Bay, to complete the Wilderness Waterway, say, or camp in the Ten Thousand Islands, add Waterproof Chart #41 (“Everglades and Ten Thousand Islands”), and you're covered all the way up to the north end of the park, Everglades City.

All of the charts I've checked (Waterproof Charts, NOAA, Top Spot Fishing and Recreation Maps, and the placemat charts they sell at the Flamingo Marina) have a blind spot, if you're planning on doing the Wilderness Waterway. They lapse into strip charts for the northern portion of the park, which don't extend to the location of Sunday Bay chickee. Which I discovered one evening last year as I was looking for the Sunday Bay chickee. Oops. So for Waterway treks, I'd also bring National Geographic Trails Illustrated chart #243 ("Everglades National Park"). It covers the whole park, including Sunday Bay, but at a 1:100,000 scale. Not terribly detailed, but it's a good overview. I wouldn't take that as my only chart, though.

Waterproof Charts are available from
www.waterproofcharts.com

The Natl G. chart can be had at http://www.freshtracksmaps.com/ngtiparks.htm

One chart I haven not seen is Maptech # 28 ("Flamingo to Everglades City"), available from http://www.maptech.com/water/waterproof ... ida%20Keys. The Watertribers like this one, which, along with Waterproof Chart #33E, gets them from Everglades City to Key Largo. I imagine that Maptech #28 covers Sunday Bay Chickee. It's listed as "scale 1:166,666 with insets".

Confused enough yet? If not, just keep on asking questions! I'll see what I can do!

[cliffy]

One thing that won't work is dropping bread crumbs to find your way back. ..
It is a cool place.. / hot place.. ( lots of those "/'s? here eh. ha ha.) I like the place cause of the quiet..... it'll hurt your ears for a while till you get used to it.... and do allow yourself time.. to just set and look.... or listen.. each bend will afford new and different things to look at or listen too.... and there's lots of bends......

[BobA]

I'd like to be placed on the list, if I may. Sounds like fun. I'll bring a tent and a gallon of DEET alternative.
Bob

[cliffy]

The rules have change for this year Cliffy. You have to bring your own alligator.

Bob K

Not a problem..... we got 'em up here too.... I dont' have a "Pet" one.. but I did see one hitchhiking the other day.....

[Adirondick]

We are interested in the Flamingo Flotilla. We have a fifth wheel RV and are wondering what the closest camping spots would be to the Flotilla area. Thanks.
Dick and Peggy Mooers

[Guest]

We are interested in the Flamingo Flotilla. We have a fifth wheel RV and are wondering what the closest camping spots would be to the Flotilla area.

Hey, Adirondick, glad you changed your mind! I'll put you guys back on the mailing list.

There's a campground right in Flamingo, which is where most of the participants stay. Well, there and at the Flamingo Lodge. Depending on the size of your rig, you may be able to stay in the tent loops where most of us are. There is a separate loop nearby with pull-through sites for larger RVs. The campground has a dump station and facilities for filling your water tank, but no hookups. Cold showers only; hot showers are for sale at the marina, a mile away.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
1-305-242-7700
OR online at http://www.nps.gov/ever/visit/camping.htm
TO MAKE RESERVATIONS:
1-800-365-CAMP (select “Everglades National Park”, then “Flamingo”)
OR online at http://reservations.nps.gov (select “Everglades National Park”; then “Flamingo Mixed” for tents or small RVs, or “Flamingo RV only” for pull-through sites)

On your way in, in case you want to spend the night in Florida City so as to time your arrival at the Park for the morning hours, there is a WalMart just off the freeway in Florida City that welcomes boondockers. That way you'll have time to stop and see the Park visitor center and book store and the wonderful Royal Palms wildlife area before you launch upon the 40-mile drive from the Park entrance to Flamingo. And, of course, you will not want pass by the amazing Robert Is Here fruit stand after hours. That "closed" sign is a sad sight! Mmmm, key lime shakes....

See you there!
From Bellingham, WA....

[annd]

From Bellingham, WA....

Oops -- wrote that last post as "guest". Anyhow, it was me.