Everglades Wilderness Waterway

Page 3
We prepared the boat for the trip.  This included provisioning for three days and buying extra gas for the four horsepower outboard, to assure we could make the 80 plus miles on engine alone (without the extra gas, Murphy's Law #5 would almost certainly go into effect, "As gas approaches insufficiency - wind approaches zilch").  We also arranged to stay at the Rod and Gun Lodge in Everglades City. 

Rigging Up

Into the Buttonwood Canal
     Finally, at 12:00 noon on the 16th, we were off.  We started up the Buttonwood Canal toward Marker No. 2, the first of the Wilderness Waterway's aids-to-navigation.  The day was sunny, cool, and windy.  We were prepared for temperature swings from 90 degrees all the way down to 40 degrees, but even so, we were surprised at the wind chill factor.  In fact, the Miami weather station was broadcasting freeze warnings to the Everglade farmers for that night, a rare occurrence.  The weather did warm up into the eighties during the week, but the first few days proved to us that you need to be prepared for cold weather, even in the Everglades.

Ready for Leaving Port
Mast Down to Past Through the Buttonwood's
Low Clearance Bridge
 

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