On Saturday night we were trying to decide on a new river to paddle. I went on the internet to find somewhere to paddle within a one hour drive of Palm Harbor.
The Weeki Wachi fit our criteria perfectly! It is almost a one hour drive straight down state road 19. We contacted Floridacanoe.com and they graciously offered to load our canoe on their trailer and bring us to the Weeki Wachi state park along with the customers renting their canoes.
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| The storefront |
Their rates are extremely reasonable and they were friendly and knowledgable about the river. They even brought our canoe into the river and we were off.
This was a totally different adventure than we were used to. Canoes and kayaks were launching continuously, mostly by rental customers of varying skill levels. And I would not categorize this as a beginner's river. There was also a strong current and a very high water level due to tropical storm Debby and an extremely high tide. Many branches that extend across this very winding river make it a challenging and exciting ride.
The water is crystal clear for the first part of the river and all forms of fish can be seen.
Like the Hillsborough river, there were many obstacles both natural and man made. Boats of every way, shape and form came down the river, usually right down the middle. The trees are so thick in places that there is only about a five foot clearance in places.
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| You can see the river narrowing here, I had to put the camera away for a while in the densest part for fear of losing it overboard! |
The canoes and kayaks can be scary enough, but the boats with motors can be terrifying. We learned quickly to hug th shore when we heard a motor approaching. Most people slowed down immediately but several just plowed on throwing a substantial wake. More than one person jumped out of a tree branch very close to our canoe.
But the best was a woman who shocked both her companion and us by diving directly in front of our very obvious yellow vessel. Only after my daughter shouted "Ma'am. Ma'am. Ma'am!", did her husband respond by pulling her out of the way!
Towards the end of our paddle, we entered an area of the river where it backs up to houses.
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| Love this boat name! |
The paddle down to the rental store is about three hours at a relaxed pace. We pulled in around the back of the store and the owner cheerfully loaded our canoe back on top of our blazer!
Sadly, we were so excited by this assistance that we forgot half of our gear. And Krista, the owner of the shop was considerate enough to text me this info so we could return and pick it up.
This is definitely a river to do again, maybe midweek to avoid the crowd.
I would use the same launch service again, their assistance was wonderful.
Please keep reading for the rest of the pictures!
