January 20 I awoke and grabbed the charts. We had reached Key Largo, the northernmost key where the overseas highway turns inland across Jewfish Creek to head to Miami 60 miles away. Continuing north would bring us to Elliot Key and Biscayne National park after passing the Ocean Reef Club. Not being a member there were no more hotels or cheap motels and only one or two campgrounds in the 45 to 50 mile stretch to Key Biscayne and Miami harbor. With only three rowing days ahead I needed to make a decision. The winds were predicted to diminish but remain from the Northeast. Very shallow waters in Biscayne Bay at low tide were reported in the book about kayak touring we had read. It seemed that under ideal conditions we could make it. But if there was a problem that held us up so that we did not make Key Biscayne where we could find the first possible place to terminate and store the boat, we would be stuck where there was no way to turn back and we could not make our flight home. I questioned why I was bent on making Key Biscayne much less Ft. Lauderdale by the 23^rd. These were guessed at objectives to begin with. We had rowed the length of the Keys against unfavorable winds on all but two days. I should be happy. I looked at alternative routes. Canals on the mainland protected from wind came to mind.

Then a great idea struck me. We have both wanted to see the Everglades and here were three days and a boat to do it in! I immediately called Thrifty and found they could be here in an hour with a Dodge Durango with a roof rack. The boat would tie on upside down. Then I remembered that we had left Heather’s oars and RoWing out at Sugarloaf Key to be picked up by UPS at some later date. Why not go and fetch them in the car and bring them home with us? We enjoyed driving the 80 miles back along the highway we had rowed along for the past week. It made the magnitude of the trip seem much more real. Seven Mile Bridge and Long Key’s channel had been long rows into strong winds but now they even looked longer. We stopped and looked for the elusive endangered Key deer on Big Pine Key as we returned and a short ways up a side road one crossed the road in front of us! So the fetching of our abandoned property was satisfying in several ways. We even took the anchor we never used back to West Marine and received credit for it. It had added to our dunnage significantly and I appreciated the value of security it gave us but we really had never needed it and it was too large and heavy. We have never used the fins, masks and snorkels we had brought because it has been too cold but they will keep for another trip. My advice to anyone trying to do this trip: Plan to rent! We were over equipped!

After the round trip to Sugarloaf Key we tied on the boat and turned onto U.S. 1 north, immediately crossing Jewfish Creek off the keys toward the road to Flamingo at the end of the Florida peninsula where we would launch again in search of alligators and crocodiles!