I am partnering with NRDC to paddle my outrigger canoe 1200 miles around Florida and west to New Orleans. My goal is to build support for a Healthy Oceans Act and steps to protect our oceans from global warming and ocean acidification. For those who do not know, I paddle to inform and for those who don't care, I paddle to inspire. I am documenting my journey on this blog during the month-long paddle.You can read more about the paddle, see photos, and take action here. You can also check out my personal website with information about this and other adventures here.

Oh my goodness the difference a chart makes to those that are navigationally challenged! Today I have vowed to pick up a decent chart, or as many as I can get, of the areas north of here. I am also determined to find the short cut to Crystal River. It'll make tomorrow's paddle longer, but what the heck, after yesterday's adventure where I tagged on an additional 10+ miles, I'll give anything for a relaxing day prowling around the wildly beautiful rivers of the Nature Coast. This place rocks, and the lack of tall condos and hotels is a welcome sight. And the people here are amazingly kind and generous.

From the people I met on the water who so patiently helped me get my bearings and point me on the water, to Jen and her husband and their friend, Doug, who lent me a bumper and rope so I could safely tie up my boat, to the very generous man who insisted I take his money, this has been amazing evidence of the goodness in the hearts of mankind and that yes, those that live, work, and play by the water really do care about the health of it.

Jen told me that her entire family is out on the water every day, and they just got their diving certifications. What an awesome thing. I am so kicking myself for not bringing a diving mask. I am dying to hop off the boat and check things out under water. It is the coolest thing to be paddling along and see a cobia pestering a ray, to see a little black tipped shark glide about, and to see schools of little fish dart and leap.

I paddle upstream, against a bit of a current, and come to some cute little homes. There's also a lovely couple out with their friend in a little skiff. We talk a bit about navigational tools, and he insists, I mean totally insists, on showing me his most awesome (and it was) GPS that shows roads as well as waterways. He was not gonna let me get by him without me seeing his GPS. And man, was I ever so glad I did that. Despite the arrow on my GPS saying I was 5 miles from my destination and heading the correct way, I was not. Oh panic. It is never a good feeling when you realize you've added miles to your trip, and that I'd you don't paddle hard you could very well be pddling through the night on the Gulf.

Hopefully my short cut to Crystal River will be after I pass Monkey Island, because that was pretty funny. There's this little island with monkeys on it.  I'm not kidding--it's the craziest thing!