by Ron Foster
The wind took the hot floor of the simmering forest and threw it into the air where it gained momentum by catching fire to the boughs of bigger trees. Pine sap heated quickly and hissed as it reached a boiling point. Wildfires move quickly. When it's hot, dry, and there's a lot of fuel, it can take just seconds for them to spread. Many people and animals would not escape this fire today.
Flames had roared on either side of the exit not far from the last road he had passed. Hogan was torn between wanting to have his window up or down as the smell of smoke and a roar like the “the sound of a storm at sea” assaulted his senses.
Finally! There it was, the crossover point he had been looking for and he and Annie headed back to the less trafficked northern lanes away from their objectives. Hogan eventually went about 40 miles out of his way and got on a more southerly eastern route eventually heading for the panhandle of Florida. There would be no going home to Alabama for now, at least not this way and probably for some time to come. Plan B was officially in motion. It didn’t matter much to him how he managed it, but he was going to try to follow any road he could find that went ever eastward to the coastal waters.
A couple of hours driving should get him to the ocean eventually and he could figure out where exactly that might be as he went. Hopefully, there would be no more great fires to contend with and detour around. Once he got close to the Florida line he had his pick of many rivers and creeks that could also get him there if the roads got impassably bad.
His gas was holding up good, he had a bit over a half tank left and there was hardly any traffic at all on these back roads he was taking. He couldn’t hear crap on his radio that helped him ascertain whether or not for him to expect anymore fires so he was mentally just seat of the pants navigating you might say. He knew that hopefully if he drove far enough East or South he should bump into some familiar territory and know where he was at but right now he was lost.
He eventually pulled over by the side of the road and got out to talk to Annie about what it was they were doing now that the fire was far behind them
.” Annie, I have been thinking about the best way to approach the Florida line from here but I am a bit confused until I get to see some better land marks. Let’s take a few minutes looking at this map and maybe see if we can guess where exactly it is that I have gotten us to so far.” Hogan said pulling out a rumpled road map and trying to find his estimated starting point.
“Hogan, are we heading straight into Florida to stay or are you going to be trying to find your way back home to your house in Alabama?” Annie asked confused as to what it was he was attempting to do.
“I am thinking that we are pretty much stuck going to Florida and staying for awhile. That fire prevented me from going the few regular routes that I knew to go back that way. I think now the best thing to do would be just keep driving south east until I can recognize something or get directions. This road that we are on now as far as I can see isn’t listed on this map or it’s called something else that’s not marked here. I haven’t seen any road signs or highway markers for awhile, have you?” Hogan asked.
“Not since we turned around and you headed this way. Hogan, I want to thank you so much for turning around when you did. I have never been so scared or so glad in my life get off a road or out of a traffic jam. Most of the time I couldn’t tell if we were heading towards a fire, going by a fire or the fire was chasing us.” Annie said securing her wind blown hair under a camo ball cap.
“Me neither, that was a pretty scary ride but I wasn’t leaving anything to chance. I was looking at taking the dirt median also. Anyway, we made it through ok and it looks like it is just a matter now of getting ourselves un-lost from here and back on our way.” Hogan muttered as he went back to his befuddled map reading.
After a few minutes of trying to get their bearings, they began to assume that pretty much any part of the panhandle would be ok to come out at eventually and they set off down the road once again.
In about an hour or so of driving, Hogan began thinking that he knew exactly where it was they were at. Well more or less anyway and he settled in for a more leisurely calmer drive with lots of signs helping point him towards the beaches. When his instincts about the strip road they were on were confirmed not long after seeing a sign or two he turned after about fifteen miles and headed for a deserted stretch of coastal highway he had been on before. This was the road less traveled most of the time and he didn’t see any cars.
Hogan pulled off the road after going several miles down the highway and then exited into a small residential area and parked between two billboard signs.
“Annie, this is part of the entrance to the estuary that comes out not too far from St. Joseph Peninsula State Park on the Gulf of Mexico across the bay from Port St. Joe. We are going to call this home for awhile.” Hogan said surprising Annie that this was indeed the end of their journey for awhile.
“This is not what I expected at all, it looks like the end of a canal or something.” Annie said thinking coastal meant ocean.
“Well this is a canal of sorts but you can get out on the big water from here. Locals use it for Kayaking. What we are going to do is unload our junk here and I guess scatter our cars a distance apart back out on the road like we are broke down or something. That way anyone coming down here won’t think we just launched and might still have gas in the vehicles or possibly mistaking us for a kayaker coming back from fishing to rob maybe.” Hogan said having worked out a bit of a strategy on the way here.
.
“That sounds reasonable, so now we have to find us a camp somewhere for tonight. Question is what are we going to be doing tomorrow?” Annie asked.
“That is sort of hard to answer. From this point on I don’t know very much at all about the coast except that this or that should be over there off in a general direction. We will make do and fish and hunt until we decide where home is going to end up being for the summer. We are doing good and still have a month’s worth of food, maybe we will just hang out and camp for a few days and decide what is next.” Hogan said when confronted with the realization and fact that this was but the beginning of their journey and that he didn’t know where this journey was going to end up at.
Annie and he conferred and decided to do just that for the following week. Just camp and leisurely pass the days exploring the coastline. They saw few other boaters but they made sure that they camped in obscure out of the way places. They just played nomad staying close to shore and to themselves, carefully and warily watching the water and the beach for signs of danger or an opportunity.
Not all dangers however, were visible to the eye as they were about to find out. Not all things could be seen even if you knew where to look. You also needed to know how to look.
9
The Great Reunion
Hogan pushed his boat off the beach and fought the light waves coming from the ocean until he got out far enough away from shore to jump in it and motor it out. Annie was already launched and paddling her kayak further out on the sparkling blue water waiting on him to join her. She said she preferred today to enjoy paddling for awhile rather than be towed or riding with Hogan. Hogan said he might also try to row his boat with the oars for awhile later but for now he would just as soon set the trolling motor on medium speed and sit under his canopy and ride.
They had made it about six miles paddling and motoring up the coast when Hogan pointed out a peninsula ahead that they needed to make for.
“What’s over there?” Annie said floating in her kayak next to Hogan’s boat.
“A long time ago I was looking around on the internet at big coastal acreage land with a client. He asked me if I knew about where a particular parcel might be located at because I frequented this coastline doing some fishing and camping and I guessed that it should be roughly around this location. I have never been to the property before but it should be around here somewhere. There wasn’t anything built on the beach side of it the ad said but there wa
s a caretaker’s house and some big metal buildings inland. Looked like a lot of scrub oak woods on 700 acres with not a lot of accessible shoreline. That might be that same property up there, it’s too far to see from here any details.” Hogan said looking ahead.
Six miles today was pretty good traveling. There was no way they could of even hauled a ¼ of their gear and food hiking that distance let alone do it way before dark. Annie was fit and the kayak glided effortlessly at a pace she could never have walked however. Hogan kidded with her once or twice going over to the point by turning his motor on high and lounging back in his seat with his feet up and she struggled to keep up.
“There is a lot to be said for solar power and electric trolling motors!” Hogan had joked.
He had seen other people solarize their Sea Eagle boats with everything from do-it-yourselflow wattage battery tender panels to the full blown commercial Sea Eagle Torqeedo Package.
Hogan had told Annie they would have to see about constructing her something to attach a trolling motor on her 370 model. He had seen the company do it on the more expensive 385 but he wasn’t sure about modifying hers. Annie said that was the least of her worries because for one they didn’t have an extra motor and battery and besides she got great joy in paddling hers just the way it was.
Hogan agreed and said they didn’t have an extra solar panel either but he could have charged her up also in a day or two depending on battery size.
Motor mount
They got close to shore and started following its contours towards the little peninsula. As they progressed, Hogan slowed way down as some wisps of wood smoke made their appearance from the woods lining the shore up ahead. Annie motioned towards her nose she could smell food cooking and pointed to the shore and then off towards the bay indicating should they stay close to investigate or get further out on the water so they didn’t surprise the campers.
They were almost right up on rounding the point so Hogan decided to just to proceed cautiously and put his shotgun across his lap as Annie loosened the holster strap on her pistol.
Hogan saw a road heading in from a small beach and as he was passing it, suddenly stopped and put his trolling motor into reverse and waved Annie over pointing.
When she got close, he whispered that he recognized that trailer and that it was one of those neat Tetra Pod boats he had told her about.
“Wow, that’s pretty cool. I can see what you mean about it also being a survival trailer now.” She whispered back as Hogan looked around the area for signs of life while deep in thought on what it might be doing there.
“Could it be? What would be the chances of that actually being Sam’s boat?” He speculated.
“Probably it was just someone who had one like it but those kinds of boats were relatively new on the market and not a lot of them to be seen around these parts. Sure it had to be someone else, Sam and Lori were most likely happily bugged in back at home in Alabama but the brush fires could have sent them this way.” Hogan mused.
“Wouldn’t it be great if his old friends were here?” Hogan thought and whispered his speculations to Annie who hoped he was right but that didn’t change the fact they couldn’t be sure and be cautious.
After a few moments of hesitation and listening Hogan called out “HELLO THE TETRAPOD!” and waited on a response. He called out again as they slowly proceeded forward towards the wood smoke up shore and was rewarded with a shout back after a long pause.
“Is that you, Hogan? Can that be my buddy?” The voice called back and pretty soon three figures appeared from the woods to a little shore.
“Yea, it’s me you old Pirate! Now ain’t this a coincidence! Hey, Lori girl!” A jubilant Hogan called back.
“It’s them Annie! It’s really them! How lucky can we get? I can’t believe this!” Hogan said beside himself and smiling with glee as he motored his boat towards them waving and hollering.
“I see that!” Annie replied and paddled furiously to catch up with Hogan who was heading for the excited trio.
“You all be careful of the stingrays getting out!” Sam called back as they headed towards the beach.
“What sting rays? WHERE?” Annie asked looking on both the surface and down in the shallow water around her.
“Oh there is probably one around somewhere, just poke your paddle in the sand and they will take off and move.” Lori called back.
“Hogan, I can’t believe that is you! Mind the stingrays; we don’t call this place Stingray Point for nothing. They won’t bother you none unless you step right on one but chances are you will scare a few up.” Sam said as Hogan and Lori carefully put in and Hogan beached his boat.
Annie parked her kayak on the shore and followed Hogan.
After Hogan got done hugging Sam and Lori and getting introduced to their friend Hank everyone stood looking at the well laden watercraft and searching for signs of any dangerous sea creatures.
“I can’t believe you didn’t scare up a few of them sea bats, maybe us catching and eating them all the time has thinned their ranks some.” Hank said who appeared to be a 35-ish medium built looking man with a bandage around his leg. He asked Annie to borrow her Kayak paddle and then poked the sand and water around Hogan’s boat so they could unload some gear.
“Hank has developed quite a well deserved aversion to those venomous things. We found him sick as dog about a week ago looking awful pitiful waving at us from the beach after being stung by one.” Sam said.
“I think I must be allergic to them things, I thought I was going to die at first.” Hank said while unwrapping the bandage to show them an angry red sore on his calf.
“It looks better today; that hole in his leg actually turned sort of blue for awhile. Good thing Sam knew what to do for it.” Lori said not having that crucial medical skill in her repertoire to help the man.
“Hogan, heed some advice if you even think about sprinting down this beach and going for a swim be sure to slow down and start shuffling as soon as your feet hit the water.” Sam said and noted the confusion his guests had to that statement.
“The best way to make sure stingrays steer clear of your feet is to slide your feet along the sand instead of taking big steps. The shuffling sends vibrations that scare away stingrays in the immediate vicinity, thus you won't accidentally step on one. The idea is to try to push the sand forward and cause a disturbance that displaces the stingray without you stepping on it. If you step on it, you’re in bad trouble, when you say oh hell and try to get away — that's when they get the barb in you." Sam said warningly.
“Not all rays are bad though; there are many types of rays in Florida waters. Most of them can’t cause you any kind of harm. The Sting Ray can cause a painful wound. They lay on the sandy bottom partially covered with sand. Sometimes only their eyes are poking out of the sand. Sting Rays have a sharp bony barb at the base of their tails. If you step on the animal, it reacts by lashing its tail at your foot. The barb does have venom and it causes what I hear a very painful wound which can easily produce a nasty infection.” Lori said as Sam and Annie stared at the ocean bottom.
“I've seen grown men break down and cry, they hurt so much. I thought I was going to also if I hadn’t gotten so nauseous while having such a hard time breathing on top of the pain to get around to it though. If one those devilish things get you good, it will put you down for the count let me tell you. But the good news is that the additional side effects don't last very long except when you consider being in excruciating pain that peaks in 1-2 hours. You really got to be careful around them creatures because although not aggressive they are not terribly shy and will allow you to approach quite closely before fleeing.” Hank said reaffixing his bandage.
“Haven’t you ever seen one of those signs in touristy parts of Florida that warn you about those things? I call the little beach dance I do the Tampa Bay shuffle; most folks refer to it just doing the stingray shuffle. The best way to avoid Sting Rays is to shuffle your feet when you are walking in th
e water.” Sam said.
“Sting rays around here are particularly common this month, Hogan, and it is not unusual to see a dozen or more swimming away if you are the first person in the water.” Lori warned.
“Ok, here are a couple of the unwritten rules around here. Stingrays travel in schools and they like to come up to shore between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., which also seems to be when most people think of coming to the beach. We haven’t had too many boats come by but that’s when you need to be out of the water and watching for boaters. We haven’t had anybody playing pirate around here we know of but you can never tell. Did you and Annie have anybody give you all any trouble heading over here?” Sam asked.
“No, we wave to other people we see out on the water and they wave back but we usually keep our distance if we can. Now Atlanta on the other hand sounded like the fourth of July there for awhile but we were mostly hiding out in the woods on the river so I cant tell you exactly what’s going on there.” Hogan said thinking that the echoes of gunfire were an everyday occurrence back in the city.
“We try not to have any fires going during those times but we have been building one late afternoons to help start getting rid of the mosquitoes as well as for safety’s sake when we are going in the water. You all need to remember this bit of advice also. If you are stung by a ray, the best remedy is to soak the affected area in a bucket of water. You want to get that water as hot as you can without burning your foot. You need to do this for about an hour and a half. What happens is, the heat will cause immediate pain relief by starting to neutralize the poison. We keep us a bucket of hot water on the campfire kind of like most snack bars and lifeguard stations have hot water and buckets ready for stingray incidents. Keep in mind also, if you get stung you should, while still in the water, irrigate the wound with sea water; that helps some with the pain and infection also.” Sam said seriously but still smiling at the sight at of his old friend and the new acquaintance he had brought.
