The Middle of Nowhere...really

By Matt Layden
Posted at 10:16 AM on March 07, 2006

This is Ed Killer, outdoors writer for Scripps Treasure Coast newspapers making an entry on Matt's behalf. Why, you ask? Because Matt is presently out of contact with the civilized world as we know it.

He is making his way down the southwest coast of Florida between Chokoloskee and Flamingo. He is probably 1-2 miles offshore sailing south and then east. Land to him right now is a green and brown winding strip of mangrove trees broken only by the occasional mouth of a river that flows from deep in the Everglades into the Gulf of Mexico.

He has passed places with isolated names like "Lostman's River", "Highlands Beach", "The Nightmare", "Shark River", and "Graveyard Creek". As of right now, he is probably very close to Flamingo, sailing east into the sun as it rises higher over shallow and expansive Florida Bay.

His route probably carries him right now around East Cape and past the northern tip of First National Bank. As he nears Conchie Channel, he will see the first red marker leading the way into Flamingo's basin - providing it has been replaced after H. Wilma ripped it off.

The Everglades National Park on its salty fringe is a vast and wondrous place. Cell phones do not work there. Matt's only link to the Watertribe's Chief will be via VHF radio.

After a short stop at Flamingo, Matt and the rest will progress to Key Largo, 30 miles across Florida Bay. Fishing guides from the Keys make that trip daily to target tarpon and snook in ENP.

Good luck to all. Stay tuned here for updates and occasional news on this group of Florida adventurers.

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