Ft Lauderdale Offshore Paddle...like paddling on a mirror

[Weeble]

The past week in South Florida has been pretty windy, making even backwater paddles on the intracoastal a pain at times with the way the wind would funnel between the tall buildings along the beach.  On Saturday, the ocean was just a mess with confused slop-n-chop and the wind picking up sand on the beach and making sure that it got in your eyes.  Then, at some point on Saturday night, it stopped and everything calmed down....WAY down.  We hit the beach around 6:30am and got on the water just as the sun came up around 7.  Other than the ripples at the shore, the water was crystal clear and flat as glass.  We went out and did a loop around one of the cargo ships anchored offshore that was waiting to come into Port Everglades.  The ship was around 2 miles out, and probably a mile to a mile and a half south of where SUPs are allowed to launch at the beach.  So off we went.  In the early morning there weren't even many boats out so the paddle out was super smooth and easy.  By the time we got out there and took some pix, some big ships started coming out of the port, so we ended up getting some nice bumps to ride & glide on the way back.  We saw a HUGE loggerhead turtle and a pretty big hammerhead.  Sadly, in both cases we were in such awe that no one even thought to take a photo!

[supthecreek]

Good stuff Weeble... love the calm stuff...thanks for the pics!
Did you Wobble as the large Hammerhead passed by?

[Deadbait]

Looks like fun.  Nice pics!

[Weeble]

Your welcome on the pix!  Not too many times that I get to paddle something so easy, as far as conditions go, that we can pull our cameras out and take shots.  Even where the ship was, we were concerned that when we got out there that we'd be dealing with a pretty strong current that is normally running north, but there was nothing.  Almost eerie that morning.

Right after we hydrated a bit and goofed off with pix at the ship, the OC-6 came by and then we headed back.  That's when we saw the big turtle and slowly paddled over to him.  Just when we got to the ship though, we watched a big shuttle boat...not sure if it is really a boat, or a small but VERY fast ship that does shuttle service from Port Everglades to the Bahamas came out of the port and was just blasting east.  We were still a mile or so away but we could see the huge wake and rooster tail that thing was throwing.  So, right about the time we checked out the turtle, those big wakes had arrived.  I jumped on the first bump and took off.  Apparently, behind one other friend jumped on the second bump/ wake and that is when the rest of the gang came across the hammerhead.  While I missed seeing the shark, I got to catch some nice bumps that took me for a long way.  Down in South Florida, we don't get many chances for riding bumps or downwinding, things rarely line up that way unless you're down in the FL Keys or the Biscayne Bay area the conditions are just right, so I don't regret missing the shark.

Also, apparently some kids caught a big hammerhead off of the beach about 20 miles north of Fort Lauderdale on the same weekend that our group encountered theirs: