Lots more pictures now posted of this sunny Suwannee River outing past springs and sand like snow, plus Hands Across the Sand.
-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
Tag Archives: Phil Hubbard
Woods Ferry to Suwannee Springs, Outing and Hands Across the Sands, Suwannee River 2017-05-20
Update 2023-04-13: Pictures.
Due to low water, we’re moving the May 20th outing downstream! With lunch, swim stops, and bon-bons, of course. Bring bug spray and the usual personal flotation device, boat paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit. If you don’t have a boat, there are many outfitters, or let us know and many of us have spare boats.
Two outfitters advise there should be enough water on this route to avoid much boat dragging. There is a slight 30% possibility of afternoon thunder showers. Same date, same time, same river: just a bit downstream.
When:
9AM Saturday May 20, 2017, meet to shuttle
10AM: Start paddling
12PM noon: Stop for Hands Across the Sand
“Say NO to dirty fuels and YES to clean energy”
2-3PM: Finish some time around then
Put In: Mile 158.0, Woods Ferry Tract Launch, in Suwannee County, Florida
GPS of Entrance: to Woods Ferry Tract 30.343508, -82.855187
Paddle Distance: 8.0 river miles
Paddle Duration: 4 hours
Directions to Put In: From Live Oak, travel north on Continue reading
Water low but passable, White Springs to Swift Creek, Suwannee River 2017-05-20
Update 2017-05-17: OK, the water’s gotten too low at the original location, so we’re moving downstream to Woods Ferry Tract Launch to Suwannee Springs.
Hands Across the Sand on the Suwannee Saturday! The river is quite low (48.78 feet NAVD on the White Springs gage), but it looks doable from the put-in and take-out. A ranger at Stephen Foster State Park told me paddling from White Springs to Swift Creek would be doable, perhaps with a few dry spots. I’ll also call a local outfitter or two for their opinions.
White Springs down from ramp
Meanwhile, bring bug spray (gnats) and a rope (to pull your boat over sand bars), and we’re still on for 9AM Saturday 20 May 2017. See the outing announcement for more details.
Plus: that’s the day of Hands Across the Sand, “Say NO to dirty fuels and YES to clean energy”. WWALS has been saying that for years, so somewhere on the Suwannee we will stop and do Hands Across the Sand against the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline and for solar power.
White Springs low spot
Continue readingPaddle or Race, Scott James Talk 92.1 FM radio 2017-04-27
Scott James had already been talking to WWALS Outings Chair Phil Hubbard
about the
BIG Little River Paddle Race Saturday morning at Reed Bingham State Park,
so he knew some good questions to ask on his Talk 92.1 FM Radio show this morning.
Scott also had this morning’s Valdosta Daily Times, which
has a nice writeup on the paddle race on the top of page 5A.
Remember to register online or at the event Saturday morning. On-site registration is at Red Roberts Landing, from Exit 41 on I-75.
You do not have to actually race, you can just paddle. But the long-time winner has some real competition this year, with multiple people training seriously to win that $50 first place prize. You could win one of many other prizes, for young, old, male, female, or single, double, or triple kayak or canoe.
Come on down and paddle, eat the lunch grilled by Phil Hubbard, and bid in the silent auction!
And you can get tickets for the kayak raffle, either at the race or online.
Here’s the video: Continue reading
Sullivan Launch to Madison Blue Springs, Withlacoochee River, 2017-06-24
Update 2017-06-26: A fine day on the Withlacoochee River from Sullivan Landing to Madison Blue Spring 2017-06-24.
Paddle with WWALS to one of the most beautiful springs on the Withlacoochee River, from Sullivan Launch to Madison Blue Spring, about 6.5 hours including shuttle, with lunch, swim stops, and bon-bons, of course.
Bring the usual personal flotation device, boat paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit.
Bring a canoe or kayak if you’ve got one, otherwise there are plenty of
outfitters,
or let us know and many of us have extra boats.
When: 9AM Saturday 24 May June 2017
Put In: Sullivan Launch, river mile 21.9
From Pinetta, travel east on CR 150; turn right at the bridge and follow road to
launch.
GPS: 30.595667, -83.26
Duration: 6.5 hours
Event: facebook
Free: This outing is Free! And we recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!
Take Out: Continue reading
White Springs to Swift Creek, Suwannee River, 2017-05-20
Because SRWMD tells us Blue Sink Launch is closed, our May Suwannee River outing will take out slightly downstream at Swift Creek Lunch, which should be easy to recognize from the river because American Canoe Adventures has put up these nice triangular flags:
Photo: Jesse Wilkes, November 23, 2016
The put in at White Springs Wayside Park and everything else is the same; see the updated outing announcement for all the details.
We’re bringing bon-bons. See you there in May!
-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
Ft Macomb to Ivey Memorial Park, Suwannee River, 2017-06-10
A medium length summer paddle on the Middle Suwannee River: Fort Macomb Ramp to Ivey Memorial Park June 10, 2017, past springs, shoals, and Branford. This one will probably take about 5 hours paddling, or 6 hours including shuttle. With lunch, swim stops, and bon-bons, of course.
Bring the usual personal flotation device, boat paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit.
When: 9AM Saturday 10 June 2017
Put In: Ft. Macomb Ramp, river mile 86.6
From Mayo, travel east on US 27 to CR 410; turn left on CR 410; follow to boat
ramp.
Take Out:
Ivey Memorial Park Ramp, river mile 76.0
Boat ramp is located in Branford on the south side of US 27 at the
Bridge in Ivey Memorial Park.
29.9538379,-82.9303607
This map detail and all landing directions are from Continue reading
White Springs to Blue SInk Swift Creek Launch, Suwannee River, 2017-05-20
Update 2017-05-17: OK, the water’s gotten too low at the original location, so we’re moving downstream to Woods Ferry Tract Launch to Suwannee Springs.
Update 2017-05-15: The water’s low, but so far it’s a go, plus it’s Hands across the Sands on the Suwannee against the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline and for solar power.
Update 2017-04-06: SRWMD tells us Blue Sink Launch is closed, so we’ll be taking out nearby at Swift Creek Launch.
Join WWALS for a brief paddle 8 miles on the Suwannee River through White Springs down to Blue Sink Swift Creek Launch.
This shouldn’t take more than 4 hours paddling or 5 hours including shuttle.
With lunch, swim stops, and bon-bons, of course.
Bring the usual personal flotation device, boat paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit. If you don’t have a boat, there are many outfitters, or let us know and many of us have spare boats.
When: 9AM Saturday 20 May 2017
Put In: Suwannee River Wayside Park Ramp, river mile 171.0
From White Springs, travel south on US 41 to the river; the
ramp is on the south side in the town park.
This map drawn using landing directions from the
Suwannee River Wilderness Trail map of
Boat Ramps & Canoe Launches
and SRWMD’s Blue Sink, Rocky Creek, Swift Creek.
Duration: 5 hours
Free: This outing is Free! And we recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!
Shuttle Distance: Continue reading
Update: Fargo to Roline, Suwannee River, 2017-03-18
WWALS Outings Committee Chair Phil Hubbard wrote Tuesday on the facebook event:
Looking forward to the WWALS outing on the historic Suwannee River. Water level currently at Fargo is 93.34′ (2.34′) slightly increasing with the 0.6″ of rain in Fargo yesterday. White Springs is at 52.02′ and rising.
Weather forecast is clear skys and virtually no chance of rain. Temps with an over night low mid 40’s and forecast high of upper 70’s.
What an awesome way to welcome in the return of spring from its brief departure.
Follow the original event blog post for more details.
See you 7AM Saturday, March 18th, 2017, at the Suwannee River in Fargo, Georgia, to paddle into Florida to Roline Landing!
For more outings and events as they are posted, see Continue reading
Five water items at Lowndes County Commmision + a board appointment @ LCC 2017-02-14
If you care about water and sewage and water quality in wells and rivers,
many county commission and city council decisions affect all of those.
Here are some examples this week from the Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
which represents the most populous county in the Suwannee River Basin,
upstream from Florida.
Also, WWALS board member Phil Hubbard was appointed to Continue reading