Is this a doable route? Via Little Hickory Bay?
New Pass to Wiggins Pass-Inside route
(12 posts) (7 voices)-
Yep, next one south of Big Carlos...
I looked at the route through Fish Trap / Hickory Bay on Bing maps. If you zoom in far enough, and switch to "Birds Eye" view you get arial photography of the whole route (much better resolution than Google Earth) In this view I can see pretty evenly placed channel markers along almost the whole route.
I asked this question a while ago and got this answer from KayakKowboy:
I would not take that route if there is a low tide. For the week of the race there are negative low tides. Combine that with an East wind and its a heck no. Fortunately, those negative are is the early early AM hours. Also, I would time the tides cause the water in there can be very directional. Go in at the wrong time and you could potential be going against it the entire time with not much open water.
On a side note, if you stay on the beach at Wiggins Pass you may have a visitor bring fresh donuts and coffee. There is a man that lives down there and follows the tracker to see who stays there so he knows what to bring.
I think we will be safe from the E wind problem, so it seems it may be a viable choice.
Posted 7 years ago # -
DolphinGal
MemberLast night's predictions for Monday had 9-12 NNW winds in the morning, building to 12-15 NNW by 4 PM and slackening back to 9-12 NNW by 7 PM. It's ~11.5 miles from the Sanibel Bridge to New Pass, straight line, and ~18 miles from the bridge to Wiggens.
Tides at Wiggins: Mon: 12:11 AM Low (-.17); 6:41 AM High; 11:27 AM Low; 5:08 PM High .... Tues 1:26 AM Low (-.19 - very low) 8:22 AM High
At real low tides, Wiggins can be a big sandbar with breakers across the whole pass. Add north winds against an outgoing tide and ugh. With any luck, the consistent NNW winds will keep more water in the bay, otherwise they'll be some skinny sections.
Lots of dredging at the inlet last year and I have not been there this year at low tide so I don't know what it's now like. Forecasts can and will change. Perhaps stop for a few minutes at Sanibel Bridge to check the latest wind forecast and figure when you expect to arrive at Wiggins wrt tide cycle. Then decide inside all the way, partially, or outside all the way.
Posted 7 years ago # -
SavannahDan
MemberWe did this in the Pygmy triple.
The best chart for this route is the "Top Spot" "Lemon Bay to Wiggins Pass" chart. There are fishing supply stores along that route that sell this chart as well as souvenir shops that sell cotton tee shirts and pharmacies that sell medical supplies. Our getting all these items and finishing that EC is part of the story about this route that you can hear if you come to our party.
Paddlemaker has finished more EC's than anyone, I believe. He finished all eight that he attempted. He almost didn't make this one, but those mystery items above saved the day, along with helpful advice from my friend's wife, who was an army surgeon at the time.
Have you got this figured out yet what happened? Why did souvenir cotton tee shirts allow us to finish?
Posted 7 years ago #
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