Follow the leader

By Diane Daniel, Globe Correspondent, 04/07/02

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For about 10 years, Ned Bangs, his friend Doug Lowry, and sometimes Doug's wife, Sarah, all of Marshfield, had been going every winter to different parts of the Everglades to go kayaking. This year, Bangs, who is director of the Marshfield Recreation Department, and Lowry, who teaches sea kayaking through the National Outdoor Leadership School, decided to lead an outing to the Florida preserve under the auspices of the recreation department.

Eight men and two women signed up - after asking many questions about alligators, Bangs said. "They wanted to know, 'How many would we see? Will they bite our boat? Will they come up and bite us on the beach where we're camping?' I told them no, because we'll be on the ocean and they don't go in the ocean."

Most of the 10, all of whom were from the South Shore and ranged in age from 38 to 63, had never paddled before and some had never camped. The rec department charged $600 a person for everything but transportation and three meals in Florida. Participants had to bring a cup, bowl, spoon, and a sleeping bag. (Some brought their own tents.)

Bangs, 43, and Lowry, 42, drove down with a trailer full of kayaks, tents, and cooking gear and met their charges on a February Sunday at the airport in Fort Myers. The first night they stayed at the Ivey House Inn B & B in Everglades City, where they would stay two other nights. "They liked that there was some time to camp and also time to sleep in a bed and take a shower," Bangs said.

The next day they took to the ocean, and paddled a hefty 10 miles to the beach on Pavilion Key. "It's a pretty fair amount for a beginner. People were tired the first day, and yes, they were a little bit sore the next day," Bangs said. "We hadn't practiced setting up tents, so people were put to the test right away. They were a big eating group, too. I said to Doug, we're going to have to buy more food."

Bangs calls Lowry "the Julia Child of the wild." The two guides did all the cooking, offering up such delicacies as sticky buns, pancakes, and curried chicken.

On Tuesday, the group paddled about the same distance, and set up camp on the beach at Picnic Key. "We paddled against the tide, and with big wind and big waves. It took a long time," Bangs said. Out of necessity, the paddlers learned to do "transfers," moving people from one kayak to another on the water, because there needed to be a strong paddler in each kayak.

"That was a learning experience. We needed to move a little bit quicker or otherwise we'd be setting up at night with our flashlights and headlights," he said.

The scenery was beautiful. "We saw dolphins and some sailboats when we were paddling," Bangs said. "People were getting into it, taking in the beauty and the rhythm and nature."

Back on land, the group returned to the Ivey House, and the next day, Thursday, headed south to fresh water. During a stop at Shark Valley visitors center in Everglades National Park, "They saw alligators everywhere, in the canals, on the paved trails. We were getting primed for the alligators."

After a night at Long Pine Key campground, "Wouldn't you know that as soon as we pull in to where we're launching, there's an alligator sunning by the pond, about 14 feet long," Bangs said. "It was huge."

They followed a nine-mile looping freshwater trail. "Before, people had the wide-open ocean view, and this one was sort of the jungle feeling, with the mangroves and alligators. There were quite a few alligators around us. Everyone was paddling pretty cautiously."

Bangs said the group - not all of whom knew each other at the start but who "bonded pretty well" over the week - were surprised by what they saw. "People have the perception that Florida is Disney and Miami, but there's so much more."

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