The First Adventure of Green Shank and Yellow Legs

Still on a kayak kick.  Today dawned just as calm and lovely as yesterday, so as I promised him, Nolbert and I went out to Great Monkey Cay.  He was ready and waiting for me early this morning.

Nolbert, ready to go!

 I had the kayak at the water's edge, waiting for Nolbert to arrive.

Getting the kayak in the water.

Some minor adjustments to the seat cushion and then we are off!

Getting settled.

Dennis took some photos of the start of the adventure.

Nolbert happy and stylin' in his sunglasses.

He was all set with his life vest and we both had bottles of water, hats, and sunglasses as we set out for the cay.  On the way, we decided we should name our kayaks.  I suggested Yellow Legs for mine both for the color and because of the greater yellowleg waders I had showed him yesterday.  Nolbert thought that was a great name and he suggested green legs for his.  I countered with Green Shank and after I explained that shank means leg and that green shanks are real birds, he thoroughly approved. We paddled on in Green Shank and Yellow Legs.

The cay is about 3/4 mile from our dock.

We were able to go around to the outside of the cay; the water was so flat that no waves were breaking over the shallows around the cay.  Nolbert spotted bunches of big orange cushion star fish and pointed out the sea grass and coral heads.  On the north side of the cay, Nolbert tied Green Shanks up to some mangrove roots next to a sandy spot so he could do a little snorkeling.  I paddled around while he snorkeled.  It was a little too shallow at that spot, so next time we will try a different place to get out of the kayaks.  We can't get out over the coral because that would damage the coral, so that limits the choices a bit.

Nolbert handles Green Shanks really well; he can back paddle to make a sharp pivot turn and knows which side to stroke on to move away from an obstacle.  And the kid has stamina!  After the little snorkeling, we decided to head up to the mouth of Pine Ridge Creek before heading back to Craig's place.

Our route is mapped in the Goggle Earth image below and it comes to 3.65 miles.  Not bad for a 10 year old boy and a woman, who may or may not be, 6 times his age!

Our place is in the bottom left corner and Craig's is almost directly opposite the north point of Great Monkey Cay.

Next time Nolbert is here and the weather is good, we will pack lunches and go as far up Pine Ridge Creek as we can.  We should be able to see at least 3 kinds of kingfishers and yellow crowned night herons.  That is also where I have seen my only ever Agami Heron.  I would love to see one of those again.  Nolbert and I are looking forward to further adventures with Green Shank and Yellow Legs.