Utility Pouch

Utility Pouch

Safe canoeing below the Mason-Dixon Line?

I've recently moved to central Florida, and I was wondering what safety precautions to take when canoeing rivers like the Sante Fe. I'm not overly freaked out about the gators and water moccasins, but I'd like to know exactly what to expect, and how to prepare (short of taking a shotgun with me lol).

I'll probably take a spare cell phone with me, in an airtight pouch in one of my pockets, and a utility knife and TONS of bug spray. Also, I'll be going for 3-4 hours at a time, if that matters.

Any other suggestions?
Lol Deliverance! I appreciate that, but I'll be with a group of people. Which is exactly how a lot of horror movies start out....
Thanks for the advice about the water, I wouldn't have thought of that, surprisingly.
I'd like more advice on gators, though. Do they attack canoes? What if I sail into one who's just chillin out, how will it react?

Oddly enough, dehydration is a big problem. I have assisted a couple of paddlers over the years who had not brought any or enough fluids with them on a hot, humid day and became ill.

Snakes are a problem if you paddle under low hanging branches or don't watch where you are stepping on the bank. They usually seem much more anxious to get away than to bite. Brush up on ID'ing the poisonous ones.

I'm north of the gator zone, so that's not an issue where I paddle in SC/NC.

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