Tides, they are a changing. I knew paddling up to shore last night that if it was low tide it would be tricky getting off the beach this morning. I poked my head out of the tent this morning around 6 and all I could see was sand in the moon light. Once the sun started coming up I could tell that I was probably going to be on shore a while. One tide chart said low tide wasat 7:10and the other8:34. I rolled back over thinking I could sleep it out. I tried walking out to see if dragging my boat over the muck was an option. Finallyaround noonthe water was rising enough that I could drag the boat about 50 yards out to the water. Then I had to go back and get my gear and load it up. I then had to drag it across a few inches of water till it was deep enough to finally get in. With each step my body shook looking for jelly fish. Once I got paddling I was fighting current all day. I noticed something floating in the water, when I got closer I could see it was a sea turtle. I turned off my music to hope to get a picture. All of a sudden he poked his head out of the water and looked at me and dove down. I made it about 7.5 Miles to Dog island. I still had about 5 Miles across to Carrabelle. I knew I could make it right before dark but wasn’t sure where I could find a spot to camp. As much as I wanted to push it I decided not to. I have been waiting for 2 months to get back out here and all I want to do is get further along. But I have to realize that my body isn’t in the same paddling shape that I was in when I left Florida. My calluses haven’t come back on my hands. They are just blisters right now. And I have counted 4 right now. That combined with how beautiful this beach is I decided to camp here for the night. It is an island with no roads, white sandy beach, beautiful blue/green water. I got set up and sat here just enjoying the moment in my rocking chair (the rockers keep the chair legs from sinking in the sand) watching the sun set. It was one of the most peaceful moments I have had in the last few months. Watching the sun drop into the water as several schools of dolphins heads coming almost all the way out of the water. Birds running up and down the shore dodging the waves. Life couldn’t get any better. Well until that magical time of night when the sun is down and the mosquitoes come out. I couldn’t get into my tent fast enough and even had a few follow me in. So we played swat the skeeter for about 10 minutes. But other than that, an awesome end to the day.