I took a kayak trip on Crane Creek in Melbourne, FL. I launched the kayak from the boat ramp in Claude Edge Front St. Park. This boat launch entered into the open water of the Indian River, where it was a short paddle south into the mouth of Crane Creek.
This first section of Crane Creek passes through Downtown Melbourne. Here, there were marinas filled with sailboats, condo towers, and people fishing along paved walkways lining the creek in city parks.
The first bridge that we paddled under was the U.S. 1 overpass. It provided a nice break from the sun in this section of shadeless water.
Just after U.S. 1, the Florida East Coast Railway bridge crossed Crane Creek. A freight train crossed soon after we went under the bridge. Adjacent to the old truss bridge, two new railroad bridges were under construction for the Brightline high speed rail to use.
I wonder if one of the two new concrete bridges are going to replace the old steel bridge for the freight traffic?
After going under the train bridges, Crane Creek entered a more natural area that alternated between woods and occasional houses. There were lots of birds, manatees, and jumping fish in this section of the river.
Eventually, Crane Creek got narrower and more winding. There were occasional side canals leading to houses.
The goal was to paddle all the way up into the Florida Tech Botanical Gardens and eventually into the Melbourne Golf Course. Unfortunately, the river became very narrow and blocked with lots and lots of downed trees just before the Babcock Street Bridge that crossed Crane Creek at the border of the botanical gardens. If I really wanted to, I probably could have fought my way through the blocked section of river, but it didn't seem the hassle after an hour and a half of paddling upstream. From here, I turned around and made the return trip down Crane Creek back to the boat launch.
Below are some video highlights of the trip going upstream:
Comments
Post a Comment