nieworld.com

Teachers

Students

Families

Projects

Email NIE

Quest on the INTRACOASTAL!
Treasure Trove
Hideaway Times
Map Magic
Fun and Games
Activities

News-Journal/Dinah Voyles Pulver Daniel Robison, age 23, and David Heath, age 19, left DeBary Friday morning, March 20, 2009, midway through their attempt to kayak the entire length of the St. Johns River, from Blue Cypress Lake in Indian River County to Huguenot Park east of Jacksonville, in less than 10 days. TheyÕre trying to best a record set by another pair of kayakers last December.

Mission accomplished

After paddling for 310 miles, braving winds, waves and alligators, Daniel Robison landed at Huguenot Park at the mouth of the St. Johns River just after 1 p.m. Tuesday, setting a new record for paddling the entire river.

He did it in nine days, beginning March 16 at Blue Cypress Lake in Indian River County, and besting by two days the known record set in December.

“It’s pretty sweet,” said Robison, 23. Still riding a wave of euphoria at actually having finished the trip, Robison said he wasn’t even tired.

He endured the last four days alone, after his partner on the trip, David Heath, 19, of DeBary, was sidelined with complications from an old shoulder injury.

“I’d never done a trip like that by myself before,” Robison said. “That was really interesting.”

However, on the positive side, paddling alone let him stop and take breaks and head back to the water whenever he felt like it.

He woke up about 4:30 on the last morning, hitting the river just after 5, trying to time the tides just right.

The hardest part of the trip was not Lake George as he had feared. Instead, he said, it was winds of more than 30 mph and waves on the river north of the lake on the seventh day.

Lake George, where he stuck to the eastern bank, “was probably the best part of my last four days,” he said. It took him about four hours to cross Lake George, the state’s second biggest lake.

Robison said he was impressed by all the different landscapes he saw on the river — from Indian River County to the Atlantic Ocean. “It’s really spectacular,” he said.

After kayaking its length, Robison said his favorite part of the river remains the section nearest home, the area near DeBary.

He counted alligators all along the way and reported his final tally at 1,021.

Jimmy Orth, executive director of the St. Johns Riverkeeper, a river advocacy group, was on the beach Tuesday to greet Robison with Keith Legette, one of the pair who set the original record in December.

“This guy is a paddling machine,” said Orth, who helped arrange camping for Robison a couple of nights. “I was amazed at what he was able to accomplish.

“For him to continue on by himself was incredible,” Orth said. “We hope Daniel inspired people to get out and explore the river.”

To read about the trip: riverbluffleague.blogspot.com

Copyright © 2010 NIE WORLD (www.nieworld.com). All content copyrighted and may not be republished without permission. The News-Journal has no control over and is not responsible for content on other Web sites. Privacy Policy.