Spoiled Tour Feb 25 – March 2, 2024 This year we decided to do a tour of the spoil islands around Sebastian Inlet. The spoil islands were formed when the Indian River/Intracoastal was dredged for boat traffic. There are groups that help maintain the islands and some are open to exploring and camping. Others are protected for birds to roost on. We researched the maps on-line and came up with a loose plan.
Location of Trip
Paddlers: Stew, Dave, Sam Sea Kayaks Current Designs Solstice, CD Solstice, QCC 500 – same order as paddlers Trip Conditions: Temps mostly mid 70s daytime; nights low to mid 60s. No rain! The nights felt a little muggy and too warm at times for sleeping bags. We were surprised to find little to no mosquitoes at our campsites. Meals: We each brought our own meals – everything from canned soup, ramen noodles, Knorr pasta dinners, MRIs and packaged chicken/tuna. Power bars, snacks, bagels, and peanut butter for lunch; coffee, oatmeal, granola and fruit cups for breakfast Snacks: nutrition bars, beef jerky, oranges. Water: We each had a gallon for each day. Some in 16.9 oz bottles, some gallon containers. Beer: Yes. We had a dry bag attached to the top back of Dave’s kayak that supported an IPA 12 pack. Stew also had a bunch stowed in his kayak. Of course, Sam brought some too.
From Indian River Lagoon Project website: Indian River Quick Facts and Statistics · Indian River spans across 5 Florida East Coast counties: Brevard, Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin, and Palm Beach County. It is bounded on the west by the Florida mainland and on the east by a chain of beach barrier islands. · Indian River was formerly named Ais River, after the indigenous people inhabiting its shores. · The 121 mile long Indian River is the largest lagoon in the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary. · Indian River averages 4ft in depth with large shallow flats less than 2ft deep. Man-made channels, canals, and marina basins are dredged much deeper. · The Intracoastal Waterway, a national navigational channel through the entire Indian River estuary, is maintained at a 10-12ft depth. · In spite of its name, the Indian River is not an actual river with a directional current, but a still water lagoon where the water's movement is from wind and some minor tidal influence near the inlets.[1] · Indian River lagoon has brackish water containing saltwater from ocean inlets and freshwater fed from rivers, creeks, and canals. · Saltwater enters the Indian River lagoon through four Atlantic Ocean inlets including Sebastian, Ft. Pierce, Jupiter, and Palm Beach inlets. · Freshwater river tributaries include Eau Gallie, St. Sebastian, St. Lucie, and Loxahatchee Rivers · Freshwater creek tributaries include Turnbull, Addison, Crane, Turkey Creek, Goat, Kid, Trout, Crawford, and Taylor Creeks.
These are some maps (there are more) of the spoil islands in the area. Green islands allow camping. We chose BC44A (just above the map – I didn’t print since it was next island up), IR3, IR14, IR25 and Joe Earman Island Park (didn’t print anything south of “IR” island map since we had it on GPS). We had the maps so we could see which islands allowed camping and make choices as we passed them.
Loading up Here we go! Dave and Stew Campsite on BC44A Moonrise	Day 1 – 8 miles, Feb 25, 2024 Stew and Dave arrived at Sebastian Inlet State Park around noon. We unloaded our vehicle and packed our kayaks. The first day - driving up and loading kayaks is usually a little hectic. Sam will be joining us on Day 5. We paddled north along the east side of the Indian River and saw lots of fish, dolphin, and birds. Stew saw a school of some very large black drum. It was getting a little windy but not bad and we had a good leisurely paddle to BC44B which was our intended campsite. We paddled around the island and got out to explore and look for a good place to camp. It was okay and had a nice bluff where Dave had camped some 15 years ago with Jack and Sam. We decided to check out the island right next to it, BC44A. We saw a nice campsite and immediately said “this is it!” We had brought subs for dinner like we did last trip – that makes the first day/night more relaxing knowing we don’t have to worry about fixing dinner. Tents set up quickly and we gathered some firewood. Good paddle today. We met a group of younger guys in their mid-thirties who get together once a year and apparently drink – a lot. They had a pontoon boat and said it took them 6 trips to get all their stuff to the island. They did have a lot of stuff – including beer and hamburgers which they shared with us. I think it was one of my favorite burgers ever - even after eating my sub, Then some of us played whiskey pong – beer pong but drinking whiskey instead of beer. They had a big ground set with extra-large ping-pong balls. Luckily, my partner and I won and I only had to take two shots. Can’t remember if they said it or we did, but we were the “coolest old guys” they’ve met! Alcohol may have played a role in that observation. We settled down and had a nice night. No bugs. The moonrise was spectacular and dolphin visited throughout the night. We could hear them blowing air and splashing as they searched for food. I also think they knew we were there and just came by to check us out.
Day 2 – 9 miles, Feb 26, 2024 Knowing we have only 9 miles to paddle today there was no rush to get up. We both are early risers anyway and were up around 6 am. Made coffee and ate breakfast. Watching the sunrise is always a delight. Stew tried a few casts without any luck and the dolphin were all around searching for and getting food. We would see fish explode out of the water as the dolphin approached. We leisurely pack up our tents and load up our kayaks for the day’s paddle. Today we are going to IR3 which is close to the west shore and easy paddling distance to Captain Hiram’s Resort which has a nice restaurant we plan to eat lunch at. This excites us because eating out when on a camping trip is such a treat. I think we were paddling faster with the anticipation! This area tends to get windy in the afternoons and we are very pleased to have a few hours of smoother water in the morning. We see lots of birds – especially ospreys and pelicans. We make good time and arrive at our destination spoil island IR3 fairly early – just after noon. We explore, looking for best camp spot and see there are lots of places but there is a substantial tent in probably the best spot. It looks like someone is living there on pretty much a permanent basis. We decide to camp furthest away from their site – not that we felt threatened or unsafe, but just to give them room. Later, we see two men with long beards and gray hair paddle a canoe to shore and then only one returned. We guess it was the people from the tent. We traversed a very shallow sandbar to get into a lagoon that the island surrounds and found a decent campsite. Unloaded and put up our tents then set out to explore more of the island. We walked around to the northern tip (avoided going in the direction of the tent we saw) and through an area that had lots of trees and birds in them – mostly pelicans. You can really smell that there is a colony of pelicans around. There were also a few osprey nests on top of some tall Australian pines and they called out as we went by. There are several derelict boats on the island and they kind of look cool. One still had some nice stainless-steel rigging that we were surprised no one had salvaged. A guy on a pontoon boat pulled up and we talked to him a while. He recommended some spots we should visit while on our paddle. Around 4 pm we decide it is time to go get dinner. We paddle just under a half-mile to Captain Hiram’s Resort and take a scenic route under the docks. We went under a place (Squid Lips I think) and smelled some BBQ. We almost couldn’t take it and looked for a place to stop but didn’t see anywhere we could safely store the kayaks if we went to that restaurant. It is out over the water on a dock. So, we continue to Captain Hiram’s and sit in a structure that is built to look like a boat. I had some of the best fish and chips I have ever had there. Our kayaks viewed from restaurant After dinner we paddled back to camp and tried our luck at fishing as the sun was getting low on the horizon. No fish but it gave us something to do. We were feeling pretty tired and settled into our tents before 8 pm. Slept well and we could hear all the city noise since we were so close to shore, but it wasn’t bad.	Stew fishing as the sun rises Calm waters in the morning Spoil Island sign – if you see this sign, the island is designated for recreation/camping. Curiously there are no island designations (you are here) on these signs Island IR3 campsite We saw many derelict boats. This one is on IR3 Sunset from island IR3
Day 3 – 15 miles, Feb 27, 2024 Today our destination is Joe Earman Island Park – about 13 miles and will be our longest day. Again, we get up leisurely since we have plenty of time to paddle that distance. Really nice with little wind in the morning making the water smooth and even glassy in some areas. We’re off by 8:30 am and we head south and try to keep track of the spoil islands with our rustic maps. We did okay but didn’t match some of the island designations correctly. A basic GPS was used to help get us to our destinations but we were pretty confident we could find it from studying the maps and Google Maps when we were home. We slowed and stopped at some islands to get an idea of where we may want to camp on our return trip. Made a mental note for IR10 (we learn later it was IR9A) to camp there for night number four. Also made some rest stops on sandbars that most of the island have. Some sandbars extend pretty far from the islands and even in kayaks you can hit bottom. Dave found a nice hat! We paddled through some shallow and crystal-clear water in the calm morning – about 2 miles south of Wabasso Causeway Bridge. Stew said that this is what endears him to paddling. It is neat to clearly see bottom and various fish – some were pretty big. We make it to Joe Earman Island Park and check it out. Looked like a nice place to picnic but the available camping spots didn’t enthuse us much, especially when we knew there was a nice spot on an island only two miles away. Camping here would be okay but it would have been a little cumbersome to get the kayaks out with only the two of us lifting and carrying them. So we decide to head back north to spoil island IR 25 and we were glad we did. Joe Earman Island Park