I’m mostly putting this on my blog so I will always have easy access to it, but here is the ultimate beginner’s guide to kayaking from Paddling magazine. They pretty much cover any navigation topic you can think of here.
I stayed up late last night reading articles and watching videos about kayaking around alligators. I am less terrified about being around alligators than I am about encountering alligators that have been fed by humans and now expect it. One woman explained that she was paddling at a popular spring and a small-ish alligator tried to climb into her kayak because it wanted to be fed. She bopped it on the head with her paddle and it started hissing at her (not a good sign) but did eventually go away. Why do people do this? Florida is a lush place – alligators do not need your chicken sandwich to survive. All you are going to do is get the creature in trouble with authorities after it is deemed a threat to people.
Days of Sunshine 