Kayaking classes among new initiatives at Clearwater parks

CLEARWATER

It took 15 minutes for Bill Harris to get hooked.

Harris, 37, of Largo enjoys the outdoors. He bikes everywhere and says he is always looking for new things to try. However, suffering from scoliosis limits some of his activities.

So, a physical but-not-demanding introduction to kayaking seemed a natural fit.

Harris and other participants, many in shorts and water socks, cautiously toed the cool water before scuttling their kayaks in, squatting into them, adjusting their feet and paddling around a lake a recent Saturday at Cliff Stephens Park.

"I'm going to save up my money and buy one," Harris said.

It's the first time in 20 years the city has offered kayaking classes and the instruction is part of larger plans to get residents into Moccasin Lake Nature Park (which will host the classroom part of the instruction) as it is poised for a more than a half-million-dollar makeover.

A park reborn

For Cliff Norris, these are exciting times at Moccasin Lake Nature Park.

Norris, the park supervisor, has worked there since 1985 (the park opened in 1982).

The calendar's full of classes and meetings. There are recent upgrades to the walking trails and teaching meadows and the park is set to receive another $600,000 for other renovations to the teaching center and other parts of the park.

It's the rebirth of a nature park, Norris said.

"I've been here since the beginning. I've seen the heyday," Norris said. "Now we're on the rise again."

Although the staff, once at eight people, is now down to two including Norris, volunteers and contractors teach classes. This is not the first time the park has offered classes and meeting space for groups. However, Norris calls the current effort a "regrouping," bringing in more variety than in the past.

Environmental groups such as the Florida Herb Society, Clearwater Audubon Society, Suncoast Herpetology Society and Native Plant Society meet there. Get a primer on car camping. Learn about butterfly gardening. There are even beekeeping and bonsai pruning workshops.

Officials recently spent $100,000 on upgrades to the park's 30-year-old pier, improvements to the trail systems and the teaching meadow.

Norris will have a series of meetings with the public and groups using the park to determine their wants and needs, creating a wish list for the park between now and October. Some of the suggestions will be incorporated in the project with the funding and work starting sometime in 2016.

"I'm having the most fun I've had in the last 20 years," Norris said.

Paddle the day away

Kim Doehleman brought a small assortment of vessels.

Sit-on-top, sit-in, single and double kayaks and instruction on how to use them were available for nearly 30 participants for the water demonstration on that recent Saturday at Cliff Stephens Park.

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Vector. Sojourn. Predator. Eddyline. The different kayak makes and models each has its own feel. Some are better for fishing. Some are slower, others are faster. Some are good for lakes and others better for open sea.

Doehleman and her husband left the corporate world 17 years ago to start Osprey Bay Outdoors, where they sell kayaks as well as offer guided tours around Honeymoon Island and Coopers Bayou in Safety Harbor. She was a banker, he was a nurse. Stressed with their jobs, they sought more enjoyment from their work.

"We paddle for pleasure and now we paddle for business," Doehleman said.

Margie and Bud Barr shoveled their last driveway of snow in November. That's when they retired and moved to Dunedin from Missouri.

They have a sit-in kayak that was used for lakes and went to the class as a way to try different sea kayaks before they buy one.

They enjoy the quietness and vantage point a kayak provides, letting them get right next to birds.

"It's just a different way to enjoy nature," Margie said. "And it's really good for you physically — it keeps you active."

Jared Leone can be reached at jared.leone@gmail.com or follow @jared_leone.