By Peter Clayton

Our “off season” exception – paddling in mid-summer – for Six Mile Creek was due to the reopening of Outback Crab Shack (OCS) last week. Nine of us took advantage of a reasonably pleasant day thanks to cloud cover for the 5 mile out-and-back to the Trailmark community dock.

Once again an airboat full of tourists passed us – it’s happened every time. Unfortunately there was a tree down 0.3 miles before Trailmark so we had to turn around and ended up back at OCS around 11:15 – they don’t open until Noon – but by the time we loaded the boats it was close enough to opening that we sat on the covered deck and got beer just before Noon. Our server had been on duty for the weekend and confirmed that they had run out of everything thanks to the crowds being much larger than anticipated. Their problem is parking – 61 slots were fully occupied by the time we left and the restaurant wasn’t at capacity.

We passed a sign just north of OCS on SR 13 which offered parking and a shuttle to OCS for $25. Thanks to all who participated.