You wake up. The sky is blue, the sun an inviting orb. You step out onto the lanai and … Was that a breeze you just felt? Is cool air swirling around your ankles? Could be. It’s springtime.

March comes in like a lion and leaves like a lamb up north; in the paradise of Sanibel & Fort Myers, the lion is more like a pussycat, but it’s still present. The point: Don’t let a chilly morning keep you on shore. The white stuff around you is sugar-sand on the beach, not snow.

A kayak guide told me today that when tourists, snowbirds and even locals get up and feel cold, they often times will cancel a trip or make other plans. But by noontime, they’re kicking themselves, I’m sure. Chilly mornings make for good kayaking and canoeing on the Great Calusa Blueway.

Some tips:

• Pick a route that will keep you out of the wind. Mangrove mazes work. So do legs of the trail on the leeward side of the wind. Watch the forecast the morning of – not for the temperature so much as for the wind direction. From Matlacha Park, for example, you can launch and be on the trail headed northeast, northwest or southwest. All directions give you scenery to write home about.
• Wear layers. You know this from up north, but you may forget it when you’re in paradise.
• Bring a towel to keep your seat and the yak’s interior dry as you go till the sun warms you up.
• Watch for birds. When it’s cold, they may not care if it’s low tide and feeding time. If it’s not low, you’ll see some of them poofed up and perched in mangroves like the proverbial partridge in a pear tree only multiplied.
• Don’t forget the sunscreen. Our March mornings still have glare off the water. Protect your face.

Remember, March offers some of the best kayaking weather we have because it’s not too hot and not too cold – and because you can e-mail your northern family and friends about being on the water with wildlife at a time they’re stuck watching the Discovery Channel.