There'll Be a Next Time

KiwiBird called FliesWithKiwiBird shortly ago. She's still feeling poorly, her tent blew over early this morning, and the winds are awful--major white caps in the marina. The fact that she was having scrambled eggs on a yacht may have made that decision a little more comfortable.

SandyBottom is on the way to pick her up and return her to Ft. DeSoto. SB and SOS don't plan to head out until tonight, at the earliest. It's not a long drive, as you can see. KB is on Longboat Key at the bottom of the map, and Ft. Desoto is on the spit of land at the top left.

For now, I'm signing off. Hope to be doing the North Carolina Challenge with KiwiBird, SandyBottom, SOS, DancesWithSandyBottom and the rest of my WaterTribe friends in the fall.

Floatsome

Sunday Morning Update

I have not heard from Kristen this morning, but I'm not surprised. When I checked the weather at the Venice NOAA Data Buoy, winds were 32 kts. out of the NW, gusting to the 39 kts. For those not familiar with nautical winds, that's moderate to fresh gale, 32 to 45 miles per hour. Time to hunker down.

Only a few boats are underway at this point, with only two competitors (Class 5 catamarans) past Checkpoint 1--and not far past it. My history with the Everglades Challenge only goes back to KiwiBird's first, six years ago, but this is by far the worst weather I've seen.

Update: Just talked to SandyBottom, who is still at Ft. DeSoto and doesn't plan to leave until this evening at the earliest. KB called her this morning, to find out what they're up to. KB's still trying to decide what to do. Her health is still not 100%, but she knows it will be a downwind sail for at least a couple of days. KB will call in to Dawn or me at 0900 with a plan.

Bedding Down

Just had a call from KB. She is having some stomach issues and has decided to stop for the night. She is in a populated area where she has been given permission to pitch her tent, and is cleaning up and settling in for food or rest.

The conditions today were horrible, and many people are having trouble.

Entering Sarasota Bay

She's at the top of Sarasota Bay, and I expect she'll stay east of the mangrove to avoid the powerboats in the intracoastal waterway. Conditions have gotten considerably tougher. Winds are out of the south and have built to 18-19 knots at the NOAA data buoy at Venice. As far as I can tell, she's still paddling with TwinSpirit, and Hammerstroke and Sundance may be there as well.

Across Tampa Bay

I had a Check OK message from KB a few minutes ago; the above shows her position at 1012. She appears to be near TwinSpirit but among many other paddlers as well. Speeds were not very high crossing the bay, so it must have been pretty tough going. For the rest of the day she'll have protection from seas, if not from winds.

I missed a call from SandyBottom about 0900. The last Spot message was yesterday at 17:14, so I judge they are still working on the boat and haven't started. That's not necessarily a problem, since they can easily make Checkpoint 1 by noon tomorrow if they leave by dark tonight.

On the Way

KB activated her Spot about 0630 and launched at 0700. By now she should be crossing the Tampa Bay shipping channel. The weather in St. Pete is overcast, some fog, 74 degrees F, with winds out of the south at 10-15 mph. Winds are predicted to increase to 15-20 with gusts to 30--just the sort of conditions she thrives in.

Quick Update

Had a short talk with KB about about an hour ago. All is well with her, but SOS and SandyBottom's test sail this afternoon turned up some leaks. Undaunted, they were all still headed out for Italian food.

This is my first attempt at posting from my iPad, which will be my only means after Tuesday. Hope it works!

Floatsome

On the Beach

Looks like a nice day at Ft. Desoto, although it's a bit nippy or the mozzies are fierce (or both). Behind KB's boat, that's TwinSpirit's craft. Note the white Pacific Action Sail. TS has been a sailor all her life and wasn't satisfied with the shape of the standard PAS sail, so she made her own out of a high-tech product called Cuben fiber (should I spell that "fibre"?). Farthest away, that may be Scareman's double, which he paddles solo. I've never met him, but I know he's a big man (1.93 m or 6'4" if I recall correctly). He was checkpoint manager for last year's NCC and according to all accounts did a bang-up job, including helping clear trees from Harlowe Canal.

Safely Arrived at Ft. DeSoto

Although a might fuzzy, this photo documents presence at Ft. DeSoto State Park. That's SandyBottom approaching the camera and the Stewarts' van to left. I am mystified by the red vessel on the trailer.

One of the stronger traditions of the EC is breakfast--specifically, eggs benedict--at the Village Inn in St. Petersburg. Only fried chicken in Georgia can rival the ceremony. Once again, that's SandyBottom on the far side of the table. To Dawn's left is TwinSpirit, also a Triangle-area paddler. This will be TwinSpirit's first EC, but she finished a very difficult NCC2011 in good form.

She's off!

KiwiBird departed for Florida and the Everglades Challenge about 0500 this morning. Sorry, no photographs to post, as I was still at home and fast asleep.

Unfortunately, FliesWithKiwiBird and the (not so) Wee One stayed behind. In the end, it seemed wiser to keep him near Duke and medical care, despite his great progress toward recovery from PSGN.

It's about a 1,100-kilometer (700-mile) drive, so she should arrive at Fort DeSoto before dark, including a stop for fried chicken in Georgia. Tonight will be spent in reunions and introductions to new WaterTribers. Tomorrow is for boat loading, inspections (from which she is exempt) and the competitors' meeting. A trip to West Marine is also pretty standard, so maybe she'll shag parts for SandyBottom, SOS and DancesWithSandyBottom, who are still working on Mosquito, their SOS-designed and team-built trimaran. My hunch is that Mosquito will feel right at home.

I'll post here as I have news, but I also encourage you to visit the new WaterTribe web site, where racer logs and and position maps are housed.

Floatsome