Last minute panics

We leave for this year's Everglades Challenge pre-sparrow fart tomorrow morning. The race starts Saturday, March 6.

I was fiddling with some last minute cockpit adjustments--kayak in the lounge, upside down spread across a couple of couches--when I noticed that one of the straps on my Bulldog Footrest had just about parted company with the stud on the rear side of the tiller bar. Yikes. Paddling my boat without a rudder is not a pretty sight, so this could have been a bit messy, if not downright embarrassing.

It took a bit of muscle in a tight compartment, with mirror and headlamp to get the fitting undone. But to fix it will require drilling out the pop rivets attaching the strap to the bar and fitting another couple of rivets to refit the strap to the bar.

Thankfully, Floatsome (aka. David) has the necessary equipment, and we'll be making the repairs at the Fort De Soto campsite, the day before the race. Plenty of time!

With much cooler weather predicted for this year's race, and nights near freezing, the WeeOne and I also made a last-minute dash to REI last night. My non-down sleeping bag is rated at 1C (30F), but I run on the chilly side. So I'm now the proud and hopefully warm owner of a lightweight mummy fleece liner, which should give me another 12C (10F) of warmth.

For those wishing to follow the race, you can keep an eye on the WaterTribe site, or follow along here: FliesWithKiwiBird and the WeeOne will be making updates as we head along!