The last minute, oh, oh's

I finally managed to start packing yesterday afternoon for this year's WaterTribe Everglades Challenge. Considering I need to deliver everything—including boat—to SandyBottom's on Wednesday night, and we leave pre-sparrow fart on Thursday to drive to Tampa, FL, and the race starts Saturday morning, this isn't bad timing.

Except when you start testing gear and it doesn't work: case of the oh, oh's, which inevitably leads to $$$...

First up was the GPS. My wonderful Garmin Map60CS—lasting four ECs—was the first not to turn back on. (Yes, I should have downloaded all my routes as soon as I returned from last year's EC...) After a few hurried conversations with Floatsome, SandyBottom and DancesWithSandyBottom—and a few discouraging frowns from FliesWithKiwiBird, I am now the (hopefully) proud owner of a Garmin GPSMAP 76CSx (could have sworn it didn't say "Discountinued product" yesterday), with pre-downloaded BlueCharts. I've also downloaded Garmin HomePort, and I should be good to go (when the GPS is (hopefully) delivered tomorrow). Just have to figure out how to get all my routes and waypoints transferred...

Then my costly Princeton Tec Apex Pro headlamp decided to quit. I've never been happy with this bit of gear, always breaking down on me (even with replacements), and it's supposed to be top-of-its-class. I've replaced it with a (slightly) cheaper Fenix HP10. Having a Cree product in it (local company) encouraged me to buy it. The HP10 looks very cool on the Web site, but a bit "Made in China" (which it is) when you finally manage to get it out of its protective thankgoodness-I'm-not-90-packaging, but I'll test it out and see how it goes.

So, let's hope that's all that I'm going to have to replace pre-start this year...

Everglades Challenge 2011

It's happening again. WaterTribe's 2011 Everglades Challenge launches off the beach in Florida on March 5 at 0700.

This will be my fifth year of competing in the EC, and once again very gratefully sponsored by BUBBA GIRL (more of that to come).

In a nutshell, we have seven days to paddle or sail (depending on which class you're entered in) to paddle the 483kms (300 or so miles) from Fort De Soto's Tampa Bay, south to Key Largo. And once again I plan to paddle via the Everglade's Wilderness Waterway, an additional 48kms (30 miles).

Over the next few days, I'll post on what gear I'll be packing and what training I have (or not) been doing.

(Top photo: the finish of the 2008 EC, before I discovered Hydropel)

Looking at new gear

If you read this blog off and on, you'll know that I'm a sucker for new gear that looks useful for sea kayaking. Reading this month's Sea Kayaker magazine, I discovered Aussie company CGear and their very cool sand mats. Some of my favourite kayak camping is on a beach, overlooking North Carolina's great coastal waters. But pitching a tent on sand, and traipsing damp sand through all my tent gear's a pain. CGear's small 1.8meter squared (6'x6') mat looks as though it just may do the trick--sand falls through the mat and doesn't came back up again.

These mats should also be perfect for our WaterTribe Everglades Challenge. Throw the mat out, strip off, clear all the sand off the damp, tired body, and jump into my pit--this should make for much better in-and-out procedures.

The small mat weighs 1.65kg (3.65lbs), which sounds just fine.

I'll keep you posted...

Round balls

Now that New Zealand's All Whites are on their way home after a rather fabulous showing at the World Cup--one of only four countries in the history of the World Cup to have not lost a game and not to go forward to the next round--it's interesting that Kiwis are finally showing some interest in the round ball game of football. The oval ball associated with rugby is usually the foremost sport in most Kiwi's minds, or perhaps the much smaller, hard red ball of cricket.

But recent photos from home remind me that netball is still one of the top three--perhaps four--sports in NZ. While there are international women's teams in football, rugby and cricket--and even female jockeys and yachties--no men play netball.

It was one of my sports growing up, along with softball, tennis, football and field hockey (just plain "hockey" in NZ). I well remember wearing my black, pleated tunic uniform, with GA on my bib (Goal Attack, for the uninitiated).

Both my nieces play NZ netball, the older of the two playing very competitively. One day, I hope both may have the chance to play for the Silver Ferns, NZ's national netball team.

The past is B&W

My brother Rob, in NZ, has bought a fancy new scanner to scan the hundreds of photos he's borrowed from dad. Taken from the 1920s to around the 1970s, they cover 50 years of dad and mum's history.

With dad and my sister Clio, we've been trying to fill in the gaps of who's who. With mum dying in late 2001 and dad at 89, we're testing all our memories.

Above is dad (9) and his sister Beth (11), 1930, on their way to the Matapihi Native School; and below, dad in 1941 (20), with his new bike, shortly before heading off to the Pacific for WWII.

All good stuff.

Getting around to it...

It's taken nearly five years of planning and procrastination, but today I finally threw away the plastic barriers (above) held together with scavenged piping, bricks and old broom handles that I have called a sorry excuse for a 'gate', ostensibly to keep the dogs in leading up to the pool at the top of the driveway.

And I built a new 'gate'--one to be fairly proud of--and no rain was going to stop me hanging the hinges as the clock ticked on past cold beer time and being called for tea.

On the (edge of the) water

Another great weekend with Andrew caravanning in the '72 Shasta. Decided last minute to go straight after work to Jordan Lake on Friday instead of Saturday, to get the most out of the terrific weather. And attract more ticks...

Across the way from Greensboro was Larry and his Brazilian wife, both keen fisher folk, who took Andrew under their rods and introduced him to the concept of really catching fish.

And Saturday night, Nancy and David (Floatsome) and Dawn (SandyBottom) and Paul (DancesWithSandyBottom) joined us for dinner.

Just as we were sadly packing up later Sunday afternoon (one of us actually crying that he did not want to leave, actively trying to unpack his bike), Dawn turned up in full sailing regalia, having hopped off their Core Sound 20 Dawn Patrol, to say, "Ahoy".

Counting the days 'til the next trip...

Memories on Memorial Day

Went caravaning again this past weekend--four lovely days over Memorial Weekend at Lake Jordan's Poplar Point.

I can't yet get Andrew into a kayak, but he does like to sit in a sit-on-top (courtesy of Doug-up-the-road), when it's firmly grounded.

Fishing is his big thing now. Teach a kid (3) to fish, and you have time to either fish with them, or even read a book. He has his cast pretty well off pat, which is a fine thing to see. The patience will come--playing with the live bait can sometimes be a bit more fun.