… before the Everglades Challenge kicks off at 0700 on March 3. Am I excited? You bet! Am I a wee bit nervous? You bet! Is my partner having kittens? I’ll say!
Even though 300 miles (480km) from Tampa Bay to Key Largo is a bit of a hike, it’s certainly not as far or as open as the 1600km to paddle from Tasmania to NZ. And I will have to admit that the recent tragic loss of Andrew McAuley (which I cried over) stopped me in my tracks for a good few minutes (and has still left me very sad).
I've sailed from Auckland to Fukuoka – 14,000 km, I’ve climbed mountains in the Alps, Peru and Kazakhstan for a month at a time, I lived on a 32-foot yacht for two years as a pre-schooler, and I regularly ride my bike to work. The most nervous I’ve felt is riding my bike. Life’s one big adventure and I’d feel pretty miserable without at least one small one perhaps each week (and a glass or two of (NZ) wine and some good dark chocolate).
So I’m busy packing and repacking the boat, drilling holes (ouch) here and there to reposition the sail (the foredeck started concaving), testing Clif Bars to find my favourites, adding another bit of bungee here and there to lash something down in a hurry, figuring where’s the easiest place on my body to stow and access my EPIRB and how the heck do I use the TravelMate to pee while sitting down; and it’s taking me forever to finally decide where to drill another couple of holes to add the Ram mount I ordered to fix my GPS to the foredeck in front of me. At least I can move the Sticky Pod mount for my camera around to wherever I like.
Thus, if these are the least of my worries, I think I’m pretty much good to go.
Even though 300 miles (480km) from Tampa Bay to Key Largo is a bit of a hike, it’s certainly not as far or as open as the 1600km to paddle from Tasmania to NZ. And I will have to admit that the recent tragic loss of Andrew McAuley (which I cried over) stopped me in my tracks for a good few minutes (and has still left me very sad).
I've sailed from Auckland to Fukuoka – 14,000 km, I’ve climbed mountains in the Alps, Peru and Kazakhstan for a month at a time, I lived on a 32-foot yacht for two years as a pre-schooler, and I regularly ride my bike to work. The most nervous I’ve felt is riding my bike. Life’s one big adventure and I’d feel pretty miserable without at least one small one perhaps each week (and a glass or two of (NZ) wine and some good dark chocolate).
So I’m busy packing and repacking the boat, drilling holes (ouch) here and there to reposition the sail (the foredeck started concaving), testing Clif Bars to find my favourites, adding another bit of bungee here and there to lash something down in a hurry, figuring where’s the easiest place on my body to stow and access my EPIRB and how the heck do I use the TravelMate to pee while sitting down; and it’s taking me forever to finally decide where to drill another couple of holes to add the Ram mount I ordered to fix my GPS to the foredeck in front of me. At least I can move the Sticky Pod mount for my camera around to wherever I like.
Thus, if these are the least of my worries, I think I’m pretty much good to go.
1 comment:
Kristen,
Don't let the tragedy of Andrew McAuley deter you in any way. Andrew was a friend of mine, who gave me tremendous amounts of inspiration for achieving what most would consider impossible. He was an amazing adventurer and an amazing person. Follow your passion and good luck on adventure!
Mel
Post a Comment