Progress Toward Cape Sable

As of 09:00 she had made 11.8 miles, for an average of 2.95 mph. Apparently, there's not much sailing to be done. Of course, there's no particular rush either, since the tides would be unfavorable. If you're curious what the satellite sees, plug this into Google Maps or Google Earth:

25.516N, 81.2134W

I'm liking these regular position checks, but I wonder if she feels stalked.--Floatsome

Predawn Day Five

KiwiBird pressed her SPOT Check OK at 05:05 this morning, and her position indicated that she was on the water and underway. Winds (5-10 knots) are predicted to move from southwest to south during the day, so I'm guessing she wants to get around Cape Sable as early as possible. High tide at Flamingo is at 14:16, low at 21:01. She has 53 miles to go to CP3, which should take 12-16 hours under reasonably good conditions. In any case, she will be either very near or at CP3 when she stops tonight, making for a likely Thursday arrival at Key Largo. Fortunately, the west-to-south winds should be putting some water back in Florida Bay. For visual variety, such as it is, I plotted her likely track for the day.--Floatsome

Resting for Last Push to CP3

KiwiBird's SPOT reported in at 21:38 from Mormon Key on the Gulf. I'm guessing she's resting there for tomorrow's 50+ mile push to CP3. Cape Sable seems a short stop. We'll see. This time all the topography looks the same at a distance, so I went for a close up. Nice beach. I can't see her.--Floatsome

Cruising the Wilderness Waterway

I had a SPOT check in from KB at 6:35. She appears already to have headed south from the Wilderness Waterway. I'm not readily finding the list of ENP chickies--frustrating, because I had it last year--but because this appears to be the most direct southerly route to go outside, I'm guessing that's the intent.--Floatsome

CP2

KiwiBird just called in at 15:00 and is departing CP2 as I write. I hesitate to mention this, since she views the Everglades Challenge as a competition with herself, not with the other athletes, but the WaterTribe Web site says she was the first Class 1 boat (female or male) to arrive at CP2 (at 12:52); SaltyFrog was 8 minutes behind and has already headed out again.

She said the conditions have been "absolutely terrible, nothing like last year. It's a real challenge, which is why they call it that." She has developed a nasty abrasion on one thumb and was hit by a manatee last night, but otherwise she is well and sounded her usual chipper Kiwi self.

Her plan for the rest of the day is to enter the Wildnerness Waterway with NatureCalls and spend the night on a chickie somewhere. Tomorrow they plan to go back outside and spend Wednesday night at Cape Sable. From there, it's CP3 Thursday night.

There will be no cell-phone coverage for the next few days, so I admonished her to push her SPOT check often. What I forgot to request was for her to send pictures, so you get more Google Earth--Floatsome

Position 3/4/08 08:18

Looks like tough going this morning. She's made only a few miles since launching at 06:55. Others report that it's an upwind paddle. KB may be tempted to stop at Jack Daniels Key.

When she reaches Chokoloskee, she should have cell phone coverage again. Maybe we'll be graced with a photograph or two.--Floatsome

On to CP2

KB's SPOT checked in at 06:55 from the same location as 00:19, so it looks like she got five or six hours of sleep. By the way, the place has a name: White Horse Key.

The tide is high at 13:14 at Chokoloskee, 16 miles east of her current location, so she's in a good position to ride the tide in, check in at CP2, get her Everglades NP permit and head out toward CP3. I have no idea whether she's planning to take the Wildnerness Highway through ENP or go outside.

Last night KneadingWater was aiming to land at White Horse Key some time in the wee hours, so they may have met up. They paddled together last year, along with SandyBottom, through part of ENP.--Floatsome

Sleep!

I'm guessing this means she's stopped for the "evening." The leftmost positi0n was at 21:53 on 3-3-08. Farther to the right, closer to CP2, was at 00:19 on 3-4-08. It's a big planet.--Floatsome

Another SPOT Check OK

This one woke me up. At 9:53 she is still about four hours from CP2. Go KiwiBird!--Floatsome

Turning a Corner

FWKB heard from KB at 4:45 this afternoon. She was at Big Marco Pass, which leads over to the back route to Chokoloskee. She's hoping to reach there (CP2) tonight. (Current position above; overview of the day below.) There have been no further SPOT check-ins since this morning, so we're not sure what's up with that.

The first 20 miles from New Pass this morning were tough, but conditions have eased somewhat. She had traveled 33.4 miles in 10 hours. About 28 remain to Chokoloskee, but it's hard to tell with any exactness, since the route is somewhat convoluted.

At one point today she had a shark circle the boat at fairly high speed. Other encounters of the wild sort included sting rays and a dolphin. FWKB said KB sounded somewhat tired but nowhere near so much so as yesterday. FWKB expects to hear from her when she reaches CP2.--Floatsome