Day 7 Flamingo to Pelican Bay - Finish!

4AM and up with the moon? I was in the mood to finish and thought it we just got started we could wrap up this day and have a shower and a great meal (boy were my estimates off). It really was a beautiful start with light winds that worked with us as we headed south through a couple cuts. We then decided to turn east which proved to be premature. We ran aground a few times and as you can see ultimately headed south to hit the ICW. From there it was a slow process to head into the wind. The tracking doesn't really do justice to the number of tacks but there was other exciting things throughout the day.

In the morning we clearly scared something and a cloud of silt was thrown up underneath us. We speculate it was either a manta or perhaps a manatee. Still pretty exciting.

Additionally as night fell we saw a flare rise into the sky. We headed in that direction and other boaters did as well. I guess everything thinks a kayak can't handle themselves as two boats came up to us asking if we were okay. We said we were and thought the flare came from the boat ahead. Then a second flare rose. At this point I radioed the Coast Guard. They asked for the standard data like position and whatnot and eventually asked if we could establish contact. We made our way to a 17 foot center console on a shoal. Here is the highlights of our conversation with B for me a C because he was Canadian:
B-  Are you okay? Are you having a medical emergency?
C- Yes I am stuck?
B-  But are you okay?
C- Yes but I am not from around here and don't know these waters... and I am stuck. Can you help me?
B- No you are going to have to wait on the tide.
C- How long will that be?
B- I don't know... 6 hours.
C- But my wife might call and I have anxiety
B- You have a phone? If so call a towing service.
C- I am from Canada.
B- Well I am calling this into the Coast Guard and perhaps they can help.

Honestly I was awestruck at two things. An anxious Canadian would go out in a boat without a radio or lights and then start firing off flares. Secondly, all these fancy boats with VHF and whip antenna up 20 feet don't know how to call the Coast Guard. At one point I had to shush a man who was interrupting me while I was on with them. In conclusion the CG thanked me for my service and we saw 3 different boats show us. Not sure what happened beyond that.

So with all the drama we finished our race at 10PM give or take. There were so many people cheering us on from the beach with booz and light sabers. It was really fun. Mom had beers and conch fritters. Thanks ground crew!

Let the celebration begin.

Approximate Distance: 54 miles

Day 6 Graveyard Creek Campground to Check Point 3 - Flamingo

After such a late arrival to Graveyard Creek.. mistakes were made. When we left the boat that night we left the mirage drives in the boat and they acted as immovable anchors the next morning in the mud. Morg and I had to empty the boat of all gear so I could dead lift it while he removed the drives. We then dragged the boat to the water and repacked it. Heading through Oyster and White Water Bay proved fun but we were already beginning to deal with a wind out of the East (worst point for our travels). Regardless, we made it across and tourists in pontoons talked about us and applauded our efforts in the canal.

When we got to Flamingo we portaged the boat and met up with new friends. Whale and Ham said it was surreal to have to leave us in the everglades and were happy to see us. These guys were truely amazing. Later that evening after all were in tents (hiding from the rangers who didn't want us camping there) Whale came over to check and offer antibiotic cream for my hand which I cut on an oyster 2 days prior. I had forgotten about it frankly and took pause that he was concerned for my well being. It really is a tribe.

That night we had the infamous microwaveable hamburger. Awesome! Chips... awesome! Coke... awesome! And I had some kind of wafer thing that was in fact awesome. Sleep came quickly and we planned to get started at 4 AM as that was the time Whale and Ham said they were getting going.

Approximate Distance: 26.5 Miles

Day 5 Plate Creek Chickee through the nightmare and out to Graveyard Creek Camp

To say day 5 was a challenge would be an understatement. We left the Plate Creek Chickee about 8:30 after our friends Whale and Private Ham got underway. Getting on an off a chickee was harder than anticipated. That said we passed them and didn't even see them. We got to the Nightmare on what we thought was perfect timing. The tide was high and frankly we had fought it on the Broad River to get there. The Nightmare is named because you have to navigate it during high tide. On low there is no water and you get the chance to wait with gators, mangrove roots, and bugs for it to come back in. That said the water was right and we started. It was slow going and Morgan did most of the navigating from the front seat. With our Amas (outriggers) folded in the boat was still very wide. Towards the end of the Nightmare, Whale and Ham caught up and tried to clear teh way for us as we were starting to get stuck. When we excited the Nightmare I thought the worst was behind us. No one talked about Broad Creek and I hadn't even really put much mind into it. So we started began to go back inland in the Everglades and the Broad proved equally challenging. Whale and Ham tried there best to help but night fell and so did the tide. We found ourselves stuck on a log with nothing to do. We sent "okays" every hour on the hour and would check on the water level using a mark on roots. Hour 1... falling. Hour 2...still falling. Hour 3.... still falling. How is the possible I thought! When the bugs left the cold set in and Morg and I broke out our Mylar poncho and Mylar sleeping bag cover. Thank God and Chief for them. Additionally things go bump and splash in the night and at one point something large moved behind me and all I could get out was "Morgan, turn on you headlight."Frankly with all the crunching of the Mylar every beastie knew our location for a quarter mile. Hour 4 and we were floating. The water which had left us 1-2 feet high on a log came in very quickly. So we began to move forward. We estimate we made 30 more yards and we got to an obstacle that was impossible. I exited the boat with a hand saw to try and cut 8 inch logs...ha! A decision had to be made and to Morgan's surprise I decided to turn around. We made our way out to the Gulf and sailed Graveyard Creek Camp. It was so late, maybe 3-4 AM and we were mentally and physically beaten.

On further review, had we waited for the tide to come in more we would have been able to make it through that last obstacle. I say last because Whale and Ham reported that to us in Flamingo. That said the idea of being stuck was really troubling. We both talked about a video we saw from Penguin Man who was stuck for 12 hours. The tides in this area are strange and the next high tide might not be high enough. I am good with the decision because at this point I can still remember my mental state but I do regret not completing something I set out to do.

Approximate Distance: 38 miles

Day 4 Gullivans Key to Check Point 2/Chokoloskee and on to Plate Creek Chickee

We woke to find out boat stranded on the beach and after dragging it to the water we got started. We were following a couple of canoe guys and started chatting as we made our way into Chokoloskee. Private Ham and Whale turned out to be great guys and we hung with them for days until the tides separated us. We timed the tides perfectly into the ranger's station where we got our permit. Again we decided to share a chickee with Ham and Whale on the front and backside of the Nightmare. Leaving the ranger's station we headed to the checkpoint where we were greeted by my wonderful mother. She was so happy to see us and even happier when she found out we would be camping with others in the coming days. We left our boats on the beach and hustled to a legendary Cuban restaurant for a sandwich. We were also joined by Lawless who made his way down to monitor our progress. Miraculously he few two cold beers on the beach and shared them with us! After a quick bit we were back in the boat headed for Plate Creek Chickee. The wind was our of the north and it was an awesome sleigh ride in the boat. Zero effort and all smiles. We arrived at the chickee at nightfall and left a strobe on for our new friends to find the campsite. Once they arrived we all packed into the small space and crashed. That night rain feel and winds blew but no bugs!

Approximate Distance: 40 miles

The Checkpoint at Chokoloskee

Our general look all week

Cuban sandwich with new friends

Wonderful ground crew and Double Vision coming in behind us

Sleigh riding through the bays in the Everglades

Day 3 Bokeelia to Gullivan Key

We broke camp at 8:30AM and headed down the inland side of Pine Island. There we came across 2 other Hobie Tandems tacking to make up ground. During all this we passed a couple of manatees playing which was so cool. They were not scared of the kayak at all. We followed the other kayaks and landed on a small beach north of Sanibel bridge. These guys told us there plans and were not taking the Wilderness Waterway so we parted company. As we passed under Sanibel bridge the waves were huge. We wanted to take a straight shot to Marco Island which kept us miles off shore. I saw high rises up ahead and assumed that was Naples but it wasn't and day turned to night as we continued on. At dusk we had a storm front come from the north which was amazing to watch. When it arrived a quick gust pounded the boat followed by a blanket of warm humid air. So wild. Then the northern wind started to pick up. We decided to take some shallow cut throughs off the tip of Marco and got into Gullivan's Bay. There we found an aptly named Key and went to sleep at 3:43 AM and tomorrow was going to be early to start catch the Chokoloskee tide. What a night for stars. Without the high rise condos there was no light pollution and stars were everywhere.

Approximate Distance: 75.2

Manatee Sighing!

Day 2 Venice Canal to Check Point 1 finishing in Bokeelia

We peeled ourselves off the dock and continued down the inland route. The winds had not picked up and few boaters go to church as the boat traffic increased early that Sunday. We got to checkpoint one /Cape Haze at 1 day 5 hours and 49 minutes. We were greeted by our friend and mentor from Charleston, Lawless (tribe name, real name Shawn). Wonderful people had made hotdogs and beans. Absolutely amazing! We left CP1 and headed to Charlotte Harbor. Our plan was to stay on Cayo Costa but the winds had picked up and we couldn't get there very efficiently (more to come on how poorly the Hobie points) so we headed east to a campsite we had heard about from another fellow triber named Mr. Mako. As the sun set we passed Bokeelia to find a nice beach to setup for the night. We sat down to a meal and let the bugs devour our ankles. Great night sleep.

Approximate Distance: 30.6 Miles

Camp at Bokeelia

Crossing Charlotte Harbor

Day 1 - Fort Desoto to the Venice Canal

Our plan was always to take the ICW down but with such light winds on Saturday we decided to go outside. The winds were not much better there and we did a lot of bobbing around waiting for a breeze. We headed in to Sarasota to be beaten around by high speed boats. As night fell the traffic died down but the wind was no better. There was a lot of peddling and paddling with little progress. I would point out we started this fearing pythons and gators but with a little LED stern light, drunk boaters quickly became more scary. One guy jump a wake, injured a girl on board, then decided to go full throttle again only to hit a sand bar. We watched all this as we slogged along. We started looking for a camping spot around 10PM with no luck. Mangroves simply come out of the water. No soil for a tent so we proceeded on. We found ourselves in the canal behind the Venice airport that night about 1AM. We were traveling with a couple kayaks and an SUP (stand up paddle boarder) and then the fog rolled in. We found a dock attached to a park and slept on it with shrimp heads from the last fishing effort. It was better than the ground but not much.

Approximate total distance: 52.3 miles

We finished and the results are in.

The EC lived up to the challenge. The field included 83 boats and competitors. Our start was 3/2 at 7AM and we finished at 6 days, 14 hours and 55 minutes later. The conditions were rough and there was 23 DNFs (Did Not Finish) which was high from what i'm told.  As I mentioned there are divisions and we finished 6 of 16. I would add no other Tandem Island (our boat) attempted the Wilderness Waterway/Nightmare. Not bad. We were very disappointed to not be able to complete that additional challenge but it just wasn't right. That said we did finish the nightmare. Additional post to detail that soon.

Last chance on the computer....

So I have gotten really familiar with windy.com to help me understand the conditions and as of 4:13 AM on the start of race day the wind will not be helping us... throughout the entire trip. Today might have very little wind but we may get lucky with an onshore breeze this afternoon. Sunday looks brutal with the wind in our face all day. We hope to be on the approach to Chokoloskee on Monday to get our permits but if things are slow going we will be backed out to Tuesday. We have to get there on a high tide and during business hours for the ranger station. Once in the Everglades the weather may help. The wind picks up and temp falls which might mitigate the bug issue. That said a delay getting through the park could make Florida Bay more challenging. Starting Thursday the winds will be out of the east which essentially drains the bay. Like I said outside of high winds and cooler temps in the Everglades conditions are adding to the challenge. That said, doesn't look like rain...

Checked in and ready....

So we are officially checked in. We had all the gear so we passed the test to get started. The boat is on the beach waiting for us to shove off tomorrow at 7AM. Here are some of the pics.

Below are our t-shirts with our Tribe names.

Lugging it out to the beach

Check in

alot of gear to pack in

Alot

She might be coming with us. Thanks Caroline for sending Coco (or maybe Sally)

Love my ground crew

Even though the ground crew is making me take a machete

90+ boats are competing

Here are all the sailors... and kayakers. Boat people in general

Great panorama mom.

Trippin' To Florida

Well we loaded the Kayak on the ol' subie Thursday and drove to Flada. It tooka while seein' as we were going 65 since I was afraid to go any fast. Either way we got here safely.

When we got here we stayed in perhaps the sketchiest motel ever. Morg was even solicited... by the lady in the room next door. Well we needed a place to store the boat inside so the shie fit.

Video test

I have always found my GoPro to be more of a chore than a fun time but with the EC right around the corner I had better get ready. This is of on of Morg and my many test runs.

Tent is Kid approved

 Morgan and I setup the tent in the front yard and I can safely say it is kid approved. Its getting close. I can hear the tribal drums.

Camp stove

While K took a nap this weekend I tested out my stove options (yes I have more than 1 camp stove) and I am going old school. I bought a alcohol burning Trangia stove a while back. It isn't pressurized so its slower BUT it can't break. Testing yielded boiling water (1 Liter) in 5 minutes for the high tech and the 10 minutes for the Trangia. I am not in a rush so here we go.