# Everglades Challenge 2020



## Arcb

I mentioned I would start a thread on this event when the time came.

For those not familiar, the Everglades Challenge is a small boat race, 300 miles or so down the Florida Coast from Tampa Bay to Key Largo, non stop, unassisted.

Boats must be beach launchable with no engines on board. Generally, roughly, 500 pounds or less. Mostly dinghies, beach cats, canoes and kayaks.

There are 3 checkpoints each with its own challenges, and each pretty much requiring human powered propulsion (oars, paddles, pedal power etc). First check point Cape Haze Marina,second Everglades City and 3rd is Flamingo in Everglades National park. Aside from the check points, participants chose their own routes.

Time limit is 8 days. Fast boats can be done in 2-3.

There are no handicapps. Each boat must be self supporting and carry an expedition load (food, water, camping gear, safety gear, navigation)

There are 5 main boat classes (each class has further subdivisions);
1 Expedition Canoes and Kayaks
2 Racing canoes, kayaks and surf skis
3 sailing canoes and kayaks
4 monohull sailboats
5 multihull sailboats
And there is a class 6 for electric boats. As well as a class for Stand Up Paddle Boards.

Event starts this Saturday March 7 about sunrise in Tampa Bay. Boat inspection is Friday March 6.

I thought I would share now, because it can be entertaining to watch teams traveling to Tampa from all over North America (beleive this year there are teams from Europe and Australia as well).

I am not there yet, I am currently being a tourist in Savannah Georgia, but I am heading that way.

Here is the race tracker.

WaterTribe :: Challenge Mapper Using Google Maps


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## paulk

When are you starting a Saint Laurent Challenge 500 (km)? You could set up stops requiring changing sides each day, or stopping on one side going and the other returning...


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## Arcb

The forecast for Saturday. Pretty sporty for the 7 am start. North Eastish 21-28 Mph against an incoming tide I guess. The fast beach cats could be going very fast. I believe, amongst others there is a Nacra Carbon 20 and a couple of Tornadoes. 

Looks like wind on Sunday stays pretty strong on but coming out of the East, which is offshore. That should make for good sailing too.

After Sunday, looks like the wind is likely to stay strong but out of the south. So for those of us not fast enough to finish in two days, it will be right in our faces and may stay that way.


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## BarryL

Wow,

That sounds crazy!

300nm on a SUP? Really crazy! Non stop and unassisted? Super Crazy

Barry


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## paulk

Pics? What class will you be racing in?


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## Arcb

I will get some pics during inspection tomorrow.

I am in Class 1 with sail (expedition Kayak with a sail but without a lee board or out riggers).


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## paulk

Expedition kayak!? So you do 100 pushups three times a day to get ready?
I have a kayak, but am not there on the pushups yet. Good luck!!


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## Arcb

I am having trouble uploading pics. Think it might be the wifi. 

Here are 3.

.

First is on the small end of the spectrum. SCAMP mono hull only 12 ft. Water ballast. 

2nd are 2 kayaks and a canoe.

Third is an Arc 22 Beach Cat. Very fast and stable catamaran

Will try and get some more bigger racing sailboat pics to upload later.


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## Arcb

Some more custom boats.


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## Arcb

107 boats in total. 

Mostly sailboats.

There seem to be very few kayaks.


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## paulk

Which is yours? How do we track you on the website?


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## Arcb

Mine is the smaller orange kayak with the red and yellow sail in the first set of pics. 

To track me my race name is Buoyohbuoy on the tracker. Class 1.


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## Arcb

Weather holdfor the start. Offshore wind is blowing spray off the whitecaps. Its pretty lumpy. Start might be around 0900.


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## paulk

They're off (!?!) 
WaterTribe :: Challenge Mapper Using Google Maps

Tracker doesn't seem to have kicked in yet...

Aha! AP and two sound signals: postponement.


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## paulk

Now they're off.... many of them, anyway. 
http://www.watertribe.com/events/ChallengeGMapper.aspx


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## paulk

Looks like Arcb has put in at Bird Key, near St. Armands, for the night. Nice going! Hope the bugs aren’t too hungry.

Correction: tracker at 22h00 puts him on Nokomis Beach for the night, near Venice. 43 miles along the route.


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## night0wl

Man, the wind is blowing today. We're on the boat tonight on Marco Island...its cold and wind is absolutely howling. You guys are brave!


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## paulk

Wind from the NE at about 10 knots according to Windy this morning. 55 degrees. Great paddling weather, and good for a reach if you can keep from sliding to leeward. Don’t forget daylight savings -- it’s later than you think!


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## paulk

60 miles in, but Arcb is moving at less than 3 knots. Sail must not be helping much. Temp is up to 70’s, wind is up to teens, but from the East.


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## Arcb

The sail was useless getting in to cp1. Locally its not an east its a head wind and blowing like stink. But I made it to CP1. I have an uphill battle to make cp2 before the cutoff.


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## Arcb

Just sn update on my status if any one is cutious. I am currently weather bound on a small spoil island north of Charlotte Harbor. Guys that have been across are reporting tough conditions. Big breaking waves. Its not so much the waves that are making me wait as the head winds. Took me 3 hours today to padlle 3 miles. Not getting any help from the sail. Might take a crack at Charlotte Harbor tomorrow am, but its still supposed to be rough.


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## chef2sail

Arcb said:


> Just sn update on my status if any one is cutious. I am currently weather bound on a small spoil island north of Charlotte Harbor. Guys that have been across are reporting tough conditions. Big breaking waves. Its not so much the waves that are making me wait as the head winds. Took me 3 hours today to padlle 3 miles. Not getting any help from the sail. Might take a crack at Charlotte Harbor tomorrow am, but its still supposed to be rough.


Thanks for the update...soldier on 🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘


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## paulk

Apparently many people dropping out or holding at CP2 due to conditions. 30 knots from East, damaging boats & rigs.

Nacra 20 - Chaos & Sew sew - seem to have finished. Broke their rudder and had to steer with a paddle.


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## Towguy

Hey Arcb ,good on you to take ‘‘tis race on again,been busy but will follow you now,good luck and fair winds to you,,,,,,keep us posted.....Ralph


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## paulk

Moving on at 1.7 knots! 77 miles under the keel so far. Looks like Arcb is trying to work to windward along the Cape Haze shore before making a dash across more open water to Bokeelia later today. Think how cold it is at home and paddle hard!


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## Jeff_H

Justin,

It looks like a tough year for this race, but it also looks like you are hitting it hard and making progress. Looking at the tracker it appears that you are in Pine Island Sound, near Burnt Store and Matlacha moving at 1.5 knots. Good job! The home team is rooting for you so hang in there and be safe.....

Jeff


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## RegisteredUser

Yeah, one of those years..got dished out.
Will be good btching material for years


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## Arcb

Well, my race is over. Another day of paddling against a blistering head wind at 1-2 knots made reaching CP2 before the cut off a mathematical impossibility. 

Today all my electronics fell victim to saltwater intrusion after a couple of hours of beam on breaking waves on Charlotte Harbor. Still had my map and compas, but... 

I will continue to watch the boats still out there, hopefully they have better luck than I did.

I saw ine boat did sink today, the sherrifs department posted pics of ghe recue on fb.

Thanks for the positive vibes


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## eherlihy

Sorry to read that you had to drop out. Good on 'ya for making the attempt! This seemed a little too masochistic for me to want to participate.


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## Arcb

I don't feel too bad. Paddling really isn't my strong suit. I am more of a sailor. Had a decent finish in 2018 with my beach cat. Now I can start thinking about what I will enter in 2022.


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## Jeff_H

Arcb said:


> Well, my race is over. Another day of paddling against a blistering head wind at 1-2 knots made reaching CP2 before the cut off a mathematical impossibility.
> 
> Today all my electronics fell victim to saltwater intrusion after a couple of hours of beam on breaking waves on Charlotte Harbor. Still had my map and compass, but...
> 
> I will continue to watch the boats still out there, hopefully they have better luck than I did.
> 
> I saw one boat did sink today, the sheriff's department posted pics of the rescue on fb.
> 
> Thanks for the positive vibes


Justin,

I am very saddened to read this, but you should be very proud that you were able to accomplish as much as you did. Even in an easy year, an event like this is one a major challenge (which is probably why it is called a challenge). Looking at the conditions, this year was particularly brutal, especially since for you it meant hours and hours of paddling upwind in rough seas. There are no losers in an event like this. Just going through the planning, testing, and training, getting together a well found boat to the starting line and then covering 92 miles plus is a major accomplishment.

Once you are safely back home you should take stock of what you have accomplished, what worked and what didn't. Look at the boats that managed to finish and try to see what lessons can be learned from them. Think about how those same boats might have done in lighter conditions or reaching conditions.

Ask yourself the hard questions, think critically about what you could have done differently but at the same time be charitable towards yourself because none of us are sufficiently clairvoyant to have predicted the conditions you encountered and none of us could say with any certainty that we are capable of accomplishing as much as you did. As someone wisely said, "It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves."

Often events like these come down to the best horse for the course. As I read some of the blogs, the results, roster and your posts, it seems like the boats that could sail upwind in a big breeze in shallow water and waves seemed to be doing the best. I suspect that the boats that did well this year, might not have done as well if this was a no wind year and some of these boats needed to be human power propelled for long periods of time. I found it interesting that the third place boat overall is a mono-hull sailboat being sailed by a two person crew that includes Jahn Tihansky who is an extremely accomplished sailboat racer from the Chesapeake.

Jeff


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## bigdogandy

Sorry to hear that conditions were so unfavorable that you weren’t able to finish, but congrats on going for it and thanks for sharing the experience with us!


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## chef2sail

ARCB,

Great that you took this on. Much harder as a challenge then sailing this with no goal in mind that finishing. I’m sure there will be lessons learned of what worked, what didn’t, and what improvements are needed. 

Good on ya for pushing your envelope and sharing with us😃😃😃😃


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## eherlihy

Watching the news here in Ft Myers. It seems that one participant has become disoriented and is currently lost off the coast of Sanibel Island. SAR teams are working it.

*ETA:* The missing man is Jim Slauson, 73, who was sailing a 2015 Core Sound Mark 3 17-foot single-hull craft in the Water Tribe Everglades Challenge.

Slauson's craft was last tracked to somewhere near Sanibel, race organizers said.

The USCG said multiple air and water assets searched yesterday and were continuing today.

*2nd ETA:* Not looking good... Shortly after noon Tuesday the Coast Guard announced they found the sailboat but not Slauson. Anyone with information on him is asked to call 727-824-7506.

The sailor, Jim Slauson, 73, who the Coast Guard described Tuesday as disoriented, remains missing.


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## paulk

Boat was located about 20 miles offshore. Participants are supposed to have personal epirbs and strobes. They may have to be activated, however, and who knows when he left the boat. Sad. 

Despite the ads, the weather is not always nice in FL, and this is a case in point. Still, it’s a lot warmer than Canada for Arcb!


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## Arcb

Oh ya, race is over, but vacation is not. I will spend the rest of the week paddle sailing North of Fort Myers/Cayo Costa then van down to Key Largo for the after party. Just because I am not getting my gator tooth doesn't mean Key Largo ran out of ice and rum!


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## Arcb

Results are coming in.

First 4 places went to beach Cats. No surprise there. First was a foiling Carbon 20 by Nacra. Second went to Hobie 18.

Monohull came in 5th. Core Sound 22, skippered by its designer Alan Stewart. 

First in kayak went to an Epic 18, with no sail.

First in Racing Kayaks went to a tandem team in a Stellar 21.

As far as I can tell no class 3 boats (sailing kayaks/canoes) have finished yet. I think there are some Krugers getting close or maybe already finished.

I don't beleive any SUPs or Solar boats have finished as of right now.

My info might be a bit off.

Quite a few beach cats and some tris have finished.


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## paulk

Still partying down there? Things are getting pretty wild up North.


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## Arcb

paulk said:


> Still partying down there? Things are getting pretty wild up North.


I got a story that belongs in the sailboat preppers bugging out thread. Any way, made it back to Canada this evening after quite a trip. Instead of a cruising sailboat my vessel of choice was a Grand Caravan :ship-captain:


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## Minnewaska

Arcb, just catching up on the thread. Just filling out the entrance forms for this race is beyond my level of courage. Sorry to hear of the results, but we all are in a bigger completion now. Best to your health for the next race.


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## eherlihy

Arcb said:


> I got a story that belongs in the sailboat preppers bugging out thread. Any way, made it back to Canada this evening after quite a trip. Instead of a cruising sailboat my vessel of choice was a Grand Caravan :ship-captain:


Did you run out of TP, or what? I would like to know more...


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## Arcb

eherlihy said:


> Did you run out of TP, or what? I would like to know more...


Where to begin... Van was side swiped by a dozy or dopey RV driver before I got out of Florida. Passenger side door was stove in and would only open 1/3rd of the way. Passenger side fender was stove in, passenger side mirror was taken off. Drove 2500 km like that with news that the Canada/US border was shutting down.

Race against the clock. The roads were nearly abandoned. Probably half the vehicles on I95 were Ontario or Quebec plates racing the clock. A good chunk of those were RVs and 5th wheels being driven by tired seniors.

Restrooms were filthy as I don't think employees wanted to risk cleaning them. Restaurants closed. Had a 1 year old and a 5 year old in a half wrecked van with a boat on the roof. Huge line at the border. Border Guard seemed more afraid of us than we were of them and informed us we were required to self isolate for 14 days. Not even to go out for groceries.

Covered 2500 km through; Florida, Georgia, SC, N.C. Virginia, D.C. Maryland, Pennsyvania, New York and Ontario in 38 hours. Just a long drive.


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## RegisteredUser

Im thinking...book deal

Please continue


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## Arcb

Don't think I updated final race results. 

First place; Chaos and SewSew. Nacra Carbon 20 in 28 hours. SewSew is the Tribe name of world sailing hall of famer Randy Smyth. Next 3 boats were beach cats.

Then a Core Sound 22 monohull.

Seems Core Sounds have their own sub class. First non Core Sound Mono was a Highlander.

First paddle craft a class 1 Epic 18, no sail.

First racing kayak was a tandem Stellar 21 with Falcon Sail. 

First Class 3 boat was a tandem Kruger Cruiser with BSD sail rig and inflatable Amas AND they did the Wilderness Waterway (which had been my goal). 

Total finishers 42 of 107 starters or about 39%.

Tough year. This is my interpretation of the results, so I might be a bit off on specifics.


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## eherlihy

Arcb said:


> Tough year.


Yes it has been... and we're not even through March yet!

Sorry to learn about your van. Florida has some of the absolute worst drivers anywhere. Tailgating, Jockeying through traffic like playing a 4000 pound video game, Stopping at red lights is optional, Turn signals are either on all the time, or never used at all, No clue what to do in a rotary... The problem is that many of the offending drivers are carrying concealed weapons. Best bet is to just assume that they are all idiots, and give everyone a wide berth.


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## chef2sail

Arcb said:


> Where to begin... Van was side swiped by a dozy or dopey RV driver before I got out of Florida. Passenger side door was stove in and would only open 1/3rd of the way. Passenger side fender was stove in, passenger side mirror was taken off. Drove 2500 km like that with news that the Canada/US border was shutting down.
> 
> Race against the clock. The roads were nearly abandoned. Probably half the vehicles on I95 were Ontario or Quebec plates racing the clock. A good chunk of those were RVs and 5th wheels being driven by tired seniors.
> 
> Restrooms were filthy as I don't think employees wanted to risk cleaning them. Restaurants closed. Had a 1 year old and a 5 year old in a half wrecked van with a boat on the roof. Huge line at the border. Border Guard seemed more afraid of us than we were of them and informed us we were required to self isolate for 14 days. Not even to go out for groceries.
> 
> Covered 2500 km through; Florida, Georgia, SC, N.C. Virginia, D.C. Maryland, Pennsyvania, New York and Ontario in 38 hours. Just a long drive.


Glad you are safe?


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## Minnewaska

eherlihy said:


> ...... Florida has some of the absolute worst drivers anywhere..


That's for sure. You learn not to take anything for granted, especially someone else's stop sign or red light.

I saw an interesting documentary on vision as we age. While we all think we see a complete landscape, we really only see dots of information, from all our rods and cones, and our brain fills in the small spaces between. As we age, we lose some of those rods/cones, or they stop working well, or something like that. Therefore, our brains fill more in and we don't realize there are missing spots in our vision. That could be where the stop sign is.

Of course, elderly fatigue or any other number of maladies could account for it too. Then there are the younger drivers who are so frustrated by it, they react with road rage on various points of the spectrum.

I swear the no-helmet law in FL is just Darwinian.


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## RegisteredUser

Blue hairs mixed in with teenage cuban rice burners along with the bubbas on 12" lifts...tis interesting


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## WrkrBee

eherlihy said:


> Florida has some of the absolute worst drivers anywhere. Tailgating, Jockeying through traffic like playing a 4000 pound video game, Stopping at red lights is optional, Turn signals are either on all the time, or never used at all, No clue what to do in a rotary... The problem is that many of the offending drivers are carrying concealed weapons. Best bet is to just assume that they are all idiots, and give everyone a wide berth.


I only go to Florida in April, after the Snowbirds migrate back north.


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## Arcb

eherlihy said:


> Watching the news here in Ft Myers. It seems that one participant has become disoriented and is currently lost off the coast of Sanibel Island. SAR teams are working it.
> 
> *ETA:* The missing man is Jim Slauson, 73, who was sailing a 2015 Core Sound Mark 3 17-foot single-hull craft in the Water Tribe Everglades Challenge.
> 
> Slauson's craft was last tracked to somewhere near Sanibel, race organizers said.
> 
> The USCG said multiple air and water assets searched yesterday and were continuing today.
> 
> *2nd ETA:* Not looking good... Shortly after noon Tuesday the Coast Guard announced they found the sailboat but not Slauson. Anyone with information on him is asked to call 727-824-7506.
> 
> The sailor, Jim Slauson, 73, who the Coast Guard described Tuesday as disoriented, remains missing.


I thought I might follow up on ths now that some time has passed.

Jim is indeed believed to have passed. His boat was found in a state of wreckage by the USCG.

I didn't mention it at the time, because we were hopeful of a different

I am no longer allowed to participate in these races single handed (according to my wife, who has a fair amount of say).


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