Back from Spring Fever 2008, Team NC State had a respectable showing this year bringing 4 boats to the line. Trey and I made out with 3rd place this year. There was a 3 point spread for 1st 2nd and 3rd in the I-20 class this year so it was very close racing. Once again Spring Fever proved to be one of the best regattas of the season and I think also the largest catamaran regatta in the south east. Here are some pics but there are more on the way from the on-the-water photographer.
Team Velocity is headed to St. Thomas this weekend for our second International Rolex Regatta. Trey is sailing with past Tybee 500 and Altercup champion John Casey on an bigger go fast catamaran while I will be living the good life sailing a hobie 16 with our sponsors son. Should be a fun time.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
Shamrock Marathon/Half Spectacular
I am working on a trip report for the EC (unlike last year) with pictures like my mom is doing so look for that in the near future. But in the meantime...
Team NORSA just returned from the annual Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach, VA. NORSA members Adam Domanski, Alan Stewart and Bethan Haaga participated in the event and Julie Brockman, Adam's girlfriend who wasn't able to register in time was official team cheerleader, nurse, driver and all around helpful person. Adam and Bethan both completed the Full Marathon in 3:58:04 and 4:08:46 respectively and I finished the half marathon in 2:14:59. For not training near as much as I should have I finished mostly injury free, able to walk (the next day too) and feeling great despite being in the back of the pack for my age, who's counting.
On Friday after classes Adam and I drove up to Richmond to meet up with Julie at her place and spend the night. Julie cooked up some Portobello mushroom, grilled chicken dinner amazingness and we went out to a bar with Andrew, another of Adams college friends before getting a good nights sleep. On the way up, Adam and I spent a lot of time talking about "our circumnavigation" and Saturday morning we were doing some casual research on budgets for circumnavigations and general big boat cruising. Warning, digression ahead.
Adam and 7 or 8 friends of his planned a 3 year circumnavigation a year or so ago scheduled for departure on November 2nd of 2009. The whole endeavor is based around a project backed by the Mariner's museum in Newport News, VA and is called "EYE of the world... an expedition in youth education". The basic idea is that this group would sail around hitting about 84 cities around the world in just over 3 years while in communication with schools in the US who could track their progress, send them e-mails, and during their journey, learn about other countries economy, history, religion, and even help map out the sailors route that they take. They came up with the idea and since then some of the original members have had life changes (job, family) that make the trip... less feasible. In short, Adam and his good friend Ian Harris are the only ones currently 100% a go on the project informally searching for a 3rd or 4th member with experience and commitment. Adam had told me about the project in the past but only recently was it more of a reality that I might be able to participate. Needless to say, I am... shall we say DOWN. I will graduate in May of 2009 and then... do it! At least that is my current plan. I am getting up to speed on the project and will be helping to secure funding through sponsorship and Adam may have found us a blue water 37 footer that has the potential to be donated to the cause. We shall see. Anyway, back to the weekend.
Saturday around noon, the three of us drove to Newport News to meet up with Ian who we would be staying with that night. Ian is in the military and soon to be out of the service and works as a chaplain's assistant on base. We drove into VA beach and dropped Ian off for a couple of hours on base and went to pick up our event packets as the VA beach convention center. There we found Bethan, another of Adam's school friends from the William and Mary days and we got our packets and explored the various novel products that race sponsors had in the following expo at the center. Back at Ian's we ordered pizzas and rocked out with some Rock Band.
The Half marathon start was at 7am followed by the full at 8. We woke up at 4:30 and were walking to the line around 6:30. We took shelter in a 7-11 next to the start with about 100 other runners. It was blowing about 10mph steady and in the low 50s but it didn't rain on us thankfully. During the run, I ran into a bunch of friends who had also come up from state for the race and I ran with them for about half the distance. After finishing, I met back up with them and we hung out in the finishers tent with hot soup, bananas, water, a live band and lots of beer. We all watched Adam and Bethan finish and not soon after, Ian and Alan (a different Alan) and his wife? (also college buddies of Adams) came down to hang out with us in the tent. Ian and them were waiting for Adam around mile 21 to..."cheer him on" which actually meant having a food fight with him with a lot of relish. yes relish. When he crossed the finish line we thought he had vomed on himself and thought, what a weenie until he reached down, grabbed some off his shirt and ate it. EEEWWW. No it's ok guys, its just relish. Apparently they wanted him to "relish" in his accomplishments of the day.
Although exhausted, we were surprisingly upbeat. Adam flew a kite that he had brought and the band was great so much dancing was done as well. I think I will be known as "wet suit dancing guy" next year at the race. After a while we decided that it was time to go boogie boarding in the ocean and I donned the rest of the wet suit that I had brought, Adam put on Julie's shorty and my balaclava and Ian had a wet suit as well. Ian took one for the team and bought us a boogie board thanks Ian. We sprinted into the water and were there for about 30 seconds. I got an almost instant cold headache like I had just downed an entire frozen slushy. We thought it must have been in the low 40s. I looked it up and found all reports say it was 53 but I'm not convinced. We did manage to get in a couple of good waves though. The surf was pretty big. Our 5 minute swim was plenty and returned to the warmth of the tent and packed up to hit the road but not before Adam and Ian had a good healthy beer fight mostly soaking each other. I think we were the either the clowns or the highlight of the after race party. Anyway, I think we had the most fun.
We retired to a seafood restaurant for a huge crab leg buffet before cleaning up back at Ian's, saying our goodbyes and getting a move on. We dropped Julie off (she drove back to Richmond) and made it to Raleigh around midnight fully sore and walking like old cripples. Another great trip for the books.
On Friday after classes Adam and I drove up to Richmond to meet up with Julie at her place and spend the night. Julie cooked up some Portobello mushroom, grilled chicken dinner amazingness and we went out to a bar with Andrew, another of Adams college friends before getting a good nights sleep. On the way up, Adam and I spent a lot of time talking about "our circumnavigation" and Saturday morning we were doing some casual research on budgets for circumnavigations and general big boat cruising. Warning, digression ahead.
Adam and 7 or 8 friends of his planned a 3 year circumnavigation a year or so ago scheduled for departure on November 2nd of 2009. The whole endeavor is based around a project backed by the Mariner's museum in Newport News, VA and is called "EYE of the world... an expedition in youth education". The basic idea is that this group would sail around hitting about 84 cities around the world in just over 3 years while in communication with schools in the US who could track their progress, send them e-mails, and during their journey, learn about other countries economy, history, religion, and even help map out the sailors route that they take. They came up with the idea and since then some of the original members have had life changes (job, family) that make the trip... less feasible. In short, Adam and his good friend Ian Harris are the only ones currently 100% a go on the project informally searching for a 3rd or 4th member with experience and commitment. Adam had told me about the project in the past but only recently was it more of a reality that I might be able to participate. Needless to say, I am... shall we say DOWN. I will graduate in May of 2009 and then... do it! At least that is my current plan. I am getting up to speed on the project and will be helping to secure funding through sponsorship and Adam may have found us a blue water 37 footer that has the potential to be donated to the cause. We shall see. Anyway, back to the weekend.
Saturday around noon, the three of us drove to Newport News to meet up with Ian who we would be staying with that night. Ian is in the military and soon to be out of the service and works as a chaplain's assistant on base. We drove into VA beach and dropped Ian off for a couple of hours on base and went to pick up our event packets as the VA beach convention center. There we found Bethan, another of Adam's school friends from the William and Mary days and we got our packets and explored the various novel products that race sponsors had in the following expo at the center. Back at Ian's we ordered pizzas and rocked out with some Rock Band.The Half marathon start was at 7am followed by the full at 8. We woke up at 4:30 and were walking to the line around 6:30. We took shelter in a 7-11 next to the start with about 100 other runners. It was blowing about 10mph steady and in the low 50s but it didn't rain on us thankfully. During the run, I ran into a bunch of friends who had also come up from state for the race and I ran with them for about half the distance. After finishing, I met back up with them and we hung out in the finishers tent with hot soup, bananas, water, a live band and lots of beer. We all watched Adam and Bethan finish and not soon after, Ian and Alan (a different Alan) and his wife? (also college buddies of Adams) came down to hang out with us in the tent. Ian and them were waiting for Adam around mile 21 to..."cheer him on" which actually meant having a food fight with him with a lot of relish. yes relish. When he crossed the finish line we thought he had vomed on himself and thought, what a weenie until he reached down, grabbed some off his shirt and ate it. EEEWWW. No it's ok guys, its just relish. Apparently they wanted him to "relish" in his accomplishments of the day.
Although exhausted, we were surprisingly upbeat. Adam flew a kite that he had brought and the band was great so much dancing was done as well. I think I will be known as "wet suit dancing guy" next year at the race. After a while we decided that it was time to go boogie boarding in the ocean and I donned the rest of the wet suit that I had brought, Adam put on Julie's shorty and my balaclava and Ian had a wet suit as well. Ian took one for the team and bought us a boogie board thanks Ian. We sprinted into the water and were there for about 30 seconds. I got an almost instant cold headache like I had just downed an entire frozen slushy. We thought it must have been in the low 40s. I looked it up and found all reports say it was 53 but I'm not convinced. We did manage to get in a couple of good waves though. The surf was pretty big. Our 5 minute swim was plenty and returned to the warmth of the tent and packed up to hit the road but not before Adam and Ian had a good healthy beer fight mostly soaking each other. I think we were the either the clowns or the highlight of the after race party. Anyway, I think we had the most fun.We retired to a seafood restaurant for a huge crab leg buffet before cleaning up back at Ian's, saying our goodbyes and getting a move on. We dropped Julie off (she drove back to Richmond) and made it to Raleigh around midnight fully sore and walking like old cripples. Another great trip for the books.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
The good stuff
I have been asked to redirect all of my moms usual readers back to her blog. Shows over so to say.
Back in Raleigh now and thinking hard about the year to come. Chances are that I will have to sit out EC 09 due to my senior design project. And then what? Sailing sabbatical? Naval Architecture masters degree? Which to do first is really the bigger issue. I have found that, just like last year, I am slapped in the face with wanderlust especially where sailing is concerned and it makes it all the more difficult to focus on studying. I am not all removed from sailing however, in the coming weeks, Trey and I will be heading down to St. Thomas for the International Rolex regatta so I will no doubt "get my fix". But even so, stuck at school, you can only get so much of a fix from forums, and the internet especially after you've had the good stuff.
Back in Raleigh now and thinking hard about the year to come. Chances are that I will have to sit out EC 09 due to my senior design project. And then what? Sailing sabbatical? Naval Architecture masters degree? Which to do first is really the bigger issue. I have found that, just like last year, I am slapped in the face with wanderlust especially where sailing is concerned and it makes it all the more difficult to focus on studying. I am not all removed from sailing however, in the coming weeks, Trey and I will be heading down to St. Thomas for the International Rolex regatta so I will no doubt "get my fix". But even so, stuck at school, you can only get so much of a fix from forums, and the internet especially after you've had the good stuff.
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Finished!
SandyBottom called in just a few minutes ago to happily say that she was in Key Largo and happy to be done. She slept just out from Flamingo (CP3) on Joe Kemp Key, while the rest of the Kruger crew paddled on further. They ended up sleeping in their wonderful Kruger sea canoes. SB caught up to them in the morning for the last push to the finish.
Congrats to everyone in this years Everglades Challenge!
Congrats to everyone in this years Everglades Challenge!
I Think They Can, I Know They Will.
SOS just called to say that SandyBottom and friends were in Jimmy Channel as of 11:30 today. The winds are fresh and in a favorable direction. The whole crowd should be in Largo before sundown!
Friday, March 07, 2008
Back to Civilization
Well I just got a call from DWSB saying that he had gotten a call from SB in Flamingo. It sounds like it's been a really rough time of it all, Sb said that it's the worst she's ever been physically in an EC (she is about to get her 5th sharks tooth necklace).
After leaving CP2 Wenesday morning at 9:30 SB and RiverJohn made their way to the Harney River campsite by 3:30AM the next morning. Shortly thereafter Trader & TroutHeart showed up to camp. SB & RJ got about 3 hours of sleep that night and then continued paddling on to CP3. They pulled up for the night at the South Joe River Chickee at 12:30 AM early Friday Morning. They got a well deserved full nights sleep there and made their last push for CP3 at 9:30 this morning (Friday). They made it in to CP3 at 11:50 AM.
Sb said that the winds and tides seemed to be against them all the time so the paddling was relentless. They plan to rest for the remainder of the day, wait out potentially dangerous weather, and then make it to Key Largo early tomorrow. SB and RJ were reunited with Boo, dabiscuit, and ManitouCruiser at CP3 and they are all going to finish together. The winds are supposed to favorable tomorrow, and RiverJohn doesn't have a sail rig. MC agreed to catamaran up and help RJ make the Florida Bay corssing with his Balogh sail rig. They all hope to be in Sunset Cove by mid afternoon at the latest.
After leaving CP2 Wenesday morning at 9:30 SB and RiverJohn made their way to the Harney River campsite by 3:30AM the next morning. Shortly thereafter Trader & TroutHeart showed up to camp. SB & RJ got about 3 hours of sleep that night and then continued paddling on to CP3. They pulled up for the night at the South Joe River Chickee at 12:30 AM early Friday Morning. They got a well deserved full nights sleep there and made their last push for CP3 at 9:30 this morning (Friday). They made it in to CP3 at 11:50 AM.
Sb said that the winds and tides seemed to be against them all the time so the paddling was relentless. They plan to rest for the remainder of the day, wait out potentially dangerous weather, and then make it to Key Largo early tomorrow. SB and RJ were reunited with Boo, dabiscuit, and ManitouCruiser at CP3 and they are all going to finish together. The winds are supposed to favorable tomorrow, and RiverJohn doesn't have a sail rig. MC agreed to catamaran up and help RJ make the Florida Bay corssing with his Balogh sail rig. They all hope to be in Sunset Cove by mid afternoon at the latest.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT
THIS AFTERNOON
SOUTHEAST TO SOUTH WINDS NEAR 20 KNOTS.
BAY WATERS CHOPPY TO ROUGH. ISOLATED SHOWERS.
TONIGHT
SOUTH WINDS NEAR 20 KNOTS...SHIFTING WEST LATE.
BAY WATERS CHOPPY TO ROUGH. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS.
SATURDAY
SOUTHWEST TO WEST WINDS NEAR 20 KNOTS EARLY...SHIFTING TO
NORTHWEST AND INCREASING TO 20 TO 25 KNOTS AND GUSTY. BAY WATERS ROUGH.
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN THE MORNING...THEN SCATTERED
SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON.
SATURDAY NIGHT
NORTHWEST TO NORTH WINDS NEAR 20 KNOTS AND GUSTY.
BAY WATERS ROUGH.
The 2008 Everglades Challenge is wrapping up in good fashion.
Wilderness...Waterway
Still no direct news from SandyBottom, but I did speak with SOS & DWSB this evening (Thursday) and learned that she and RiverJohn went to the Rangers station in Everglades City so that they could get the permits to go through the Wilderness Waterway (WW). I hope to post more about the waterway in the morning, but for now I'll just say that it brings a special reward to all WaterTribers who complete it in the EC.
I expect the SB will get into CP3 tomorrow seeing as KneadingWater also took the WW and got to CP this evening. He has been running ahead of SB.
Sleepy time!
I expect the SB will get into CP3 tomorrow seeing as KneadingWater also took the WW and got to CP this evening. He has been running ahead of SB.
Sleepy time!
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Where is SandyBottom?
I haven't heard anything from SandyBottom or any of her expected traveling party. They are all probably in the modern-world dead zone. It also sounds like storms might be rolling through. Eeek! Anyway let's hope for the best for all of the challengers.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
We have video
Checking the You Tube links and found on of SOS & DWSB sailing along. I don't know what is said because the computer I'm using doesn't have speakers, but live action is hard to beat. Enjoy.
Which Way Windy Wild Weather?
Right now the wind is shifting for the better of all challengers, but it won't last for long. The winds are continuing the shift from South to West and in the next 24 hours it's going to make it all the way up to North. But it looks like they will miss the brake pedal and keep on swinging back to the South; it think I hear a collective grrrrrrrrrr from the WaterTribers. I expet that everyone will put in a good push as soon as they can so that they don't get stuck like so many of them did today. If they don't make it in time now they can still fight the bad winds, and hope to make it to the finish line in time with a last minute shift to the West and North on Saturday/Sunday.
Here is the forecast for the southern Gulf Coast...
TONIGHT
Here is the forecast for the Florida Keys...
OVERNIGHT
Here is the forecast for the southern Gulf Coast...
TONIGHT
SOUTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS BECOMING WEST 5 TO
10 KNOTS AFTER MIDNIGHT. SEAS 2 TO 3 FEET. BAY AND INLAND WATERS A
MODERATE CHOP. CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS.
WEDNESDAY
WEST WINDS 5 TO 10 KNOTS. SEAS 2 FEET OR LESS. BAY AND
INLAND WATERS A LIGHT CHOP. SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT
NORTHWEST WINDS 5 TO 10 KNOTS. SEAS 2 FEET OR
LESS. WEST SWELL 2 FEET. BAY AND INLAND WATERS A LIGHT CHOP. SLIGHT
CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
THURSDAY
NORTH WINDS 5 TO 10 KNOTS. SEAS 2 FEET OR LESS. BAY AND
INLAND WATERS A LIGHT CHOP. SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
THURSDAY NIGHT
SOUTHEAST WINDS 5 TO 10 KNOTS BECOMING 10 TO
15 KNOTS AFTER MIDNIGHT. SEAS 2 FEET OR LESS. BAY AND INLAND WATERS
A LIGHT CHOP. SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
FRIDAY
SOUTH WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS BECOMING 15 TO 20 KNOTS IN THE
AFTERNOON. SEAS 2 TO 3 FEET. BAY AND INLAND WATERS A MODERATE CHOP.
CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS.
FRIDAY NIGHT
SOUTH WINDS 5 TO 10 KNOTS BECOMING SOUTHWEST 10 TO
15 KNOTS AFTER MIDNIGHT. SEAS 2 FEET OR LESS. BAY AND INLAND WATERS
A MODERATE CHOP. CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS.
SATURDAY
SOUTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS BECOMING NORTHWEST 15 TO
20 KNOTS IN THE AFTERNOON. SEAS 2 FEET OR LESS. BAY AND INLAND
WATERS A MODERATE CHOP. SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
SATURDAY NIGHT
NORTH WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS BECOMING 10 TO 15 KNOTS
AFTER MIDNIGHT. SEAS 2 TO 3 FEET. BAY AND INLAND WATERS A MODERATE
CHOP.
SUNDAY
NORTHEAST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS BECOMING 5 TO 10 KNOTS IN
THE AFTERNOON. SEAS 2 FEET OR LESS. BAY AND INLAND WATERS A LIGHT
CHOP.
Here is the forecast for the Florida Keys...
OVERNIGHT
VARIABLE WINDS LESS THAN 10 KNOTS. BAY WATERS SMOOTH TO
A LIGHT CHOP. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS.
WEDNESDAY
VARIABLE WINDS NEAR 10 KNOTS. BAY WATERS A LIGHT CHOP.
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT
VARIABLE WINDS NEAR 10 KNOTS...BECOMING
SOUTHEAST. BAY WATERS A LIGHT CHOP. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED
THUNDERSTORMS.
THURSDAY
SOUTHEAST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS. BAY WATERS A LIGHT TO
MODERATE CHOP. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS.
THURSDAY NIGHT
SOUTHEAST TO SOUTH WINDS NEAR 15 KNOTS. BAY WATERS
A MODERATE CHOP. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS.
FRIDAY
MAINLY SOUTH WINDS NEAR 15 KNOTS. BAY WATERS A MODERATE
CHOP. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS.
SATURDAY
WINDS BECOMING NORTHWEST AND INCREASING TO 15 TO 20
KNOTS. BAY WATERS BECOMING CHOPPY. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED
THUNDERSTORMS.
SUNDAY
NORTH TO NORTHEAST WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS. BAY WATERS CHOPPY
TO ROUGH. ISOLATED SHOWERS.
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