First news is that SandyBottom has made it to CP2 and is resting now. She is with RiverJohn now, but they expect to meet up with Manitou, Boo and dabiscuit in the wee hours and then head off from there to make a nonstop trip to Flamingo. Lets see how that plan pans out.
And!!! Team Dawn Patrol is now resting happily in the luxuries of the Sunset Cover Inn on Key Largo. They finished up at 19:40. They are pleased by their crossing of Florida Bay, and even came with in about an hour of catching Jarhead.
Way to go Dawn Patrol!
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
"Crazy!"
That's what SOS said in reference to the Twisty Mile Channel. They are now 11 miles from the finish line. It looks like they took Route #2 in reference to my last update. It sounded like they were under sail and having an exciting time getting through the Jimmy Channel as I talked to DWSB. I could also hear SOS yelling, "DRAGGING! DRAGGING! DRAGGING!" and the wind in the background.
Still no direct word from SB.
Still no direct word from SB.
Dawn Patrol is in Flamingo!
CP3 is in the books for Team Dawn Patrol. DWSB called in from a mysterious phone number to up date us all.
He said that they had sailed until midnight-ish and then dropped anchor for the short night. They fixed up a hot meal and got about 4 hours of rest from the relentless winds. The tide is coming in now which will help them in the treacherous Florida Bay; high tide is supposed to be at 14:00 today. The winds are still out of the ESE and should be shifting towards the West some in the next 24 hours. They aren't sure where Jarhead is, but they would love to catch up to them to make it a photo finish.
Only 30 miles left, but still half the race to go!
Good luck on conquering Florida Bay. Here are the top 3 routes to get through Florida Bay. Both #'s 1 & 2 require navigation through channels that maybe 40 yards wide and that are marked with only wooden fence posts with small reflectors on them...you know the kind of stuff you can pick up a the local hardware store. To make things even worse these markers are not too frequent along the channel, so at night you have to take a light and shine it all around looking for the markers. Once you find the edge of a channel (you are a wizard if you never have this happen) you are stuck in some very unfriendly mud that will suck you in if you hop out to push on your boat. The best bet in this situation is the rock free of the mud flat while giving up your hard earned headway. And one more thing to top it all off, you have been sailing/paddling in 15-20 kts. for days on end and you are sleep deprived. Once again good luck!
In other news...
I'm not sure what to make of a recent dabiscit post, but it sounds like they are setting up camp again!? If it is true maybe SandyBottom and RiverJohn are going to paddle on. We'll see how that turns out.
Also in other EC2008 news some more videos have been loaded to the internets. You can check them out here and here. There is one from Lugnut & Root, a couple from Chief, and a couple from the start. Enjoy!
He said that they had sailed until midnight-ish and then dropped anchor for the short night. They fixed up a hot meal and got about 4 hours of rest from the relentless winds. The tide is coming in now which will help them in the treacherous Florida Bay; high tide is supposed to be at 14:00 today. The winds are still out of the ESE and should be shifting towards the West some in the next 24 hours. They aren't sure where Jarhead is, but they would love to catch up to them to make it a photo finish.
Only 30 miles left, but still half the race to go!
Good luck on conquering Florida Bay. Here are the top 3 routes to get through Florida Bay. Both #'s 1 & 2 require navigation through channels that maybe 40 yards wide and that are marked with only wooden fence posts with small reflectors on them...you know the kind of stuff you can pick up a the local hardware store. To make things even worse these markers are not too frequent along the channel, so at night you have to take a light and shine it all around looking for the markers. Once you find the edge of a channel (you are a wizard if you never have this happen) you are stuck in some very unfriendly mud that will suck you in if you hop out to push on your boat. The best bet in this situation is the rock free of the mud flat while giving up your hard earned headway. And one more thing to top it all off, you have been sailing/paddling in 15-20 kts. for days on end and you are sleep deprived. Once again good luck!
In other news...
I'm not sure what to make of a recent dabiscit post, but it sounds like they are setting up camp again!? If it is true maybe SandyBottom and RiverJohn are going to paddle on. We'll see how that turns out.
Also in other EC2008 news some more videos have been loaded to the internets. You can check them out here and here. There is one from Lugnut & Root, a couple from Chief, and a couple from the start. Enjoy!
Dawn Patrol in full sail
I was looking through the B&B Messing About forum and found some nice shots of Dawn Patrol just after launching from the start line. There are also some pictures of Southern Skimmer, RidgeRunner's CS20, and Frontal Lobotomy (the crazy looking trimaran of Randy Smyth).
Here are the pictures of Dawn Patrol...
Here are the pictures of Dawn Patrol...
Monday, March 03, 2008
It's night nights for SandyBottom
I was just surfing the WT forum and saw that the dabiscuit had a entry log up saying that the whole gang was setting up camp for the early night.
I'll fill in more details later when I hear it from SB...
SB called just after 19:00 EST to update me. She was eating some macaroni and tuna that MC cooked up for the whole gang. What a champ! After the grub all of them were going to get some shut eye and then get up at midnight, or 1:00 and continue on to CP2 as much as possible. They are camping on the beach about 4 miles north of Marco Island. She was definitely in good spirits.
In other news Roo & Tinker (currently 2nd place) have been in the same spot in Florida Bay for the last 4 hours or so, and Jarhead & Waterscribe (currently 3rd place) are resting and drying out at CP3. So who know if Dawn Patrol play the cards right they have a chance at winning this thing. If you ask me I say once they hit CP3 they should head south and come up the ICW much like this years winning team of Lumpy and Bumpy did; however, it all depends on the winds so they'll have to make the call when the time comes.
It sounds like right now that the days of Easterly winds have drained Florida bay of most of its water, so the already shallow (and narrow) channels are even lower, which makes so bad sailing conditions.
That's it for now.
I'll fill in more details later when I hear it from SB...
SB called just after 19:00 EST to update me. She was eating some macaroni and tuna that MC cooked up for the whole gang. What a champ! After the grub all of them were going to get some shut eye and then get up at midnight, or 1:00 and continue on to CP2 as much as possible. They are camping on the beach about 4 miles north of Marco Island. She was definitely in good spirits.
In other news Roo & Tinker (currently 2nd place) have been in the same spot in Florida Bay for the last 4 hours or so, and Jarhead & Waterscribe (currently 3rd place) are resting and drying out at CP3. So who know if Dawn Patrol play the cards right they have a chance at winning this thing. If you ask me I say once they hit CP3 they should head south and come up the ICW much like this years winning team of Lumpy and Bumpy did; however, it all depends on the winds so they'll have to make the call when the time comes.
It sounds like right now that the days of Easterly winds have drained Florida bay of most of its water, so the already shallow (and narrow) channels are even lower, which makes so bad sailing conditions.
That's it for now.
Day 3 Checkins
More news from the waterfront!
Team Dawn Patrol called in it looks like just after they cleared the 10,000 Islands. They are currently making good towards CP3 and they are hoping to catch Jarhead & Waterscribe; they are sailing a Sea Pearl. Currently Dawn Patrol is in 4th place, Roo & Tinker are about a third of the way through Florida Bay, and Jarhead is somewhere between Dawn Patrol and CP3. It'll be interesting to see who takes what route in Florida Bay.
Anyway SOS said that they pulled up to Indian Key around midnight and the tides were not favorable so the anchored and caught several hours of sleep. They got under way at about 03:45 this morning and spent a while battling the tide still. Once it turned they had no problem getting in to Chokoloskee Bay. They hit CP2 at 09:36 today. On their way out they were fighting the tide that was till coming in, but now they are outside and sailing towards Cape Sable. The waters are fairly calm, but they have one reef in the main sail and are fighting the unfavorable winds.
I'm not sure at what time, but they talked to RidgeRunner & GreyBeard at Indian key and they were getting ready for more rest.
SandyBottom called in a couple hours later from a beach near Naples. She was beached with ManitouCruiser, Boo & dabiscuit so that they could take down the sail rigs. If you are paddling with a sail rig, it is much easier to make head way if everything is down; just the mast alone add a great deal of resistance and in a challenge like this you need to save every ounce of energy you can. RiverJohn wasn't too far behind either.
Her plan was to paddle in the group until sundown or there abouts and then rest up some more (they have been going since 3 this morning). And again they will make an "O" dark 30 departure. The night time seems to bring better weather for the paddlers. I think this group will stick together for the remainder of the challenge given the weather conditions, and that ain't bad at all.
I expect to hear from SB when they find a place to camp. As for Team Dawn Patrol I don't expect to hear anything for a good while, maybe CP3. Let's hope they can catch Jarhead. I'm glad Jarhead is having a good time this year, last year he had to drop out at CP1 because of a torn sail.
Here's the weather for the area between CP2 and CP3...
Team Dawn Patrol called in it looks like just after they cleared the 10,000 Islands. They are currently making good towards CP3 and they are hoping to catch Jarhead & Waterscribe; they are sailing a Sea Pearl. Currently Dawn Patrol is in 4th place, Roo & Tinker are about a third of the way through Florida Bay, and Jarhead is somewhere between Dawn Patrol and CP3. It'll be interesting to see who takes what route in Florida Bay.
Anyway SOS said that they pulled up to Indian Key around midnight and the tides were not favorable so the anchored and caught several hours of sleep. They got under way at about 03:45 this morning and spent a while battling the tide still. Once it turned they had no problem getting in to Chokoloskee Bay. They hit CP2 at 09:36 today. On their way out they were fighting the tide that was till coming in, but now they are outside and sailing towards Cape Sable. The waters are fairly calm, but they have one reef in the main sail and are fighting the unfavorable winds.
I'm not sure at what time, but they talked to RidgeRunner & GreyBeard at Indian key and they were getting ready for more rest.
SandyBottom called in a couple hours later from a beach near Naples. She was beached with ManitouCruiser, Boo & dabiscuit so that they could take down the sail rigs. If you are paddling with a sail rig, it is much easier to make head way if everything is down; just the mast alone add a great deal of resistance and in a challenge like this you need to save every ounce of energy you can. RiverJohn wasn't too far behind either.
Her plan was to paddle in the group until sundown or there abouts and then rest up some more (they have been going since 3 this morning). And again they will make an "O" dark 30 departure. The night time seems to bring better weather for the paddlers. I think this group will stick together for the remainder of the challenge given the weather conditions, and that ain't bad at all.
I expect to hear from SB when they find a place to camp. As for Team Dawn Patrol I don't expect to hear anything for a good while, maybe CP3. Let's hope they can catch Jarhead. I'm glad Jarhead is having a good time this year, last year he had to drop out at CP1 because of a torn sail.
Here's the weather for the area between CP2 and CP3...
THIS AFTERNOONIt's going to be a rough finish for the paddlers.
EAST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS. SEAS 2 FEET OR LESS.
BAY AND INLAND WATERS A LIGHT CHOP. CHANCE OF SHOWERS THROUGH THE
DAY. SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AFTERNOON.
TONIGHT
SOUTHEAST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS. SEAS 2 FEET OR LESS. BAY
AND INLAND WATERS A LIGHT CHOP. SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS.
TUESDAY
SOUTH WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS. SEAS 2 TO 3 FEET. BAY AND
INLAND WATERS A LIGHT CHOP. SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS THROUGH THE
DAY. SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AFTERNOON.
TUESDAY NIGHT
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.
Where are they now?...
It's been over 24 hours since I last heard directly from Dawn Patrol, but no worries on this end. There was a sighting by RidgeRunner of the two heading in Indian Key Pass around 22:00 last night and this is the part of the race where cell phone reception is very sparse.
Also no direct word form SB, but some of her paddling group have reported in saying that they left as planned very early this morning and are making good to the finish.
I'll keep you up to date as soon as I know.
Also no direct word form SB, but some of her paddling group have reported in saying that they left as planned very early this morning and are making good to the finish.
I'll keep you up to date as soon as I know.
Some images from the start
The picture is from the starting sunrise.After Archangel dropped out he was able to uplad a video from his first day on the outside seen here.
I bet SOS & DWSB have some great video and stills, but those will have to wait until after the race is over.
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Through the grapevine
I was just checking the WaterTribe website and saw a post from RidgeRunner saying that they had seen SOS & DWSB going in Indian Key Pass at 22:00 EST. Needless to say they are behind where they had hoped to be by this time...I think that's the case for most of the racers. This is the time when the land crews get anxious because cell phone reception is crummy at best.
If you haven't seen/heard we already have a Class 4 winner. Lumpy and Bumpy finished the entire 300+ miles in under 36 hours! Simply awesome.
If you haven't seen/heard we already have a Class 4 winner. Lumpy and Bumpy finished the entire 300+ miles in under 36 hours! Simply awesome.
Latest on SandyBottom
BREAKING NEWS
SB called in at 18:25 EST to say that RiverJohn showed up and offered a big hug for her worries. Shortly after that Boo & dabiscuit, and ManitouCruiser showed up offering even more support. Needless to say her worries have been calmed. The whole gang has probably eaten by now and is going to rest up for several hours. The hope is that the weather will be calmer in the wee hours of tomorrow where they will shove off for CP2. Lets hope it works out for them.
Original post...
She just called in after a day of battling the winds on the east side of Pine Island. She was hoping to avoid the wind some by staying more protected, but it didn't seem to help. When she called in she was on Picnic Island taking a breather and trying to figure out how to get back near the Fort Myers coast to seek more shelter.
She would sail, but she revealed that she had a little incident when coming in Venice Inlet yesterday. She said she wasn't looking where she was going and her aka (crossbeam) collided with a pole. She didn't think much of it at the time, but after the winds picked up today she has started thinking about it more. The winds sound brutal even through the phone, so good luck to her.
She called again a few minutes later to see where Boo, dabiscuit, and ManitouCruiser were, but there hasn't been any word on them since this morning.
SB called in at 18:25 EST to say that RiverJohn showed up and offered a big hug for her worries. Shortly after that Boo & dabiscuit, and ManitouCruiser showed up offering even more support. Needless to say her worries have been calmed. The whole gang has probably eaten by now and is going to rest up for several hours. The hope is that the weather will be calmer in the wee hours of tomorrow where they will shove off for CP2. Lets hope it works out for them.
Original post...
She just called in after a day of battling the winds on the east side of Pine Island. She was hoping to avoid the wind some by staying more protected, but it didn't seem to help. When she called in she was on Picnic Island taking a breather and trying to figure out how to get back near the Fort Myers coast to seek more shelter.
She would sail, but she revealed that she had a little incident when coming in Venice Inlet yesterday. She said she wasn't looking where she was going and her aka (crossbeam) collided with a pole. She didn't think much of it at the time, but after the winds picked up today she has started thinking about it more. The winds sound brutal even through the phone, so good luck to her.
She called again a few minutes later to see where Boo, dabiscuit, and ManitouCruiser were, but there hasn't been any word on them since this morning.
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