”Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing -- absolutely nothing -- half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."
Ratty is definitely on to something. To be on the water in any kind of craft can be therapeutic. IMHO the sound of the surf can only be equalled by the sound of the wind in the pines. Both together… heaven. You can’t buy that kind of therapy with a million dollars. One of the saddest things I often saw on the streets of D.C. was the herds of young, ambitious suits with ear buds in their ears, eyes and thumbs glued to their smartphones, totally oblivious to their surroundings. Borg aspirants, no? It is no wonder so much self serving and destructive idiocy is produced in Washington. As I have said for the last four years, I think we deserve a break... or at least a little vicarious diversion from the madness that surrounds us.
Once again, I invite the SST Committee of Correspondence to follow the running of the Everglades Challenge which begins this Saturday morning. The event is organized by a colorful group of adventurers who call themselves the Water Tribe. The Everglades Challenge is an unsupported, expedition style adventure race for kayaks, canoes, and small sailboats. It starts at Fort DeSoto in Saint Petersburg, Florida and ends at Key Largo. The distance is roughly 300 nautical miles depending on one's course selection. Updates on the progress and tribulations of the participants will be posted on the Water Tribe forums. The boats are tracked by SPOT satellite. Their progress can be seen on this tracking map.
To truly get a feel for this event, I recommend you set aside an hour and a half to view this video about 2013 running of the Everglades Challenge. There’s some excellent banjo and fiddle work as well. For a sense of the history of the area, here’s an interesting article about Chokoloskee in the Oxford American.
This year 98 boats will be taking up the challenge. Some will not make it to Key Largo. Some may not even make it to Fort DeSoto. It’s been said that half the challenge is getting to the start. I believe it. The winners usually make the voyage in two days or so. The allowed time limit for successfully finishing the race is eight days. I would take the full eight days. Why rush to shorten such a grand experience?
I discovered this event several years ago. It’s still on my bucket list, along with building the boat. As I approach 63, I’m not worried about running out of time. One Water Triber named Jarhead (a former Marine officer) is doing the Florida Coastal Challenge of about 1,600 miles. He set sail a week ago from the Alabama border, making his way along the Florida panhandle in his 21 foot Sea Pearl. By Wednesday evening he was approaching Fort DeSoto. This is the latest Water Tribe forum update on his progress as of 1700 hours, 2 March:
Just heard from Jarhead. He said he is not going to come into Ft. DeSoto tonight. He is going to head inside Anclote Key, drink a beer and smoke a cigar. He sounded great and said, "I love sailing again."
This old coot is 71 years old. BTW, before anyone takes offense, I look forward to being referred to as an old coot.
Yes, I still plan on doing this some day. In addition to building the boat, I have to obtain a release from SWMBO to undertake such a crazy-assed and dangerous adventure. She has stood by me through thick and thin and, quite frankly, has had her fill of my risking life and limb. She would be happy to have us live out the remainder of our lives quietly, happily and contentedly as hobbits in the shire. This sounds wonderful… but the ring still calls out for me.
TTG
Yes, "old coot" is a compliment. I had a grocery clerk contradict me the other day, assuring me that I was not old with the thought that she was being kind. I assured her that I worked hard to get here and thoroughly enjoy being old. (Slightly older than your "Jarhead.")
I spent quite a few years sailing a Lightening class sailboat around some of those waters, and would love to do the Challenge. Unfortunately, Parkinson's Disease makes sailing in a millpond a bit of a challenge so I have moved on to other things. Part of life is learning to enjoy what you do while you can do it and then find out what else you can enjoy doing.
Posted by: Bill H | 03 March 2016 at 09:38 AM
TTG,
Sir, to call you an "old coot" would be most disrespectful...
What was your rank when you left the military?
I've always addressed our host by rank.
(This is not yours truly kissing ass but my part in honoring you Veterans.)
So have I when posting Brig. Ali.
(I've only neglected addressing him by his army rank once recently by mistake - butter fingers.)
After all, many of you here are several decades my senior - my Ol' Man's age - if he were still on this earthly Terran.
Some are destined to leave this world like Achilles & Alexander - the Fates have deemed it so, achieving Ever-lasting Immortality in the hearts of many.
Others like you however shall simply "fade away" (in Bliss) like the "American Caesar (Douglas McArthur)...
Posted by: YT | 03 March 2016 at 10:00 AM
TTG,
" I have to obtain a release from SWMBO..."
It sounds like we need to coordinate a team from SST, kind of like the guys in "The Great Escape".
Posted by: Fred | 03 March 2016 at 10:59 AM
No team necessary, Fred. I am a willing hostage of a loving embrace. I will go only with her blessing, knowing that the blessing will still be accompanied by worry and apprehension.
Posted by: The Twisted Genius | 03 March 2016 at 11:45 AM
YT,
I get your point. I always refer to Brigadier Ali as Brigadier Ali and to Colonel Lang as Colonel Lang on SST. Sitting across the table, it's Pat. That's a function of habit. BTW, I retired as a lieutenant colonel of Infantry.
Posted by: The Twisted Genius | 03 March 2016 at 11:56 AM
TTG, have you thought about skin on frame construction? I've been looking at building a small boat and have narrowed it down to this one: http://gentrycustomboats.com/Annabelle.html
They're very light, and apparently go together pretty quickly. We've been reading the "Swallows and Amazons" series by Arthur Ransome with my daughter and she is eager to be "ships boy" before graduating to "able seaman" and "mate"
Posted by: dsrcwt | 03 March 2016 at 12:43 PM
I usually call our host here "Col. Lang" because I don't feel I know him well enough to call him Pat (or Patrick because I'm not a Catholic School Nun) and insistently calling him "Mr. Lang" would seem a bit disrespectful given that he's actually earned a title.
Posted by: Medicine Man | 03 March 2016 at 01:26 PM
TTG -
Could you ask "Jarhead" what TBS class he was in?
Posted by: Joe100 | 03 March 2016 at 01:38 PM
dsrcwt,
When I was young, a friend of mine and I built a pair of skin on frame kayaks from plans in Popular Mechanics. We scrounged the wood and canvas and waterproofed them with house paint. We had a ball with them. That Annabelle design looks sweet and she's a lot of boat that can be carried on a car roof. Good luck with that one.
I became aware of the "Swallows and Amazons" series while looking at a CLC design in the works. Someone noticed it looked like a boat from the series. I found there was a movie based on the series.
The CLC Nanoship camp-cruising design
http://www.clcboats.com/shop/boats/development-projects/nanoship.html
Swallows and Amazons trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK9LmD5Kb9k
Posted by: The Twisted Genius | 03 March 2016 at 01:39 PM
All
Lt.colonels and colonels are all addressed as "colonel." it is in the 3rd person that the distinction is made between them. pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 03 March 2016 at 02:05 PM
Joe100,
I don't know him, but here's a part of a bio from the Water Tribe site. I assume he's a 30 year man so TBS around 1963 when he was 20 years old sounds about right?
"Bill Fite (aka Jarhead) is 73 years old and lives in Tampa, FL. He retired from the Marine Corps in 1993 with a background in infantry and special operations, and is one of only a few US Marines to have the distinction of completing the British Royal Marines’ Commando Course and commanding a British Royal Marine rifle company."
Posted by: The Twisted Genius | 03 March 2016 at 02:05 PM
Watched the beginning and skipped ahead (will watch in its entirety later). Mangrove swamps? I guess the burmese pythons don't mistake the boats for alligators.
I was impressed with Standup Guy. I was going to write that a Frenchman would do it on a windsurfer.
Which reminds me of a somewhat irrelevant quote from Olivier de Kersauson, when he was asked if he would sail around Cape Horn again single-handed, "If you stick your finger in the Devil's asshole and he doesn't turn around, you don't do it again."
Posted by: Bill Herschel | 03 March 2016 at 02:52 PM
TTG,
Perhaps, with her own boat, SWMBO might enjoy sailing.
Posted by: Brunswick | 03 March 2016 at 03:05 PM
Bill,
I think there's a windsurfer in the line up this year. There's also a new design built for expeditions like this that can be used as a sit on kayak, windsurfer or stand up paddle board. Should be interesting.
http://kuleanaboats.com
I chose to go to winter Ranger School just to miss the snakes and gators. Luckily there were no pythons back then. I do remember the cypress knees in the Florida swamps. We called them dammit stumps, because we were always bashing our legs on them.
I love that quote. It gave me a good laugh. It's also about an accurate assessment of getting away with surviving some crazy-assed adventure. I was doing Zen rock climbing before it was called that. We just couldn't afford ropes and pitons. Hell, we couldn't afford chalk dust.
Posted by: The Twisted Genius | 03 March 2016 at 03:38 PM
Brunswick,
She just barely swims and is prone to motion sickness. She was always afraid that I would want us to live on a boat when I retired. She was thrilled when we bought a house on dry land. Although she grew up near Saratoga, NY, she didn't see the sea until we drove to San Francisco on our way to Hawaii.
Posted by: The Twisted Genius | 03 March 2016 at 03:43 PM
For anyone (especially those of us over 65) interested in this kind of boating I highly recommend a subscription to Messing About in Boats.
http://www.messingaboutinboats.com/
Posted by: DickT | 03 March 2016 at 03:52 PM
TTG,
That's the best kind of relationship to have. It would be fun to try and figure out just what kind of team we could get together though. I think there would be lots of competition for the head scrounger role.
Posted by: Fred | 03 March 2016 at 04:06 PM
I'm very attached to my classic 1936 Vertue class yacht which can take me anywhere in the world if i have a mind to go. I've built a sport boat with my son (i550) and when I finish my current project (a Two seat aircraft) I plan on building a Barnegat Sneakbox.
Posted by: Walrus | 03 March 2016 at 04:08 PM
I like that Nanoship, and I think I saw Scamp by John Welsford on this thread last year, a boat so ugly it is adorable. I'd like to do a stitch and glue boat like Nanoship or Scamp or Navigator but know that my daughter will be too old to hang with her old man by the time I finish a boat like that. Too many projects, not enough time.
Posted by: dsrcwt | 03 March 2016 at 04:10 PM
Damn, Walrus! The only thing in that fleet I could ever hope owning/building is the Sneakbox. Happy adventures.
Posted by: The Twisted Genius | 03 March 2016 at 05:05 PM
Ah, sir, we are in accord.
Posted by: YT | 03 March 2016 at 05:15 PM
Walrus,
Is this Lake Eyre Yacht Club anywhere near you? One of the photos shows what looks like an i550.
http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/16/gatherings/desert/index.htm#.VtjfjMeBBdk
Posted by: The Twisted Genius | 03 March 2016 at 08:10 PM
My SWMBO has motion sickness problems as well,
But the funny thing is, the size of the boat matters, dinghy's, canoes, etc are fine,
even in choppy water if she's in charge,
Boats you can stand up on, especially if they are rolling, no good, unless,
One night sleeping onboard, seemed to "fix" the problem.
We would start out sailing trips by sleeping at the dock, with me getting up at the outgoing tide, putting the kettle on, casting off the lines and heading out,
She would wake to seabirds calling, fresh coffee and the boat underway to some place we hadn't been before.
Posted by: Brunswick | 03 March 2016 at 09:06 PM
"Willing hostage of a loving embrace". My kind of poet. I salute you.
Posted by: Doug Colwell | 03 March 2016 at 09:12 PM
The Lake Eyre yacht club is about 600 miles from here. It operates when a hurricane dumps enough water about a five hundred miles North to fill the lake. The boat in the foreground looks a little like an i550 but without a keel.
My son saw the youtube video shown below and said "Dad, lets build one!" a friend has a big warehouse and we rented a corner, got the plans on a memory stick and bought a stack of weatherproof (not marine, same adhesive but not as good quality veneers) ply.
Fifty five gallons of West System epoxy later, we had our boat. The rig was carbon and the spinnaker the biggest we could fit. It went like a little rocket and reminded me of the dighies I used to race Forty years ago.
This Easter think I am sailing (?) a 72 foot luxury stink boat from Sydney to Brisbane with its new owner.
Posted by: Walrus | 03 March 2016 at 10:20 PM