Everglades Challenge Part I

Us and them.

The "Everglades Challenge" is a 300+-mile unsupported adventure race that starts in Tampa, Fl and finishes in Key Largo.  In March 2011, my racemate Chip Walter and I were the first to attempt the race on Stand Up Paddleboards.  It was an amazing experience to say the least.  Chip and I showed up the day before the race and we had quite a few people coming up to us and asking us if we were seriously going to take on this Challenge on SUP(Stand Up Paddleboards).  Traditionally, the race has been attempted by sailors, kayakers, canoers, etc. Hearing the doubt and disbelief was great motivation for the two of us and we certainly needed it!  

   Day 1 of the race, we launched from Ft. Desoto and went straight across Tampa Bay.  We fought hard against a headwind across the Bay and for the next 10 miles. 7 brutal hours of fighting wind and waves gave us the perfect intro to the "Challenge."  At one point as we paralleled Bradenton Beach, we looked over and were totally demoralized as we watched elderly couples strolling up the beach faster than we were paddling! We ended up paddling straight through the first day for a total of 25 hours. At one point in the night, we passed through an immense man-made channel that had uniformly steep rock embankements.  There was an eerie feel to the place and as we paddled futher through it around 2 am, I began to notice that each stroke of the paddle was followed by a bright display of aqua-marine and deep blue phosphorescents. I felt sure I was in some sort of lucid dream state... 

   Our first official rest landed us about 50 miles from the starting point.  We beached our boards and gear, laid everything out to dry and took three hours of recovery time (warm food, rest and rehydration).  Once the tides switched around in our favor, we pushed on to make the first checkpoint, 70 miles from Ft. Desoto.  

Storm rolling through...

Morning of day #2

   The initial part of the challenge is known as the "Ultra Marathon" which is a 70-mile race from Ft. Desoto to Placida, Florida.  Upon arrival, we began to get the picture of how difficult this challenge had been thusfar.  Veterans of the race, including the "Chief" and the race manager "Pelican" said that this had been the worst year yet for weather.  Already there had been a Coast Guard rescue for one of the racers who had been blown 3 miles out to sea.  She suffered from hypothermia and was treated at one of the local hospitals.  Over 25% of the racers had already dropped out, and when we made the first checkpoint, beating the founder of the race ("Chief"), the words out of his mouth were: "If these boys have gotten through this on paddleboards, I don't want to hear any complaints from anyone else!"  We were surprised and happy to hear that our efforts were as Herculean as they felt.

   After warm food and a long nights rest, we pushed off again on the morning of sunny day three.  We came out of the mangroves and as we paddled across the flats, we were again delighted to overtake and pass the sailboats that had launched 30 minutes before us and were eddying around in the "Doldrums." Passing Three Sisters Island and Devilfish Key, we came out into Charlotte Harbor, reliving the challenges we had faced thusfar in the exposure to the elements.  There is a general feeling of being blessed when you think of the "wind on your face," but in this race it was quite the opposite; The "blessing" meant we would be fighting hard to cover the distance needed to stay on course.  After two hours, we made it across the 6 mile stretch of open water and found shelter and shade amongst the mangroves.  Passing several lobster traps along the way, we daydreamed of a warm lobster lunch and cold wheat sodas.  As Chip and I are both upstanding citizens however, we sacrificed our dreaming for the sustenance of granola bars and luke-warm water!

   It was nice to get out of the sun and plot our route again and as we left the mangroves, behold! a tailwind?! Was it possible?? Indeed it was and we opened our "chutes" (a Palmer Trinity Sandy Golf Tournament Umbrella and a "Windpaddle").  Cruising along Pine Island was an incredible feeling and we passed numerous fishing holes, again sacrificing our desires for the completion of the challenge.  After 18 miles of riding the wind and paddling, we found ourselves at the southern tip of Pine Island in very dark conditions.  Our previous paddle through the night had taken us along the cityscape of Sarasota and we were well guided by the lights.  This darkness was almost absolute and as we came to the end of the island we found ourselves in shallow flats that were brimming with life.  A few close splashes and crashes around our boards had us clinging to our paddles and moving quickly!

   We navigated a few channels in the dark and came out to Ft. Myers Bay.  After 30 miles of paddling all day, we were ready for another rest.  There was a bridge about 3 miles away in our scopes and as we passed along one of the shorelines, we noticed what looked like a little marine bait and tackle where we might get some cold drinks and off our feet for a bit.  When we approached the dock, we saw one guy on a phone and another doing some work on something.  It definitely was not a bait and tackle or marine supply store, but we thought what the heck, let's see what happening here.  The first guy on the phone waived us off as if he couldn't be bothered and the second guys dropped what he was doing and came to see what was up.  He greeted us in a deep southern accent, "can I hep y'all?" We explained what we were doing and he said, "hang on ah minute, go park yer kayaks on that there barge."  We heard him off in the distance, "Cap'n, hey cap'n!  We got some boys here paddlin there kayaks roun the world.  Ken we help em?" A few moments later, the "Cap'n" came and greeted us.  A jolly fellow with a big belly and full Santa Claus beard came out and greeted us.  

Cap'n Kibbe's Crab Shack

   Cap'n Kibbe and crew ended up housing us, feeding us a big warm plate of cous-cous and venison and quenched our incredible thirst with some of those ice cold wheat sodas we had been dreaming of.  It was truly amazing to be taken in as family and given a place to rest up for the night.  We felt safe and at home sleeping under the stars on the stinky crabfishing dock, with a goodnight message from the the jolly roger, "if y'all move off that there dock, I'll shoot cha!" Our guardian angel that night went by the name of "Uncle Gouch" and we slept next to the refrigerator generator that buzzed on and off all night.  Needless to say that experience alone almost made the trip and we pushed off the next morning after a hot cup of watery joe and a stash of the captains own smoked fish!

"Uncle Gouch" 

   Once again, we found ourselves "blessed" by the wind at our face and we encountered one of the most difficult stretches of the trip.  Against the wind and against the tide made for strenuous paddling and the feeling of going nowhere.  It was 4 hours and we had gone 8 miles. We needed a rest.  After stopping for lunch and catching our second wind, we got back on the water and found a nice sheltered intercoastal waterway to cruise.  12 more miles brought us within the greater Naples area and the night was upon us.  We pulled into a boat rental spot and I took a rest while Chip reviewed the maps.  After an hour or so of rest and charting the map, Chip turns to me and says, "We've got a decision to make."  It turns out that we were still about 70 miles from the next check point and we had heard from multiple sources that a massive storm front was moving in.  We were approaching the most trecherous leg of the journey with a cold front on the approach. We had no GPS and no foul-weather gear. At that point, we had to make a critical decision on whether or not we would continue.  It was around midnight and we calculated that we would have to cover 50 miles a day for the next 4 days to complete the race.  

   Taking the time to make that decision was one of the most difficult challenges we had faced thus far. We had made it about 140 miles and unanimously decided to end our journey there.
 
  Jump 1 year later and here I am again.  The Everglades Challenge 2012 launches this Saturday, March 3rd from Ft. Desoto.  I will be racing with my best friend and business partner Drake Kurlander and we will be the first to finish the race on Stand Up Paddleboards!!!

  We will be carrying "SPOT" Trackers, which are GPS beacon-locators that will track our progress.

The Website to follow us is: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0PHVF8c5yuTNm19ceWEiMMttEWtbOr8Vv.

WISH US LUCK!!!