running the everglades challenge '09

[Nullifier]

Well those of you that are paddlers may have heard of it. It is a race held in march every year that runs roughly 300 nautical miles from Tampa bay down the west coast through the 10,000 islands and the widerness waterway. Finally finishing at Key Largo.

I have been talking about doing the race for the past 5 years but after relizing that paddling is my #1 passion I have decided to start a return to the hobby on a competative scale once again. I used to compete nationally but got burnt out since i was literally training, guiding, competeing or runing boats in my buisness for 6 years straight. I then switced to the fun side of paddling by doing trips rec style. So now I am in a season of my life where doing this race is calling me more then ever. I am looking at it as a personal challenge and am going to try to make the 300 miles in 6 days. I do not expect to win. Just finishing this is victory


So right now I am in the process of planning a course of action. I started with a full physical w blood work etc and I got the nod from my doc. I am now organizing equipment and will start training in 2 weeks. Over the next several months leading up to the race I will need to organize a support system that meets with in the race rules of it being a nonsupported race with the exception of family and friends meting you at the check points along the route for moral support. These check point as anywhere from 60 to 100 miles apart!

I am also planing to make my run a run for charity and am leaning to water for life. So I will be Also starting a dialog with those folks to help raise awareness and $.

Here is a link to the Water tribe web site to get some more info if your interested.

http://watertribe.com/

And a video of the race from a sea pearl 21 perspective. A long you tube but worth the watch if you have the time. sea pearl 21 race perspective

 

[Nullifier]

 

[1leglance]

Wow that is too cool...
I will pass on the info to a couple of disabled water folks I know and see if they are up for some crazyiness
Good luck and train well

 

[aslostasyou]

I knew you were crazy the first time I saw your truck....but this...man it's just plain nuts.

I love it! I'll be calling you bro!

 

[Nullifier]

Wow that is too cool...
I will pass on the info to a couple of disabled water folks I know and see if they are up for some crazyiness
Good luck and train well

I just found out that 2 of my friends are racing tandem this year in a new protype Hobie kayak / sailing rig. Nick has been in the race for the past 5 years I helped him get started. My friend Raliegh Is a late 60's guy who has a love for paddling however is legaly blind and and walks with 2 canes due to leg injuries leaving him as a partial amputee. He has apparently been training since Febuary for this and has lost 70 lbs! He and Nick will start the paddle training in December as well. So it looks like I will have a little compnay out there as well.

Hobie is actually building Raliegh a custom version of the peddle drive system that will allow him to use clipless shoes to hold his fet onto the peddles. When the new boat arrives I will try to get some pics

 

[Nullifier]

I knew you were crazy the first time I saw your truck....but this...man it's just plain nuts.

I love it! I'll be calling you bro!

Takes one to know one right :hehe:

THanks Jason I'l talk to you soon

 

[Nullifier]

Well on water training starts today! It's perfect weather for it with rain, 18-20 mph winds and 2-4' sea conditions LOL! Actually for this race it really is perfect. You never know what you will get in march on the coast so cranking out 15-20 miles in this kind of weather is a great way to start it off.

I'll post pics tonight.

 

[greenhorn]

That's awesome. I need to get to the west coast to do some paddling. Are you allowed to use a Hobie with the Mirage drive? That would be the ticket. Pedal some, paddle some, repeat.

 

[Nullifier]

That's awesome. I need to get to the west coast to do some paddling. Are you allowed to use a Hobie with the Mirage drive? That would be the ticket. Pedal some, paddle some, repeat.

Yes you can use the hobie drive boats. There are about 5 hobie boats in the race this year. 3 are the adventure island trimerans and 2 are some new prototype tandem adventure islandes that are being tested for 2010 production. My good friends Nick and raleigh are using once of the prototypes and one of the factory guys is coming down. as well.

I have to say that I was considering a kruger seawind canoe that was modified for a pedal drive and also has a downwind sail and a full balog sialing conversion. But after using the canoe last weekend on a 30 mile training trip I have to say the answer is no. The peddle drive is not that efficient IMO and given the shallow waters for last 150 miles or so the pedal drive is not able to be used for a fair portion of the race. In the seawind canoe I averaged 3.4 mph for 5.83 miles till the pedal drive broke (a common problem). After that I averaged 3.5 mph with a canoe paddle. Even with the peddle drive sticking down and a ferocious side wind that made me sweep for the remaining 20 something miles. So a proper solo canoe should net me a better average speed yet.

I'll be using Bell Magic canoe in Kevlar. I am having Cooke Custom Sewing making my spray skirt as we speak and it should be here about the time I get back from Hawaii. I am also expecting my race boat to show up next week sometime while I am gone on vaca. I can't wait to get my hands on it so I can start modifying it. I love new boats, they are like a blank canvas to an artist lol!

 

[kerry]

Did your Kruger Seawind have a rudder? I have a friend with a Kruger boat with a rudder along with a lot of other canoes. He does a lot of open water tandem paddling and recently adapted a rudder to a traditional design (Prospector?) and was very happy with the reduction in the amount of stern correction strokes he had to use when paddling in crosswinds.
I have a Jensen WWIII with a sailing rig and rudder but it had never occurred to me to try the rudder when paddling in open water.

 

[Nullifier]

yes the Kruger had a rudder but thanks to the peddle drive conversion the rudder was converted to use by hand since the feet are busy. So it was a compound problem since the peddle drive broke. Then the rudder was useless while paddling and being pulled up it was catching a lot more wind then if it was not on the boat which was pulling the stern around on me.

All in all not one of my better days. Had I of been in a good touring solo canoe none of those things would have been an issue. I could have compensated by putting a small pitch on the paddle blade and had no issues. Now alot of racers are asking me iF I am putting arudder on the canoe for the race and my answer so far is no I am not. The magic, thanks it's hull shape, is an easy canoe to handle in the wind. With a load of gear and stuff that will be even better then what I am normally used to and I can move gear in the boat to adjust trim as needed.

 

[kerry]

How would you compare the peddle drive to paddling? I can see where the average speed of each might be pretty close due to the limits of hull speed. I'm curious as to the fatigue factor. Do you think using the bigger muscles of the your legs instead of your arms would increase your endurance? Can you switch back and forth between peddling and paddling or is the mechanism for the peddling incompatible with paddling?

 

[Nullifier]

you could do both at the same time but the position your seated in for one, makes the other difficult. Yes the leg muscles are stronger then the arms but when employing a proper paddling stroke you use pretty much the entire upper body not just the arms. When I am paddling I feel it more in my core and back then anywhere else. SO I would say that the 2 are relatively even.

I guess one of the factors that got my attention is that in order to use the pedal drive in a canoe you have to cut a big hole in the bottom. Now granted there is a box taller then the water line but water can still get into the main hull. Unlike the hobie s.o.t. models where the s.o.t. is a seal hull the canoe requires bailing. I found it to be a steady issue in rough water and that is not the time to stop paddling and start bailing. So another negative imo.

I also see your point about hull speed based on length however I could not get the seawind up to a speed where that was even a remote factor. the fastest I was able to push the seawind with the pedal drive was about 4.1 mph. It was truely a limit of the pedal drive. I was expecting figures more in the 5.5-6 range at top speed.