2014 everglades challenge

Asking Sewsew to relay his position and speed all the time - especially in a light air overnight race - would be giving a massive unfair advantage to the guys behind him. Sure kept it interesting.

And since he left his tracker on after leaving CP2, we might suppose he was at that point well aware that the guys behind were stuck?

And when he did hit OK, was places at points he judged that both complied with the rules and didn't give anything away about his route, is my guess.

He's still in the Worrell 1000 competitive mood during these EC's perhaps?

 

Randy plays the game very well, very well indeed.

 

^ ^ ^

I liked your elaborations on how you were working on your boat during the last days before the start!

But I don't understand the supposed advantage of rowing while standing up!

 

That was my skippers thing. He likes to have lots of options. He is a sailor and a rower, I am a sailor.

 

...

And then there's the hallucinogenic side of the Everglades Challenge. Seems to be desirable feature.

Last year Iron Bob described some powerful hallucinations crossing Florida Bay at night (have to look for the link and post it later).

 

Crocodile dragover is a cut through a mudbank. You just have to find the thing. The record speed run from Largo to Flamingo was run via the dragover. You can get pretty much anything though it that you can get to it.

For those that don't know - I lived and worked in Flamingo for several years and sailed out there pretty much every day. I'm impressed by the night paddle from graveyard creek(I think) to Flamingo. That is quite a piece of work. Of course, when my buddy and I were doing it there wasn't gps. It was all just route finding off of an enhanced aerial photograph, which was what passed for a chart of the area. It's one heck of a paddle however you do it.

There really isn't any tide in the middle of the bay. The tides at Flamingo are opposite to those on the Keys. Left alone, the water in the eastern bay just slops north and south. Otherwise, it runs with the wind. The water level in the middle of the bay is entirely governed by how the wind has been blowing in the previous 24 hours. West winds push water into the bay. Ten knots of west for a day is worth about a foot of water. This usually only lasts a day because westerlies aren't the norm. A norther will peter out and the wind will clock around to the west and then south and then the SE trades will resume. Boats that ventured onto a flat during a west wind have been stuck in the middle of the bay for months waiting for enough water to float out.

 

Ec!

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Thanks ,Phil-good info....

 

Phil, I don't have your knowledge of the area but as an EC contestant I know what you say is true. I studied the area extensively. When we sailed our Nomad through Croc Drag last year I only did so because of a strong westerly. This year with light Easterly we were expecting low tide like water levels the whole way. We fought an outgoing tide through Tin Can but after that it was almost slack. Between Per and I we had 4 trips across between us, two working gps, a smart phone with GoogleEarth, and charts. Florida Bay is really no place for class 4 boats.

 

Doug, Florida Bay is one place foils will not work. There is just not enough water. You have to be able to sail, sub planing, in 8-12 inches of water in a channel 20 feet wide

 

Ec!

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Not sure I agree: the DSS foil for my Crossbow fl will only draw 6" since it extends out horizontally. Probably one of the only types of foil that would work, though. Beam's not a problem. Of course, you'd have to be sailing for it to work but it sounds like there's a lot of paddling/rowing. The foil(s) are partially immersed when the boat is level-but they are removable.

Rough Sketch of DSS foil on Crossbow fl:
click....

 

Doug, you just have to go there and see for yourself. Think about it, if a Laser, a small maneuverable craft broke it's cb trunk running aground. How well do you think DSS or any other foil will do? It's just not a place sailboats belong. Channel depths at low tide are less than 1 foot, at high they are either the same or 2 feet. Out of the channel it's either dry or about 1 foot.

 

Does anyone have any design info on Mead Gougeon's sailing canoe ?

 

Phil, which record speed run was that, and in what kind of boat?

Your summary of the tides (above) is very handy. It sent me looking for what more you've posted about Flamingo and Florida Bay, and I was rewarded with your most readable post about sea monsters in the area.

 

...

On the subject of Gators, here's a terrific post I found in another thread. Bears repeating!

lol

 

You are a lazy lazy guy, Red! Skip Izon built the boat, I see there's a ton of stuff about him on the net.



Also some good footage of it sailing, some 30-40 seconds into the video on this page.