I took the plunge it's official now

Time to get out there.

I signed up for the Watertribe Everglades challenge 2014.  Its an unsupported expedition style adventure race starting from Fort Desoto in Tampa Bay and ending in Key Largo.  The path along Florida’s SW coast line takes one through the Thousand Islands and Everglades National Park.  It’s a 300 mile paddle which is long but doable if you have time and can plan around the weather.  Problem is it’s a race and competitors have only 8 days to complete the course.  Now that’s a big ask and a huge challenge.   

Possible routes

The Watertribe members each have a tribe name and are headed up by a “Chief” who puts on the events.  My entry is "justsurf" and I am the only SUP entered which I take as a bad sign.  Good news is there were three last year and only one finished.  Congratulations to Shane Perrin, at least I know it can be done.  From a lot of past “Watertriber’s” they say one of the hardest things is just making it to the beach for the start.  It sure feels that way as there is so much gear to gather and the logistics of getting there and then getting back to one’s car depending how far you get.  Added to this is the fact that one has to paddle at least 37 1/2 miles per day.  To put that into perspective the longest race I have done so far is 7 miles, ouch that’s another 30 to go.

Folly River

Here's a link to the Watertribe site.

I’m excited though and looking forward to the adventure.  Follow along if you like, I will try and update this blog with more information about the race and my journey to get there.

Cheers
Justin