SandyBottom left CP4 at Key Largo this morning (Sunday) at about 5:00 AM. By 9:00 PM she had paddled 47 miles up the coast and crossed Biscayne Bay.
She has started Stage2 of the Ultimate Florida Challenge. Stage2 is about 205 miles long and ends at CP5 on Coconut Point at Sabastian Inlet. She is aiming to paddle about 40-45 miles per day. Her speed will depend on the direction of the wind.
Phoned home: At 1:00 PM today (Sunday) SandyBottom called from Midnight Pass / Long Arsenicker Key to report that she had caught up with ThereAndBackAgain on Card Sound and they had now entered Biscayne Bay. She had a little more than 24 miles, averaged 3.0 mph and become reaquainted with all those sore muscles. The cellphone connection was poor and faded in and out.
Biscayne Bay is about 28 miles long and 14 miles wide. The 15 knot east wind over the expansive fetch in that area was creating huge swells in the Bay.
Today while traveling up the keys northeast toward Miami through Biscayne Bay, the east / southest wind pattern has not been a tailwind (blowing across the boat from starboard to port). Her class1 boat by definition has only a 1 meter downwind sail.
Phoned home: SandyBottom stopped for the night at 9:00 PM and found trees for her hammock at a Marina adjacent to Matheson Hammock Park. ThereAndBackAgain (TABA) had a different camping site in mind and plowed a bit further into the South Miami nighttime.
Matheson Hammock Park is part of a nature preserve that is home to many fauna; e.g., iguana, a pair of saltwater crocodiles, etc.
After TABA left, SandyBottom passed this sign (cellphone camera) which pictures a saltwater croc and says to not feed 'em.
Looking ahead to Monday-Wednesday, at Miami and northward the coastline curves to the left, her direction of travel will be more north and then northwest, and the winds are more southeasterly there. If the current "Bermuda high" wind pattern holds for a while, she would have a good tailwind helping her up the coast during some of Monday-Wednesday.
The following illustration show the projected route from CP4 to CP5.
SandyBottom and TABA stayed closer to the west side of Biscayne Bay and did not paddle down the center as shown in the illustration at left.
3 comments:
hi DancesWithSandyBottom,
have found this blog and challenge accidentally; i am hooked, will follow the adventures of SandyBottom and others online.
i tel my children about it, we are astounded and very pleased with your updates, the stories and videos
this challenge and blog are unknown and unmatched here in the Netherlands
what can i say? good luck and good company,
Ben
I've been following Sandybottom since the beginning. Admire her pluck. She's got the right stuff! GO GO GO.
Go Dawn! See you at Greenland Day April 18 at BIK.
Thomas
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