November is Training

November is when I usually start my training for next years March WaterTribe Everglades Challenge. This year is no different, except I’m starting a few weeks late :(  I’ve added a countdown calendar on the right to help keep me motivated and focused.

My basic training plan doesn’t usually change much, but this year I want to be more diligent about keeping to it.  And I plan to get some personal training for the weight training, it’s getting harder and harder to get strong and keep the weight off.

      • Regular 15 mile Fri night paddles
      • Regular Sunday paddles building from 15-35 miles
      • Back to Back Sat/Sun 20-30 mile paddles in February with loaded boat
      • Weight Training, Core workouts, and Yoga for flexibility
      • Regular Walking, Biking, Swimming for cardio workouts
      • Weight Watchers for weight control

I’ll be doing extra bike riding this year, as David (Floatsome) and I are registering as a team to bike RAGBRAI, The Des Moines Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride, a seven-day bicycle ride across Iowa, in it’s 39th year, it’s the oldest, largest and longest bicycle touring event in the world. We have to enter a lottery to get accepted, and they accept 10,000 riders. It’ll be crazy fun. Another countdown clock added to the blog.

If all that isn’t enough, it’ll be a very busy year. Besides the training (fun actually, but still time consuming), we are doing a bit of house repair/maintenance, hoping to sell in the Spring, and build a smaller retirement house that fits our needs better, now that it’s just the two of us, and with all our toys.

Moving on. Time to get busy. Time for some fun.

Picture above was taken of me in my Kruger Dreamcatcher on the St Mary's River during the 2006 WaterTribe Ultimate Florida Challenge.  I plan to participate in this challenge again in 2012, so lots of fun till then.

Not My Best Day

It’s been a rough week for me, busy as heck with work and other home chores all keeping me away from the computer.  Then I had the rug pulled out from under me.  Something of a private matter, but one that has left me somewhat disillusioned and disappointed. Some things are just wrong.  A big thanks to my old Kailua friend (you know who you are), you are a great voice of reason, no worries, I'm moving on.

Added to everything else, today is my damn birthday, happy birthday to me.

I really need to get on the water!

Kayak Currituck: know when to say "when"



Report from SandyBottom in a call home at 9:30am Sunday:  

We have been turned back by high headwinds and rough conditions.  Now safely back onshore at Corolla and looking to rent a car.  We did consider various paddling routes and options.



SPOT track Sunday 7am to 9am:  out and back

We started early (7am) in hopes of avoiding strong headwinds, but we were only making 0.4 - 1.4 mph. The cold temperatures are a safety factor in these rough conditions;  it is not a warm summer day.

 

Wind forecast for 11:00am Sunday:  23-25 mph headwind (http://www.sailflow.com/)

My furled sail stowed flat on the deck was catching wind and making my kayak uncontrollable until I very tigthly wrapped the halyard around the entire length of the sail and mast.   

One of Lee's rudder pedals broke.

We can rent an off-season jeep to retrieve our cars.

--Reported by DWSB

Kayak Currituck: Downwind to Corolla

Currituck Beach Light (photo by Dawn)

Report from SandyBottom at 4pm Saturday:  

Paddled / sailed / surfed downwind on a broad reach to Corolla. 

Winds 20-25 mph with gusts of 30 mph.  Maximum speed was 8.3 mph.  Very exciting day!  

The new sail works great.  Yesterday I sailed upwind at 1-2 mph without paddling.

Here is a cellphone-photo of the Currituck Beach Lighthouse in Corolla.

Looking forward to a pizza / italian dinner at a restaraunt in Corolla. 

It's getting colder here. 

Tomorrow's paddle to the WNW may be into a strong headwind.



Corolla and the lighthouse looking North from Whalehead Bay



SPOT track Saturday:  southward on a broad reach downwind to Corolla

 
--DWSB

Kayak Currituck

What happens when you kayak on Currituck Sound not too far from the home of your friend, Steve, who is an avid sailor and outstanding photographer?    Check it out on Steve's  Log of Spartina.   

Here's a sample....

SandyBottom and Steve

 

Jay, Dawn, Lee, Barrett

In case you were wondering,  the blue object in the background is, sadly,  a dead nauga-whale (Naugahydeus hoaxus) which is one of the extremely rare "blue whales" of Currituck Sound.

SandyBottom's SPOT track is here.

SPOT Track on Friday

--DWSB



Another Weekend Trip

It’s been crazy busy lately, and I’ve another weekend kayak trip, paddling the Currituck Sound area.  I'll tell you all about it when I get back.  Spot tracts HERE - or copy and paste the following URL in your browser...

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0eKvPYc77aXmGvWgm8DWcRosA8rQiMlyD

Great Weekend of Fun

The B&B Yachts Mess-about this past weekend down in Bayboro NC was great fun. At least 15 different boats, even a few B&B motorboats were there. It’s great visiting with folks you don’t see very often, yet share an interest with.   We had wonderful fall weather, great wind, and lots of sailing all weekend.

I really enjoyed visiting with Joe and Sally, who I’d meet 2 years ago at a Balogh Sails Angels weekend and then again at that years B&B mess-about the very next weekend. They had home made wooden kayaks with Balogh Rigs on them, and they were planning to build a B&B sailboat. These days Joe is busy building an Everglades Challenge 22 (EC22), he keeps a nice blog of its progress called SunDogBoatBulding.  With a still unfinished sailboat, they were there this year with their sailing canoe, rigged for 1 or 2 Balogh sails.

This is Sally, Joe, and I sailing on the Dawn Patrol in 2008.

But for me this weekend was really about taking the Grand Diva to show Graham (the designer) and the opportunity to practice sailing with my Flat Earth Kayak Sail on the Explorer. There is quite a bit to report, I’ll have to write  separate postings over the next few days.  I’ll let Paul post our Mess-about pictures and report on the ‘Dawn Patrol’ blog when he has time.

In the meantime, here I am, happy as can be.