Everglades Challenge: Fun Begun

2014 Everglades Challengers:  SandyBottom and KiwiBird 

O'dark thirty. SandyBottom managed to squeeze all gear into her TideRace kayak. The darkness lightened as the sun rose. Excited. Nervous. The roll was called. And then... "GO!" The challengers began launching their boats. A bagpipe played farewell 'music'. The challengers are all way in light Easterly winds. SandyBottom paddled a straight line across Tampa Bay toward the entrance to Sarasota Bay  --mindful of a huge ship crossing in the distance.   SOS and PopTarp sped toward the outside route in the Gulf of Mexico.

SandyBottom 15 minutes into the EC

Track of the Mosquito crewed by SOS and PopTarp

Loading gear at about 6:30  (Photo by Ben Algera)

SandyBottom and KiwiBird at center-left (Photo by Danny LaBoy)

As the race begins, everyone tried  to view the WaterTribe tracking map
which shows most recent locations of the challengers 

Flying away (Photo by Ben Algera)

Quickly away (Photo by Danny LaBoy)

Soon over the horizon (Photo by Ben Algera)

An amazing array of boats are off and running; even a windsurfer....

Adventure windsurfer (Photo by Duff Bassett)

Quickly in the lead are the Mosquito trimaran, two Tornado catamarans, and SewSew's trimaran Sizzor.   SewSew prefers to 'stealth sail'  with his SPOT device off.

Mosquito bracketed by a pair of Tornado cats.   SewSew invisible.

Mosquito (SOS and PopTarp) racing.

SandyBottom well away.

The 2014 EC adventure has begun.