EC Practice to Thimble Shoal Light

With the Watertribe Everglades Challenge getting near I went out today to put on some practice miles. The weather was warm with very little wind.

My destination was the Thimble Shoals Light House. The total distance was 26nM.

Chesapeake Bay Magazine Article

Looks like I made the Chesapeake Bay Magazine article on Lynnhaven.

http://www.chesapeakeboating.net/Publications/Chesapeake-Bay-Magazine/1999/Chesapeake-Bay-Destinations/Lynnhaven-River.aspx

Rappahannock River Trip Pictures

This weekend did the Rappahannock River from Fredericksburg to Urbanna, Virginia. It was a slow painful trip. Both the wind and currents were agains us. The southeast wind were funneled along the long ridges straight into out face. Average speed was 2 knots. The scenery was spectacular.

North Carolina Challenge Video

I have completed the video for the Watertribe NCC:

Rappahannock River Trip Coming Up

October 12th I will be doing the Rappahannock River and lower Chesapeake with couple of Watertribers. We will start in Fredericksburg and run down to Grand View Island. I will have my SPOT on.

Some more NCC Pictures

Watertribe NCC Practice Time

22 days until the start of the Watertribe North Carolina Challenge. This weekend I will do a practice run with several North Carolina Kayakers. Starting in Oriental we will cross the Neuse River and enter the Harlowe Canal. I am not sure what way we will continue but the final destination is Shackleford Island. Total distance only 30 miles. You can follow my progress on my SPOT or the Watertribe Mapper Page. 

Grand View Round Island Race

The weather has been hot, close to a hundred degrees each day. During the Round island race there was very little wind. The Sunfish sailors suffered and only four finished.

GVI To Mockhorn Video

It has taken me some tome to publish the first video of the GVI to Mockhorn trip. Attached is the first part to Mockhorn Island.

GVI To Mockhorn Island

This past weekend there were three boats that left Grand View Island, in Hampton VA and sailed across the Chesapeake Bay to the Eastern Shore and a barrier island called Mockhorn. Sailed might not be the correct term since it was very calm and hot. There were three Hobie Adventure Islands, a Triac Sailing Kayak and a Prindle 18 Catamaran. In these light conditions the auxiliary power kayaks kept up with the big cat.

Two members were from Watartribe, the rest were practicing for the next North Carolina NCC event.

A Video Adventure will follow...

Sailing on Grand View Island

This weekend I went to Grand View Island to sail with some Sunfish sailors. We ran a couple of courses in windy conditions. The bay water temperatures are starting to come up.

2012 EC - A Hobie Adventure Island Race

The #3, #4 and #8 boats to finish the Watertribe Everglades Challenge were all Hobie Adventure Islands. Tells something about the capability of this design...

Virgin Sail with SEABOWZ

 Seabowz, a new Hobie AI owner took his brand new AI for her maiden voyage this weekend. I accompanied him to document  and help him settle into his new boat. It is good to have another Island Sailor in the area. He is already talking about Watertribe. Looks like a double hit...

http://youtu.be/i0ORqgILPvE

Watertribe Everglades Challenge Damage List

1) Garmin Colorado GPS: Thumb Wheel circuit board shorted out. Unusable;
2) Garmin GPSMam 78 SC: Water got into the Battery Compartment, Dead;
3) Sanyo VPC-CA9 Video Camera: Lost in Chokoloskee Mud;
4) Mirage Drive: Bent Rods & V2 Drums worn on shaft causing Pedal wobble;
5) Sail Tell Tails: deformed into spirals from the high winds;
6) Main Hull: White plug in front of Mirage well torn off. What is the purpose of the Plug??? Bottom Oyster scratches;

7) Left Click and Go Assembly spring broke: This was a pain because drive kept on popping and jamming;
8) Mirage Cassette Plug: Lost at sea when broken Click & Go launched it over the side;

Camera LOST at Chokoloskii, NEED HELP

During this years EC on February 6th I arrived at the Check Point at Chokoloskii , Florida. across from the Outdoor Resorts boat docks. It was extreme low tide and I was deep in the mud.

Leaving the check point I had to drag my boat through the mud. At one point I removed my life jacket because I was getting overheated. My video camera with all the great shots was in my jacket pocket not snapped in. I believe at this point the camera slipped out of the jacket and fell through the open Mirage well. The boat would have been pulled over it.

The data on this Camera is valuable to me. It has many great shots of my EC trip.

=================
I am offering a $100 reward for the Camera Data.
=================

You can keep the camera. The camera was a Green SANYO waterproof Camera. It can stay down at this depth for a while.

1: LAT: 25.81866
   LON: 81.36023

2: LAT: 25.81833 ~Jacket Removed
   LON: 81.36093

3: LAT: 25.81561
   LON: 81.36343

Morning in the mangrove

Last night it was cold and extremely windy. Oysters messed my rudder lines up. I will need to repair that first. Then down to civilization to get a new GPS.

Watertribe Everglades Challenge

The Watertribe Everglades Challenge starts Saturday, March 3 @ 0700.


This year there will be 8 AI/TI boats in the three races, UM, EC and UF. Pelican will be doing the Ultimate Florida Race in a AI. The UF is a race around the entire state of Florida that lasts ~ a month and includes pulling the boat ~40miles down a road.


You can follow all the Challengers on the Watertribe Mapper:
http://www.watertribe.com/Events/ChallengeMapper.aspx


The mapper can be slow to load with lot of a traffic during the race. My personal SPOT page is:
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=05oPen9XT2MHPvVYQaF9sfFv0AshAsq81 


Do not expect me to be the front runner. After putting my self into a Hospital last year I have set my sites much lower. I am aiming to finish and enjoy the ride.


I will post some pictures during the race to this BLOGGER site as long as I have cell phone coverage.

Grand View Island Sailboat Races

The weather this year has been very mild. My last big trip was the Chesapeake tributary the Mattoponi and York Rivers. Since then the only time on the water has been going to Grand View Island in Hampton for some day races against Sunfish sailboats. In sailing capabilities surprisingly the two boats are very close. Add the Mirage Drive and I definitively   have a advantage going to windward. Thanksgiving there was the “Turkey Trot”, Christmas “Reindeer Run”.

Grand View Island is unique because there are three Watertribe Members in one square mile. This just might be the highest density.

This weekend I went up to Hampton for another Sailboat Race. For the last day of 2011 it was a beautiful day. The wind was blowing around 10 knots but the waves were minimal because  it was from the west, straight off the island.

This is a short video of the “Reindeer Run”:

The York River into the Chesapeake Bay

This is part 2 of our November Mattoponi/York River trip. In this part we leave our overnight campground and head down the York River to the Chesapeake Bay. The winds are 15-20 knots with temperatures in the 30's.

In the Chesapeake the waves got quite large. The winds drove us flying down the bay.

AI Bulkhead

This is a picture of my Adventure Island foam bulkhead. You will notice that the rudder cable turning blocks are missing. I moved them further back to make the bulkhead 100% water tight. I used Goop Plumbing Glue to seal any gaps.