Back Bay Nor'easter

This weekend the winds were blowing much too strong from the North East. The Chesapeake waves were 4-6 feet. We decided to seek the more sheltered Back Bay, on the border of Virginia and North Carolina. This area has different challenges: shallow, choked with oriental invasive weed, with plenty of poisonous Water Mocassins.

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.

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

SaltyFrog just came in