Team Kayak Lake Mead - Everglades Challenge 2021

 

Moonrise Over the Plovers, 0430 hrs March 8, 2021, 25.63 deg N, 81.32 deg W.

This is the EC 2021 story of IronBob and TheJuice aka Robert and Druce Finlay, father and son. We've completed twelve Everglades Challenges. If you browse the record book, you'll find only eleven finishes. This is because there was a dark year, everyone that year is listed as DNF. But, everyone wasn't DNF. Here is the story of that year. 

This year we finished with our second best time at 72 hours 38 minutes. It was our fastest time to CP3 at Flamingo. Yet, it was our second slowest time on the last leg across Florida Bay to the Finish. Our fastest year was 2018. That story is here. Every year is a good memory. In 2006, Druce and I found a WWII anti-ship mine near Highland Point. I jumped on it a few times. I'm not too smart. Druce stood on it for a photo op, sans clothes. Every year is a good memory. 

Solar Pillar Sighting Everglades Challenge 2013

Solar Pillar off the Highland Coast Everglades Challenge 2013

Solar Pillar
I mention in our EC2020 report that Druce and I witnessed the solar pillar off the Highland Coast (some miles off of Highland Point) in 2013. This is my first attempt at recreating that sighting.

The silhouette of Druce, the boat, and the seas (sans light column) are from an existing photo of the setting sun that very evening, 4 March 2013.

I scrubbed the sun and the sky from the original photo, added a new sky, and tried to recreate the scene we witnessed that evening near the end of nautical twilight. The original photo jarred my memory of that sunset. I remember I could not resist my eyes from the resulting twilight to the northwest.

Near the time when twilight was complete, I panned my eyes to the northwest one more time. The light from the setting sun, just below the horizon was illuminating ice crystals in the atmosphere, that illumination reflected off the sea into our eyes, and that light was converted to electrical impulses which our brains interpreted. All of which is a miracle really, but at the time we had no idea what we were seeing. Honestly, it kind of freaked us out. 

Team Kayak Lake Mead - Everglades Challenge 2020

Light winds from the north, final 6 miles to Key Largo 

This was a good year, it would be a year with plenty of challenge for everyone. There were over one hundred craft of various types on the start beach. Four did not start. Fifty-six started but did not finish. Forty-three out of a one hundred and three boats made it to the finish beach in Key Largo. You can see types of boats, crews, and results below (1).

Team Kayak Lake Mead - Everglades Challenge 2019

Practicing our start: Robert and Druce Finlay Everglades Challenge Start Beach Ft DeSoto, FL 2019

This year was dreamlike, very dreamlike. We have done this race nine times before, this would be our 10th, never seeming to reach the end...

We race, no secret about that. We would race if beaten a hundred times. We would race if no one else was on the beach. Our biggest competitor is ourselves from past years, the Ghost Team, those guys are hard to beat. But we try, every year we try.

For the second year in a row we paddled the Black Boat, our Stellar ST21 and swung Odin Gara Racing Paddles.

Boat Team: IronBob and TheJuice aka Robert and Druce Finlay

Team Kayak Lake Mead - Everglades Challenge 2018

Druce and I on the Start Beach the day before the race.

This is the 2018 Everglades Challenge story of IronBob and TheJuice, sometimes we're known as the Sea Breeze Ninjas. This was a very good year.

Team Kayak Lake Mead - Everglades Challenge 2017

Sunrise on Florida Bay for IronBob and TheJuice

This is the 2017 Everglades Challenge story of IronBob and TheJuice, sometimes we're known as the Sea Breeze Ninjas. This was a very strange year.

There was a small craft advisory in effect due to strong winds...

Saturday morning Druce (The Juice) and I (IronBob) and Sunshine (our kayak) were ready to race in all respects. But at 0615 the morning of the race it was announced the challenge would not launch from Ft De Soto until the advisory was lifted, yet the advisory was not likely to be lifted any time soon.

Team Kayak Lake Mead - Everglades Challenge 2016

Druce and I the day before the race on the start beach, Everglades Challenge 2016 

Paddling and Sleeping and the Ernest Shackleton Award

Everglades Challenge 2016 Report by Robert Finlay (IronBob):

It took me nine months to finally write this story down. 

This is our seventh story of the Everglades Challenge (the EC). Our WaterTribe names are IronBob and TheJuice and once again we paddled Sunshine in Class 2 (at night her name is Ranger). She's a SEDA Kayaks Triumph; 24' by 24", arrow like, agile for her length, and in the right hands quite seaworthy. For an explanation of our tribal names and classes of boat in this race, see my write up of EC 2014. 

Sometimes in writing up our EC story I've delved into my thinking and experiences, my emotions and passions, and even how I act and interact with fear and pain. My write up of the EC 2015 is a good example of all that. This time I think my story is going to be simpler. 

This year there were 90 boats on the start beach. There were 26 boats in Class 1, which are paddle craft in which 1 square meter of downwind sail per paddler is allowed. There were 10 boats in Class 2, which are paddle craft in which no sail is allowed. 

This year we would finish first among all paddle craft, our fourth time doing so, and seventh among all boats. This year we would receive the Ernest Shackleton Award for nautical excellence. 

But all we did was just paddle south and sleep a lot. 

Team Kayak Lake Mead - Everglades Challenge 2015

Druce Finlay, Everglades Challenge 2015

This is our sixth story of The Everglades Challenge (the EC). Some of this story is about the event, the Everglades Challenge 2015, much of this story is about me and how I think, what my experiences are, what my emotions are, what my passions are, and even how I act and interact with fear, pain, and mental anguish. After delving into this article, you may quickly come to the conclusion that I am completely nuts, and you might be right to think that. But, I hope (we'll talk about that word later) you'll enjoy the read, because I am going to hold nothing back.

3 Days in August : The Mohave Desert : Long Distance Training

Map - 3 days in August, long distance training, bike, hike, paddle

This is a story, not of excitement or heroics, but just of grinding out long distance across natural terrain using only muscle power and wit.

Mountain Biking, Hiking, and Paddling:

A Portage and A Paddle in the Mohave Desert - April 7 - 8, 2013

Map of portage and paddle; White Hills, AZ to Cottonwood Cove, NV

One portages a kayak across land to connect two bodies of water or to avoid obstacles on a river. This portage, however, was from my house to the water, a distance of 28 miles, where I usually just drive my truck. Why in the world would I portage this distance? I have no idea, maybe to see if I could do it. But for some reason I had had a hankering to do this for quite some time. And so now, it was that time. 

The route was 28 miles and had an overall elevation drop 3784 feet, yet along the way there was 1000 feet of climbing to do and all of it on desert dirt road. 

Distance and Elevation Profile for House to Willow Beach Portage

Team Kayak Lake Mead - Everglades Challenge 2014

Paths Aligned - Druce Finlay, Robert Finlay, Valentin Chapa at the Start Beach

Beyond Coastal (Cruising)
Everglades Challenge 2014 Report by Robert Finlay (IronBob):

Team Kayak Lake Mead - Everglades Challenge 2013

Druce and I, Start Beach, Everglades Challenge 2013

Luck, Grit, Laughter, Bliss
Everglades Challenge 2013 Report by Robert Finlay (IronBob):

Druce and I would paddle our boat Sunshine (at night her name is Ranger), a SEDA Triumph, a 3 seat kayak, using Quick Blade Sydney paddles in Class 2, paddle craft without a sail. Our eyes would be protected by NUMA Points. The sun shirts on our backs would be Haeleum, although this year it would be too cold for sun shirts except for day one.

I had trouble getting to this EC. I had surgery in December. The 30 day post op recovery didn’t end until mid January. That gave me just 5 good training weekends before the start. Walking around East Beach on Mullet Key on Thursday and Friday I just felt so lucky, so lucky to be here, so lucky to have such a good teammate, so lucky to have what was looking to be good weather for the upcoming challenge.

Team Kayak Lake Mead - Everglades Challenge 2011

The Juice, The BluByU's and Salty Frog (Sharkchow is creating the wake on Druce's left ) - all of us having a nice paddle in the early afternoon of Day 1.

This year, 2011, we had a good run. We were the first paddle craft to come in, coming in behind only six sailboats. We finished first in our Class. We had trained for this race by paddling every weekend. Most weekends we paddled 35 to 55 miles. By race time we felt that we were "paddle ready" for this race.

We entered as a Class 2 expedition style kayak with no sail. We paddled the new SEDA Triumph triple as a tandem, 23' 6" by 25", and we paddled this time with Quick Blade Sydney Paddles.

Highlights:
Winds were mostly out of the south; southeast to south to southwest the entire race until you have to go east across Florida Bay then of course the winds changed to east. Although at one opportune time frame for us, while on a southeast crossing, the winds were out of the west!

There would be a big dropout (DNF) rate this year.

Depending upon course choices one may have a course of between 268 to 315 miles. Our proposed course for this year measured out to be around 268 miles.

Team Kayak Lake Mead - Everglades Challenge 2010

Druce off the Naples Coast, Day 2 of the Everglades Challenge 2010

In March 2010, Druce, aka TheJuice, and myself, aka IronBob, would enter the Everglades Challenge for our second time. This time we would enter in Class 1, as an expedition kayak with downwind sail. We even kept the rudder on the boat, as opposed to our taking it off for 2006, ha, ha!  As of this writing, we have done the challenge in 2011, 2013, and 2014.  

Team Kayak Lake Mead - Everglades Challenge 2006

Druce Finlay on Highland Point with one foot on a WWII anti-ship mine.

I have done about 20 expedition length adventure races that have included trekking, kayaking, horse riding, white water rafting, glacier travel, mountaineering, jungles, deserts, and who knows what else, but this would be my first expedition race with kayaking as the sole discipline.