More random thoughts from 2006 WaterTribe Ultimate Florida Challenge

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Just more random pictures and stories from 2006 Watertribe Ultimate Florida Challenge, expedition style race around Florida.

Race start at Fort Desoto

One of pictures shot by Connie. She used my older Canon PowerShots S40. I don’t have idea how but she managed to loose that camera somewhere in Cedar Key at the end of our trip. It was a real miracle that somebody who found the camera, looked at pictures, recognized Matt Layden’s Enigma, and contacted Jack Bayha, Matt’s father in law. Jack posted a message at the WaterTribe forum and, finally, he mailed the camera to Colorado.

Shark River Sunrise

A quiet sunrise at the Shark River on the way to the Whitewater Bay

I just crossed the Ponce de Leon Bay against a strong headwind and a couple hours later at Joe River I met heavy headwinds again.

Happy Sailing on the Florida Bay

A half hour of happy sailing on the Florida Bay.

I reached and passed Dump Keys paddling against strong wind. It seemed that the wind direction shifted and it should possible to go south across Whipray Basin with my downwind sail. I launched the sail and enjoyed 5 to 6 mph sailing. I shot some pictures. Then, I am not sure what happened. The wind shifted back to E or I felt asleep or both. 20 minutes later I figured out that I was back somewhere between Camp and Bouy Key … I took me more than 2 hours to return back to Dump Keys against wind. I added another loop to my Florida Bay GPS track.

Sebastian Inlet State Park

I did not paddle along the east Florida coast but I had to visit the 2nd UFC stage point at the Sebastian Inlet. Chief gave me ride from Islamorada Coast Guard Station to Karen and Matt Layden’s house at Jensen Beach. We arrived quite late and dumped my boat and other stuff in the backyard. After a shower, I reached for my yellow dry bag to look for some dry and clean emergency clothes. I was really tired but still couldn’t recognized cute shorts I found at the top of the bag … It happened that I had downloaded the SandyBottom’s supply bag which was exactly the same as mine.

The next couple of days I spent watching carefully her progress in order to deliver her bag to Sebastian before she would get there. I rented a car and drove to Sebastian Inlet to exchange yellow bags. Then, I proceeded to Tampa to retrieve our Subaru left by Connie at the airport parking. It was another challenge to find it. The same day I returned back to Jensen Beach. It seems that I crossed Florida several times by a car or a boat in March.

Fort Clinch State Park

Fort Clinch State Park: a fishing pier and southern jetty  

I spent some time photographing on the Atlantic Ocean beach when camping at Fort Clinch.

Fort Clinch – after the sunset on the Amelia River. The third UFC stage point and my spot to photograph sunsets.

Upstream on St Marys River

The upper St Mary River below St George.  

It was perhaps the only logjam which required to drag a boat around it. Of course, I was thinking how Matt was doing this with his Enigma.

Downstream on Suwannee River

After the first night on Suwannee River

Sea Wind and Clark jungle hammock (North American model). The hammock was doing pretty well even in rain. I’ve been using different hammocks in all my Texas Water Safari and Watertribe events.

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