Défi des Marais

Défi des who now?
​Why French this morning? No earthly idea, and the coffee has not yet hopped me up to a level that might provide a theory.

In any case, a rose by any other name would smell as sweet: it's EVERGLADES CHALLENGE TIME!

And what do we know? First, the 300-mile-long unsupported human-powered race starts on Saturday, March 1, 2025 at Fort De Soto Beach at 8:30 am. The fleet of around 100 or so adventurers on small boats will push off the high tide line and twinkle over the horizon for parts south, like actual magic. Seriously, an inspirational and astonishing sight.

They stop first to check in at Cape Haze Marina on Florida'a west coast, then dip into the Everglades's little hometown of Chokolaskee, then to the glamorous Everglades National Park in Flamingo, before finishing (we should all be so lucky!) in Buttonwood Sound in Key Largo over the next week or so. 

Our favorite team is of course the mighty Spawn of Frankenscot, a home-build, OH-Rodgers-purpose-designed 22-foot sloop that features a carbon-fiber mast, big water ballast tanks, a bowsprit, dual rudders, and a team of seasoned adventurers: TwoBeers and Moresailesaid.

Moresailesaid (Jahn JT Tihansky) and TwoBeers (Jeff Linton) ready to take to the waves.

As in past years, the event's organizing body is the WaterTribe, which has a website and a race tracker.
Our team shows up as a nifty green Frankenstein head wearing a tam o shanter on the WaterTribe site.

If we might predict future performance based on historical data, expect that map tracker to grow slow and unresponsive shortly after the start. 
https://www.watertribe.com/Events/ChallengeGMapper.aspx

This photo screen grabbed from WaterTriber Gil Hidalgo; the team touching shore in Flamingo. Not pictured: the large salt-water croc native to that dock.

A lot of folks are clicking "Regenerate View" during the event, so delays are expected. If unwelcome. 

A second tracking map, called "Race Owl,"  is often a better resource for seeing the whole gang of racers. An observer may need to convert Racer Numbers back into names on this site, but alas, perfection eludes us all.
https://raceowl.com/EC2025  or click on the map below.

Finally, as ground control, I have the Garmin InReach site on speed-dial. Does anyone else remember speed-dial? Or has it got over the bar with quaint antiquities like "telex" and "Linotype"? 

This photo from--perhaps Tom Ray? The team looks to be going toward Chokoloskee in about 2021...

The Garmin InReach is a personal locator the size of a bar of soap that's set to ping every 20 minutes or so with darn-near-magical exactness. Which means a justifiably nervous shore crew can keep a sharp eye on things by watching the InReach's website. 

That link is 
https://share.garmin.com/N9OY8TwoBeers or click on the map below.

My Spawnsters bags are packed, their plans are made (and writ large, as my friend Robin might say, in Jell-o), and our on-shore resources are on notice: T-two days and counting....

Aaaaaand they're off.

Knock wood.