March 4th, You Sailors of Fortune

Holy crumb-cakes! Here we go.  

The Everglades Challenge, an annual unsupported human-powered 300-mile-long adventure race sets sail on Saturday, March 4, off the beach at Fort De Soto Park at 10 am.  

My favorite skipper (aka "TwoBeers") and his trusty crew Moresailesed will be taking to the waves aboard Spawn.

They've been at this off and on for ten years, and while I may have exhausted my stock of anxiety last year (Oy, the 1200-mile version!), it's still a big event around here. 

Here's the (in)famous tracking map. 

To track our Spawnsters,  select the event (Everglades Challenge) on the pull-down and either watch their individual progress or the progress of their division (two-crew sailing vessels Class 4), or the whole dang gang.

The ap is supposed to be updated something like hourly from their personal trackers, but in reality, it's sometimes less often). The map frequently freezes, particularly, it seems, in the middle of the night.  

I picture a squadron of interested index fingers mashing that "Regenerate View" button over and over, while the website weary and honest as John Coffey, replies, "I'm tired, boss."

Click on the map to open link in new window!

In light of past years' performance, I anticipate a few cri de coeur about the failings of SPOT as a personal locator, but new year clean slate, right?  The personal locator is how the tracking maps keep track of the 100+ adventurers.  So, while sometimes the locater maps are slow, sometimes it's the personal locators corking the bottle. 

The SPOT is a hockey-puck sized piece of kit that promises to ping a satellite every 20 minutes or so. It also has a couple of buttons for specific messages ("We're OK!" "We're in trouble, but we're safe," and of course the panic button that calls the Coast Guard). It's proven finicky.

​Yes, we have heard that GARMIN makes a superior product with far nicer interfaces and reliability. Had we the option ten years ago, we would have chosen differently.

The SPOT hasn't failed, really, but it's disappointed me by not performing as I hope.  We weren't ready to invest in yet another piece of expensive electronica for Spawn, so we'll be SPOTTING again this year. 

Here's a link to that website. It follows Spawn only.

Another way to track the fleet is to check RaceOwl site –– again, selecting "Everglades Challenge 2023."  Spawn is known as "Racer Number 3951."  

​A less imaginative moniker to be sure –– what is this, a post Clockwork Orange, post-1984 world?

Whatevs, just don't call them late to supper. 

Click on the map to open link in new window!

How long will the adventure last?  
I have an entire country-western song bemoaning that exact question. It's already playing in my head.

The short answer: we hope the gang starts arriving in Key Largo on Sunday evening, but the awards ceremony and official end of the time limit is the following Saturday. It's really anyone's guess.

​Knock wood.