Thinking about coming down during the 2015 EC, Reason would be to pick you'll brains and learn what I can about the event. When would be the best times? I may also be able to assist some, or even play shuttle driver with my mini van. Will have my Hobie TI with me. I missed getting a campsite any other ideas? (i can be down for at least a month if needed.)
EC support
(12 posts) (9 voices)-
Scareman
MemberSeveral ideas...
Shuttle us from Key Largo to Ft DeSoto either, Thursday before the start, or Saturday after the awards ceremony. It is a great way to meet WaterTribers.
Shuttling Friday from the Captains meeting to the Campground.
Shuttling Start Saturday morning from the parking area back to the launch beach. I did this my first year observing and met many WaterTribers this way.
Plan on being at the launch beach all day Friday to learn as much as possible. Hang out at CP1 after that to hear the stories on the first leg about wind tides and weather.
Try to make it to Key Largo as people arrive Thursday though Saturday. Maybe even spend a day at CP2 Mon-Wed, then try Flamingo Wed night Thursday. Then head to Key Largo.
Usually we can squeeze people in camping spots. The building in the campground is usually busy with last minute peppers and you can snooze a bit on the couches and chairs, and charge electronics there too!
Posted 6 years ago # -
ZeroTheHero
MemberEverything Scareman said is about the best stuff you can do. In 2012 I shuttled a few from the campsite to the beach at the start. I also spent all day Friday on the beach. You could also try and meet people in the campsite on Thursday night. Friday can be busy for many, Thursday night is the last calm before the storm. After 2013 I drove back north with a few veteran tribers. It was a fantastic experience. Highly recomend. The experience is fresh and you have 5 hours to kill. Great info.
Posted 6 years ago # -
PainenDias
BlockedDreamchaser, I will try to be very honest with you, but I am worried about your current state of mind. The fact that you currently own a Hobie TI is quite disturbing as I have it on good authority that several of this so-called "WaterTribe" began their personal journey into degradation under similarly innocuous circumstances. It begins so innocently with the seemingly benign atmosphere that promises fellowship, personal growth, and some sort of adventure! Do not be seduced by this insidious propaganda! You should immediately disconnect your computer from the internet, discontinue any further research or correspondence with any of the people who may have invited you to participate in any way, shape or form. Possibly consider changing your name, or perhaps even going so far as moving to another state to avoid any further involvement. It can only end in tears if you continue to associate with this despicable cult!
You should continue to enjoy your Hobie TI without being influenced by such people! Their purported leader, a charismatic figure often known by the nom de plume of "Chief", initially comes across as a jovial person with your best interests at heart. I have personal knowledge of this individual and can tell you that he is been quite unfaithful over the many years he has been involved with this "WaterTribe" and in a relatively short time he has personally built and owned many differing types of watercraft from sailing canoes, a Hobie AI, and even now is feverishly involved in building a Core Sound monohull! This man is a terribly example to traditional saiors and if you become ensnared by his siren song you too will end up a serial sailor, or even possibly worse with an entire back yard filled with a variety of sailing vessels! Heed this warning!
And if you should be unable to control your boating libido, what will the be the result? You will spend inordinate amounts of time and money lusting after other boats, making plans to drive thousands of miles to environs that no sane person would even entertain any positive thoughts about, and you will engage in physical and mental ordeals that will corrupt your spirit, degrade your body, and even if you are ultimately successful will only lead to your receiving a tiny wooden paddle and a tee shirt with some spurious nickname on the back. As a bonus you may also receive a shark tooth, and for the extremely perverted, an alligator tooth! Now think logically for a moment! Is this insane fantasy you harbor really worth selling your soul to the devil?
I have done my best to dissuade you from any further participation with this group! You will receive only this warning and you must choose your ultimate destiny. If you are simply unable to control your lustful desires for maritime mayhem I will not try to change your mind! You are an adult and know the risks! Now then, I have a couple of G-Cats in my back yard and there is this little cruise down here in Florida called the UFC in 2016 and you can e-mail, text, or call me any time if you have even the slightest interest. I have only your best interests at heart! Honest!
Posted 6 years ago # -
stripbuilder
MemberLike BlueJay, I would suggest that you participate if you have a boat, have good gear, and some skills. If you don't believe your ready to jump in yet, then definitely consider Scaremans ideas. Either way you'll have a good time meeting watertribers and learn a lot. See you at Fort Desoto.
Posted 6 years ago # -
LOL
Posted 6 years ago # -
PainenDias
BlockedHey, Dreamchaser! Being a newbie you may not have been exposed to my lying posts (bombarded by them, is more correct) like the rest of the long-suffering Tribers! The EC reminds me of Star Wars when Yoda says "there is no try! Do or don't do!" Or something to that effect! These are adventures! Under the guise of a race (sort of)! They are everything you have ever imagined, and more! Quite fun, if you have a particular attitude! As for that fellow named Chief, he is the guy that tried to keep me from launching my 12 foot Expandacraft Canoe into 5 foot waves in the North Carolina Challenge, even going so far as to offer me credit toward the next event if I would just abandon my suicidal yearnings for glory! So I sank, sort of! And he kept the money! I think he was kind of hoping I would sort of fade away, but WildBlue came along and ignited the waterlogged embers and we finished 15th in a fifteen foot Sirocco daysailer. You just can't get stuff like this sitting on the beach. Ya gotta go out and do it.
So many people stifle their dreams by burying them with excuses! I am not prepared, I can't sail well enough, I don't have the time, these people are nuts and I'm staying home! It is too dangerous! All I got to say is if not now, then when? You want to see how not to prepare for the EC 2015? You got a month? Come on down to Miami and we can do some sailing (I call it that, my detractors call it someting else). Florida is a paradise (compared to anywhere north of Georgia) in the winter!
I say go for it! Do the Derby, get some points! Buy the equipment, the electronics, all the fun toys and sign up. I always argue that any reasonably competent paddler, sailor, or rower can finish the Everglades Challenge. A Hobie TI is a heck of a lot easier to finish with than a catamaran (mine, anyway). You can wave at me as you pass me by! I will be the guy stuck on the nearest mud flat! But I will see you at the finish line! Or the hospital! Either way, it will be a great adventure!
Posted 6 years ago # -
DonKeyHoTey
MemberYup, PainenDiaz hit the snail on the head far more eloquently than I could have. And stripbuilder and BlueJay are right, too. Just do it (including the UFC when you're properly prepared).
But in what? Not to early to start thinking about these things. You'll see all kinds of craft on the beach. My sodden advice after entering the NCC in a 1' longer boat than PainenDiaz' sinker: avoid the Quixotic (competitive?) urge to do it in the smallest possible bodge-boat, like, say, this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOZT-3QBLEw. Because invariably, somebody like PainenDiaz will surprise you by showing up with this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=450zkBnHbtQ. There is a Goldi-Locks size. Maybe the Hobie TI is it. Never tried one (get a good wet/dry suit!). At some point the "Less is More" mantra becomes a "hiding to nothingness" -- a psychotic tilt at imaginary Wonderland windmills that are actually nautical rabbit-holes leading to Waterworld aka Davy Jones Locker. And that can happen PDQ, as many of us can attest.
Andale' Andale' -- in my QE2!
DonKeyHoTey
Posted 6 years ago # -
BeastOarman
MemberAaah, yes, perhaps one of the more divisive questions faced by Tribers: Do you learn from your mistakes, or as Toby prefers, from your successes?
If you prefer to learn from mistakes, do like I did and jump right in without studying it too hard. Use boats no one else uses (a different one each time) and bring three of everything. Like Thomas Edison you are bound to run out of things that don't work eventually. And you will have adventure. If you like to learn from mistakes.
If you prefer to learn from successes, study the successful. Meet them, learn from them. Do the course at your own pace. Do the UM. Do the 100 mile NCC as run-up to the EC. Practice, practice, practice and you will become very skilled. If you like to learn from success.
Post a request here http://watertribe.org/forums/topic/camp-sites-at-the-fort-desoto-camp-ground-going-fast for someone to share their campsite with you. I learned from my mistake of not getting any sleep before the start, so now I stay at a hotel ; )
Posted 6 years ago # -
PainenDias
BlockedDang! Dreamchaser, did we scare you off yet? There are two kinds of WaterTribers! Those that have sunk, and those that lie about it! This has been a great thread and DonKeyHoTey has waxed lyrical once again in his inimitable manner!
At some point the "Less is More" mantra becomes a "hiding to nothingness" -- a psychotic tilt at imaginary Wonderland windmills that are actually nautical rabbit-holes leading to Waterworld aka Davy Jones Locker. And that can happen PDQ, as many of us can attest.
This is like the Gettysburg address!" A psychedelic summation of what so many try to accomplish! You can do much worse than a Hobie TI! And many of us have! But as Chief says, often the most difficult part of the challenge is getting to the beach! Once on the boat with a fresh breeze you leave all the other baggage behind and you roll on down the course in control of your destiny. I must admit once or twice in my life I may have been unsure about where I was going. No such thoughts during a challenge! I'm heading for the finish and I'm getting that paddle! Along the way I may have had a minor setback or two (capsize, sinking, getting boat impounded, running aground, threatened with criminal trespass) but you have a goal and a timetable. The trials and tribulations of all the Tribers who have gone before have provided me with incredible stimulation in my own efforts. This is no cakewalk! They list their triumphs and defeats, sometimes in graphic manner, so we can all improve along the way. Live and learn! Then go out and make your own mistakes. It's a great way to learn!
The ultimate benefit is the people you associate with! Somebody mentions "I did a WaterTribe Challenge" and you have an immediate rapport with that person. You know! The bond is there no matter the results. I have no trouble calling up Tribers I have never met and asking advice or to go sailing with them. I have no problem with visitors to Miami looking me up as "kindred spirits" find a way. There are worse ways to live! And we do live well!
Posted 6 years ago #
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