Everglades Challenge 2020 Trip Report
Savannahdan and Paddlemaker
Day one. Saturday, May 7.
We left the Cape Haze Marina, south of Venice, Florida, at about 4 pm, on Saturday, March 7 in our Sea Pearl 21. We were supposed to leave from Fort Desoto State Park, near St. Petersburg, Florida, but high winds caused us to leave from Cape Haze. We anchored for the night off Gasparilla Sound in a lovely, quiet cove, out of the wind, on uninhabited Sandfly Key, part of the Cape Haze Aquatic Preserve, a bit north from the city of Boca Grande. The wind had picked up a bit, and we generally preferred to avoid sailing at night if the wind was strong. It was a very pleasant night on the water, and we slept comfortably head to toe in the boat with the cabin up.
Day two. Sunday, May 8.
The wind was blowing pretty good at 8 a.m. that morning, 22 kn according to the NOAA weather buoy at nearby Big Carlos Pass. Since those strong winds were predicted for the next two days, we decided that we were not going into the open Gulf of Mexico after we got to the Sanabel Causeway until they subsided, so we killed some time, landing at a pretty beach in the reserve where we stretched out legs, cooked a hearty lunch, and explored the tide pools. We love this part of the Florida coast - the quiet, uninhabited islands of the Cape Haze Aquatic Preserve, near perfect waters for Sea Pearl adventures. This is why we chose the route, by the western side of Pine Island, toward Matlacha Pass.
We then sailed across Charlotte Harbor, across some 10 miles of open water with a pretty good fetch, with the wind gusting above 20 kn all the way. There were some large swells as we crossed the occasional shoal, but the boat handled the crossing well. It was a wild ride.
It was when the passage south on the western side of Pine Island narrowed that our forward motion halted. When we got close to the bridge which connected Pine Island to the mainland, about 3 pm., with the strong wind coming right at us, we could not tack, and we could not make any progress rowing. There were shallows on both sides of the narrow channel, so we had to anchor and consider our options. We sat in the boat for a while, tried to row, gave up, and anchored again. Finally, at about 6 pm, we gave a final push and were able to row through the bridge, which opened for us. Since it was a tricky route going forward, and we didn't want to go in the darkness, we anchored near the bridge and spent a pleasant night there, falling asleep to the music from a nearby bar.
While we certainly lost some time choosing Matlacha Pass to go south, it had been a wonderful day. We got a good night’s rest, and as it turned out, we would not have been willing to go out into the open Gulf after the Sanibel Causeway, had we arrived there sooner, anyway.
Day three. Monday. May 9.
We awoke to a breeze of 10 kn from the east, which gave us a perfect point of sail to go south through the twisty channels of Matlacha Pass to Pine Island sound. However, by early afternoon the wind began to build to a point where we had to anchor and wait for it to calm down instead of going under the Sanibel Causeway and out into the Gulf of Mexico. At 2 pm the wind at the nearby weather buoy was 20 kn; at 3 pm, 22 kn; at 3:30, 26 kn; at 6 pm, 23 kn. We tried to tack in these winds but came into shallows. We could not make any progress at all. Then, we headed over to the beach park stretched out along the Sanibel causeway. There we anchored, at about 3 pm., out of the wind a bit. It turned out to be a wonderful spot, with picnic tables, bathrooms, and some nice places to walk around. We did try again a couple hours later to go under the causeway, but again we could not make any progress tacking, so we went back to the park, cooked a good dinner and slept on the boat.
Day four. Tuesday. May 10.
Today began two days of glorious sailing along the coast. There was a steady breeze, not too strong, consistently from the east and we just charged along, hour after hour. South of Venice, shortly after it got dark, the wind died down completely so we anchored for the night and went to sleep. I suppose that day, from the Sanibel Causeway to just past Gordons Pass, we must have gone over 60 miles. Had we not lost our wind, it would have made a great night sail.
Day five. Wednesday. May 11.
The nest day was a repeat of the previous day - wonderful winds for sailing down to Caxambas Pass. We rowed a bit to go into Caxambas Pass, and then set a course to Indian Key Pass. Again we probably went over 50 or 60 miles on that day. However, unfortunately, by the time we got to Indian Key Pass, the tide was ebbing hard against us, and we would not get an incoming flood until the early morning.
We tried to row against the tide, but could make no progress at all, so we anchored for the night in a pretty cove off Indian Pass. It was wonderful to spend a comfortable night in the Everglades sleeping on a boat, where we happened to end up, instead of having to fuss about a campsite or chickee. I'd like to take the Sea Pearl into the Everglades again, sleeping on the boat.
The deadline for Checkpoint Two at Chokoloskee, at the end of Indian Key Pass was 10 am., on Wednesday. We were forced by the tide current to anchor about 5 pm on Wednesday afternoon. Had we hit the incoming tide at Indian key Pass, we could have pleaded for a few hours extension of the deadline because of the weather, but now, given the tide times, the earliest we could have arrived at the checkpoint would have been Thursday morning, a day late. Also, our support person was near Chokoloskee, and it would have been inconsiderate to make him drive to, say, Flamingo, on the off chance we could arrived there in time. So, we decided to drop out of the race and take out at Everglades City.
Overall Conclusion
This 2020 Everglades Challenge will go down in the record as one of the hardest, I think, because only about 40 percent of the folks in the race finished. We failed to finish because of wise decisions on our part not to proceed when the wind got too strong for us. I think we pushed hard, sailing and rowing, when it was sensible to do so, but when it was unreasonable, and beyond our comfort level, we wisely found pleasant places to anchor and enjoy the surroundings. All in all, it was a great trip, and we are not at all chagrined at the result.
The hardest part of the race for me was the preparation. I truly believe in the saying that "getting to the starting line is 95 percent of the race." I had to rebuild an old trailer. I had to cut up a boat that was on the trailer and take the pieces to the landfill. My wife and I spent four days making a bug net that covered the boat. I drilled holes all over the place and rigged toggles to secure the gear. There was wiring to do, an on-board galley to rig up, shake down cruises to take, and food to lay in. It was a lot of work.
