The weather didn’t look good for weeks before the start of the 2017 Everglades Challenge. The forecasts were remarkably steady even 10 days out. NNE winds 20 – 25 before moving more easterly. Every WaterTriber driving to Ft Desoto on setup day gets a hint of things to come as white-capped Tampa Bay comes into view, and then the enormous American flag snapping on its pole at the park.

Setup and inspections went as usual, with a remarkably short briefing then off to dinner where the texting topic was how Chief would deal with the small craft advisory in effect. It didn’t bode well, and it wasn’t well.

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“What the hell are you thinking?“ has settled into my mind as I started a morning workout. Twelve hundred miles seems like a lot when you’re not warmed up yet,…

It was about 8 months before the EC2011 that I tripped over the Watertribe site. "A life changing experience" caught my eye, and I began perusing the posts of those…