kayak Archives - Small Boats Magazine

Tag: kayak

WaterTribe Everglades Challenge 2024

Tampa Bay To Key Largo In Sea Kayaks, Canoes and Small Boats

The next Everglades Challenge is  Saturday, March 1, 2025. There is registration and equipment inspection on Friday, February 28, 2025, prior to starting.  Cost is $495.00  for the captain and $495.00 for crew members if any.

Billing starts January 1.
Registration ends January 26 at noon.
Payment Deadline is January 26 at noon.

Due to the extreme commitment for this race late registration and/or late payments will not be allowed. We recommend that you commit to this race early so you have plenty of time for planning, training, and preparation. Pay early in the payment cycle. You can get a full refund up until January 26 at noon. No refunds after that date and time.

All WaterTribe events are dangerous events as defined by Florida law and common sense. You are responsible for your own safety. You must read and understand the warning before you register for this event.

The Everglades Challenge is an unsupported, expedition style adventure race for kayaks, canoes, and small boats. The distance is roughly 300 nautical miles depending on your course selection. There is a time limit of 8 days or less. Your safety and well being are completely up to you.

Unsupported means that there are no safety boats or support crews to help you during the race. You are not allowed to have a support crew follow you or meet you during the race. It is OK to have family or friends meet you at the official checkpoints, but they cannot provide anything other than emotional support. See the official WaterTribe rules for more details.

Expedition style means that you must carry the same type of equipment and supplies that you would carry on a major expedition lasting 4 weeks or more. Camping equipment, food, water, safety, communication, etc. is required. See the Rules and Warning link at the top of this page for the official required equipment list for more details.

Although this is a race, many participants are more interesting in cruising and adventure. Whether you are a cruiser or racer is up to you. Just getting to the starting line is a major accomplishment and only about 40% of starters are able to finish. You should be an expert kayaker and/or sailor before you consider this challenge.

SPECIAL NOTE 1:  You can earn an alligator tooth award by completing the entire Everglades Wilderness Waterway between Chokoloskee and Flamingo. There are specific rules for earning that tooth:

  • You must obey all Everglades National Park rules.
  • SPOT must be correctly used at all times.
  • You must complete the entire WW as shown on their official maps. You can exit at Broad River and return via Broad Creek. Using the Harney River from the outside is not allowed.
  • The Nightmare is an option. Some people say that taking the Nightmare is easier than negotiating Broad Creek from the entrance. The choice is yours.
  • Once you have reached Whitewater Bay you may follow the marked route or take the Joe River or any other route to cross the bay and enter Tarpon Creek and the Buttonwood Canal.
  • In some years challengers have taken the Hells Bay Canoe Trail to Tarpon Creek. Since this is marked on the official map, it is also OK.
  • You must portage your boat a short distance between the fresh water side and the salt water side at Flamingo. You cannot receive assistance from the Race Manager, CP Captain, or bystanders. Challengers participating in the event may assist other challengers (see the note below).

SPECIAL NOTE 2: In some previous years we have provided a boat cart or other assistance for the short portage at Flamingo. As of EC2011 and beyond a boat cart will not be provided and all challengers crossing from the fresh water side to the salt water side must do this short portage without outside assistance. No cart will be provided. You must carry your own if you plan to use one. If bystanders want to help they cannot. However, other WaterTribers who are in the same event can help – see the ad hoc team rule.

The Everglades Challenge follows the SW Florida coast line from Fort Desoto in Tampa Bay, Florida to Key Largo. You will enter Everglades National Park near Everglades City and you will be within their boundries until you get near Key Largo.  You must follow all park rules and regulations.

Note that the WaterTribe Marathon runs concurrently with the Everglades Challenge.  The schedule mentions both races.

Coast Guard Advises Labeling Paddlecraft, Free Labels Are Available

Posted on by Anne Bryant
Orange reflective sticker with space for your information from the US Coast GuardU.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Operation Paddle Smart

The free sticker available from the U.S. Coast Guard looks like this.

In the recent Atlantic Coastal Kayaker, they shared a couple of important advisories from the U.S. Coast Guard regarding free labels and what happens if they find a small boat unlabeled and unmanned. Here’s what the USCG says:

The Coast Guard urges paddlecraft owners to properly secure and label their vessels. Coast Guard crews treat every unmanned-adrift vessel as a search and rescue case and immediately launch a search for potential mariners in distress.

“Every unmanned-adrift vessel is treated as a potential distress situation, which takes up valuable time, resources and manpower,” said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Brook Serbu of the 13th District Command Center, Seattle, Washington. “When the craft is properly labeled, the situation can often be quickly resolved with a phone call to the vessel owner, which minimizes personnel fatigue and negative impacts on crew readiness.”

Helicopter and boat crews individually search an average of two hours per response and a similar amount of time is spent by other government agency personnel. Additionally, Coast Guard command center and 911 center personnel spend an additional four hours investigating the incident.

Coast Guard officials encourage all paddlecraft owners to label their vessels using a permanent or waterproof marker covered with clear, waterproof tape for increased durability. You can also check with a local outdoor recreation retailer or Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla to obtain a Paddle Smart Identification Sticker. At the very least, the label should include the name of the vessel’s owner, a number to reach them. and a secondary point of contact. In the event that the vessel is adrift, crews can use that information to contact the owner and avoid launching an unnecessary search. If the owner of a vessel is unable to be located after a reasonable amount of time, Coast Guard crews are forced to destroy the vessel or turn it over to the state for disposal.

Mariners who encounter unmanned-adrift vessels or other hazards to navigation are encouraged to contact their local Coast Guard District Command Center or via VHF-FM Channel 16.

And later in that report: “The Coast Guard offers free ‘If Found’ decals to mark gear or you write directly on it,” said a Coast Guard spokesperson, Sector Honolulu. “The information on the sticker can allow responders to determine if someone is in distress more quickly and help us get your gear back to you.”

The stickers can be obtained for free at local harbormasters, through the Coast Guard Auxiliary, and at select marine retail and supply stores. Similarly, if you lose kayaks, surfboard or safety equipment such as lifejackets, please report it to the Coast Guard to help our search and rescue specialists deconflict possible distress reports. The self-adhesive labels are retroreflective and highly visible at night in the light of a flashlight. If someone finds your strayed gear, you might get it back and, by calling the phone numbers you list, the Coast Guard will know not to go looking for you and your boat.

OkoumeFest 2018

Chesapeake Light Craft will present its 20th annual small boat rendezvous, OkoumeFest, on Friday and Saturday, May 18-19, 2018.

“Okoume” is the plantation-grown African hardwood used in tens of thousands of CLC’s build-your-own-boat kits. OkoumeFest features an open house with technical seminars on Friday at the CLC plant in Annapolis, and on Saturday an on-the-water rendezvous at Matapeake State Park on Kent Island. This event is RAIN OR SHINE. Please note that if thunderstorms are detected nearby we’ll bring the boats off the water.

The Friday seminars are informative and fun, but the highlight of OkoumeFest always comes on Saturday, when we bring virtually everything in our shop over to the beach at Matapeake for our friends to paddle, row, sail, and generally put through their paces. We also encourage fellow boatbuilders to bring their homebuilt watercraft to show and compete for best-in-show honors and various awards.

OkoumeFest is also a special chance to try some of the boats, such as PocketShip, that they can’t usually take on the road with them. You’ll also be able to try out new designs, such as the Jimmy Skiff II, Tenderly XP, and the Waterlust Sailing Canoe. Attendance is free on both days this year, but please RSVP so that CLC can plan for the hordes.

Friday [schedule] features an open house at the CLC factory with shop tours, boatbuilding seminars with experts, and a cookout. Everything in the CLC store will be discounted, including boat kits.

On Saturday [schedule] the event moves to Matapeake State Park on Kent Island, where nearly 60 CLC boats will line the beach. They welcome you to try out boats all day long, or bring your own to show off.

Amazing Resource: Nick Schade’s How-To Videos

Posted on by Anne Bryant
Funny video title: Stripping to MusicNick Schade—Guillemot Kayaks

Nick’s got some great titles for his videos in these series.

Nick Schade has been documenting, on a day-to-day basis, his process for building Guillemot Kayaks‘ designs. The latest is a build of the microBootlegger Sport, a beautiful and sleek double paddle kayak. Here’s the whole playlist on YouTube, which will play the next episode automatically when you finish one.

If you’re building one of Nick’s boats in particular, then this is obvious gold, but there is a lot to glean here for anybody wanting to know more about strip-built or skin-on-frame boats. In an average of 20 minutes per episode, Nick gives a level of detail that both seasoned and beginner boatbuilders will appreciate, as he shares his own personal take on all sorts of aspects of the build, through the entire process, from buying the lumber to doing the finish work.

Not only do you get to see a professional in action, but you get to see Nick screw up, then tell you what happened, and how he fixed it. One episode, “Ruining Expensive Lumber,” certainly got us to click and watch, and he gracefully and openly admits to having accidentally ripped some strips in the wrong direction, yielding some undesirable grain orientation. This is the real deal.

Nick launches his skin-on-frame kayakNick Schade—Guillemot Kayaks

Nick launches the skin-on-frame kayak he built in another series of videos.

These are beautifully produced videos that are helpful and chockablock full of information. Be sure to check out these other playlists and builds: A skin-on-frame microBootlegger Sport and a Petrel Play.

Have a look at our review of Guillemot’s Noank, a sliding seat pulling boat.

Natalie Warren’s Series About Great Places to Paddle

Posted on by Anne Bryant

Canoe & Kayak did a 26-town rundown of places to paddle that they called the Best Paddling Towns of North America. They weren’t done with the sweet suggestions, though.

They continued with a series they call “(Next) Best Paddling Towns,” articles by Natalie Warren , wherein she takes readers to great places for adventures in small boats. Warren doesn’t only tell in pictures and words how these places look, she also gives tips about coffee shops and other local gems to visit, cool towns and trails along the way, and about the passionate organizations that maintain the amenities mentioned.

She’s great about the nuts-and-bolts information about those amenities and the ability levels needed to have a great trip in each place. Warren shares both overnight and day trip possibilities with readers, and has all sorts of boaters in mind when she shares what she’s found. For example, lodging options bridge the spectrum from bed and breakfast stays for your fancier adventure to camping for your humbler excursions.

Where do you go to read about new places to paddle, sail, row, and motor?

 

Sights from the Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival XXXIV

Posted on by Anne Bryant

by Anne Bryant

After a full, nutty day at the Annapolis Sailboat Show, I headed over to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michael’s, Maryland, for the Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival. I pulled into the entrance, lined with a tent city full of small boat enthusiasts; I felt right away that compared with the bustle of Annapolis, the change of energy suited my needs.

Here are some photos from my visit there. It was Sunday, the day after the big race and regatta, and so things were packing up, slowing down, and moving on due to a lightly threatening forecast.

Our Fearless Editor, Chris Cunningham, has traveled to this gathering in the past, and we plan to re-establish our connection with this fantastic gathering in 2018. A workshop? A beer social? We’re not sure yet, but get excited.

 

 

I also happened by the relaunching and re-christening of BELLE, a Herreshoff 12 1/2-inspired small sailing boat designed and built by Daniel Gonneau. With her more open layout inboard and with no internal ballast, she’s quite different from the design of her keelboat cousin, but no less gorgeous. Her new owner first saw her in the Calendar of Wooden Boats and thought she’d be just the boat for him. When she came up for sale, it was a dream come true for him.