AhMaChamee, who spent most of yesterday mired in the mud shallows of FL Bay, got underway very early this morning and is now in relatively open water. He is on the same track that Dogslife and Tidetraveller traveled yesterday. He is sailing generally SE about 5 mi from the keys. Once he hits the keys, he will tack NE to the finish. He should be in about 1:30 pm.
Winds are calming--currently, 15 mph out of the east.
Pelican started to leave Chokoloskee late yesterday, but noticed his heavily loaded AI had water in the hull and that, combined with the rough seas, caused him to go back. I know from personal experience, that if you are loaded to the gills, there is a tendency to have the forward hatch area too full. This can put some upward pressure on the front hatch cover, and the hatch cover leaks. It takes very little backpressure to cause this leakage.
Pelican is doing the Ultimate FL--circumnavigate FL. I don't want to knock Pelican, he is the super persistent competitor, but it will be great to see someone like Dogslife or Tidetraveller take on the Ultimate FL. Tidetraveller can't do it because he is newly married and has a real job--fireman. So, I guess it is up to Dogs.
Today, many Class 1 boats--mostly sea kayaks--are making their way across FL Bay to determine the top finishers of that group.
The super paddler, sea kayaker ArdieO has already left Key Largo this morning on the next leg of his Ultimate FL. I think he will set a record for sea kayakers around FL. The boat in the Ultimate which looks like the one to beat is Sandybottom and Son on their self-built, stitch & glue trimaran. They are still laid up in Key Largo.
Tom Ray wrote:
If a carbon fiber boat based on the AI design were made just to be fast in this race, it would be a serious competitor. The hull and amas would be different shapes, more sail area, etc. It could be made to be fast (and unforgiving) like a race boat should be.
Nothing wrong with dreaming Tom. I like it! (The boat you describe is essentially Randy Smyth's Scizzors--but it is a carbon fiber AI on steroids!)
Keith