Everglades Challange 2015

As usual i went down on friday to see the boats rig and talk with the racers. fund day, great event and great "tribe" of people - all very friendly





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Anybody recognize these 2 guys talking in the picture directly above?

The Coast Guard had to cancel the event today after being called to rescue several people. They were not happy with the OA. This event has grown too big to fly under the radar.

Is the guy on the left, back to camera, Randy Smyth? Not sure who the guy facing the camera is.

Thanks for all the great photos. What is the location of the start? And why did so many have to be rescued? At my house about 150 miles north of the Keys, it was only blowing NE at 10-15, dying to 5-10 by 4pm. Should have been flat water with a downwind push for them on in the Everglades? Or was the wind down there a lot different? Other side of the front?

There is some great creativity displayed in some of those boats!

Sounds like a couple of kayakers got into trouble for brief period of time. Seems that the wind never broke 17 or 18 knots but for some reason there was cause for some people to get rescues. Seems the EO didn't have a permit for the event.

At the start the winds were NE 19-23 knots blowing against an strong incoming tide which created a reported 4' chop. One boat reported helping a capsized tandem kayak. When that kayak capsized a second time the CG was called. That started a chain of events. Few more people needed help. Then the people on the beach started worrying about their people on the water and called the CG to find out if their people were alright. Of course to confuse things further everyone uses a tribe name. I think you get the picture.

I'm not sure how many boats but news this morning reported about 135 boats. Some have complained about the CG reaction but you can hardly blame them. To put that many boats on the water crossing shipping channels without at least sending a letter of intent to them is, well you can decide that for yourself.

They set up and launch from Ft. Desoto Park, a county park. I wouldn't be surprised if the CG had a talk with the park.

One other thing. The Spot tracking sucks. Whether it's the units or the site it's not something you can count on.

I didn't realize they were starting up north of Tampa Bay and had to cross the mouth of the bay, heading south. I can see where that would create some pretty big chop with the wind blowing out at 20kts against a strong full moon tide coming in.

So did most of the boats continue heading south for the Everglades?

Thanks for the updates.

There was a major ship crossing right in front of the start last year through that fairly active shipping channel right in front of the start. Only two boats made it clear ahead - a few others caused a bunch of horn blasts from the boat. Alan and I were one of the ones that were well clear ahead of it. I was surprised that didn't cause more fuss then.

I hope they can figure out how to work the event safely and coordinate with the coasties. I don't blame the CG for their reaction either but it does suck when you prepare that hard for something to have the plug pulled on it.

Alan and his dad do appear to be continuing on down the coast...the CG probably didn't shut it down early enough at that checkpoint to get the faster (and more seasoned) boats.

errrr....edit that. Alan and his dad are headed north and appear to be in Lemon Bay around Englewood. Looks like they turned and sailed north a fair distance to get there...so they must be pulling out of the water.

yes...appears so. They're at Marina at Cape Haze according to their tracker....which was checkpoint 1

Why not just move the start to the south side of the bay, not have to cross the shipping channel and continue on down the coast? Seems it would be a lot less hassle, especially with the Coasties.

There must be a place to launch somewhere on the south side of Tampa Bay, why not use Anna Maria Island or someplace in that area?

The same situation occurred one year during the Round the Island Race out of Ft. Walton. Bud Schumann and I were the 3rd team across the deserted finish line - behind John Suares (<a boat length.) in a Viva 27, and the Roberts on their Roberts 30. We were on Bud's NACRA 5.8. The Roberts were the only team to Finish before the USCG made their move.

The seasoned gentleman who Randy is speaking with in the photo a few posts ago, is Mead Gougeon, I believe.

There is a city beach/park on the north end of Holmes beach/Longboat. It's pretty small, but could give at least the kayakers a good place to start (and either route to the Gulf or down the intercoastal depending on whether they head left or right).

Beach access on Longboat is difficult for boats, but the "sand Bar" has a street on the south side that I believe you are able to walk on to the beach from. Perhaps a fat beach wheeled boat could roll on the beach from there.

Don't the rules require you to be able to push your boat into the water? In that case I would presume most of the craft can be rolled out to the waterline (somehow) and might be able to get launched.

From the photos, it looks like a good multihull turnout. Was that red trimaran a Trailer-Tri (circa 1987)?

There is an advantage to crossing a tough patch of water right at the start...you can weed out some of the bad apples right there. It's hard to police skill level and wisdom but if given the choice of having the fleet struggle within 3 miles of the start or 100 miles into the Everglades, the start is probably a good place for a tough patch of water to cross.

Regardless, this is going to be a pretty big black eye for this kind of event and they'll probably have to change something or the Coast Guard will probably prevent them from running in the future. One of the better ideas I've seen is for the organizer to have chase boats at the start. Everyone keeps talking about some sort of skill filter too - but that would be a tough one to define and manage.

Correct Smyth and the other guy is Gougeon of West System

Nice drone work! Thanks for posting.

In that second video, at about 1:19, was that a Hobie Adventure Island? Looks like the two of them are pedaling pretty good in addition to the sail. I've often thought about getting one of those but haven't ever seen one under sail!

so was it crossing the shipping lane (which is probably the busiest outside of maybe Miami or Jacksonville), or having to rescue the kyakers that pissed CG off the most?

Isn't Skyway park almost caddy-corner to Desoto Park? They could cross under the Skyway bridge and the shipping lane a little more spread-out than the current mass exodus from the beach right into the channel.

Also, there is some sort of park right at the west end of Manatee River (two, actually.. one on each side.) The north one could be a good launch point, giving competitors a good jaunt across Tampa Bay while remaining south of the shipping channels entirely

But yes, this could make for major changes to the EC (or drive it underground)...

My money would be on not having a permit is what pissed them off them most.

Timbo, I own a couple of the "pedal" kayaks and absolutely love them. I can't believe you don't own one, especially living near the water. Great leg workout if you push it hard, great fishing platform, great for river trips, camping, etc. Push one pedal forward and the flippers lay flat up against the boat bottom which makes navigating shallows simple. I'm not a fan of the sails and mine never get used.

Get yourself one of the many Mirage kayaks. You'll love it.

http://www.hobiecat.com/

There's a buttload of them in your getto.
Timbo's shopping list

Thanks for the info Philip. What about the 'tramps' between the main hull and the amas? Seems like some of them have them, others don't, are they an add on type option or do they all have them, but some people just don't put them on?

I've got a good canoe right next to my dock for fishing, and with the Hobie 14, Prindle 18 and Blade, just haven't got around to buying yet another boat that will sit unused 90% of the time.

I was thinking of something like that Adventure Island tandem trimaran, with tramps, so I could take a couple dogs out with me. They love the canoe but won't sit still and are always trying to tip it over while I'm standing up, fly casting out of it! They also love the Prindle, but keep sliding off the tramp every time I fly a hull too high!

trampolines are an option on them. They wouldn't be hard to make either.

I was thinking of just adding some out rigger type floats to the canoe, I saw a project in Wooden Boat magazine several years ago where a guy built two amas out of very thin plywood, built up some very cool curved akas out of 1/4" strips of 2x2 bent around a jig he'd made.

The whole thing attached to his canoe with clamps, so it was easy to remove...but then there's the sail issue...

Get a J-24 with training wheels and be done with it Timbo! Works for us... and the dog.

Trucking along at 15 kts singlehanded jib-reaching Sat. Had to throttle back for fear of losing one of the grommets who were using the trampoline as a bounce house.

Pretty cool eh?



The Island series has been very popular for us. Changes to seats and hull design make the Adventure Island even better than before.

Matt, that is pretty cool, no doubt. Love the square top!

Is there a trampoline option on that one? And I think I saw a two seat version too? Or is that only on the old one?

I'd love to, but it's a money thing right now, with two kids still in college and the two with Masters Degrees unemployed, and I'm feeding 9 horses at over $2000 a month...I could buy the Porsche and the Corsair if not for those phucking horses!
I did get out on the Blade for two hours today, finally got both warm air (88) and good wind, 15-20, lots of fun blowing by the pontoon boats going downwind under kite!

Matt, does Hobie make a Spinnaker option for the Adventure Island, or should I bring an umbrella?

We have trampoline sets for all Islands and yes... a Tandem Island too.



Hobie Mirage Tandem Island

Can you furl the sail around the mast from the **** while on the water?

Yes, from either seat by running the line aft. You can reef partially too. The sheets and rudder controls are also at both seats.

Thanks for the info Matt, I'll tell my wife I'm going to buy her one for her birthday! Then she HAS to go out on it with me, right?

And if she won't go, I've got 5 dogs who will! That's why I need the tramps.

Getting back to the original topic, what happened after the Coast Guard showed up? Was the race completely shut down? I haven't heard about any position updates so I am assuming it was called off?

Apparently an O'Day and a number of kayakers had to be rescued. No issues in the Island class I am told (29 Hobie's including a Getaway and a Hobie 16 were registered... most of them were Islands).The event was cancelled at the demand of the Coast Guard and racers were informed either on the water or at CP 1. A number of the guys are still going on un-officialy. Penguinman, who is our lead engineer, on a 2015 Hobie Mirage Adventure Island is at the last check point and about a day from Key Largo I believe.

The Islands are prefect for this event. Pedal, sail, reef, furl, disassemble, portage, stable, carry gear and pretty fast in all modes. Pedaling is what really makes it work as a product and REALLY work in this event. The MiragDrive works very well. You can have to paddle/pedal literally all day at times in the event. No other craft can do that comfortably and efficiently like the Islands.

+1 on that for versatility, definitely.

If you could add "Jet Packs", laser beams, and a blender I think you'd have everything I need...

I've got 2 Adventure Islands. Absolutely love them. Trampolines and all. Dogs and kids love riding on the trampolines.

Speaking of drone footage, looks like when you piss off the Coast Guard they share with their friends. FAA.

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-faa-says-you-cant-post-drone-videos-on-youtube

Gotta love it when the Friendly Aviation Administration gets involved.

The FAA can suck my balls. It's supposed to be a free goddamn country. What is done in airspace not used by the FAA is none of their f@#king business.

It is still some of their airspace being debated...but I agree that this is going wayyy overboard. Looking organizations like the AMYA, I think they've done a pretty good job at keeping things respectfully safe. In their case, though, they're a little more limited in that the model airplanes generally require more open space and some slightly specialized grounds to operate. The drones have really opened the door to use everywhere.

We do need to respect the fact that these things can bloody somebody if things went wrong. They can also be a threat to aviation in a lot of ways we've barely discovered...I've heard tale of photography helicopters having near misses at regattas (though I'm sure the pilots would be prone to exaggeration in that situation just from the seriousness of it)

I think the answer is an organization that can approach the FAA in a methodical approach. Requiring licensing, or membership, in that organization with different membership level based on skill demonstration might help too. Provide members insurance like the AMYA does would go a long way too.

We'll get it fixed - I just hope it doesn't take a bunch of expensive litigation to get the current FAA regulations brought back to earth...but there are drone supporters that are working on it and waiting for the chance to make a legal stand.

i'm just waiting for some yocals to fly drones into a stadium during a football game, and lose control of the drone.

or when pedestrians in parks are struck by drones....

it's in the near future

Generally aircraft, other than on approach to land or taking off (I'd assume crashing here is fine too) are supposed to stay above 500'. I say generally, because there's crop dusting, fire suppression, air ambulance's, etc that in order to do their jobs, can't adhere to that. There are no actual rules when it comes to model aviation. There are guidelines, but no actual rules which can be criminally prosecuted. I'm sure at some point criminal negligence will come up though. We're supposed to stay below 400' AGL, (gives us a 100' seperation), and stay away from airports. I think it's three miles. Anything not in those area's, is fair game. You have to be pretty f-ing stupid to not be aware of aircraft in the area anyways.





I fly stuff at regatta's all the time. I've flown stuff at work, at the park, in my front yard in town, on the side of the road, all over the place. As has most people in the RC hobby for decades. Drone is just a hot button word that the @ssholes in the media have come up with to get the sheep's attention and sell more advertising.






Dude, everything can hurt somebody. So can our boats. If we banned everything that could hurt people, we wouldn't be allowed to walk around even. Trust me, nobody wants to see their toy damaged, or cause damage. Unless you're a criminal, then there's nothing that can be done. More regulation doesn't prevent anything.
I've got a cheap hexacopter, and I've still got $2k into what is flying around, it's NOT real robust either. Even a rough landing can break stuff. What I'm getting at, is nobody want's to see that much money go up in smoke. So you tend to be fairly careful with it, but $hit does happen. Just like operating a car, firearm, pencil, toilet seat, spork, or actual airplane. Find some statistics about how many people are killed a year because of RC planes/helicopters, and how many are killed because of manned airplane/helicopter crashes. Or a combination.
I can promise you, at some point, there will be a collision that causes a fatality with a manned aircraft colliding with an RC aircraft. That's a statistical reality. But that can happen with birds too. We aren't banning birds.





That organization exists. It's the AMA. They do not insure their members that are using their widgets commercially though. Which is fine, it can't cost that much to insure it like any other business.





Too late. The AMA has pissed away a lot of money on this. At it's very core, all it is, is the gov't wanting something else to tax and control people on to justify adding some more people to the FAA's payroll. I think there needs to be regulation on stuff too, but not when it's a 5 pound toy aircraft with a camera hanging off of it. If you're talking about putting a thousand pounds of something in the air, that's where it needs to have some regulation. But there is no logic in what they are doing.


I just don't see why now this has become an issue. RC has been around for quite a while. I first started when I was eleven, that was twenty three years ago, and I know the hobby was around long before I got into it. Because some mild levels of automation have been introduced, and camera's have gotten cheap and tiny it's now a problem? Drone is also the dumbest word. Drones are for blowing up <insert whomever we're blowing up this week> with no risk to the human pilot. People are raising a stink over less than 25lbs of RC toy.


One more thing. If you screw up flying an RC toy, and kill someone, you should likely be imprisoned. But that is no different than anything else. If you damage someone's property, you should pay for it. But that too is no different than anything else.

Easy, easy. I have been a long standing member of the AMYA until recently. Many of these drone pilots have absolutely no skill or background in model RC. Most AMYA members do fly at designated flying fields out of convenience (we don't all live in the flat-lands). I'm just suggesting that some more organization around the new drone guys might help...geesh. hot button.

It's an issue because every other 12 year old, from age 10 to 60, is getting a drone. They can fly them over crime scenes, through fireworks, and between buildings. My cousin watched a guy just chew himself up with a big one at the beach last week. It's different than modeling has been in the past and it's growing like wild fire. There are more of them and they're more nimble and it's reasonable to do something to keep it from getting out of control (but this FAA over-reaction is not it). Until recently you had to build your own model airplane too which provided a substantial filter. The level of pre-kitting, especially with the drones now, has opened their use up to a lot more people.

As far as air space is concerned - the coast guard could have been (and likely was) in the air around the start of the Everglades Challenge at low altitude. It's a legitimate concern but I think it can managed by requiring a little bit of demonstrated responsibility through licensing. The AMYA has done an excellent job of self policing and easing the concerns of the FAA in the past by creating the type of structure that educates people, sets certain requirements, and provides insurance. The people can organize and show the restraint to keep drones from being a problem themselves or the government will require it for us. It's that simple. I'm just suggesting that it might be better for the people to do it.

A drone potentially colliding with a coast guard helicopter on it's way to save someone seems like a scenario worth doing something to make sure it's avoided. That's all I'm saying.

It's a hot button for me because it's just another case of the "what if's" and a string of mythical scenarios. What if somebody is kiteboarding, and it tangles a rescue helo? What if it's a Cessna? What if you fall off your boat, die, and somebody is stranded because your corpse fowled the prop 10 miles out and they've got no radio and are dumber than a bag of hammers? What if's are just hand wringing and BS.

Stupid is stupid. There's no getting around that. People die every day for really dumb reasons. You take responsibility for your actions. If you can live with being responsible for killing somebody for no reason, then that's your deal.

More rules, means less rights. Every time one of these jackholes passes a fresh law, it's less you can do. If the dude downed a Coast Guard Sea Hawk, nail him to a cross, literally, and make an example of his mistake. But quit taking sh!t away from me!

I want to make some extra cash for fun with my hex doing real estate photos, maybe some wedding stuff, or crop surveys. Who knows, it might lead into something else and get me out of the cabinet shop, but I can't legally do it with out shelling out a massive amount of money to do so. There's less than 50 companies in the US legally using UAS for profit. There's just no reason for that. Sure, if you're buying surplus Reapers, or Predators for whatever you're doing a couple hundred miles out, than yeah, there should be some regulation. But for me to have 5,10,15,or 20 pounds of helicopter flying not much above the trees and getting paid making me a criminal, is just dumb.

I still have a little bit of faith in the system. I think (hope) we still live in a country where insane laws don't last too long.

I would just rather try to prevent the tragedy in the first place than to just let it happen and then react afterwards. Besides, if there is a major drone incident, the over-reaction and anti-drone sentiment will be overwhelming and even more ridiculously dramatic than it is now. There would be even less chance to keep it pragmatic.

It doesn't have to be done with a significant loss of freedom other than getting people start to respect the liability by putting forth some simple effort to reserve the privilege to operate a drone in certain circumstances. It should probably take less effort than it takes now to get an automotive driver's license (which has probably proven to be a reasonable limitation on operating a car).

You can't pass a law for everything. At some point people need to take responsibility for their own actions. Otherwise things start getting Orwellian rather quickly.

Which is why I suggested that an organization of interested people should come up with a licensing system and work with the FAA to manage the concerns for risks associated with the proliferation of hobby drones in the same way the AMA did with model planes (sorry, I said AMYA earlier...that's the model yacht association)

Every time we sail into the beach with the wind and waves behind us, we pose more of a problem than some guy flying a drone. If you think otherwise, you must be sailing off a deserted island.

I'm not sure we were comparing that to landing a beach cat...but even so, there are a lot fewer beach cats coming to the beach with an onshore breeze than drones being operated out there. That makes the drones a bigger concern.

I think I have to agree with Jake's point on the CG vs. drone issue.

There are several CG helos that operate right along the beach at low altitude - I've seen them many times along those beaches. What they're looking for (besides bikinis) I am not sure. Maybe because of the large port and shipping traffic right there.

Also, McDill AFB is right near there, so I'm sure they've got their own stuff going on. I recall a few friendly conversations with black RIBs that found us "cutting the corner" during MachoMan...

Finally, I'm more interested in privacy protection. I don't want Karl II flying over my boat and seeing the jet-packs I'm bolting to the rear beam. Or the meth-lab I'm building in the back yard...

Dude, you live in Florida. Your back yard would stand out like a sore thumb if you didn't have a meth lab.

Or a weed farm

or a human trafficking barn

When I was flying spotter for the Sheriff's Dept. we spent most of our time taking pictures, circling over semi truck trailers, hidden deep in the woods.

The Sheriff's Dept. got the addresses from the electric company, which would point out 'high usage' remote locations. The Sheriff told me they also look for pigs, as the growers will often set up a hog operation next to the grow houses, just so the smell will put off the search dogs.

I was always a little nervous flying so low/slow over those places, I figured we'd get shot at if we hung around too long.

The google empire... I was just presented with an advertisement, on an NFL football site, for the AMA pushing membership to drone owners. They're watching everything I type. It's a little creepy.

Adblock Plus Killer app that is highly customizable.

Jake, I would have thought you'd be the second person to use TOR browser.

Todd would have been my first guess, but I don't know if he uses internet...

Nah, generally I don't worry about it. I am but a tiny minnow in a very large sea. Sometimes those ads have interesting stuff in them. I do have adblocker, though...not sure why it's not working anymore.

Because Adblocker started getting paid by advertisers to let their ads go through.

Adblocker is now old hat. There are other products on the market now that don't play by the advertisers rules - but the advertisers are fighting back.

A lot of the ads these days have "pingbacks" of sorts to the server - so that when they're displayed on the client machine, they let the server know "hey, it showed up" and this tells the server to display the content that you want to see. Its nefarious but its a constant game of cat and mouse between the people who don't want to be bothered by ads and those who will stop at nothing to show them to you.

Personally I find it fascinating.

I usually ignore them all regardless of the content... except the ones for "Russian Brides over 40".

How do they know???

The beachcats site is always suggesting I meet young Thai singles! Not sure where that comes from.

sounds like your choice... "free" internet with Russian Brides (my personal favorite), or some ad/spam free internet that costs money.

I had no idea that Russia was packed to the gills with hot, single women over 40...