Thursday, March 8, 2018

SandyBottom, Dances with SandyBottom and SOS, corrected


Paul, aka Dances with SandyBottom, was kind enough to send photographs of his wife Dawn, aka SandyBottom, finishing her Everglades Challenge.


Above is son Alan, aka SOS, watching SandyBottom come in, above, and enjoying a cold one with her, below.  


I do not know for a fact but I suspect - and if I'm wrong please somebody let me know - that the Stewart family, between Paul, Dawn and Alan, has competed in more Watertribe events than just about any other family.


From the Everglades Challenge to the Ultimate Florida Challenge to North Carolina Challenge, they have been competitors in kayaks, Core Sound boats and even self-designed/self-built boats.  They have been a constant presence at the events and it has been my pleasure to follow them on the races over the years.  


A correction from Paul on the earlier post about Dawn Patrol....

"Actually, the boat on the left with red sailcovers is an EC22 "Scorpa" owned by good friends Joe and Sally Anderson who are cruising Florida Bay this week. Our B&B Core Sound 20 (Mark 1) "Dawn Patrol" is on the right but now with hull painted blue to confuse you. Over the past year we have refitted and repainted her and given her new sails. Here [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sazYaIoJrE ] is a tour of the "Dawn Patrol" by Alan (a.k.a., SOS). "

Missing from the photographs is, of course, Paul.  He is simply to modest to include himself.  (But if anybody does have a photograph of Dances with SandyBottom please send it to me, I would love to post it.).  

Paul, Dawn and Alan are very adventurous people and very good folks.  I have learned a lot from them over the years and I am very glad to have them as my friends.  Congratulations on a great race.





1 comment:

DancesWithSandyBottom said...

Steve, Thanks for the kind words. Actually, the boat on the left with red sailcovers is an EC22 "Scorpa" owned by good friends Joe and Sally Anderson who are cruising Florida Bay this week. Our B&B Core Sound 20 (Mark 1) "Dawn Patrol" is on the right but now with hull painted blue to confuse you. Over the past year we have refitted and repainted her and given her new sails. Here [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sazYaIoJrE ] is a tour of the "Dawn Patrol" by Alan (a.k.a., SOS).

With only a two-hour delay due to a small-craft advisory, the 2018 Everglades Challenges started with 107 boats and featured a full moon for night-time sailing and near-perfect weather at the start on Saturday and Sunday allowing us (Alan and Paul) to improve and finish in a little less than 48 hours. This was the 6th EC for the "Dawn Patrol" crewed by Alan and Paul. Alan and Dawn equally have completed a boatload of ECs and NC Challenges. This year, Dawn (a.k.a. SandyBottom) in her Kruger Dream Catcher also improved her best time to 5 days, 5 hours, 32 minutes and is now very happy to hold the record time for "Class 1 kayak solo female". This was her 14th Everglades Challenge.

As always, one of the best parts of the Everglades Challenge is sharing the adventure with new and old WaterTribe friends and sharing tales at start and finish.