Swamp Stomp 2008 - Part II

The next leg of the race was a shorter paddle that headed south on the Myakka towards deep hole. We looked to see if anyone at the TA wanted to join us – but in the end it was going to be 3 of us in the boat. The race was not really going well for us; lost passport, bonked team-mate; at this point it was all about pride. We were still in racing mode, we had not entered that nether mode that occurs in long adventure races; survival mode. In addition we had learned that the course director had removed to CP’s from this leg (quite a blessing). We grabbed a few pads and put Sheri in the middle of the boat and started paddling hard. With three of us paddling we were making awesome time through the twists and turns heading for South Myakka Lake. We also got to pass and say hi to many of the teams heading back towards the TA who I am sure were curious about our three person team. After hitting the end of the long winding river section a due south bearing took us right to the next CP (17). Of course we had to walk by it a few times before seeing it – but that can be completely normal for this point in a race. We paddled back to pick up the bonus CP (BP14) on the north side of the lake, which was off the lake a bit. Sheri at this point was shivering really bad so we stopped to put on some clothes (she donned a heavy rain jacket she had in her pack). It was probably 55 degrees, but we were soaking wet from the paddling and the fog.

We got to the spot to and Rob found the control though Sheri and I liked a different tree that fit the control description better (Tree in Wetland). Still we had found it quickly – and it had appeared that there were a few teams roaming the swamp looking for it when we got there who quickly moved in on it after we found it.



The paddle back was fun as I went ahead and put my headlight on (I had not used it for the paddle to this point because the near full moon gave lots of light). With the light on I was able to spot the hundred of orange looking eyes peering back at us from the water on the shore. Gators – and they were thick. It became fun counting the number of gators in each little cluster of them. And then we passed the bridge and were back to the TA.

Back at the TA there were teams in every condition. Paul from Team Relentless who had completely bonked and was puking back on the trek where we had last seen them was resting (amazingly he would finish the race – we would next see him on the bike leg). Some teams had obviously bailed as the TA was missing a lot of team spots that had been there earlier. I was feeling completely recovered from the trek, my stomach was fine – and a couple of Red Bull’s from the TA folks had my energy back up as we headed off on the bike.

There is something so right about getting onto a bike and riding. As tired as I was the feeling of turning those wheels was good – I was truly enjoying the ride at this point, though that would not be the case 10 hours later. We snagged CP 19 (and easy one), headed south to the mandatory crossing point. We passed Eco-choice (Rod and Fish) going the wrong way and that confused us a bit – though we did get to the correct crossing. I was feeling good and it looked like Rob and Sheri were solid at this point also.

We made a strategic navigation error here, we should have collected CP22 before CP21, but missed it as it was on another map and headed straight to CP21. This (CP22) would cost us some effort later as we would have to bike an extra 5 miles to pick it up where it would have cost us less than 1 ½ miles if we had done it before CP21.


Note the line down the center of the image is the two different maps, we passed right by marker 25 on our way to CP21 - oh so close to not see it. Lesson learned is to be sure to point these little things out to yourself before the race as they are easy to miss in the dark when you are tired.

We found CP21 and the haunted shack and headed for the cluster of 3 bonus points on the far east side of the map. This is where things would get hairy and scary. We had stayed out of the water for most of the bike ride, but this was not going to last and this was also going to be the proving point for many teams that wanted these bonus points.

To be continued in Part III – the finish.