Last year, when I decided to enter the Florida Ultimate, I wanted a durable expedition canoe that could carry plenty of supplies and gear, and handle extreme weather conditions. I chose a 17′ 6″ Superior Expedition Canoe made with eight layers of Kevlar and capable of holding 600 lbs. total weight. Speed-wise the Superior canoe was a conservative choice, but as the headwinds howled in the first week of the Challenge – it turned out to be the perfect choice.

Having won the Yukon 1000 Mile Race in 2009 with partner Ardie Olson, My goal was to become the first paddler to complete North America’s two longest paddle races. Ardie and Kerry Newell had the same idea. Ardie declined an offer to race a tandem kayak with me in the Florida Ultimate, opting for a solo attempt in a sleek racing kayak. In good weather, Ardie’s boat could travel 100 miles a day. If Ardie could finish the race at that speed he would break the previous 19 day completion record set by Warren Richey in the 2006 Florida Ultimate. Tough weather and rough seas quickly ended Ardie’s plan. He withdrew from the race at Boynton Beach on day nine – short of the 500 mile checkpoint at Sebastian Inlet.

Kerry Newell’s race never even started. He traveled from Upstate New York with a solo, carbon fiber canoe outfitted with a spray-skirt and a small rudder. After feeling the gusting headwinds on his face and seeing the crashing waves on the beach, he decided his canoe could not handle the conditions. Despite having completed the Yukon 1000 twice in a voyageur canoe, Kerry Newell was not ready for the unpredictable Florida weather.

My biggest concern before the race was a pulled back muscle that I first injured last October and strained again a month before the Ultimate. The injury severely curtailed my training. This left me with a goal of simply being healthy on the starting line. I faced a brutal first week of battling headwinds that frequently reduced my forward progress to two knots. Much of the route for those first few days was through the inland channels of the Everglades. The channels were wide enough for navigation but the other aspects of the ‘glades such as oppressive heat and millions of mosquitoes were constant. I raced along side of Bill Whale, a competitor in another class of boat. We decided for ease of navigation, if not for at least the purpose of morale, to travel the race together.

I was amazed to arrive in Key Largo without any major physical pain. Reaching Key Largo after 6 1/2 days when you had expected the trip to take under 4 days was a morale killer. When I left Key Largo Saturday morning on day eight of the race, I felt like I was in a deep hole. I am sure all of the racers that continued past Key Largo had to make the mental adjustment that this challenge was going to take longer than expected.

Both myself and Bill Whale’s race was made much easier by running together. Bill was competing in a Kruger Canoe that allowed him to deploy a large sail under the right wind conditions. Those conditions never seemed to be present. He was frustrated that ninety percent of the time, he was paddling and not sailing. Bill and I ran together from the first checkpoint in Placida to the finish. Together we set mileage goals for each day, picked out campsites each night and were ready to paddle before dawn every day.

During the run of the race up the east coast of Florida I led the way for Bill and myself allowing him to draft my boat and consequently not have to work as hard paddling. My small favor was returned many fold during the overland forty-mile portage. After almost 30 miles of towing our boats I was suffering from badly blistered feet, and could barely step forward. Bill strapped my boat to his and insisted on towing both canoes the final 11 miles into Fargo, GA. where we picked up the headwaters of the Suwannee River. We continued to help each other out along the race. At Big Shoals on the Suwannee River, we need to assist each other in carrying our boats for the quarter-mile portage around the class III rapids. For myself, on a long and torturous race like this, having a running mate to keep you focused and in a positive attitude turned out to be the difference between our quitting the race or successfully finishing the 1200 mile journey.

On Friday, March 30th the two canoes of Bill Whale and myself touched shore at the race’s finish line of Ft. DeSoto, in an elapsed time of 27 days, 5 hours and 48 minutes. We were applauded by a group of twenty friends and family. This was easily the toughest physical challenge of my life. Congratulations to all who attempted, and everyone who finished the Florida Ultimate Challenge.

I never realized how important all of my gear was until I stopped wearing regular clothing like sweatshirts and windbreakers and replaced them with warm comfortable items from Travel Country. I race canoes and participate in adventure races all around the globe, from Brazil to the Arctic Circle and need a wide range of outdoor clothing. I find everything I need is available from Travel Country at always affordable prices. Whether I need a simple flannel shirt for warmth, or a weather proof breathable Gor-Tex jacket I shop exclusively for my gear at Travel Country.

The race next moves to the land for a 40 mile hike up to Fargo Georgia and the headwaters of the Suwannee river, Rod’s old stomping grounds. Of course that hike will include towing his canoe for the 40 miles. Rod’s reward for finishing that trek will be a light 220 mile sprint along the Suwannee river that begins with a run of class three rapids. Eventually Rod will be back looking at the Gulf of Mexico and a checkpoint at Cedar Key. This is the last stop before a 120 mile dash back to the starting point at Fort DeSoto beach Florida.

Rod’s assessment is that the longer duration of the race coupled with the lack of the downstream current such as Rod enjoyed in the Yukon may prove to be crippling for most of the contestants. Plus even though the Florida Ultimate Challenge takes place in early March 2012, it is always possible in Rod’s home state that the heat wave can land pushing temperatures into the low nineties. Headwinds on the ocean portions of the race can also cut Rod’s speed in half.

Even when at 3:30 AM Carmichael strayed from his course by making a wrong turn and found himself lost in the darkness in the middle of the desert he felt at ease with the task he had set for himself. It was as if he had chosen this ordeal so as to almost remove himself from his 9 to 5 existence. Perhaps 80 to 100 years ago Todd would have found himself crossing a Yukon mountain pass so as to pan for gold along the Yukon River. But adventure such as that might have proven to tame for the likes of Carmichael who is part of a unique group of elite trekkers who purposefully seek out unusual challenges far beyond those taken on any beaten path.
Todd has had to cross parts of the Sahara and is the first American to walk solo to the South Pole. He had intended to ski to the poll but his skis broke and he was forced to continue on foot.

The most avid diehard trekkers in the world regard death valley as an impossible passage. The mountain’s surrounding the valley create an oven like effect and to this point no one has ever successfully completed the trip. Even Carmichael himself had failed in his earlier attempt to cross Death Valley. After 10 days and nights and 90 miles to the tires on Todd Carmichael’s little red wagon it could no longer be patched and repaired and once again he was forced to abandon his quest. He walked a direct route out of the desert and into civilization. In a scene straight out of Lawrence of Arabia he found himself at a resort bar tattered and torn, scraggly and scruffy ordering up a cool lemonade.

Todd quickly regained his composure and with a shower and a few hours’ rest behind him shared his experiences. As he had failed again to cross the desert plain of Death Valley, but come next June he will try again.

Solo and unassisted Hoffmeister paddled her Kayak around the Australian continent. She did take one “shortcut” across the Gulf of Carpeteria. The open sea shortcut was 357 miles long! Her entire journey took almost a year with 257 days spent paddling eventually covering 8,570 miles distance in 322 days. Her time for the distance mark easily beat that of New Zealander Paul Cafyn who is the only other person to complete the circling of Australia via paddle.
As with all long distance paddling endeavors sleeping in the boat is often part of the regimen.

Previously Freya had completed a two person circumnavigation of Iceland in just 33 days. Freya’s world wide paddling treks serve as fabulous motivation for over 40 athletes. She was 45 years young when she completed the Australian challenge.

On September first 2011, Freya set off again on a sea kayaking challenge that seems more difficult, if not impossible, than any she has thus far completed. As of this writing Freya is paddling away attempting to circumnavigate an even bigger continent, that being South America. She had better paddle a little faster this time, as the distance, at 14,913 miles, is almost twice that of her Australian feat. In another week or so she should be rounding Cape Horn by means of Drake’s passage. Surely that trek alone is worthy of worldwide attention!