Another set of obstacles that Rod will face on the intracoastal waterway and in the open waters around Florida is traffic from pleasure boaters and commercial vessels. A large barge can easily crash into a canoe and never know it did so. Weekend pleasure boaters zipping around in everything from ski boats to air boats create massive wakes that can easily swamp and overturn a canoe. Now actual threats such as sharks as large as Rods canoe and manta rays that leap through the air will also be facing off with Rod during his adventure. Even a friendly Florida manatee can accidentally flip upside down a lightweight racing canoe.
Despite all the possible problems Rod is training hard and gearing up for the race. This will be the first race Rod has entered in a long time that he is forced to question his ability to tough it out and finish. But if there ever was a race on land or water that Rod Price wanted to win, this is the one.