Only 7 days left to train- dry suit came today

Only 7 days until the start of the Everglades Challenge, an expedition style small boat race down the west coast of Florida. The race starts at Ft. Desoto near the mouth of Tampa Bay and ends about 300 miles south at Key Largo. I will be the only one to enter the race on a windsurfer, the Expedition Windsurfer®. You can follow the action in real time by logging onto the www.watertribe.com web site, and clicking the link "map" that corresponds to the Everglades Challenge. My tribal name is WindWalker. Post a message to help keep me motivated, my shore team will relay the message to me as I check in.


The dry suit came in the mail today. One of requirements of the EC is that if you have a boat that is open you must wear a dry suit. I have never worn a dry suit in my life, like most windsurfers I have always used a wetsuit. So this will be a whole new experience for me.

I shopped around trying to find a reasonably priced suit but the costs were way out of my price range so I found a company that rents Kokatat brand dry suits, Kayak Academy out in Issaquah Washington, USA. I let them know what I was doing and they worked with me to get the right suit for my needs. One of the sales reps, Barb, went out of her way to answer all my novice type questions and was very patient even when I asked the same questions numerous times. I got the suit today in plenty of time to get used to it and make any adjustments if needed. If you are thinking of purchasing a dry suit I strongly recommend you talk to the guys at Kayak Academy before you make your purchase. They sell and rent new and used dry suits and if you rent before you buy, they allow you to apply up to $150.00 towards your purchase. Check the out here; http://www.kayakacademy.com/pages/store/dsoptions.html

Only 7 days to the start of the EC. I am getting nervous.