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The Wizard has landed.
Twenty-five days at sea - er, 25 days in the Intracoastal Waterway - Matt Layden of Rio is finally home. Gone is the month of March. Nearly over is the 2006 NCAA Basketball tournament. Easter is nearly here.
And Matt Layden has finished his version of the Odyssey, sans the sirens, all that treachery, and the agony of the Scylla and Charybdis - which he kind of saw in the middle of Lake Okeechobee and in the Okeefenokee Swamp.
What's up next for the weary traveler? A leisurely stroll to Idaho? A swim to Bimini?
Matt will be taking it easy for awhile, letting his lovely wife relax in knowing where he is and what he has eaten for dinner.
Thanks, Matt, for taking all of us along for the ride. I'm not sure how many folks have been on this blog, but it's probably more than you could fit into the Enigma.
And I know it's more than you wanted to drag down a two-lane road in south Georgia.
A side note to the greatest journey. Matt Layden - a confirmed minimalist - told his lovely wife Karen that she need not burn the few gallons of fuel needed to go to St. Pete and pick him up.
He is sailing through the Cross Florida waterway across the state. He'll sail to Fort Myers, and start his way up the Caloosahatchee River, cross Lake Okeechobee, and then sail on down the C-44 into the St. Lucie River.
Wow. Give us a water quality and fishing report on the way, Matt.
Official time: 7:55 p.m., St. Petersburg time.
That's when Matt Layden crossed the finish line some 20 days and almost 13 hours after pushing his homemade sailboat Enigma off the white sandy beach at Fort Desoto Park.
The trip of Layden and his fellow travelers was akin to the Incredible Journey. Or The Fantastic Voyage - without the shrinking part. Kon Tiki without the wide open ocean part.
In any case, Layden was the third of the original 10 Ultimate Challengers to come all the way around. Unfortunately, some attrition took its toll on the field and at least three have already ended their journeys.
But all are to be commended for their efforts. No easy task committing to what could have been a month's worth of paddling kayaks or canoes, or trying to catch the wind the right way, or avoiding turning tides and various other pit falls.
Shark Chow - Warren Richey - whose mother Marge lives in on Hutchinson Island - was the first to make it back at 1:48 p.m. Thursday. An hour later it was Manitou cruiser, Mark P. (you'll have to get his whole last name from the Watertribe website). Five hours after that it was Matt.
Layden learned a lot despite being an extremely experienced individual who is somewhat of a survivalist already. He learned that first and foremost, his self-righting home made 12-foot by 3-foot sailboat works despite having no keel. He learned that a very good way to see the Sunshine State is to sail Florida's circumference. He learned that having a spare tire would help a great deal at times.
Enigma made great time from St. Pete to Key Largo although a late lack of winds enabled Shakr Chow and Manitou Cruiser to beat him there. But Layden spent less time re-charging in the Keys and took advantage of two days of hard southeast winds to shoot all the way from there to Jacksonville in three days.
Up the St. Mary's proved to be manageable for Matt and he maintained a two-day lead over his nearest trailers. But lack of winds and going against the current in the St. Mary's started taking its toll before he reached the beginning of the portage.
At St. George, he pulled his 200-pound vessel out of the water and attached his small wheels. A 140-pound man lugging a 200-pound boat down a small two-lane paved road is not exactly the speed of UPS. That enabled his chasers to close the gap even more.
Then, 20 miles in, he discovered that one tire had gone flat and began to separate. He had everything you need to fix a tire, except a spare. Basicaly, he told me, he had to improvise and make one to get going again.
Still, he reached Fargo, Ga. and the headwaters of the Suwanee River before anyone else. But two days down the river, the lack of wind bit him. Paddlers Shark Chow and Manitou Cruiser caught up and passed him on Tuesday.
Still, he forged ahead knowing that Cedar Key was at the end of the river and one checkpoint from the finish line. About 32 hours after reaching Cedar Key he made it back.
No one was more proud of Matt than his wife Karen who tried not to worry. But when your other half is traipsing through the Okeefeenokee Swamp where the gators grow to be longer than Matt's boat, and where they still regularly report UFO sightings, skunk apes, and moonshine stills, it's only natural to have concern.
Well done all. Thanks for carrying us along on your journey. And may the wind always be at your backs.
Wizard arrived at Cedar Key at 10:30am on Wednesday. ManitouCruiser, meanwhile, had just left Cedar Key at 9:30am. It is that close. Now, the question is, whether the winds will be favorable for a kayak or sailboat?
Down the Suwanee they cruise. First ManitouCruiser passed Wizard, then came SharkChow.
Even though this part of the Suwanee River is not tidal, the race seems to be taking a new course. First place is now a battle between ManitouCruiser and Sharkchow. However, anything can happen in this race and each racer is first in my book.
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