Dear ETC blog followers,
Wow, it's been a year of posting! We've had lots of fun sharing our adventures with you over the past 108 posts. We've decided to up our game and move the site over to a new platform (from typepad to weebly).
While no blog platform is perfect (where's that ipad app typepad?), we like how Weebly does things. These posts will remain and we will probably add them to the new site soon.
So, let's continue the adventure together over at the new site!
3/9/2010
Welcome back,
Part 3 of Everyone's Travel Club's kayaking adventure in Key West was really a scouting mission for future expeditions. Check out these pics from 3 great launch sites.
#1 John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park
Just an hour from Miami, this park had lots of great places, with close parking, to launch a kayak or canoe. Rentals are available but we heard from a few locals that they restrict a lot of the places you can go (if you rent that is).
#2 Bahia Honda
Keep driving South and you'll eventually pass Bahia Honda, arguably one of the best beaches in the Keys...it's locally pronounced Bay-ah Honda...for some reason...You're looking at about 2 1/2 hours from Miami, or 45 minutes from Key West.
Picture that looks like it is underwater...but it's not.
#3 Key West
We made it! I caught a great sunset at the South end of the main drag. The next day I launched from here! Check back soon to catch the trip!
-Paul E.T.C.
Pic above from Bahia Honda, Florida Keys
3/8/2010
Hello again!
Paul from Everyone's Travel Club here, ready to continue sharing from our recent kayaking trip to Key West, Florida. First, the packing of the lightweight, inflatable kayaks back in Seattle.
After a few long flights, we made it to Miami in one of the smallest commercial planes I've ever flown in!
We relaxed at a friends house in Miami and then set out the next day on our first day of kayaking, just off of Key Biscayne, minutes from Miami. The weather was great - sunny, 74 degrees, water temperature like Seattle lakes in the summer, fairly normal for February in South Florida.
Amber and Miami friend Andrea
Maybe they should just make all cameras waterproof...
One little oops - Amber forgot to bring the sunscreen...ouchy.
Ouchy for both of us...Apparently applying vinegar or tea bags turns the sunburned heat down a notch...we eventually picked up some aloe.
A pretty sweet day...considering the gloom we left in Seattle!
Hang with us this week as we post parts 3-6 of the Key West Kayaking adventure! Please comment if you have any questions about the trip, we'd love to forward you more info, answer questions, or post some of your pics from the Keys! This is a club for everyone after all...
-Paul ~E.T.C.
2/22/2011
Well, Everyone's Travel Club has almost been posting for a year! I thought we'd pay tribute by sharing a few posts from the past. This was the trip that started the whole thing!
~Paul ETC
3/7/2010
Hello adventurers!
A few things all midwesterners (like myself growing up) should know about Key West:
1) There are more than a few Keys. There are hundreds. I used to think there was about, eh, four.
2) Key West is a long way from Miami. An hour? More like 3.5 hours.
3) Something I learned on this trip because I took my kayaks - the water South of mainland Florida and around the Keys is really shallow. When I finally got my hands on a chart (I planned a lot of the trip from maps) I realized that despite deeper channels, you can navigate all around the area and always see the bottom (and you might even get stuck and have to get out of the kayak to pull yourself into deeper water).
4) Don't expect a lot of sandy beaches. It may look like a nice little small island but really it is a mangrove...a group of trees that can tolerate the salt water that they grow out of. They actually have pretty cool ways of getting rid of the salt. The picture below are young mangroves, I took the pic with my new Canon waterproof camera!
5) Key West is the coolest city in Florida.
So, everyday this week, Everyone's Travel Club brings you more pics from a kayaking adventure in Key West!
Key Biscayne, minutes from downtown Miami
Sunken ship! Well, a boat at least.
Windy day at Bahia Honda...
Stay tuned for part two of six!
-Paul ~E.T.C.
Well, Everyone's Travel Club has done a few challenging things over the years. There was the milk challenge, the Lake Serene hiking/kayaking trip, and, well, OK, so nothing has really come close to this.
During the second half of the 2011 Seattle Boat Show at the Quest Event Center a couple of weeks ago, 9 lucky contestants (I was one of them) were chosen at random to participate in basically, a standing contest. We would be standing on wakeboards, with PFDs on, holding a tow rope, behind a 17.5 foot 2010 Bayliner powerboat. The last person standing after 72 hours wins the boat.
Did we get breaks? Well, ya, a 30 minute break every 3 1/2 hours. Just enough time to de and re-PFD, go the bathroom, eat, stretch, play on boats in an empty boat show, err, I mean, sit and stuff.
Did I sleep? About a total of 40 minutes over the 3 days. As the contest went on I would wake up from my four 12 minute naps feeling more and more disoriented. The real problem with this was that I'd loose my competitiveness (and eventually momentarily forget who my wife was) , which is not good considering I had put in hours of 'work'. I decided after hour 48, no more sleeping.
Did I feel funny? Yes. About 2 days into the competition I was having my first delusional moments. In the final hours I found myself actually hallucinating - it was like dreaming while being conscious. I thought that the contest judge had library books that needed to be returned and I, being the librarian and a nice guy all around, needed to help. The only problem was that I was wakeboarding on actual water! Or so I thought. I snapped out of it eventually (and stayed on my board) with the help of my lovely wife and fellow club member, Amber.
Would I do it again? Probably. The real answer you're after - did I win? No. I made it the full 72 hours and it came down to a drawing between myself and the 4 remaining contestants. My name was drawn first out of the hat but since it was beauty pageant style, first meant last.
Check out these pics from the challenge and from wandering the Seattle Boat Show at odd hours of the night.
Some of my fellow competitors...all gentlemen (and women).
hmmm, sleepy. ~Paul ETC
Everyone's Travel Club spent a good amount of time at the Seattle boat show this year, here's one of our favorite booths.
O.A.R. Northwest is a non-profit founded in 2005 that raises funds and awareness for various projects, their newest being the Right to Play. They plan to do that by rowing across the Atlantic in December...yep, that's right, rowing. Will they make it? Well, they've already made it across the pond, from the US to the UK (3200 nautical miles), in 72 days. Amazing. Good luck fellas, it was great to talk to you and see the boat!
~Paul ETC
Well, it's official. Paul from Everyone's Travel Club was selected randomly to be a part of the 2011 Bayliner Boat Show Challenge at the Seattle Boat Show. Starting Wednesday at 6 pm, Paul will attempt to beat 9 other contestants at standing. Yep, standing.
We'll be standing on wake-boards (on the floor, not water) holding a tow-rope behind the boat we're trying to win. Last person standing after potentially 72 hours (3.5 hours on, .5 hour break) wins the $20,000ish? speed boat/motor/trailer.
Now, I'd like to think I'm a pro at standing - I work long hours on my feet everyday and have for the past 8 or so years. But, things like this require mental stamina...we'll see if I've got it. The picture above is what I'll be thinking about!
I'll let you know!
~Paul ETC
Well, it was day two for Everyone's Travel Club at the 2011 Seattle Boat Show. We loved the Hobie booth. We've done just a tad of Hobie Sailing in the past on a few of their rotomolded models, see it here, here, and video here.
The only thing that I think would be tricky is where to store some of these boats like the super long kayaks. Others, like the Hobie Bravo, are a little more manageable. Nothing tops the 'Wild Cat' (two pics down) - I don't care what the old time sailors say about multi-hulls, that thing would be a blast.
Stay tuned to ETC as we dig deeper into this year's boat show - we're getting ready for something interesting. It involves standing. Lots of standing.
~Paul & Amber ETC
Everyone's Travel Club took a little sneak peek at the 2011 Seattle Boat Show at the Quest Event Center in Seattle, Washington.
There are lots of boats. Lots of boats inside. Gigantic boats inside. A nice Hobie display, lots of boat gadgets, lots of red carpet. The best part? I'd say the 36 ft sailboat they have (inside) and perhaps the fact that since this is at the Quest Event Center, you can buy/drink beer. Heck, half of the folks working the booths were drinking beer, sweet.
~Paul ETC
P.S. More ETC coverage of the Seattle Boat Show later this week (it just so happens we'll be there for an extended amount of time...I'll explain later)
Join the Club! Check us out at www.everyonestravelclub.com! All images and text are copyright Everyone's Travel Club. Feel free to contact us at EveryonesTravelClub[at]yahoo[dot]com.
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