Epic Kayaks and Racing the Everglades Challenge

Everglades Challenge 2013 start line-up - photo by Greg Stammer, who paddled the race in 2013 in a newer version of the Epic kayak I used back in 2005.  We both placed first in our class, but that's where the similarity ends.

For many years, the Epic Active Touring paddle has been my choice for expeditions and for racing.  I'm not really that fast, so I only enter races with distances long enough for my turtle approach to stand a chance.  One race was the 300 mile WaterTribe Everglades Challenge back in 2005, and I'll tell you about a few of that race's many challenges.  But first, let me share some great news.

Life in the Garbage Dump - Before and After the Fire

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Before the 2005 fire, children in the dump (from Giramondo's blog post)

Recently there was yet another methane fire in the Guatemala City garbage dump.  Fortunately the fire was quickly extinguished, and no one was injured.  That was not the case for the for the fire in 2005.