Panic response

So. I have to paddle this 1200 miles alone. Sure, that sounds daft- of course I'm doing it alone! It's not like I have a companion boat full of well-wishers cheering me on. What I mean, is that there might be no more official Ultimate Florida Challenge after next year. There might be no more Everglades Challenges, either.

Initially, I panicked. Then I felt pissed. Then I thought, hey, I could drop the whole idea then, do something more sane... not.

This begs the question, what would I do if that were the case?

I would throw myself at the EC 2012 with all I have, for starters. The remaining warm weather this year would be spent drilling rolls and rescues, practicing with the hypothermia kit, and thanks to Colorado winds in the autumn, plenty of fully-loaded wind drills. And practicing loading, unloading, and setting up camp in wind and rain. All my free time would have to go into that, since I would not get to train from late Oct until the race in March.

Then I'd be skate-skiing like mad as soon as the snow falls, plus swimming. There's a group of 'yaks that meet at a swimming pool in January and February that I could review rolls and rescues with once a week. I'd have to do that too. Then, if Pat will let me, I'd see if she'd let me take her sweet boat out for the race. Otherwise, I'll see if I can bum one off of someone else... but that introduces the unknown of a boat I'm not familiar with. I'll deal with that when the time comes, I suppose.

Then what?

Then I paddle the 1200 mile course on my own, either in 2013 or 2014, depending on how the EC goes, and whether I'm ready. I'll have to do a bunch more planning on my own, since there possibly won't be a support group. Or maybe I'll make up a different course of my own of the same length.

All I know is that it's in my head, in my dreams, that I really want to find that deep rhythm of a long trip on the water with my paddle in hand. I really like the idea of doing it to draw attention to a particular cause, too. I'm leaning towards supporting the International Confederation of Midwives, kiva.org, or SeeYourImpact.org (all three are listed at the top of my blog with links- let me know which one you'd go for!). It all just feels right.

I guess I'm having to step back and find the space to unteather from the need to have it be a WaterTribe event. My vision of this doesn't need to be tied to a formal event planned by others. I know that's what inspired me originally, but I don't need to limit myself to that particular event. This realization is invigorating. Even freeing. I would like the camaraderie that a WaterTribe event offers, but in the end, I'm paddling alone either way.