Articles of Interest: Rod Price's chronicle, Racing to the Yukon; Florida Fish and Wildlife non-motorized boating advisory group
Events and Races: FCPA races; "Florida Challenge" series; WaterTribe Challenges; and more
2009 In Retrospect

Hot off the Presses! Rod Price's book, Racing to the Yukon, is now published. Subtitled "A Lifetime of Adventure Racing from the Everglades to the Amazon to the World's Longest Canoe Race," Rod chronicles his adventures, interspersed with color photographs and "Traveling Trivia," interesting tidbits of local information. Contact Rod for availability at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 407-227-5606.

In May 2009 the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) initiated an outreach effort to learn about issues of concern to non-motorized boaters (NMB) and to strengthen relationships with this diverse community.  Staff from the  Office of Recreation Services (ORS) and Division of Law Enforcement (LE) attended club meetings, held five public ‘Listening Sessions’ and provided an email site for public comment.  Results can be viewed in the ‘Final Summary Report’ at this link:  http://www.myfwc.com/Recreation/ListeningSessions_Summary.htm .

The FWC has formed a team made up of ORS, LE and the divisions of Marine Fisheries, Habitat and Species Conservation, and Freshwater Fisheries to work on this issue.  The FWC team has in turn developed a technical advisory group to work with them on solutions to selected issues. We anticipate this work to last about one year and look forward to a variety of positive outcomes of this effort.

The 13-member advisory group is representative of the diverse types of recreation within the non-motorized boating community around the state.  The public is invited to attend the meetings.  The first meeting will be held at the Bass Pro Shop in Orlando, Weds, February 3rd, from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.  Notes from meetings and a schedule of future meeting dates will be posted at the link above.

Florida Competition Paddlers Events:
January 24, 2010, Estero River Race, Estero, FL, 10 miles. Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Paula, 239-992-4050
January 30, 2010, Wakulla River Race, St. Marks, FL, 12.6 or 6 miles. Contact Jack Toth at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 850-350-9551
February 13, 2010, Jensen Classic, Weeki Wachee, FL, Contact Karl or Cindy Vogel, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 727-938-7685
February 27, 2010, Crisp Park Race, St. Petersburg, FL, 11 or 6 miles, contact John Edwards, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 727-459-6366
March 13, 2010, Great Pickle Race, Tampa, FL, 11.4 or 5 miles. Contact Glennis Williams, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 727-455-9188
March 20, 2010, Manatee Run, N. Ft. Myers, FL, 10 or 4 miles.
April 3, 2010, Rainbow River Race, Dunellon, FL, 12 or 6 miles.
May 16, 2010, Wekiva River Race, Sanford, FL, 14 or 7 miles. Contact Martha Carswell, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 407-321-7188

Larry Frederick's Florida Challenge Series
Larry has set up a series of races on central and north Florida waters with a target length of 6 hours. Entry fee is $10. The purpose is to provide training runs for longer races. Finishers of each race will receive a medallion depicting a Florida Indian tribe. For more information on each race, see http://www.fcpacanoe.org/chsr_0.html or contact Larry at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 352.318.1702.
Races:
January 2010 .... Wakulla/St Marks Rivers ........ Apalachee medallion
February 2010 ... (Weedon Island/Tampa Bay)? ........ Spirit Woman medallion
March 2010 ...... Hillsborough River ............. Tocobaga medallion
April 1010 ...... Rainbow/Withlacoochee Rivers ... Outina medallion

West Coast Point Series Races, Clearwater/Honeymoon Island. Info and details contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 727-403-1903.
Doubles races: 1/10/2010, 2/14, 3/14, 4/4.
Singles races: 1/24/2010, 2/28, 3/27, 4/18

Sweetwater Symposium will be Feb. 26,27 and 28, 2010 at Fort Desoto Park, St. Petersburg. Confirmed coaches include: Nigel Foster, Ben Lawry, Russell Farrow, Greg Stamer, and many more. See http://www.sweetwaterkayaks.com/symposiums.html for details.

WaterTribe Challenges, March 6, 2010,  Ultramarathon (65 miles), Everglades Challenge (300 miles), and Ultimate Florida Challenge (1200 miles). These expedition-style races are epic events for kayaks, canoes, sailing craft, any non-motorized craft hand-launched off the beach. Check it out at www.watertribe.com.

Yukon River Quest, June 30, 2010, Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada. 460 miles. Registration just opened Nov.1 and the race fills up very quickly, even though deadline is April 15, 2010. Terrific race with tremendous community support, an event of a lifetime. Check it out at www.yukonriverquest.com.

Florida Paddlers' Rendezvous, October 21 - 24, 2010, Silver River State Park campground. Day trips, potluck dinners, campfires. Make camping reservations at the State Park. Sponsored by CentralFloridaSeaKayakers@yahoogroups.com.

The inaugural Yukon 1000 was held in July, from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory to Alaska Pipeline/Dalton Highway. Although billed as the "longest canoe and kayak race in the world,", I guess they forgot about the WaterTribe Ultimate Florida Challenge, 1200 miles. The Yukon 1000 canoe class was won by Rod Price of Orlando, Florida and Ardie Olson of Cumming, Georgia, who finished in 6 days 8 hours 54 minutes, averaging 150 miles per day over the 958-mile course. Two tandem kayaks tied for first place with a time of 6 days 2 hours 11 minutes; Richard/Henry Hendron and Rob Colliver/Russ Dawkins.

Greg Stamer continued his globe hopping in 2009, teaching courses in Sweden, Israel, Japan, Newfoundland, as well as California, Michigan, Delaware, and Florida. To follow Greg's adventures, see "Kayak Vagabond," http://www.gregstamer.com/ .

The second solo circumnavigation of Australia and first by a woman was completed December 15, 2009 by Freya Hoffmeister. She covered the 8,565 miles in 332 days, including a 7-day crossing of the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Florida put forth a strong showing for the United States Canoe Association (USCA) Nationals, August 2009, in Warren, Pennsylvania. Bringing home lots of gold, silver, and bronze to Florida were canoeists John Edwards, LaVerne Young, Terry Streib, Larry Frederick, and Bob Bradford (from Michigan, but paddles lots of miles in Florida). Kayakers included Jack Toth, Anke Toth, Mike and Luana Moran, Karl Vogel, Cindy Vogel, Doug Keiper, Anita Allen, Clarence (Lee) Short, and Bob Dean. The Florida contingent finished third in the State Marathon Championship points, behind Pennsylvania and New York.

John Edwards was awarded "Paddler of the Year" by USCA for his dedication and hard work promoting the sport and supporting the USCA.