2003—EVOLUTION TOUR

June 7-13, 2003

$15,000 raised for the ACS

The send-off for our 4th-annual trek was ominous. Rough seas, cloudy skies, and whipping wind greeted us on South Beach in June. That brought another first. For the first time, we had to wear our life jackets and skirts to start the trip. We then traversed thru Government Cut and thru the wake of a massive Panamanian freighter. We felt like tequila in the blender. The mixing was simply a harbinger of what was to come.

Usually, during our summer adventures, the wind hits us in the face or comes across our bow for the first few days. Once we start making the shift to the west, around Marathon, the wind comes to our backs. This summer, the wind shifted with us, staying in our faces the entire week. The breaks we were so accustomed to taking in sand bars and shallows and near small islands were nearly non-existent. We had to push hard all week long. The rookies were thrown into the fire immediately -- and both came out stronger for it.

In 2003, the Castaways battled wind, rain, back-to-back 30-mile days, exhaustion, and heat. But the upside made up for all of the aches and pains. The team was able to raise more than $15,000 for the ACS, finally breaking the $10,000 plateau for, you guessed it, the first time