Two windsurfers have successfully completed a 375-mile adventure between Fort de Soto Park to Key Largo, in Florida.[more]
Tony Vandenberg and Sean Hawes have completed the difficult journey in seven days, sailing between 12 and 14 hours a day.
The team participated in the 14th edition of the Everglades Challenge. They are the first windsurfers to complete the race that connects St. Petersburg and Key Largo.
“We are humble, happy and proud. It was a survival race. We are guessing with all the headwinds and beating, and some critically dumb navigation in the last moments of the race, we probably traveled 375 miles”, Vandenberg explains Tampa Bay Times.
The windsurfers have many stories to tell. From knocking sea turtles, and avoiding crocodiles to losing GPS devices, following dolphins and defying mosquitoes, there’s plenty of events to be written into a book.
“At one point we sailed into the no-man’s land in the waters off the Everglades. You should have seen the look on fishing boat captains’ faces. ‘What the hell are two windsurfers doing out in the middle of this desolation’?” adds Vandenberg.
The last day was certainly one of the worst. With no GPS, the team entered “survival mode” and touched several islands before finally arriving at Key Largo.
“I ache all over, but it was the greatest challenge I’ve ever been through. Life is really wonderful and how blessed we are.”
