Author: John Guider
John left St. Marys, Georgia on April 17th to begin a three month journey up the east coast to New York City. On the first night he camped on Jekyll Island. Then, he was caught in a storm and lost his oar lock pivot. Wet and tired, he slept on his boat. At one point during the weekend he was hit in the head and received quite a knot. A... read more
John is one of eleven finalists in The Most Beautiful Minds in America 2011. In addition to this video profile, John’s full story is on the Beautiful Minds website: http://www.beautiful-minds.com/MeetTheBeautifulMinds/2011FinalistJohn.aspx
From May 19th to June 8th, all updates about John’s current journey may be found on his Facebook Page and his YouTube Channel Please visit these sites to keep up with John’s latest news! Thanks, Stacey (traveling webmaster)
John got some much needed rest in Lake Worth with assistance from his Nashville neighbor, Tina Thomsen and her friend Bob Guyer. Tina picked John up at a marina in West Palm Beach and made arrangements there for his boat. Bob put John up at his place in Lake Worth for two nights and Tina took him sightseeing around town. John really enjoyed... read more
John spent a little while sailing about a half mile from shore in open water this morning: Shortly thereafter, waves increased in size and he returned to the safety of the intracoastal waterway.
Here are a couple of cell phone video updates from John in Lighthouse Point: Also, filmmaker Brittany Hailes (Ruckus Film) visited John while he was in Fort Lauderdale. Stay tuned for some clips from her footage and an interview with John!
John was knocked over by strong winds in the middle of Key Largo Bay on May 1st. He sent a text message shortly after: Boat got knocked down in the middle of Key Largo Bay. Got it right up. Lost little. Good experience. Hard part, I had to row 2 miles into 25 knot winds. Safe. Prior to his adventures in Key Largo Bay, John posted the... read more
Here is a video update from John at Bahia Honda State Park
Here is a short video clip of his Easter campsite:
Video update from John’s anchor location on the morning of April 19th: Video update from Key West Bight Marina: If you are a Kickstarter backer of John’s project, please login to your account at Kickstarter.com or check your email to find a request for your mailing address. John will be writing and sending postcards this... read more
We look forward to hearing about his experiences along the coast of the Everglades and in the Keys thus far. During the next day or two John will be busy writing postcards to backers of his successful Kickstarter campaign before heading toward the east coast. Here is a video update posted from his phone yesterday morning near Marathon... read more
John emerged from a few days of radio silence with this video update in the Everglades: 27-hour crossing from Flamingo to Marathon! He left Flamingo at 10am on April 16th to make the 35 mile open water crossing to Marathon Key. He struggled against a heading wind and tide and had to deal with getting caught in grasses. By 5pm, he had... read more
With great gratitude, we are pleased announce that John’s Kickstarter campaign will be funded by the deadline on Friday! A huge THANK YOU to all who have pledged support! John is currently making progress along the southern coast of Florida. Today he is in Everglades City at the Rod and Gun Club. He will receive a replacement for his... read more
John crossed open water and navigated through islands to reach Everglades City today. Tomorrow he will receive new oarlocks in the mail from John Harris of CLC Boats. Reminder: There are three days left to reach the goal for John’s Kickstarter campaign. His project will only be funded if at least $5,000 is pledged by Friday April 15,... read more
Early in the day John made some nice new friends in Naples: One of his oarlocks broke during the day and he is now on the southern end of Cape Romano Island. Watch these video clips for more info!
John left the inland waterway late in the day to pick up speed on the Gulf while the seas were calm. The map (above) shows his location during the video clips and at his camping spot. Please help us spread the word about John’s Kickstarter campaign! Only 5 days to reach his project’s funding goal: please click here to... read more
John captures the sunrise as he drifts away from his island camping spot early on Friday, April 8th.
John is now near Cape Coral and Fort Meyers, FL. He got some good sleep on a little island last night and posted the above video from his phone this morning. He posted this video at his new camping spot in the evening:
John had to sleep in his boat and it was chilly during the night. He woke up to a beautiful, gentle morning.
John made great progress today! We don’t have the details of the day, but he did send his coordinates.
John left the Sarasota Sailing Squadron and spent the day regaining his sea legs. He faced strong headwinds all day. He rowed into the winds for four miles before landing on a nice island.
John drove from Nashville and arrived at the Sarasota Sailing Squadron in the afternoon. He will coordinate storage of his car and trailer and prepare to set sail in the next day or two.
John just launched a Kickstarter Campaign to help fund his Great Loop journey and exhibit. Please take a moment to check it out and share it with your friends. Thank you for your support!
John reached the Sarasota Sailing Squadron around 6pm on July 28th in the middle of a thunderstorm. Charlie Ball and Bill Broker helped welcome John and made sure he and his boat were safe and out of the water. Charlie took John out to eat and dropped him off at the airport on Thursday afternoon. John thanks Hugh Horton in Cedar Key for... read more
John crossed Tampa Bay this morning. It took him four hours to cross due to no wind and an outgoing tide. John stopped to rest and have lunch at Catcher’s Marina on Anna Marina Island. He will head toward Sarasota now. He plans to conclude this leg of his journey at the Sarasota Sailing Squadron. Yesterday (July 27), favorable winds... read more
When we last left off, John was safe in Tarpon Springs and was waiting for Tropical Storm Bonnie to pass. Bonnie came through, but wasn’t as bad as John thought it would be. He is now on the Intracoastal Waterway near Clearwater/Tampa. Here is a detailed synopsis of the last week: July 21: John reached Shell Island in the morning... read more
John slept on the boat the last two nights. He made it to Port Richey last night and then sailed into Tarpon Springs this morning. He is glad to be out of the Big Bend and off the water with Tropical Storm Bonnie approaching. He will update with more details of the past two days later. (map will be updated later as well)
July 16 – 19: Brittany Hailes of Ruckus Film visited John in Cedar Key. Brittany gathered film footage for her ongoing project about John and his journeys. Bob Treat rebuilt the blocks for John’s oar pivots and they installed them over the course of a couple of days. Bob also looked at the tide tables and charts with John and... read more
During our last update, John was feeling worn down and discouraged by an uncooperative weather forecast. However, John’s mood lifted yesterday when he met Cedar Key librarian Molly Jubitcz. Molly introduced John to Bob and Jeri Treat. Bob is a small boat builder and enthusiast. They also introduced John to Hugh Horton, a boat builder... read more
July 12: John was ready to get back on the water after a day of rest. Some storms came ashore and backed themselves up overland creating a north wind that he used to sails down Steinhatchee River and out to sea against the incoming tide. It took him an hour and a half to reach open water. By that time, it was high tide and John was able to... read more
July 8: John left the western edge of Alligator Point on Thursday morning. The wind completely died around 10am – the water was perfectly flat and he had to row for about 4 hours in 90+ heat with no clouds and no wind. He said that it was exhausting and that the heat almost killed him. The wind finally picked up around 2pm and blew... read more
July 1: Started rowing from Apalachicola in the morning before getting caught in a storm with lots of wind and rain. It circle around and he thought it was going to pass him, then it came back. He made it across the bay to a beach near the causeway bridge (on the western side of Eastpoint). He planned to try to make Carabelle in the morning... read more
John made it to Port St. Joe from Panama City without trouble. On Saturday (June 26), he reached the eastern end of Mexico Beach and decided to anchor about 150 yards off of the shore so that he could try out sleeping in his boat. He woke up at sunrise on Sunday and sailed toward Port St. Joe. The wind died at about 7:00am and he had to... read more
John arrived in Panama City on Friday afternoon. The day started out similar to the last three — very hot and all rowing. After about five hours of rowing, the wind picked up and he was able to sail twelve miles in two hours. John received a warm welcome from Bill Lloyd, director of Panama City Marina. John appreciates Bill’s... read more
On Tuesday, the Davis’s took John to Panama City to pick up replacement parts for his damaged oar and a new camp stove. While in Panama City, they also attended BP’s safety training for the Vessels of Opportunity program. John learned about the oil and how to spot it. He is now an official owner of a yellow card. A yellow card is... read more
John rowed himself into exhaustion yesterday. The heat is his primary problem, but the wind coming from the east is working against him as well. Yesterday he left camp and discovered that his centerboard was jammed and wouldn’t lower (due to the storm on Sunday night). He drifted two miles west while struggling to free the centerboard... read more
A storm with 70mph winds caught John off-guard on Saturday afternoon (June 19th). He was pushed into a rocky leeward shore and the wind was so strong that one of the oars became wedged under the boat. The post that holds the oar to the boat snapped. He ended up having to stand in the water to hold the boat away from the shore for 45 minutes... read more
Today there was very little wind and lots of heat. John had to come ashore during an afternoon storm, then rowed until he found a gap in the oil booms to camp on the beach at Santa Rosa Island.
The weather pattern during the past few days consists of hot and horrible rowing conditions in the morning, a thunderstorm in the afternoon followed by enough wind to get in some good sailing before dark. Yesterday John took refuge from the midday heat at Holiday Harbor Marina. He thanks owner Steve Bizzell for being so nice to... read more
The day (June 16) started out hot and slow. John was rowing when thunderstorms started to form around noon. He was trying to decide what to do when he noticed a man on the shore waving him in. Lance Loper is from Mobile and has a summer home on the Intracoastal. Lance saw John rowing on the western end of the canal the day before and assumed... read more
Yesterday (June 15) John made it across the southern part of Mobile Bay and into the intracoastal waterway canal in Alabama. John stopped at Homeport Marina for a late afternoon meal and we caught a glimpse of him on the marina’s webcam. Last night John camped in the yard of retired Vietnam War Marine Corps veteran Gary... read more
John made it across Mobile Bay to Fort Morgan, AL this morning. He was nervous after being pulled out to sea on his approach to Dauphin Island on the 12th. Today the tides and weather were with him. The wind was to his back and sail reefed as he traveled through two foot waves to Fort Morgan Marina. John was rousted out of his tent last... read more
The morning started out slow and then the winds picked up and shifted to the northeast. At one point John was sailing at about 6.5 mph! He is at Dauphin Island Marina now. The people are friendly and he was able to get something to eat at the restaurant. The marina is busy, as oil spotting boats come in to refuel. Mobile Bay has been closed... read more
John had an eventful day. It was very hazy and he had to leave sight of land in order to make it to Dauphin Island, AL. He did have about seven or eight dolphin swimming along side him at one point. A tidal current took him a mile off course and out toward sea. He made it back to land against four foot surf. He can smell oil in the air.... read more
John made his way to Horn Island, MS. A pod of seven dolphins kept him company along the way. He also saw an Ingram barge following the route that he took on the Harry Brindell in April. He is getting a better feel for his boat and conditions at sea.
John left Pass Christian around 7:00am and arrived at Deer Island around 3:30pm. He sailed much of the way with steady 10-15 mph winds and 3-4 foot waves. The island finally blocked the wind and he had to row to get to shore and setup camp. During the day he saw a few dolphins. John says the heat is oppressive.
John stayed within one or two miles of shore and sailed for a little over five hours on Wednesday, arriving at the marina in Pass Christian, MS around 4:30pm. Winds were steady and the boat handled well with the sail reefed. No oil was visible in the water but he could smell something in the air – it didn’t smell like normal clean... read more
John packed his gear and drove toward the coast on Monday, June 7th with his newly improved Expedition Skerry in tow. He arrived in Reserve, Louisiana this morning and met up with Bob Ory at Ingram’s Triangle Fleet location. Bob drove with John to Bayou Caddy, Mississippi, the location where he ended Phase 1 of his Great Loop journey... read more
John is aboard the Harry Brindell, courtesy of Ingram Marine Group. Over the next 2 to 3 days he will travel with the crew as they transport barges from New Orleans to Mobile. John plans to photograph this experience and gather information and perspective for his return to the Gulf and the Great Loop journey in June!
John Harris at CLC Boats has redesigned the deck. (see attached sketch) Even though the larger deck will make the cockpit smaller, it will add a lot of strength to the overall design and there will be more room for additional floatation. There will also be space to permanently mount a compass along the centerline of the boat. In addition to... read more
John’s boat is currently in Annapolis, Maryland at CLC Boats. John Harris, the boat’s designer, is helping make some modifications to the craft so that it will be ready for the Gulf this summer. Take a look at the following links to see the live webcam: http://www.clcboats.com/shopcam/shopcamlive.html If you can’t see it... read more
