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strike ; I learned that riding directly into a hurricane has some extremely unintended consequences ; I learned how to avoid a firestorm of biblical proportions ; and I learned that I was now an amateur meteorologist attempting to stay alive in the unpredictable everchanging weather patterns of the diverse geography of the USA .
Moving eastward , through several national parks , into the Florida Keys to visit one of the most remote , and intriguing National Parks , Dry Tortugas , I yearned to visit the area of pirate-lore , sunken treasure , and the hope of landing the pirate booty of many treasure hunters over the years . What I did not plan for was a developing hurricane coming up from the Atlantic Ocean with 136 kilometre per hour winds to wreak havoc on the Eastern seaboard of the US .
This was one of the national parks with a ticketed entry , insofar as I could not simply show up at any time . With the help of my good friend , Chip , in working to secure Naval accommodations , I got to the dock area of the boat one hour before the earliest time at 4:00AM to ensure space . I knew I could not put it off another day as rumblings of the impending Hurricane Elsa were upon the news horizon . One of the caretakers of the dock area approached me as I was the only one there and enquired why I was on the dock so early . I explained to him that I was seeking a world record , and he replied that there would be no problem getting on the boat as many people would be frightened of the approaching Hurricane Elsa . He thought it a bit odd that I was there so early and shared with me that he believed the trip would be cancelled and questioned the sanity of setting off into the path of a hurricane .
Although no pirates to be seen , Fort Jefferson presented a formidable fort of yesteryear in defense of this area . Upon our return after a full-day sailing to and from , the entire marina was closed indefinitely until it was safe ; we made it back just in time and hunkered down for the evening .
I hurriedly maintained my northern trek , now up the eastern seaboard , in an attempt to outrun the hurricane . I felt that if I could just be one day ahead , all would be fine . I was definitely wrong .
The pounding wind and rain of Hurricane Elsa had doggedly followed me up the East Coast and left much of New York City and New Jersey under raging flood waters just as I was passing through . Out of exhaustion , I heeded the advice of my friend , Donna , who lives in NYC , to stay put and allow the hurricane to pass north . Smarter heads prevailed as I had no first-hand knowledge of hurricanes being from California . This was extremely hard to do as I was working on the world record and having to yield a day to mother nature was
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