The Crossing for Cystic Fibrosis is a grueling 90-mile paddle from Bimini, Bahamas, to Lake Worth, Florida. If Mother Nature’s having a bad day, then the crossing can quickly get nasty.
“We had spent the whole day preparing, eating right, resting, sleeping, packing up the boat, and then we saw a storm cell off to the east,” recalls Cheryl Goldstein from Team Tideline. “From the radar, it was supposed to blow right over and dissipate.” The paddlers were scheduled to begin the crossing at midnight Saturday, June 22nd and by 10PM, it was pouring rain. “We were all kind of hunkered down under the Tiki hut, and nobody knew what to do because we were just waiting and waiting,” she says. “We went back to the boat and were sitting in the rain…waiting…and waiting.” It was three-plus hours later when the committee announced the race was postponed until the next night.
Sunday morning, the forecast was even worse, and the committee opted to let the paddlers choose whether to head back home or try again that night. “We honestly thought they were just going to cancel the race, and we were all going to be piling in our boats the next morning to go home,” says Goldstein. “We didn’t have high hopes. They came back around midnight and told us that, unfortunately, the weather wasn’t clearing up and they can’t put us out there on the water. It was like Groundhog Day.” But, they had a contingency plan for those who wanted to do it. Paddlers had to be at a point 32 miles offshore of Lake Worth between 9AM and 10AM to start in order to make the beach before 5PM, closing time. Of the 185 paddlers entered, 65 decided to stay and do the final stretch.
Weather or Not
As most boaters know, once you’re in the ocean, it can be difficult to avoid a system that develops quickly. Team Tideline was racing competitively and with four members, each sprinted for 15 minutes before switching to the next paddler. About 15 miles into the Monday morning finale, the team noticed a thunderstorm in the distance.
“It popped up kind of out of nowhere,” says Goldstein. “Alex [team member] was paddling at that point, and he was struggling because the wind picked up out of nowhere.” The waves began to build a little, too, but she was up next and had the best balance, so in she went. “The waves were maybe two to four, but the wind; it wasn’t the waves. The wind was blowing like twenty-five; it was insane. All of a sudden, the wind literally picked me up off the board and threw me into the ocean. When I looked up, I saw the board flying in the air toward me, so I dove under the water to avoid getting hit. As I popped back up, I saw the board slipping over my head again. It happened three times, and at this point, I was thinking I’m going to die, and it flips again. My leash was completely tangled around the board, so the only thing I could think to do was lay across the board perpendicular to hold it down. I was trying to kick back and saw the boat coming toward me to help. Barney [another team member] was my hero. He jumped into the water, got me untangled, and together we were able to swim back to the boat with the board.”
They continued with about 10 miles to go but had to paddle on their knees until the sea settled down and the last member was close enough to stand and ride the waves into the beach. “It was the scariest thing I’ve ever encountered in my entire life,” says Goldstein.
Why Do It?
“The whole week was kind of crazy,” explains Goldstein. “Getting there was crazy because the seas weren’t cooperating, and a lot of people had a hard time getting over there. And then to have to go through all that trouble to get there only to turn around and go home. …We all trained and that’s what we were all there to do, but it’s not really what we were there to do. We were there for the cause, and that was the most important thing. One hundred and eighty-five of us supported that cause and raised more than seven hundred-thousand dollars for organizations and for people who really need the money. That’s what really matters in the long run.”
“Even though we couldn’t cross the ocean to achieve this impressive challenge, our primary goal was to raise awareness for the CF community,” says Liubov Terenteva, assistant marketing manager for Pursuit Boats. “Pursuit Boats admires and supports the Piper’s Angels Foundation and is impressed with its purpose. When I started discussing my participation in this event, Mark King offered to be the support boat; his friend wanted to help him navigate through the night. He knew his Pursuit S 378 was perfectly equipped for the event. ‘It’s a wide, stable platform with plenty of places to sit and stretch out for a paddler while on their rest cycle,’ he said. ‘The side access door will make it easy to access the boat and get boards in and out of the water.’”
The Pure Team was born, and each paddler had to raise a substantial amount of money to participate. Terenteva is extremely grateful for the support of her colleagues at Pursuit Boats as the team’s main sponsor. “To demonstrate our support and commitment to the noble cause, we have created a campaign based on Pure Team’s journey. We are working on releasing new blogs on our website and continuing to support the foundation by raising awareness through our social media platforms.… After the disappointing weather, sea conditions, and roller coaster of emotions, we had to return home earlier than expected. Seeing how our Pursuit community, family, and friends send love and all the good vibes our way was great. This includes the message from a CF warrior who wants to join our team next year. His name is Gunther Schwartz, and he was diagnosed at three years old. He is now twenty-four, lives and works in Fort Pierce, did The Crossing in 2019, and is ready to go again next year.”
In a twist of fate, Schwartz was sitting next to Terenteva’s family at dinner, and his words of appreciation for the donations and understanding of the paddlers’ frustrations were just what she needed to keep the positive aspect of this event. “At the end of the day, we did this for people like him,” she says. “The Piper’s Angels Foundation helps people live better or more comfortable lives, and to be a part of this is an incredible feeling.”
After all the paddlers’ times were collected, sorted, and calculated, Team Tideline took first place honors in the Competitive Category 4-person SUP Relay. Congratulations Team Tideline and congratulations to all those who made the effort, raised the funds that support so many with cystic fibrosis, and put their heart and soul into such a grueling yet significant event. crossingforcf.com; pipersangels.org
