Washingtonian Magazine:
Midlife, that season that steered Dante into the dark wood of his Inferno and led Woody Allen in Hannah and Her Sisters to ponder joining the Hare Krishnas, snuck up on Washington reporter Warren Richey. In the spring of 2006, with his divorce final, he swore off therapy and self-pity, venturing to the Sunshine State for a monthlong race around the peninsula in a yellow sea kayak.
Without a Paddle maps Richey's 1,200-mile trek through waters haunted by pythons, bull sharks, freezing rain, wrong turns, and the kind of isolation that makes for an ocean of thinking. Richey -- who covers the Supreme Court for the Christian Science Monitor -- evokes the physical toil using terse, choppy sentences, but his ruminations about nature give the prose interludes of grace:
"The clear eye of a green sea turtle blinking back at me from five feet away a mile offshore. Twenty roseate spoonbills shuffling through the shallows, their coral pink plumage offering a second sunrise in the Everglades... These things don't happen at 25 or 30 miles an hour. To see this you need a kayak."
The Miami Herald:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/06/13/1675438/paddling-back-from-mid-life-heartbreak.html
Publishers Weekly:
At its core, the idea of traveling 1,200 miles around the coast of Florida in a kayak sounds grueling -- the organizers of the Ultimate Florida Challenge warn wouldbe entrants that "even if you are a well-prepared expert, you may die." But Richey, who writes for the Christian Science Monitor, shows in this fast-paced memoir that a perservering spirit can overcome all physical and mental exhaustion.
Still feeling the effects of a divorce that threw his world into upheaval, Richey finds solace in his sea kayak and enters the competition, despite the objection of family and friends. Nearly every day and night, he encounters all possible obstacles: physical ailments(blisters, sore muscles, sleep deprivation), the threat of predators like alligators and pythons, and solitude while paddling through the night.
On a diet consisting largely of bagels and Snickers bars, Richey travels on, battling himself and the biggest enemy of all: the clock, as the rules mandate the race be completed within 30 days.
Much of the tale centers on his nautical journey, but Richey seemlessly weaves that with his heartbreak from divorce, the bond of a father and son, and moving on with a newfound love.
By the end of this wonderfully uplifting book, Richey's trip has taken him well beyond the perimeter of the Sunshine State.
Photo by Marty Sullivan
Q&A
WHY DID YOU WRITE THIS BOOK?
After the race, people kept asking me what happened out there on the water. The question was simple, but I couldn't find the right words.
"I just tried to keep moving forward," I’d say. That is true enough, yet it didn’t come close to answering the question.
What happened out there was weird and amazing and completely inexplicable. I didn’t want to just write about the race, the places I saw, the miles I paddled. It wouldn't work to just give readers a seat in my boat. To really understand what happened out there I had to allow readers into the foggy depths of my mind.
IS THE BOOK ABOUT THE RACE, OR YOUR THOUGHTS DURING THE RACE?
Both. WITHOUT A PADDLE is the story of a 50-year-old divorced dad who enters a twelve-hundred-mile race around Florida in a sea kayak. It is an adventure. That’s the story I started to tell, but it is only part of the book I ended up writing.
Every competitor in every race arrives at the starting line shouldering the burden of preexisting relationships, experiences, fears. I was no different. With me a big part of it was the pain of a failed marriage and the hope and fear of a new relationship. That’s part of the extra weight I carried with me in the kayak, but you won't find any of that on my gear list.
THIS IS A BOOK ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS?
It is a book about racing a sea kayak around Florida. It is also a book about how I moved forward through a rough patch in my life.
YOU SPENT LONG HOURS ALONE IN THE KAYAK. WHAT WAS GOING ON IN YOUR HEAD?
Sometimes very little. Sleep deprivation hurts, and it makes you stupid. That’s part of the challenge, trying to anticipate arriving at some dangerous place on the water with a single-digit IQ.
ISN’T IT COMMON FOR SOLO SAILORS ON LONG-DISTANCE TRIPS TO START HALLUCINATING AND HEARING VOICES?
That’s part of the challenge too. Mental health experts say it is like being locked away in an isolation cell, a kind of sensory deprivation. It can drive you nuts, they say, if you aren't careful.
Spending 16, 18, or 20 hours paddling a kayak provides a lot of time for self reflection. Unresolved issues come to the surface. When they arrive, watch out.
THIS DOESN’T SOUND LIKE FUN.
Fun might not be the right word. It is like running a marathon or climbing a mountain. The Florida Challenge tested me to my core. It challenged everything I thought I knew about myself. This kind of race is not for everyone. But having survived it, I can’t imagine my life today without that experience.
WILL THERE BE ANOTHER ULTIMATE FLORIDA CHALLENGE?
Mark your calendar and start training. The next Ultimate Florida Challenge is set to launch in March 2012 from the same beach at Fort DeSoto Park on Mullet Key. Challengers will have a month to finish the race or be disqualified.
WHAT’S YOUR BEST ADVICE FOR FUTURE RACERS?
Train hard. Pack light. Go fast. Read the book.
Warren Richey has worked as a newspaper reporter since 1978. He covered local government in New Jersey for The Red Bank Register, the oil industry in Saudi Arabia for the Saudi Gazette, and federal courts and agencies in south Florida for the Sun-Sentinel. He has worked 18 years at the Christian Science Monitor as a local, national, and foreign correspondent. 
Photo by Marty Sullivan
BIO
He currently splits his time between south Florida and Washington, where he covers the US Supreme Court and legal affairs.
THE NICEST LETTER I RECEIVED AFTER THE RACE:
"Dear Sharkchow,
You are brave, strong, tough, cool, a muscle man, not a chicken, excellent, awesome, fast as the wind, lucky, fantastic, a Superman, wonderful, great, unbelievable, stupendous, and magnificent. You are the strongest man in Florida." -- Mrs. Wengren's First Grade Class.
