The Seventy48 is coming early this year, May 31-June 2. It’s an evening start again, with the prospect of paddling through the night for those who are in it to win it, and a lot of residual pain and sleep deprivation for everyone else in some form or another before it’s done.

Almost lost in all the race talk is the fact that this is a beautiful and unique stretch of the Sound, one that is seemingly made for small-boat travel and filled with wildlife on land and in the water. Blasting through it in the dark, while absolutely critical if you’re trying to finish, let alone win, seems blasphemous.

I’ve paddled the whole route before, though never in one swoop. (Last year’s Seventy48 only got me as far as Kingston on the garbage boat, the Basura del Mar.) I would like to paddle it again, maybe take a couple nights and check out the lay of the land again before the big push at the end of May. Time to get the calendar out, put some time aside and get on the water.