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races:cross_sound_2008
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races:cross_sound_2008 [2025/08/16 18:58] pstureavley |
races:cross_sound_2008 [2026/04/26 19:40] (current) pstureavley |
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| - | ==== Trip Report: Great Cross Sound and Wild Side Relay...... ==== | + | ===== Trip Report: Great Cross Sound and Wild Side Relay...... ===== |
| **Larry Goolsby** \\ | **Larry Goolsby** \\ | ||
| 08/25/08 #4823 | 08/25/08 #4823 | ||
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| + | <WRAP indent> | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==== Great Cross Sound Race ==== | ||
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| + | <WRAP indent> | ||
| Having never done the Wild Side Relay, I decided that this year was the time to make my first trip to the Columbia Gorge and see if it was everything that Don Kiesling and Jeff Hilburn had boasted about. Mike G. and I were going down as a team and had made the decision to stop and do the Great Cross Sound race on our way to the gorge. A pretty full weekend to cram into two days but (leave Saturday and come back Sunday) but we left extra early on Saturday and had an awesome trip. | Having never done the Wild Side Relay, I decided that this year was the time to make my first trip to the Columbia Gorge and see if it was everything that Don Kiesling and Jeff Hilburn had boasted about. Mike G. and I were going down as a team and had made the decision to stop and do the Great Cross Sound race on our way to the gorge. A pretty full weekend to cram into two days but (leave Saturday and come back Sunday) but we left extra early on Saturday and had an awesome trip. | ||
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| The crossing back over to Alki became painful with mixed boat wakes and you could not see the finish line. All you could do was follow a boat in front of you and hope that they knew where they were going. The morning glare and position of the sun made Alki beach look like a dark shadow. We heard a tandem rower come up behind us and they almost ran us over 3 times before we realized that Rick and Marc were drafting off their wake (and probably telling them to run us over). We finally let the rower get past us and also let the other XT tandem get past by mistake. As long as they stayed with the tandem rower, we could not take the lead back from them. Our hope was their line over to Alki was going to cause them to turn and lose a little time while we crossed the finish line. Didn't happen this way. Their line was better than ours and they crossed a few seconds ahead of us. We then found out that Eric and Joost had a similar battle and Eric got the better line and beat Joost to the finish. Duncan secured the third place ribbon and Franklin was right behind him for first in the FSK class. | The crossing back over to Alki became painful with mixed boat wakes and you could not see the finish line. All you could do was follow a boat in front of you and hope that they knew where they were going. The morning glare and position of the sun made Alki beach look like a dark shadow. We heard a tandem rower come up behind us and they almost ran us over 3 times before we realized that Rick and Marc were drafting off their wake (and probably telling them to run us over). We finally let the rower get past us and also let the other XT tandem get past by mistake. As long as they stayed with the tandem rower, we could not take the lead back from them. Our hope was their line over to Alki was going to cause them to turn and lose a little time while we crossed the finish line. Didn't happen this way. Their line was better than ours and they crossed a few seconds ahead of us. We then found out that Eric and Joost had a similar battle and Eric got the better line and beat Joost to the finish. Duncan secured the third place ribbon and Franklin was right behind him for first in the FSK class. | ||
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| + | </WRAP> | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==== Wildside Relay Trip ==== | ||
| + | |||
| + | <WRAP indent> | ||
| We blew off the awards ceremony and immediately continued on our journey to the gorge. The trip there was uneventful (imagine that with Mike as co-pilot) and we arrived at the start line only to find Don Kiesling's car but no Don. He was obviously out practicing on the incredibly flat water of the Columbia. The winds were not blowing despite the fact that it was hot and probably in the 80's. In fact, there was actually a light easterly breeze that was blowing down river instead of the westerly that was needed for this race to be a success. Mike and I quickly got our singles (Sport and S1-R) off the roof rack and hit the river in search of Don. It took us only 20-25 minutes to find him. There was a large river boat with a stern wheel (like the old gambling boats) coming our way and I thought I saw a kayak pop out from behind this large boat (ship?). We moved in closer and saw Don and his buddy Cory riding their skis on the stern wave that this boat throws off. The stern wake is a series of about 9-10 wakes that travel perpendicular to the direction that the boat is going so you have an endless wave to ride as long as the stern wheeler doesn't turn or stop. Mike and I jumped on a wake and once you were on a wave, you could quit paddling and just enjoy the ride. You would have to be there to see how it really was with about 25 tourists on the rear of the vessel watching the 4 of us playing on the waves while we traveled at speeds between 10 and 11 mph and Don has a camera in one hand while photografing us and the tourists. As long as you stayed in a sweet spot, you could ride without letting your paddle touch the water. Once we were back at the start line, we parted from the stern wheeler and headed for shore. I knew that if the wind didn't kick up for tomorrow's race, that I could always come out and ride the wake on the stern wheeler. Mike and I had reserved a camping spot up the hill from the river and were glad that we did after noticing that a train came along the river blaring it's horn about every 15 minutes. Living along this part of the river would be awesome if you were deaf. Other racers later told us that they didn't sleep much because of the constant noise made by the trains. | We blew off the awards ceremony and immediately continued on our journey to the gorge. The trip there was uneventful (imagine that with Mike as co-pilot) and we arrived at the start line only to find Don Kiesling's car but no Don. He was obviously out practicing on the incredibly flat water of the Columbia. The winds were not blowing despite the fact that it was hot and probably in the 80's. In fact, there was actually a light easterly breeze that was blowing down river instead of the westerly that was needed for this race to be a success. Mike and I quickly got our singles (Sport and S1-R) off the roof rack and hit the river in search of Don. It took us only 20-25 minutes to find him. There was a large river boat with a stern wheel (like the old gambling boats) coming our way and I thought I saw a kayak pop out from behind this large boat (ship?). We moved in closer and saw Don and his buddy Cory riding their skis on the stern wave that this boat throws off. The stern wake is a series of about 9-10 wakes that travel perpendicular to the direction that the boat is going so you have an endless wave to ride as long as the stern wheeler doesn't turn or stop. Mike and I jumped on a wake and once you were on a wave, you could quit paddling and just enjoy the ride. You would have to be there to see how it really was with about 25 tourists on the rear of the vessel watching the 4 of us playing on the waves while we traveled at speeds between 10 and 11 mph and Don has a camera in one hand while photografing us and the tourists. As long as you stayed in a sweet spot, you could ride without letting your paddle touch the water. Once we were back at the start line, we parted from the stern wheeler and headed for shore. I knew that if the wind didn't kick up for tomorrow's race, that I could always come out and ride the wake on the stern wheeler. Mike and I had reserved a camping spot up the hill from the river and were glad that we did after noticing that a train came along the river blaring it's horn about every 15 minutes. Living along this part of the river would be awesome if you were deaf. Other racers later told us that they didn't sleep much because of the constant noise made by the trains. | ||
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| Larry Goolsby | Larry Goolsby | ||
| - | **Re: Trip Report: Great Cross Sound and Wild Side Relay……\\ | + | </WRAP></WRAP> |
| - | lori & beau whitehead** \\ | + | |
| + | ==== Re: Trip Report: Great Cross Sound and Wild Side Relay ==== | ||
| + | |||
| + | <WRAP indent> | ||
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| + | **lori & beau whitehead** \\ | ||
| 08/25/08 #4824 | 08/25/08 #4824 | ||
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| Omigod! LG there is a cure! You just come on to NorCal in about 3 weeks. Get ya fixed up, good as new! No worriez! Got them Pt Diablo Blues, baby. Meanest blues you ever had. Salt water in yer veins aaand big ole waves right on your Mmmm, that's right - gonna be just fine.\\ | Omigod! LG there is a cure! You just come on to NorCal in about 3 weeks. Get ya fixed up, good as new! No worriez! Got them Pt Diablo Blues, baby. Meanest blues you ever had. Salt water in yer veins aaand big ole waves right on your Mmmm, that's right - gonna be just fine.\\ | ||
| MG | MG | ||
| + | |||
| + | </WRAP> | ||
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