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The Log Boom
Jeff Hegedus <jhegedus@…>
01/16/10 #7723
The Jericho Beach PNWORCA race was pretty nice. SUN, half a dozen 'hamsters, nice bumps and a borrowed S1-X. Lots of boats, happy friendly folks, and a nice civil start. Then… the log boom! Half way to the bell can, masquerading as a large island, a super monster log boom pulled by two large hard working tugboats, heading exactly towards us, appeared like an impossible apparition. Easily over 100 meters wide, and so long that it actually seemed to fade over the horizon, the timing was not exactly the best. Compounding this, somehow, at this very moment, I found myself to be the lead boat, and was guessing at which can we were headed for. As the tugboats turned to starboard, I heard the small pack behind me debating the issue, and we committed to crossing its path. Although quite an exercise in trigonometry, the applied judgement, paddling skill and group communication resulted in what I would call a sufficient margin. Three ski's and three outriggers made it, and constituted the 'long course.' The escort boat then properly directed the rest of the fleet to an alternate course, and everyone was happy. The downwind leg was simply nice, the sun kept shining, and it was a great way to start the race season.
