Surfski Knowledge Base

P4F Early Recap
Kevin Olney
10/15/23 #34571

What a day at the lake! There was a lot of action at Padden today and it may take some time to unpack. Here’s a few highlights to start:

•John’s “family potluck” fed the hungry masses

•Ana and Elana clocked the fastest 3 lap time of the day

•We had a Mickey Bevins appearance! This guy is grandfather of surfski in Bham

•Sue DeBari and her new paddler partner Max claimed the Huli-of-the-year award on the first lap of the race

•Ryan Lee brought his magic for the second year in a row to lead his team to 1st place

•Hana Midler wins the Mom-of-the-Year award for towing her two (adorable) young kids around the lake in the back of a V8 double

There were so many stories and races within races within races I can’t even describe them all. Please share your experiences so we can enjoy all the different perspectives of the day.

Results are on PacificMultisports.

https://pacificmultisports.com/results/paddle4food2023/#0_DD695F

We will update with full team info soon

Food Bank donations are still being tallied. Final dollars still trickling in, but the paddling community has come up HUGE this year!! More info to follow…

Thank you all for your support,

KO

Adrienne D
10/15/23 #34572

From a mama/volunteer/yeller about clearing the finish line:

You are all my heroes. I got to watch my kiddo race with Mickey, David S, Mike G and Jamie K. It was a bit perplexing for Finn, and it was HILARIOUS how confused everyone else was at the race meeting, given the number of times that we have all done this event together.

Thanks to everyone for being such a welcoming, gracious and generous crew. Kevin and Amber, I don’t know where you find the energy to herd all the cats so often.

Thank you all for a fantastic morning!

Brandon Nelson
10/16/23 #34573

Thank you Kevin and Amber and ALLLLL the volunteers who made yesterday totally AWESOME! P4F is the ultimate paddling + friends + food gathering of the year. I couldn't help but think that Peter was up there sending the sun and warmth. Definitely the nicest day I remember for that event.
Cheers all. Thanks for an amazing day!
Brandon

Reivers Dustin 10/16/23 #34576

So even though Michael Woods was missing I tried my best to keep the island vibe. But that went away right at the start. Third heat had some big boats started with vigor. So here is this wave like behind the gorge sternwheeler. OMG we rollin' with the big dogs. Fer a few minutes, then whoa nellie, back to reality. Found myself dicing with a stout young lad in a Stellar. We were both interested in working off the monster K-4 just up ahead of us. K-4 was powered by halloween witches so they had it goin on. K-4 didn't like those super hard turns. So I crawled in behind and hung on for dear life. Wish I had a speedometer, it felt fast. The K-4 really did not like that 180 turn at the start line so then I'm thinking, “hey these are just little kids. C'mon old man, put some mustard on this race.” Into the second lap we go. I noticed some of the witches were taking off the heavy costumes. That had so be boiling hot under those wigs and stuff. I managed to pull even after those two hard turns at the top of the course. But now these gals are looking at the old raisin. They powered up and gave me a big old “NOPE”. hehe. That was fun. Feisty.

I felt good. No GPS so I don't have reality. And none of my arch rivals were nearby. So I can tell myself whatever I want. I was awesome. Way above average. We had a good team and gave 'er a go. hehe, we had Wilson doing last lap of each heat. That was fun because the speed differential was startling. We bagged fourth place in a field chock full of towering giants of staggering genius.

rd

Tom Halsted 10/16/23 #34578

It WAS an awesome event.
I felt honored and a wee bit exhausted to be on your team, Reivers and Wilson!
But I had a blast.
And ate too much.

Cheers!

-Tom

Susan DeBari
10/16/23 #34585

Ditto on the thanks to all of you who contributed to this fantastic event!

And really, the reason for our huli-of-the-year award is because you all are so amazing. I wanted to share a glimpse of this wonderful community with a good friend named Max, who has never been in an OC or a surfski before. And he wanted to see what it was like to paddle an OC, so why not start in a race? What could go wrong?
Well my friend is very very strong but our five minutes of pre-race practice did not get us synchronized. A strong pull on the right from my friend while I was exiting on the left led to … well you guessed it - the surprise swim.
My excellent team-mates, Debra Noonan, Thom Pritchard, and that crazy fast triple of Bill-Fischer-Kevin were gracious (at least to my face). Max told me (at least to my face) that he had fun.
But I do know that he and his wife were impressed with all of you. The age range represented at this event was stunning.

Thank you all for your generosity and inclusivity.

Sue

Crafty Barnacle at the P4F
Dan Mayhew 10/16/23 #34583

You can learn endless tricks to get ahead in a race from the Barnacles. Many are familiar with David S engaging unwitting paddlers in Socratic dialog mid race. Larry B's tactic of alternating between power and rest often glides him to the podium. Medler explodes past foes to grind down their bones as he chants 'fe fi fo fum.' Duncan's tricks would fill pages rivaling The Art of War.

So naturally, when Deano showed up for the P4F looking different I knew something was up. He had his long, neoprene paddling pants on inside out. Had he gained additional rotation my having the felt like interior press against his bucket? Was he unnerving his opponents with a game face on top and chaos on the bottom?

Beware the Barnacle that makes a change. Don't be surprised if in La Connor, half the Barnacles come flying past you with their pants on inside out cackling all the way to glory.

Or maybe Deano forgot how to put on his pants.

Dean Bumstead
10/16/23 #34584

My secret has been exposed. At least I hope it was just that.

DB

Duncan Howat
10/16/23 #34586

Nice photo Dan. But what does the L stand for in the back. Couldn't make it sunday to the general fun , free food, (always looking for that) and general angst about team assigment. But a touch of first time covid, then over that, flu , before I could get the vaccine. What a nice day sunday was. Nice work by Kevin , and Gordon Ramsay, from “Hell's Kitchen” for the food which I missed ,Or was it JohnR ? I guess the race has a duel meaning.

Dan Mayhew 10/16/23 #34587

Duncan, Sorry to hear you were sick. It was a spectacular, warm sunny day with a great turnout.

You've gotta be there next year. If you're lucky, like me they will pair you with hotshots in a K-2 that drags your team around the buoys. If you decline to paddle, you could weave in and out of the line of competitors on that hydrofoil of yours. Plus there were more cookies than ever before.

David Scherrer
10/17/23 #34588
Dan…Socrates hu? Ha, about the only thing in the wide universe connecting the ol'fella and myself is our appreciation of Retsina!
D.

Paul Reavley
10/17/23 #34589

David,

If I can venture a guess, I suspect Dan is referring to the Socratic method which is all about asking questions. Your questions may not have exactly the same intent though: Like “Wow, have you been lifting weights?” or “why isn't your weed deflector working?”

David Scherrer

10/17/23 #34590
Alas, alas, I have been found out!

MARC WHITLOCK
10/17/23 #34591

Not a big discovery, David.

P4F Final
Kevin Olney
11/04/23 #34667

Thanks to everyone who attended and supported Paddle 4 Food 2023!

We enjoyed some classic October weather. Calm crisp morning with sunshine and a light breeze in the afternoon. The teams were competitive, with all 13 teams finishing less than 11 minutes apart. It could not have happened without the help of some awesome individuals:

Julie V, Kim W- registration, cleanup

John R - Soup Boss, kitchen organizer

Deb B, Sandy G - setup, cleanup, timing

Brandon N - buoys

Steve S - buoys, boats

Kim R - AIS police

Tom H - money magic

Amber Z, Kirk C - team formation

Adrienne, Kim W- timing

Marc B - registration, timing equipment

Paul C - permit, insurance, awards

Peter Marcus - the father of P4F!

The raffle prizes were awesome! Thanks to:

Pacific North Sports

Brandon Nelson

Ana Swetish

Boundary Bay Brewery

Mambo Italiano

And many thanks to all the other helping hands throughout the day. Huge thanks to the folks who supplied soup and cookies. I’m not sure who brought what, but it was an amazing spread!

The donation totals are in. With some matching help from Zeeks Pizza and Bell Timber, your combined generosity resulted in over 200 lbs of food and $9662 donated to the Bellingham Food Bank!! Awesome work!

Thanks everyone for making P4F a huge success!

Kevin O