Reivers Dustin

Aug 7 #29813
I had a great race. Paddled way above my pay grade. Then the COPD cut in. I can barely climb a flight of stairs.

On Friday night campground there were maybe seven of us. Not sure what the next day would bring. Wind forecasts were still flakey (very different at different times.) But that night lots of rain.

The next morning people rolled in off the ferry. There was a gang of about five women from Boston who had made the Shaw race part of their West Coast tour. They normally do the Blackburn challenge, but had to see how the left coast is. They got the full treatment: rain, sun, Orcas, and that lost feeling you get about 3/4 around Shaw. Quite a few racers saw the Orca. I saw several Salmon, but missed their lunch dates.

The race was set up for two heats: a 9:00am start and an 11:00 am start. Most folks went counter-clockwise, but even now it is not clear which way was best. I went counter in the 9:00am start along with Denise, LB, Tracy C. and a handfull of others. Wilson and another fast guy looked like they were going all the way to Orca Island, but that extra distance didn't mess them up too bad due to a nice slot of current out there. For the leg South down San Juan Channel it was a win to go very wide - out to mid-channel. I closed the gap on some rowers doing this. But that last two miles I was dragging my knuckles on the seaweed.

I missed the noon ferry so had some great discussions with some of the other racers at the ferry landing. John Mooney and his brother talked each other into driving up and paddling an OC-2 for the day's fun. That's a long drive for those two. But I guess Boston is further. Rod S. and his partner came within a whisker of beating the big quad rowing crew. I heard from Rainer it was a 15 second gap. But this race is not like a dialed in electronic thing. Oh yeah, the rocks there between Shaw and Canoe Island took out another skeg. On a brand new double rower. So it was a short day for that boat.

rd