Lampi's Pedal Boating Cruises

Dan Harris Challenge

2008-04-27T20:52:00.000-07:00

This race was one that would probably have been on the Sound Rowers schedule, but didn't make it. Hopefully, they will be on the schedule next year.

Anyway, the weather was perfect: calm, light overcast and cool temperatures. The launch was very nice, too: a coarse sandy beach, protected from most waves and not very far from the staging area.

There were quite a few paddlers, rowers, but only one pedal boat at the start of the race.

I was trying the outriggers in a new configuration on the Cadence. The mounts where they connect with the hull have been angled slightly upward with the intention that the floats would be just above the water when the boat was occupied and perfectly balanced.

Unfortunately, the angle was not quite enough. The floats were still in the water, though not by more than perhaps half an inch or so of depth. It was a definite improvement as the drag was reduced, but it was still present.

After cruising around the boats at the starting line taking photos I found a spot near a couple of guys in a Merry Wherry and waited for the signal to start the race.

In the distance I heard a countdown, and then we were off!

With the outriggers deployed the Cadence did not have the acceleration nor the high cruising speed it otherwise has. I was working hard to keep up with an OC-1 and the Merry Wherry as we traveled en route to the first turn, but eventually I decided that I would have to bite the bullet and remove the outriggers if I wanted to be competitive. With the flat seas and no wind there was no need to have them deployed.

After rounding the buoy I tried pedaling while pressing on the release button and pulling out the aka (support tube), but it took a bit of effort before the right one finally was removed. I had to stop to remove the left one, and after a short time of pedaling along with them held across my lap decided that there had to be a better way.

I reinserted the outrigger akas back into their mounts on the hull, but with the floats up side down. This left them both several inches above the water but still available to provide stability if the boat tipped to one side or another. Hmmm, perhaps future amas could be mounted to be this high normally!

Having stopped for a while to make these modifications meant that I had fallen still further behind. Oh, well. It was time to put the pedal to the metal.

Never having been here before it was good to have other racers ahead to point out the way. Still, from what I recalled from the various maps of the race course as well as maps of the area, it seemed to me that most of the racers were heading quite a bit to the west of the land mass I thought to be Chuckanut Island, which marked the halfway point. I decided to head on a more eastward heading.

A little while later I encountered the first of the racers returning en route to the finish. The rowers tended to be on the right side, and most of the paddlers tended to be closer to shore on the left. Maybe the paddlers knew something about currents or something, or the rowers didn't want to worry about navigating around the rocks near shore. I don't know.

Eventually I reached the north end of Chuckanut Island, where I decided to go around clockwise, which was the opposite direction that the racers were heading. There were still some photo ops to be had, and meeting the racers face on was better than from their backs.

The island was rather pretty. Apparently made of sandstone, there were quite a few interesting erosional features along its eastern shore. I shot a few pictures of the sculpted rocks and sea stacks between shots of racers. It was very nice!

Rounding the south end of the island I encountered some seaweed, feeling the tug on the pedals as it wrapped around the propeller. A couple of cycles of pedaling forward and then reverse seemed to do the trick of clearing it and I was on my way again.

There were still a few kayaks heading south towards the island as I headed away from the island and towards the turn buoy. During this time I saw Todd and Lucia, two Cadence owners who apparently started the race quite late, having missed the entrance to the park several times.

I began pedaling in intervals at higher speed, followed by a more moderate cruising speed. This strategy enabled me to slowly catch up to and pass a couple of kayaks that had been about half a mile or so ahead at the island shortly after I reached the turn buoy.

There was one more kayak ahead that I hoped to catch before the finish. My legs were starting to talk to me, though, and for whatever reason I couldn't seem to go much faster than 6 to 6.5 mph. Hmmm, perhaps there were still some weeds in the drive train.

After going through a quick cleaning maneuver I continued towards the finish. The speed didn't appear to change much, so I just kept plugging away at the pedals.

The distance between me and the kayak was slowly shrinking as we passed the Washington State ferry at the shipyard, getting a new coat of paint along with other repairs. A train also passed by on its track along the shore, with it horns blaring.

Soon we could hear the air horn at the finish line signaling that other boats had completed the race. Pedal faster!

The finish line came too soon and the other boat crossed before I did. Oh, well.
With a time of 1:36:37 I finished the race. Whew - what a workout!

I pedaled around the finish line area for a few minutes taking pictures of the incoming paddlers. Eventually I returned to shore and examined the propeller for entanglements.

Sure enough, a bit of eel grass managed to get past the weed cutter and was wrapped around the prop shaft in the ball bearings. It was just enough to prevent my sprints from exceeding 6.5 mph and passing that last kayak.

Oh, well. It was time for lunch!

During the race my lovely wife and son went to the local natural foods co-op and bought some vegetarian beef hamburger, organic mushrooms and some non-dairy, non-soy chocolate cocoa nut ice cream. The burger and mushrooms were grilled by the race chef along the other, lesser race-provided burgers and came out absolutely delicious. The ice cream was also very tasty, even on a cool day such as this one.

In addition to the awards there was a drawing for various prizes, including paddles, PFD's, etc. As luck would have it, I managed to drive away with absolutely nothing but memories and photos of a good race and friendly competition.

More photos can be found
here.

La Conner 2008

2008-02-09T14:53:00.000-08:00

The weather preceding this race had been quite chilly, with lows in the low 30's and highs in the low 40's.

This year's La Nina had been depositing close to record breaking quantities of snow in the nearby mountains, and there had been several days of snow on the ground in the lowlands, too.

As luck would have it, however, the low temperature on the day of the race was in the mid 40's. It was still pretty gray and windy, mind you, with occasional showers, but at least it was relatively warm.

As has been sort of a custom for me over the past couple of years I had a brand new Cadence pedal boat for this race. It was a full carbon, green and black painted boat, with pin striping, and matching green carbon fiber outrigger floats. I just hoped that my body was up to the task of powering this boat as fast as its paint job!

Registration for this event was pretty easy. Since this was the first race of the year I had to fill out two forms. One form was for the annual Masters Rowing Association waiver that all club members have to fill out, and the other was the club waiver for the race. Non-members have to fill out both forms at each race and pay higher race fees. The cost for the race for members was a mere $8. It still amazes me that people attend other athletic events, paying $20, $50 or more for the privilege, and not frequently not getting the benefits of numerous awards, meals, race photos, etc., included in the price.

It started drizzling at the pre-race meeting. Greg Gilda, the race director, described the course, the hazards one was likely to encounter, and repeated the requirements for the race participants. Racers needed to have PFD's on board the boat, they needed to have noise making devices (whistles, etc.), they needed to stop to assist any other racers that were in trouble until those racers were truly out of trouble and back under way, and that everyone was supposed to have fun.

The Skagit Search & Rescue team also spoke for a few moments and identified the boats that were part of the team. These included several power boats and a pair of large jet skis.

After the meeting people returned to their cars and/or boats to prepare.

I wheeled the boat to the dock, intending to launch it from the end of the dock into the water. Unfortunately, however, the freshly and fully inflated wheels of the dolly refused to roll up over the steel plate at the landward end of the dock. Instead, they stayed in position and the boat slid.

Growling a little I then tried to lift the boat and dolly over the hump - and promptly managed to drop the boat approximately half a foot onto the edge of the steel plate. Ouch!

A brand new boat and the paint was already scratched by this misadventure. Sigh...

With the assistance of some of the other folks trying to use the dock I got the boat into the water and ready to go.

As I backed away from the dock I heard this crunching sound as the boat came to a sudden stop. Oh, no! Not another ding!

Sure enough, the stern had collided with one of the pilings, smearing creosote on one side. I guess the crunching sound was from the barnacles being crushed by the stern.

I hoped that this was not how the rest of the day would go!

After adjusting the position of the pedals to suit my leg length I began to do the warm up. I was wearing a polyester long sleeved t-shirt, a nylon shirt, a Kokotat PFD and a nylon windbreaker on top, bike shorts and Gore-tex (front half) biking tights, wicking athletic socks and bicycling sandals below.

Just standing around at the pre-race meeting I felt a little chilled in that combination, but on the water I had concerns that I might be over dressed during the race. Several other folks decided to leave their dry suits or other gear that they would normally wear in non-racing situations since they most likely would be rescued by others in short order if they ran into difficulty.

The boat was handling well. The stiffness of the drive train was readily apparent with every cycle of the cranks. The outriggers were working well, too, though it would be better if they were mounted perhaps an inch or so higher. This would have them skimming just above the surface of the water. As it was they extended about half an inch or so into the water, creating unnecessary drag.

I began taking photos of the other racers as they, too, warmed up. The vinyl waterproof bag in which the camera was contained was a little stiff from the cold, but the warmth of my hand in the bag's glove began to loosen it up over time.

The tide was slowly ebbing, but there wasn't much current in the Swinomish Channel. The GPS wasn't registering more than perhaps one mph in the southerly direction. With the wind from the south more or less counteracting the effects of the current this was probably as close to calm conditions as one could expect.

A long, light blue boat with white outriggers was being launched. This boat had very high sides to it and appeared to be a bit different from most other boats, so I went closer to take a look.

This boat was built to use the Hobie Mirage pedal powered flapping fin drive for propulsion. For going in the reverse direction the pilot used a paddle.

The boat seemed to be quite stable in the water. Given the long and narrow hull with the outrigger floats suspended slightly above the water this boat should give the Mirage drive an excellent chance to show its stuff!

Boats were beginning to congregate at the starting line, so I joined them. Signals were given for the 5 minute and 1 minute warnings, and then we were off!

The scene was pretty chaotic as paddlers and rowers tried to maneuver their craft down the narrow channel.

As usual, most of the rowing shells and a bunch of surf skis slowly pulled away from the pack. The surf skis tended to sort themselves into drafting groups while the rowers generally stayed more or less in the middle or towards the generally emptier right side of the channel. My speed was about 7 mph for the first 100 yards or so, then dropped to about 6.5 mph as I decided to pedal at a more reasonable pace.

A couple of outrigger canoes were keeping pace around me as we passed some yachts and fishing boats moored on the east side. Our speed seemed to have dropped to about 6 or 6.5 mph.

Just as we reached the end of the piers we encountered some logs and branches floating in the water. Ah, so this was the debris to which Greg referred!

Some of the smaller branches clunked against the hull - no problem.

As we continued down the channel the boats tended to stick closer to the east side of the channel. I'm not sure why, perhaps they thought we were fighting a current, or perhaps they felt they were being better sheltered from the light breeze. Personally, the breeze felt good as I unzipped my windbreaker in an effort to cool off.

The misty rain continued to be a problem for the camera. Prior to each shot I had to wipe off the optical port on the waterproof casing to remove the droplets that had accumulated in the short time since the last shot.

I could only hope that the shots would work out on this dark, wet day.

Eventually we reached the end of the channel, passing the navigational marker on the shore and turning westward towards Deception Pass.

The wind was a bit stronger here, and coming generally from the east-southeast. The breakwater kept the waves to a minimum, and most people were still moving at a moderate 6 to 6.5 mph pace.

My breathing was not especially hard at this time. I figured that with the drag of the outriggers preventing the boat from truly zipping along at planing speeds there was not much point.

Ahead and off to the right in the shallows I saw what looked to be a kayak with its paddler in the water.

Nobody else was over there, nor was anyone stopping to assist, so I headed over.

As I got closer the reason this guy was being "ignored" was that he was not a kayaker after all. He was a paddle board racer! We chatted for a few moments before I sped on ahead.

The tailwind kept blowing and the misty rain kept falling. A couple of boats were keeping pace with me as we approached the #5 green can buoy.

Meanwhile, the first of the racers on their way back from the turn buoy heading to the finish line were passing by. I did my best to keep out of their way and still take photos, though the camera was making the job difficult. It kept adjusting its aperture to the maximum open setting, and it took a second or two to readjust for proper exposure. During that second or two, of course, the mist would again coat the lens. Oh, well. Maybe it was time to bite the bullet and get a new camera after all - or perhaps not bother trying to shoot in the rain.

The incoming racers were scattered pretty widely across the width of the course. Some chose to stick close to the log booms, rocks and breakwaters on the south side of the channel. Others chose to head down the middle, fairly close to the stream of racers still heading out to the turn buoy. I was in the middle between them in order to take photos as close as possible, yet still trying to stay out of their way.

Through this leg of the race I was pedaling moderately hard, but not breathing especially hard. I was pretty toasty, with my nylon shirts and jacket soaked either by the mist or by my sweat. The two OC-1's that had been pacing me earlier were now ahead a bit, mainly because I slowed down a little for the photo ops. A couple of other boats were just ahead of me as we cleared the end of the log boom and entered a short stretch of water marked by one to two foot swells.

The turn buoy was now just ahead.

With the wind driven waves and the current it appeared to be a bit of a struggle for the other boats to make a straight line to the buoy. On the other hand, the outriggers on my boat and the propeller drive made it pretty easy for me to not only make a fairly straight line, but also let me concentrate on taking photos at the same time. Woo hoo!

After rounding the buoy we now found ourselves going almost directly into a stiff head wind. The mist was a bit lighter now, but with the wind it was actually a bit more difficult to keep it off the camera lens.

I decided it was time to concentrate more on racing than on photography.

The boats that were with me at the turn buoy were almost immediately dropped. I targeted the pair of OC-1's, and noticed that a safety jet ski was heading at high speed in their direction. Uh-oh - one of them had huli'd, i.e., he flipped over.

By the time the jet ski reached them the capsized boat had been flipped back over and the paddler was back on board. It had taken no more than a minute.

Traveling into the wind is one of those things where the Cadence really shines compared with just about every other human powered boat. Even with the extra drag caused by the outriggers I was able to shrink the quarter mile distance between my boat and the lead OC-1 quite rapidly, passing him at the east end of Goat Island. This was about the same place where a couple of the safety boats were stationed, so I took a few shots of them as I passed.

Along the shore on the north side I could see Traci paddling her surf ski. Ahh - perhaps I could catch her, too, though that would be a rather surprising feat with outriggers.

She continued along the shore as we neared the turn at Hole in the Wall where the Swinomish Channel met Skagit Bay - and then she disappeared. I swear, I looked away for a moment in order to snap a couple more photos and to check the progress of the last OC-1 I had passed, looked back and Traci was nowhere in sight.

Pedaling across to the north shore and heading around the turn I finally caught a glimpse of her. She was at least a quarter of a mile ahead of me, making her way up the channel. Rats! In the relatively sheltered waters of the Swinomish she was making excellent time. That meant that the OC-1 might also be able to catch me!

Desperate times call for desperate measures. In the calm water I had no real need for outriggers. If I could remove them while pedaling then I could go faster up the channel.

After a bit of effort, mainly due to my wet hands slipping on the carbon amas as I attempted to pull them out from their mounts, I was able to extract first one and then the other. With both amas laying across my lap and being held with one hand I was able to increase my speed up the channel by perhaps half a mile per hour.

That increase in speed was critical. The OC-1 had come within talking range shortly after the turn at Hole in the Wall, and it was highly likely he would have passed me by the finish. Instead, he was soundly left behind as I crossed the finish with a time of 1:13:01. He crossed with a time of 1:13:23. Woo hoo!

After a short recovery time I decided to try some speed tests without the outriggers. As there was still some tidal current I made two runs. The first run was north, up the channel and against the fairly feeble current.

The second run was south, with the current. According to the GPS there was not much difference between the two runs, possibly because I was running pretty low on energy. The highest speed reached was a little over 10 mph, not too bad considering this was the first time I was on the water since November.

With the assistance of some folks on shore I loaded my boat onto its dolly and more or less rolled it up the extremely rough concrete boat ramp. I washed off the boat, changed into some drier clothing and returned the boat to the top of the car. The damage caused by dropping the boat on the ramp prior to the race wasn't too bad. Some of the accent paint on the bottom was roughed up a bit, but there appeared to be nothing else amiss.

With the rest of the competitors I drove over to a nearby marina club house for the race-provided hot soups, fresh sourdough bread and desserts. Let me tell you, it was delicious!

Greg Gilda made the post race announcements and handed out the awards. The first boat over the finish line was a double rowing shell crewed by John Alberti and Tyler Peterson. They had a time of 52:15. The other pedal boat, piloted by Jamie Wells with the Mirage drive, finished with a time 1:29:13. The last boat across had a time of 2:22:30, and one of the two paddleboarders apparently did not finish. The one that did finish had a time of 1:34:23.

All in all it was a pretty fun race, even with the mist and wind.

My stats:

The entire set of photos can be found at the Sound Rowers site.

Cascade Distance Race

2007-11-01T12:05:00.000-07:00

It was darn chilly on the morning of this race. At 8:30 AM the temperature was 38 degrees Fahrenheit at my house, and 35 degrees at the Renton Boat House at the mouth of the Cedar River on Lake Washington. Brrrr! The lake was pretty well socked in with fog, but the surrounding land was generally clear of all cloud cover.

There were about a dozen vehicles in the parking lot, all with one or more boats on their roofs. People were slowly moving about, bundled up with winter coats, hats and gloves. Gloves - those would feel pretty nice while handling nearly ice cold fiberglass. Why didn't I think to bring any?

As luck would have it, I remembered that I kept a nice pair of winter cycling gloves in the car for when I drove to my old job in Beaverton. They worked well in keeping the sun off my hands on that 3 hour southbound trip each week. It had been quite some time since I last used them, but they were still there.

Bundled up with a couple of layers of jackets, shirts and pants, hat and gloves, I unloaded the Cadence from my car, loaded it up with the outriggers, camera bag, cycling sandals and water for the race. I took a couple of short plastic Halloween statues, one of a pumpkin headed man and the other of Dracula, and duct taped them one per outrigger. I had forgotten to take the inflatable skeleton and his coffin. That was going to be placed on the rear deck of the boat. Oh, well - no skeleton crew for this race!

After dropping the Cadence off at the boat ramp I walked over to the Boat House and registered for the race. The cost was the standard Sound Rowers member rate of $8, which included the support boat, ribbons and lunch. It is such a good deal!

Returning to the boat I changed took off my outer garments, put on my PFD and cycling sandals, and launched. I wanted to get to the boat house in time for the pre-race meeting.

As luck would have it I had troubles finding the channel through the sediment at the mouth of the river. There were a few logs and branches that fooled me into thinking they were in the shallows rather than lining deeper water, and the angle of the light made it difficult to see how deep the water was until you right on top of it.

After a few tries I finally made it past the bar and pedaled over to the Boat House.

The pre-race meeting was over but Dan Henderson, the race director, said there were no changes from the previous year.

I returned to the boat and headed out to warm up and take photos.

The new production outriggers were not the only new thing I was testing today. The drive train was outfitted with a pair of chain tensioners. Their purpose was to even out the peak loads applied to the propeller during each complete turn of the cranks.

Whether you are pedaling a bicycle up a hill or turning a propeller through the water it is better to apply a constant force to the wheel or propeller, respectively. Over powering in the power portion of a stroke and under powering at the full leg extension or retraction causes losses. Tests done by an acquaintance of mine riding a specially modified bike in the hills around his home proved the concept for bicycles. This test would, hopefully, prove or disprove the concept for boating.

All I knew was that the modifications to the drive system made it a bit noisier and added a bit more friction to overcome.

The sun was now breaking through the fog that had been covering much of the lake, and the wind was starting to pick up. With the increased wind from the north the water was starting to get pretty bumpy, too. Maybe it would be a good day to have the outriggers after all!

It took a while, but eventually all the competitors made their way from the parking lot, down the river and to the starting line. After a bit of jostling by the wind and waves we managed to sort out positions along the line and waited for the starting signal.

We waited some more.

We waited some more.

Just before I was about to drift behind a massive hulk that had been moored at the south end of the lake for eons the air horn signaling the start of the race sounded. We were off!

The side wind made it a bit tough for many of the rowers as it tended to push other boats into the areas required for the oars of the rowers., or pushed the rowers into other boats that happened to be downwind. I had to be a bit more careful as well since the outriggers now made the boat much wider than I was accustomed. Still, it was very nice not having to concern myself with balance while I turned my body this way and that to take advantage of the photo opportunities.

A number of racers were having problems with the beam seas. Many of the rowers were moving a bit slower than normal, catching quite a few crabs on their way. Most of the surf ski and kayak paddlers seemed to be pretty much in their element, unaffected for the most part by the chop.

My boat was moving around 6 to 6.5 mph. This was not a bad speed but definitely slower than I normally race when not using outriggers. Also, I found that every so often a wave would hit the upwind outrigger just right, splashing me a bit in the process. The nylon jacket helped a bit in keeping the water off, but my bike shorts were starting to get wet. Oh, well. The effort pedaling was starting to heat me up; perhaps the cooling effects of the water would balance.

I was most of the way towards the Atlantic City turn buoy when I encountered the first of the short course racers on their way back to the finish. The wind and waves had diminished considerably by now, and the rowers were slowly regaining their normal places in the racing heirarchy. Still, there was a good chance that the first place finisher in this race just might be a surf skier.

I soon reached the first turn buoy. Most of the boats around me made their turn and headed back to the finish. It looked like most of the boats that were on the long course were far ahead.

My legs were telling me that they would be very happy if I, too, turned around and headed back to the finish. Unfortunately, however, I promised Todd, who was racing in his pedal boat in the short course, that I would be doing the long course. This would give each of us a first place ribbon and me some much needed exercise.

I'd just have to tough it out.

The drive system and outriggers were definitely slowing me down. I had a difficult time catching a guy in a kayak as we headed north towards Seward Park. The water was pretty calm here, and I toyed with the idea of removing the outriggers and stowing them. Nah! It would be better to test them further and perhaps on the return leg see what sort of speed could be attained with them removed at that time.

Upon reaching the second turn buoy just south of Seward Park I could see crowds of people at the finish line for the Pumpkin Push run/walk at the park. I could also see that I had nearly caught the kayaker who had been ahead of me for the past couple of miles. Go legs, go!

Try as I might, I wasn't able to catch that kayaker. Perhaps the air drag of the pumpkin headed creature on one outrigger and that of Dracula on the other outrigger was hindering my progress. Perhaps the drive train modifications had too much friction. Perhaps the outriggers just made my boat as slow as a kayak. Perhaps the combination of all three conspired to keep me behind as we headed around the north end of Seward Park where we encountered the first of the long racers as they headed back to the finish line.

This was interesting. The first boats heading back were surf skis, not rowing shells. Where were the rowers?

A few minutes later the first rowing shell, a double manned by Adrian and Rob, appeared and quickly passed on its way back to the finish.I wonder if they would be able to catch the pair of surf skis?

Quite a few more paddlers passed on their way back to the finish, and I was starting to gain on the boat directly ahead of me. Perhaps I could catch him after all!

Heading into the cove on the west side of the park I found half a dozen more boats beginning the second half of the race. I guess I wasn't all that far behind the other racers after all, but began to doubt that there was anyone left behind me!

The kayak ahead made his turn around the buoy and I finally recognized him. It was Tom, a regular racer whom I normally leave far behind.

That settled it. I was going to have to do something!

After rounding the 3rd buoy I was pleased to find there were several boats still behind. Yay! I wasn't the last boat after all!

I continued in pursuit of Tom.

It was time to try pedaling with a single outrigger.

While continuing to pedal I pressed the release button on the right outrigger support and tried to twist it out. It wouldn't budge as my sweaty hands slipped on the smooth carbon fiber tube.

Wiping off my hands I tried again, and it moved. Yay!

After pulling it out I rested the tube across the gunwales of the Cadence. This kept the float ever so slightly above the water.

Now, of course, the remaining outrigger was sinking a bit lower in the water as I leaned more to the port. Perhaps removing a single outrigger would not help as much as I thought.

I tried leaning more to the starboard. This was a bit better, and I started to pick up a little speed.

I had almost caught the kayak as we reached the second buoy.

It was at the second buoy that I decided to try removing the other outrigger, too. With a little effort I was able to release it, pull it out and balance the aka (the carbon fiber tube) across my waist on the gunwales, with one float on one side of the boat and the other float on the other side of the boat.

This generally seemed to work, so long as I held it with one hand and steered with the other hand. Once in a while, though, either the bow or the stern of one float or the other would dip into the water and act as a brake.

With my hands thus occupied, I couldn't take any photos. It didn't matter much, anyway, as the shots would have mostly been into the sun and would not have turned out. On the other hand, my speed increased by nearly a mile per hour and I quickly passed Tom and his dastardly kayak.

As I passed he said "I was wondering why you were taking so long to pass me". I told him about the outriggers and said "See you later!".

There was quite a distance between me and the next boat, but I kept on pedaling. My legs were very tired by this time, and all I had left to drink was another bottle of water.

I sure hoped there would be some food left at the finish!

The distance between my boat and the one ahead seemed to be shrinking, but there was no way that I'd catch him before the finish.

A couple of quick stops to remove weeds from the propeller didn't help, either.

With that being the case as I neared the mouth of the Cedar River I decided to reinstall the outriggers and take more photos.

With a time of 2:22:27 I finally crossed the finish line. Whew!

Thirteen seconds later Tom crossed the line. I guess I wasn't as far ahead as I thought!

I tied up at the dock by the boat house and made my way up the ramp and through the shop. The lunch was set up on tables lining the dock, with Dan Henderson manning the grill. That food looked and smelled good!

I grabbed a plate and filled it with a burger, salad and dessert. Yum!

The sun had warmed up the day considerably. The temperature had risen to the low 50's and the wind had mostly died. Still, it was a little chilly in the shade wearing wet clothing so I basked in the sun. It was a good thing I had on my sunscreen!

After a while the awards ceremony was held. Ribbons were handed out for winners in each of the classes for both the long and the short courses, though many of the short course winners had long since gone home. This year, due to the rough conditions at the start, there were several DNF's (did not finish). The conditions also enabled surf skis to be first overall in both races.

After the ceremony I returned to my boat and headed up the Cedar River to the ramp. A guy in a rather unsteady high kneel canoe accompanied me. We pulled our boats from the water and went our separate ways.

It was a good day for a race!

For all the photos taken, head over here.

Medina-Mercer 2007

2007-10-08T21:21:00.000-07:00

The standing joke here is "What do you call the sunny, warm day preceded by two cold and wet days? Monday.".

While the US Midwest was basking in clear skies and temperatures in the upper 80's, we in the Pacific NorthWet were having a typical weekend: sunny Friday, drizzly and chilly (low 50's) Saturday, drizzly and not quite as chilly (low 60's) Sunday, and partly cloudy Monday.

Two layers of shirts, fleece lined jacket and a wind breaker were not enough to keep me warm before the race. Replacing the fleece jacket with a kayak PFD did the trick. Putting on an insulating headband and baseball cap certainly helped, too.

After registering for the race I returned to the car and prepared for the race. This involved taking the Cadence off the roof of the car and onto its dolly, loading it with water bottles, seat pads, tow rope, GPS receiver and a safety paddle. The Coroplast race number was then taped to the rear deck. I carefully walked it down the steep asphalt path to the beach where the guy in the backhoe had just finished smoothing the beach for us.

With all the construction gear and concrete forms blocking most of the access to the beach I decided to park the boat as far from the access path as possible. I couldn't be accused of blocking anyone by leaving the boat there!

As it was still a bit early and the drizzle was getting a bit heavier, I decided to return to the car. It was quite a bit warmer and drier inside, and it gave me a chance to put the camera in its waterproof case in preparation for the race. It also seemed to be time to switch from sneakers to sandals, as there were very few dry places around the registration shelter where I could conceivably stash my belongings.

About 10 or 15 minutes later the rain subsided. I got out and took more photos of other folks preparing for the event, most of whom were bundled in warm clothing, hats and jackets. Some even wore mittens or gloves.

The pre-race meeting was held soon after my return. Rainer Storb, the race director, told us about the two courses, the long and the short. They both start at the same place and time and head the same direction - south, towards Mercer Island and the East Channel Bridge. The short course turns back after crossing under the bridge while the long course continues down the East Channel, rounds the bottom of Mercer Island and heads back to Medina Beach park by way of the west side of Mercer Island.

For today's race we had the assistance of the Medina Police Marine Unit as well as a private volunteer safety boat. Of course, we were expected to provide assistance to other racers if they were in trouble and if we could help in any way.

During the meeting another Cadence pedal boat arrived, this one owned by Todd. He parked it alongside mine and quickly got registered.

I asked Todd which race he had intended to do, as I intended to the other one. You see, this would mean that we both could get first place ribbons so long as we finished our respective races. When he replied "The long one" I was pretty happy. Given how chilly it was and how I was feeling about the weather I really did not feel like pedaling the long one.

People started launching their boats, stepping into the cool water and clambering aboard as quickly as possible. The little breakwater did a pretty good job of reducing the chop, so launching and boarding was easy to manage. The water also got reasonably deep close to shore, so I was able to have the bow of the Cadence on the sand, the stern out in the water, and not have to step too far into the water to get into the cockpit.

While still beached I got in the boat, sat down, dried my feet with the socks, and put on the sock and sandals.

Backing away under pedal power worked out pretty well, too. I was able to turn around between some of the other boats and head out into the lake.

There was still a bit of a drizzle and a strong breeze from the south. This kicked up the water a bit and also coated the optical port on the camera case. It was good I carried along a couple of cloth handkerchiefs with which to dry it!

Quite a few people seemed to be troubled one way or another by the conditions. Still, no one seemed to capsize during the warmups, and the two safety boats kept close by in case any problems occurred.

I noticed that turning around in the wind was a little more difficult than usual. Deciding that the problem was due to the sail effect of the race number on the stern of my boat I had some guys in another boat remove the number and stow it flat on the rear hatch. Thanks, guys!

While warming up I heard the 5 minute and 1 minute signals. All too soon the starting signal was heard and I was about 100 feet behind the starting line. Oh, well. At least I'd get some shots of the field as they departed!

I started pedaling at a moderate pace, resigned to the fact that I'd be well behind most of the other racers.

A funny thing happened. I was gaining on just about the entire field.

It turned out that the strong headwind and the chop was slowing down everybody else. With a little additional effort I was able to catch up to the field and motor past almost all the other competitors!

As far as I could tell through the droplet covered bezel the GPS was reporting a speed of around 6.5 mph.

This was especially true of the rowers. Their oars kept catching "crabs" as they hit the waves, and I was able to keep up with rowers that would normally be far out in front. Even some of the OC-1's and OC-2's had problems as during the recovery stroke their paddles would hit the oncoming wave tops if they didn't raise them high enough.

Hurray for propellers!

I kept pace with Rob, one of the normally fast rowers, for quite a distance. He took a slight break at one point, whereupon I scolded him for slowing down. I went around his boat and continued onward towards the bridge.

A strong paddler in a surf ski was keeping pace to my left, while two strong paddlers in an OC-2 slowly began catching up on my right. Their periodic shouts signaling they were switching sides on which to paddle could be heard clearly above everything else.

I timed a similar shout as a joke. Steve, one of the OC-2 paddlers, thought it was pretty funny and was wondering if I was trying to confuse them. Yes, I was!

The closer we approached the bridge the quieter the wind and waves became. The propeller drive advantage was being lost. The normally faster boats started performing "normally"; i.e., they started pulling ahead. If there was any good news it was that the drizzle had by this time mostly stopped. I was getting warm enough that I actually had to take off my hat and open up my wind breaker.

Another rower managed to catch up and pass me just before reaching the bridge. Meanwhile, I took a few shots of the leading racers returning from the bridge on the short course.

I began to wonder if Todd was actually going to go ahead and do the long course. The conditions further ahead looked pretty easy; perhaps he would continue on after all.

I rounded the four pylons of one of the bridge piers and headed back towards the start. It was amazing how far ahead of the rest of the field we had gotten.

Rather than take a bee line back to the start I decided to try to get fairly close to the incoming racers for some photo ops. This worked out fairly well, though I'm sure it slowed me down a little. However, with the wind at my back I was heating up quite a bit. Going a little slower meant I could feel more of a breeze. Ahhhh!

Unfortunately, however, going slower would also mean that other folks would eventually catch and pass. I continued pedaling faster, with the GPS reporting a speed of about 7 mph.

Todd appeared at about the middle of the pack. He seemed to be pedaling strongly and was still planning to head around the island on the long course. Go Todd!

The GPS was reporting my speed as a bit slower than I expected for the amount of effort. I paused a couple of times, pedaling backward and forward in an effort to dislodge any milfoil that might have accumulated. It was hard to say if there actually was an improvement, or whether I was merely getting tired.

Heading further away from the bridge the wind and waves started picking up, as expected. I began pedaling a little faster. This enabled the Cadence to go faster than the waves were moving and eliminated any surfing effects.

About half a mile from the finish I noticed a rower that had slowly and slightly crept up close to my position. Oh, no! I wasn't going to let him catch me!

I pedaled harder, trying to make nice circles with my pedals.

It seemed to work. The boat appeared to be cutting faster through the waves and the rower seemed to be dropping behind.

At long last I reached the breakwater and heard the horn signaling my race was over, with a time of 1:01:55 and 8th place overall. Not bad, but it didn't break my record of 56:23. Of course, that was in smooth conditions with far fewer photos taken.

About 20 seconds later the rower crossed the line.

I circled back and took more photos of some of the incoming racers. It didn't take too long before the wind cooled me off, perhaps a bit too much. It was time to return to shore.

I raced back, passing another boat as he crossed the finish line. Woohoo!

Back on shore I wheeled the Cadence on its dolly most of the way back up the path towards the car. I left it there, returned to the car and changed into dry clothing. That felt much better!

In honor of the Medina-Mercer Sausage Pull name a lunch of freshly grilled fine German sausages was offered. I picked out a tasty bratwurst, some sauerkraut and ketchup and consumed it hungrily. Yum!

By this time the weather had lightened considerably. The drizzle was long gone and every so often the sun would break through the cloud cover. The wind was still fairly strong and chilly, but nylon pants over woolen leg warmers, two layers of jackets, an insulating head band and baseball cap kept me nice and warm.

Many of the short course racers decided to head out rather than wait in the cold for the long race to complete. The rest of us had pleasant conversation and watched for boats as they arrived one by one from across the lake.

There was some excitement when two boats arrived neck and neck. Though they tried mightily, the two man boat finished just behind the one man surf ski.

As the crowd dwindled further it was decided to hold the awards ceremony, even though the last of the racers had yet to arrive.

I found out that another racer started 30 minutes late and was given his own time. He ended up in 8th place, pushing everyone else (me included) down a notch. This didn't sit too well with a number of other racers, as it was felt that the conditions might have been easier later in the morning. I suspect that this might be a topic for the club's annual meeting in December.

Shortly after the awards ceremony was over I walked back to the fence along the shore. In the distance one could see the Medina Police boat escorting a racer from Mercer Island. After much squinting through binoculars it was determined that it was Todd, finishing the course under his own power. Go Todd!

After Todd neared the finish the police boat left to find another boat to escort.

I helped Todd get his boat from the water, pointed him in the direction of the hot food and scored the last of the soft drinks for him. He was a little late and had some family obligations to rush off to. Congratulations on finishing!

Even with the cold and rain it was a fun event. Thanks, Rainer and all the volunteers!

Lake Samish Race 2007

2007-09-29T17:57:00.000-07:00

The boat races seem to be bunched pretty closely together at this time of year, with every race director trying to get one in before wintry weather makes it unpleasant to be out on the water.

Merely one week after the Paddle the Shores event I drove to Bellingham, WA to participate in the Sound Rowers Lake Samish Salmon Roe. The skies were thick with gray clouds. The temperature was around 50 degrees and the forecast was for showers.

Hopefully the rain would hold off until after the race!

I arrived at Lutherwood Park at the north end of Lake Samish at about 8:30 AM. There were numerous people dressed in bright orange safety gear directing traffic to and from the boat staging areas and parking areas. It all seemed vaguely familiar when it hit me. The people running this event also run the Mt. Baker Ski Resort, and they were using the same sorts of techniques to squeeze people, cars and boats into small spaces as they did on the mountain to handle people, cars and skis.

All in all it went very smoothly.

I dropped off my boat, rolled it onto an out of the way spot on a nearby dock, and returned to park my car in a distant parking area.

Upon returning to the registration area I went to collect my pre-registration packet. These guys were so efficient it was scary - except they somehow lost my online pre-registration.

Oh, well.

Filling out the form on race day only meant that they did not have my T-shirt size available. I had to settle for a large and hope for the best when I washed it later. There was no additional cost for day of event registration.

By the time of the pre-race meeting the place was filled with boats and people. There were 108 boats entered, ranging from plastic kayaks to carbon fiber rowing shells and carrying from one to six people. Racers ranged in age from perhaps 10 years to late 70's. This surely was going to be the biggest Sound Rowers race of the year!

The course was to be the same as in the previous couple of years. It starts just beyond the bridge in the main section of the lake, heads southward to a buoy, heads along the eastern shore to another buoy, returns under the bridge to the far northern shore and finishes shortly after making a turn at the last buoy. The total distance is about 5.5 miles.

As the Sound Rowers club photographer I decided to repeat my slightly longer version of the race. This meant that some time before reaching the first buoy I would instead cross the lake to the eastern shore and follow the course backward around the first turn buoy until I passed the last boat in the race. At that time I would then cross the lake to the buoy on the eastern shore and continue along the course as normal.

This would add anywhere between 0.25 and 0.5 miles and 2 to 5 minutes to the length of my race, but I feel that is a small sacrifice for the far greater number of photo opportunities it presented.

After the pre-race meeting completed I went back to the dock. After swapping my pants and shoes for woolen leg warmers and sandals, sealing the camera in its waterproof bag, launching the Cadence and stowing the wheels in the rushes along the shore, I got under way. There was not a lot of time between the end of the meeting and when the race was supposed to start, and the starting line was about a mile distant.

All in all the trip to the starting line served as a nice warm up. The Cadence was working pretty smoothly and my body was starting to warm up enough that I decided to stow my nylon jacket. The insulation of the PFD and the two long sleeved nylon/synthetic shirts quite adequate in keeping me warm.

When I reached the starting line the 5 minute warning was given. Great! Now I could wander about and take some starting line shots.

There were so many boats here that the organizers suggested that if you were a slower racer that it was preferred that you start in a row behind the faster boats. Even so, the starting line stretched across the lake.

At long last the starting signal was given. We were off!

There was quite a bit of mayhem, with paddles and oars splashing, some minor collisions, and folks trying to make their way down the course.

A surf skier next to me splashed me a couple of times, dousing the camera bag with spray. I extracted a cloth from a pocket in my PFD and attempted to dry the optical port on the camera bag, all while pedaling madly and trying to steer a straight course. Sheesh!

I didn't bother trying to draft anyone. The faster guys were already fairly far ahead and I was able to keep pace with the boats around me. These guys were trying to find their way around each other, positioning behind one or another or trying to catch other boats just ahead. For me it seemed to be a better strategy to just snap photos every so often and keep on moving.

After passing a safety boat that was sitting in the middle of the course towards the first turn buoy it looked like it was time to cross the lake to meet the first racers. I snapped a parting shot of a fast six person dugout canoe with which I had been keeping pace and headed off at an angle. Hopefully no one was drafting me as they would be going the wrong way!

The timing was almost perfect. Just as I reached the far side of the lake the first boat, a two man shell, crossed just ahead of me. I think they were surprised to see me, but they just kept on rowing.

The same couldn't be said about a few of the next boats. I did my best to give them room and yet still be close enough to shoot them. For the most part this seemed to work pretty well.

A little while later I reached the first turn buoy. There were racers still coming towards it as far as the eye could see.

Unfortunately, however, the camera couldn't quite keep up writing photos to the flash memory as fast as shots were taken. It was not as bad as in previous years as I was now acquainted with the problem and tried to space the shooting accordingly. There were still a few times I ended up having to wait, missing some excellent photo ops while doing so.

A minute or two later I encountered Todd in his yellow and white carbon fiber Cadence. He seemed to be doing pretty well and was pedaling pretty strongly. Go Todd!

There were a lot more kayaks, surf skis and even rowing shells still coming. I was starting to wonder how I would be backtracking in order to take everyone's photo!

Eventually the last two boats appeared. One was the four man high kneel canoe paddled by a bunch of young kids from the Cascade Canoe & Kayak center in Seattle, accompanied by their coach in a kayak. These intrepid young paddlers seemed to be a little unsteady at times, but they kept on going. Hurray for them!

I made a bee line across the lake towards the second turn buoy. The GPS was indicating a speed of about 7 mph, and the wind was mostly to the side.

There was a large group of boats just finishing making turn past the buoy when I arrived. The group included a couple of OC-1's, an OC-2, several kayaks, a couple of surf skis and a rowing shell or two, with about twelve boats total. Aha! Targets!

This stretch pedaling back towards the bridge was not quite as easy as I thought it was going to be. The wind driven waves were just big enough to jostle the boat so that the camera wouldn't sit still on the deck behind me. The camera would flop over to one side and yank on my neck in that direction, or flop to the other side and yank in the other direction. Flopping either way also interfered with my balance against the wave action. If the camera was on my chest it would interfere with my heavy breathing. There was just no comfortable place to put it!

I ended up doing some zig zagging so that the boat was either parallel to or perpendicular to the wave direction. This worked OK, but prevented me from making headway and catching up to the other boats.

Getting closer to the bridge the waves decreased in size. I was able to put on some speed and caught up to the tail end of the group.

At the bridge I passed a couple of kayaks, one of whom asked if I was going to catch the OC-1's. I told him "Maybe, but not likely" - and then put the pedal to the metal. He tried to stay on my tail but was having some difficulty in drafting.

I was pretty much at my aerobic limit, having been pushing pretty strongly throughout the race. Still, this was almost at the finish line and there were maybe nine boats just ahead. If I could hang on just a bit longer it would make a big difference in the standings.

Towards the finish I normally snap a lot of photos, but this time I decided to race. After one last sip of water I grabbed both steering handles to brace myself and poured it on. Trying to pedal in circles as best as I could and as fast as I could, the distance between the blue and white OC-1 paddled by Rocky grew smaller. We rounded the final turn buoy, and the finish line was less than 200 feet away.

I was right on Rocky's stern as he paddled as hard as he could. With all the strength I could muster the bow of the Cadence crept forward, now even with the cockpit of the OC-1, now even with the bow and, just as the horn for the finish sounded, about a foot ahead of the OC-1. Hurray!

Rocky asked "Were you trying to catch me at the finish? 'cause I was trying my best to keep ahead of you!"

I confessed and said that yes, I was indeed trying to beat him.

After a bit of a rest and some photography I tied up at the dock and retrieved the outriggers for the boat. Terri, the wife of one of the surf skiers, had wanted to try out the boat with outriggers and this was her chance.

A few other folks tried their hand at pedaling Todd's boat as well as mine, and were generally pretty impressed with how easy they were to handle and to propel.

Last call was being made for the BBQ salmon lunch, so we took the boats from the water and headed over to the picnic area.

There was still a line for getting food, but it wasn't long before I had a steaming plate of salmon, mashed potatoes and coleslaw. It was very tasty!

I walked around the tables while eating, talking to folks and snapping more photos.

Eventually I found the table full of door prizes. These were contributed by a number of firms in the Bellingham area, and also included season lift passes to the Mt. Baker Ski Resort.

It was a while before the drawings for the prizes were made. As usual I didn't win anything.

It was still longer before the ribbons were awarded for the race. The fastest finish was by two guys in a rowing shell, with a time of 36:17. They were cooking!

Awards were given out to everyone but the three pedal boats, as we seemed to have been forgotten. This was brought to their attention immediately, and I received a first place ribbon with a time of 52:42. Not too bad for pedaling an extra quarter mile and shooting photos!

Todd received a second place ribbon with a time of 1:01:34. Todd's wife Lucia finished first in the women's pedal boat class with a time of 1:02:43. Way to go!

Thank you, Amy, Duncan and Peter for putting on such a great event!

The rest of the shots taken can be found here.

Paddle the Shores

2007-09-23T17:00:00.000-07:00

Just a short week after Budd Inlet was an event at Ocean Shores, WA. Called "Paddle the Shores", this two day event included a race on Duck Lake, seminars, demonstrations and boat try outs, and a poker paddle that included boating on some very pretty canals.

There - I'm all done!

Well, the long story is that it was rather chilly on Saturday morning with temperatures in the upper 50's. There was a light northwesterly breeze off the ocean. Even when the sun rose up into the sky as the morning wore on it stayed relatively cool.

After picking up my race registration stuff (wrist band, prize drawing ticket, boat number, discount coupon booklet) I got my boat ready for the race.

Today would be different. I was not going to take along anything but water and a canoe paddle. That's right - there would be no radios, cell phones or cameras in this race!

I wanted to have a race without that sort of stuff to get in the way. Woo hoo!

After some "capture the tag" contests, where people in kayaks try to grab tags attached to other kayakers and not lose their own tags, and demonstrations of kayak rolling techniques, and demonstrations of kayak rescue techniques, the pre-race meeting was held. It all sounded simple enough: go south, bear left at the first island and go under the bridge. Continue south and bear right until you hit the next set of islands, where you bear left. Continue south until you reach an orange buoy. Go around the buoy and return along the west side of the lake until you reach the last island, where you bear right. Continue northward until you eventually end up back at the start.

Looking at the map it seemed that there could be room for confusion, as some of the shoreline had inlets that looked like channels, etc. Hmmm...

The boat ramp and dock were pretty much the only areas at which we could launch. It took a while for all the boats to get into the water. Luckily for me most folks opted to launch from the ramp, while I had nearly unrestricted use of the dock. Ok, so I had to wait a moment for an OC-2 to paddle away from the shore. There was plenty of time before the race and no need to hurry.

Once out on the water I clicked into the pedals and began warming up. The sun was glaring off the water and into my eyes, and I felt a little nervous about this new course. This would be the first new race I had been at in years. Was the lake truly weed free, as we had been told? Would I be able to find my way among all the islands and channels?

We lined up for the start as best we could. The lake was very narrow at the starting line, being only perhaps 70 feet across. Some of the boats had troubles getting in line or, once there, had troubles maintaining a stationary position against the wind. Their paddles or oars would clash with adjacent boats.

I had no problems. Pedaling slowly in reverse worked quite well in keeping the Cadence right at the starting line.

Just before the starting signal was given a guy in a Hobie Mirage managed to find himself turned sideways in front of the boats on my left. In addition, another guy in a rowing shell just managed to squeeze in near me, placing me right against an OC-6. Boy, this was tight!

The signal was given, and we were off.

With the clatter of paddles hitting boats, the splashing of water and the whirring of my chain drive, the boats on my side scooted away from the starting line. This was a first - I was actually staying with the lead boats!

In the next few seconds, with my legs spinning the cranks faster than I ever recalled doing before, my boat leapt ahead of everyone, including the OC-6. Looking around, I saw that it was almost a boat length behind.

This was weird. My legs were still pedaling at an extraordinary rate, feeling very good, yet my breathing and my heart rate were only at a moderate level. I had to make a conscious effort to slow down pedaling as I knew that I couldn't possibly maintain that level for 5+ miles, regardless of how effortless it seemed at the moment.

In slowing down I decided to travel alongside the OC-6 for a while. These folks had done the race previously and knew the course. It would probably also be good to draft them and save my energy for later.

As I began drafting I found my legs starting to complain more, and my lungs and heart rate increased to near my aerobic threshold. Was it a mistake to have slowed down?!? Perhaps the Cadence has a super performance mode of operation of which I was previously unaware, such as one finds in power boats when they get on a plane.

All I know is that I was now working very hard and doing my best to stay in the draft of the OC-6, avoiding the whirlpools from their paddles.

We went under a bridge at the first island. Several spectators waved at us and cheered us on.

Here and there I could see small isolated pieces of milfoil floating at the surface. Hopefully they wouldn't get in my way!

I managed to keep the bow of the Cadence mere inches from the stern of the OC-6, well most of the time, anyway. There were a couple of times when they overlapped while the OC-6 zigged and zagged slightly down the course, and a couple of minor taps when I didn't slow or veer away quickly enough. No damage was done.

We were going about the same speed as the wind. This meant that the heat of exertion and that from the sun made it quite hot as we headed toward the turn buoy. I took off my hat, preferring instead to shade my eyes with my hands and try to let my scalp cool off. In addition, I decided that I would probably not bother drafting the OC-6 on the return as I was just melting.

As luck would have it, with the turn buoy just ahead I reached for my water bottle and, with great finesse, dropped my drink into the drink.

Rats!

It was as good of an excuse as any to drop off the OC-6.

I turned the boat around and noticed that we had placed quite a lead over the next boats in the race. Well, perhaps I shouldn't give up quite so soon!

After retrieving the floating bottle I quickly resumed course and rounded the turn buoy. The OC-6 was several hundred feet ahead, but I was not in a condition to catch them - yet, anyway.

With the sun now at my back I decided to see how fast a speed the GPS was reporting. What's this? The screen was blank!

Oh, no! The darned thing had been stationary too long before the start and turned itself off. Now I'll never know how fast I was going at the start!

I turned it back on.

With the OC-6 ahead to guide me on the return trip and a nice, cool breeze in my face I started feeling better. My heart and breathing rates were both a bit lower than while drafting, which suited me just fine. The GPS was reporting speeds in the 6.5 to 7 mph range. This was a nice, sustainable pace, and seemed to be about the same as the lead boat.

While traveling past the last of the islands and about 2/3 done with the race I encountered a woman in the race pedaling a Mirage toward me. She actually lived near there on the lake and even she wasn't sure which way the course went. I told her she was on the wrong side of the island and pointed her back onto the course.

My speed dropped slightly a short while later, so I went through the weed removal cycle. The speed didn't increase a whole lot, so I did it again. Success!

It was fun zipping past all the other racers and safety boats. A few folks later on said it looked like I was hardly working at all.

Passing under the bridge a second time and nearing the end I tied to decide whether it would be a good tactical move to travel along the lee side of the lake rather than continue straight into the wind. Ahead I saw the OC-6 making a bee line for what looked like - could it be? - yes, the finish line!

I abandoned the move and also made a bee line towards the finish, pedaling faster and faster.

It took approximately 90 seconds after the OC-6 crossed the finish line for me to follow suit. 49:29 was the time recorded, and second place overall! Woo hoo!

My legs were feeling pretty good, much better than they felt after the Budd Inlet race. I circled back around onto the course and had fun escorting the next few boats across the finish, seeing how fast I could sprint.

After the race I tried out the latest set of outriggers for the Cadence. They seemed to work pretty well, making the boat extremely stable.

Awards and prizes were given out to the race participants a little later. There were no awards given on the basis of the overall race; rather, they were awarded on the position in each class. Strangely enough, the prop driven Cadence was in the same class as the flipper driven Hobies, so the poor gentleman who pedaled his Hobie over the line 20+ minutes after me was awarded second place. Oh, well.

I had some family matters to attend to and didn't go to the seminars in the afternoon.

The next morning I took my family out for the poker paddle. They rode in the Escapade and I took the Cadence fitted with outriggers. Both boats were frequently topics of conversations among the paddlers at this event.

Despite the warnings of a local Encore pedal boat owner, I found the boat ramp to be perfect for launching the Escapade. Unlike most places I have launched that boat here it was able to float right off the bunks. Yay!

We should have left the Escapade's windshield at the dock. My wife found it to be quite warm as she pedaled it on this overcast, calm day. Oh, well.

We each carried a walkie talkie and cell phone for interboat communications. About halfway through the trip the battery in my radio died and we resorted to cell phones from then on.

The poker paddle event consisted of 7 stops along a loop course. At each stop you were handed (via a clothes pin glued to a long stick) a card in a sealed envelope. At the end of the event you would turn in your sealed envelopes. Whatever cards the envelopes contained would be your poker hand, with the best 5 cards picked. If you didn't want to travel the full distance you could exclude the middle two stops and end up with just 5 cards.

As it turned out, most folks went the entire distance. My wife didn't want to go the whole way as the attention span of the kids was whining, er, waning, so they took the short cut. Little did they realize that it was only a short distance to the furthest two stops and that this would have most likely given them a much better hand.

I went the whole distance, spending much of the time pedaling alongside a paddler who had rowed in the race the day before. We were traveling around 2 to 3 mph for the most part, much slower than I normally travel even when in the Escapade. Still, it was fun to see all the trees, boats and houses along the lake and tree covered canals, socializing with other boaters and talking shop.

Shortly after our return back to the lake I bid adieu to the paddler and increased the pace to 6 mph. That was more like it!

The outriggers sliced through the water cleanly, producing an interesting wake pattern behind. As the sun came out I caught up and passed boat after boat, heading towards the north end of the lake where my family was disembarking.

By the time I reached the dock they had already left for an early lunch, preferring not to wait for the picnic provided by the organizers. Oh, well.

After giving a few demos of the Escapade and the Cadence I headed to the picnic shelter for lunch. The food - hot dogs, burgers, beans, coleslaw, chips, etc. - were pretty tasty, and there was plenty for everyone.

Prizes were awarded for the poker hands. The top prize was a $150 gift certificate to Boaters World. It was followed by $100 and $50 certificates, dry bags, jackets, restaurant certificates, and many other items of interest to paddlers.

I ended up with a restaurant certificate good for two meals. Yippee!

The two days spent here were a lot of fun. I highly recommend it.

More photos are here.