Monday, March 8, 2010

We made it!







Ben and I finished the Watertribe Ultra Marathon in 23 hours 40 minutes. Out of the 18 starters in this part of the race we finished 8th. 8 dropped out due to cold, wind and choppy bays. The winners were a couple in a surf ski racing kayak that paddled the 68 miles in 10 hours. Pretty impresive. But Ben and I beat our goal of 24 hours and had a great time doing it. Conditions were tough due to the cold but the wind at our backs helped move us along an extra mile an hour or so. Ben did a great job of keeping us on course - except for a few paddling wrong turns :). We had trouble seeing the flats (shalow areas at low tide) in the bay at night and he sacrifically pulled us back to deep water so I could keep my feet dry and warm. Thanks Ben for your sacrificial wading in the water. The night paddling was better than I thought with light from the stars, moon and surrounding light. Fortunately we weren't miles from any shore at night and in calmer water. We stopped around 10 for supper and I caught a quick nap while Ben cooked up a backpacking meal and made some hot coffee. Chicken Teriyaki & rice out of a bag never tasted so good. By 3 am I couldn't keep my eyes open any more - actually tried paddling w/ them closed - and needed another power nap. Since we got cold if we stopped Ben kept paddling and I napped in the front seat. Just like Jesus sleeping in the boat except there was no storm. We arrived at Grand Tours Kayaking Center, the first checkpoint as many of the paddlers from the night before were getting up and underway. Two of the sailboats were captized by rogue waves on the ocean but the sailors were safe. Sailing or paddling in a rough ocean is no joke. We stayed ont he inside. More details, videos and tracking maps on the watertribe website like to the right. All in all it was a great experience that I loved doing with my son. Emily & the kids picked us up later that morning and we joined Debra back at the hotel.








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