The weather all week was hot and sunny - just the kind where all you want to do is sit in front of an air conditioner or in a big pool of water. It definitely was not the kind of weather I like to race in!
Luckily for me the forecast for the day of the race predicted that it would be much cooler (70's) and there was the possibility of showers. Hurray! Perhaps I wouldn't melt down after all.
As this Sound Rowers race was taking place on Vashon Island I had to get up early to take the ferry. Again, as with the Rat Island race a couple of weeks earlier, if only the race was scheduled 30 minutes later, I could have slept in for another hour!
As it is I arrived some 30 minutes early. There was only one car ahead of me in line, and it was Rainer Storb and his crew.
It didn't take long before others arrived. Zeke Hoskins and his wife arrived and provided us with pleasant conversation and some fun folk songs until it was time for us to board the ferry.
The trip to Vashon Island was short and uneventful. The water on Puget Sound appeared to be calm, which meant that Quartermaster Harbor should be as smooth as glass. These would be perfect conditions for flatwater rowing shells.
The drive down the length of the island to Burton Acres Park was also uneventful. The line of vehicles traveling down the highway with super long and narrow boats on their roofs probably provided a spectacle as we passed by, but that goes with the territory.
It was overcast at the park. Many other racers had already arrived and had their boats ready to go.
With the assistance of one of the other racers the Cadence was taken from the roof of my car and placed on its dolly. We took special care as the hull had an experimental extra slick coating which made handling a bit more difficult.
Vadim, a paraplegic from Russia, was here for his second Sound Rowers race. He was doing quite well wheeling himself between his car and kayak, making preparations for the race with minimal assistance.
The pre-race meeting was held right on time at 8:45 AM. The director pointed out all the buoys and turns of the course which generally followed the shoreline of Quartermaster Harbor. He also pointed out that the wind (light breeze, really) was from the southeast. This meant that the last leg of the race would have a tailwind. Oh, well. Hopefully it would not get sunny, though the clouds were definitely breaking up.
At the end of the meeting people made final preparations for the race. I headed for the restroom and found there was a line. In fact, the men's restroom was locked so everyone had to use the women's!
While waiting I put on my sunscreen. Of course, that is when the sky opened up and started raining.
I took shelter under a maple tree. Finally, it was my turn to use the facilities. After leaving the restroom it appeared that the rain had ended. It was just enough to wet the pavement and everything left out on the boats. Oh, well. At least my bike shoes were somewhat protected by the PFD and boat cushions.
The Cadence was waiting for me near the boat ramp. Most of the others had already launched or were about to do so. I walked the boat down the ramp so as to not have to worry so much about the propeller hitting the bottom during the launch, as the low tide coupled with the extremely low grade of the bottom otherwise would mean walking quite some distance from shore through the muck.
Unfortunately, however, both sides of the ramp were occupied by folks who were very slowly and methodically preparing their boats for the race. The center of the ramp was occupied by a pickup truck and a boat trailer. Tick...tick...tick...
Finally I was able to nose in a bit and launch the boat. Paul graciously offered to take the dolly back up the ramp as I got in the boat. After a few minutes of drying my feet and putting on my bike shoes I was finally under way!
By the time I managed to get to the starting line the 5 minute warning had already been sounded. The race officials decided that the 8 person shell should start ahead of the crowd, and let them move ahead through the waiting flotilla.
About this time I noticed the camera was in some strange mode and it wouldn't take any photos. I could not seem to correct it through the waterproof bag, so as quickly as I could I removed it. This involved unscrewing 3 thhumbscrews, pulling the bag from three studs, opening the bag, pulling the camera out of the bag (which is fairly tight around the camera, etc. Rush, rush, rush!
There was no one minute warning - at least none that I heard. With my boat askew and my camera in disarray the race began. Rats!
Finally I noticed that somehow the camera was set to MR (Memory Recall) mode, probably caused when the camera was original inserted into the waterproof bag. Setting it to Auto mode fixed the problem and I was back in business! Ok, so now I had a bit of catching up to do!
Starting late provided quite a different view than I normally have of these races. Normally I start near the front of the pack and the faster boats pull away and the slower ones fall behind. Today I found lots of boats that were going a pretty decent speed, but were ones that I probably would have missed shooting in the middle of the race. It also was a bit more fun to catch up to and pass the slower boats, and snap their pictures while doing it.
I had to make some adjustments to the drive tower position, having replaced the smaller drive sprocket earlier that week. This enabled some of the other boats to pass en route to the first buoy. I guess I'll have to work a little harder and catch them again!
The drive system was working perfectly. There was a low buzz coming from it as the chain drive and right angle gear system did its magic thrusting the boat through the water. It wouldn't take long to catch up with these folks!
One of the rowing shells miscalculated the position of the first turn and ended up on the wrong side. Backing up and going around the buoy forced several boats, mine included, to make a much wider turn than normal so as to avoid a collision. Off to the second buoy!
I kept near or behind Vern and Janet's OC-2 during quite a bit of this leg. A fast sea kayak kept getting between us as I took photos or dodged floating weed mats that seemed to be particularly poorly placed along the course. Sigh. At least the weed cutting blade seemed to be doing its job!
There was less of a problem of interference between the rowers and paddlers at the second buoy. I cut it a bit close and ended up turning wide after the buoy rather than timing it just before.
So far, so good. I was pretty sweaty. The old sweat band visor was doing little to keep the water from dripping down my forehead, but at least there was a nice breeze to keep the torrent to a minimum. The unprotected camera was cradled in my right hand, with the camera bag stuck just below the left side of my seat. Hopefully it wouldn't get splashed!
It was time to start making my move. I began increasing my cadence and slowly pulled ahead of Vern and Janet in their OC-2. I snapped a couple of pictures as I passed, bid them greetings and began an attempt to catch a band of rowers just ahead.
I nearly caught up to them by the 3rd buoy. Unfortunately, another weed mat appeared which I had to clean off my propeller. Hmmm, did I hear a clunk? It was probably my imagination. Anyway, the process of weed removal gave the rowers at least a 10 yard lead. A guy in an HPK caught up and started following as well, keeping several yards behind or off to the side.
The route to the last turn buoy travels quite close to the final leg. Off in the distance I could see the 8 man shell approaching. Hey - if I adjusted my course slightly I could snap a few close-up photos and not fall too terribly far behind. Maybe the day wouldn't be a complete disaster after all!
Off I went, leaving the racers following a bit bemused as to what I was doing.
The tactic worked. I was able to take lots of photos of people I had missed at the start and still pretty much keep my overall standing while heading towards the last turn buoy. This was fun!
Just as I reached the buoy it started to rain. Rats! The camera had to get covered immediately! I fumbled around trying to find the waterproof bag, making sure that no water had made its way into to the bag, etc., etc. Meanwhile, Vern and Janet passed by in their OC-2 and were quickly followed by a guy in an OC-1. Sigh. I would have to work hard to catch them. With the headwind now turned into a tailwind, i.e., no apparent wind whatsoever, it was going to be a hot and grueling time.
Eventually the rain stopped and the camera could be removed from the streaked and smeared waterproof bag. With sweat dripping from my scalp into my ears and down my face, I tried to snap some photos of the folks still heading towards the last buoy. Uh-oh - why won't the darned thing focus?
I struggled with the camera, turning it off and on, removing the battery, etc. Nothing would get the focus to work, not even changing it to manual focus. Eventually, however, something clicked in my oxygen-deprived brain and I realized that the macro focus switch on the lens barrel somehow got turned on, probably when the camera was shoved into or removed from the bag. Voila!
The OC-2 and OC-1 were now quite some distance away. I began pedaling harder, but the GPS didn't seem to show any increase in speed. Were weeds fouling the prop? I tried the weed removal procedure, but it appeared to make no difference. I guess there was nothing to do but to push those pedals.
It was about this time I remembered my heart rate monitor. I had intended to measure my performance just during the race, but with the camera troubles had forgotten to turn it on at the start. Sigh...sooner or later I'll get the hang of completing preparations before a race!
Anyway, the monitor was showing a pulse of around 150 bpm. Not too bad, but certainly not as high as it should be if I were going all out. No, it was just too hot, and there was no way I'd be setting any records today.
I finished the race with a time of 47:53. The GPS indicated a distance of about 5.2 miles, though later on the computer the track showed a distance closer to 5.1 miles. The fastest boat was the 8 man shell, with a time of 32:53. The first one man boat across the line was a rowing shell with a time of 35:24. The first non-rowing shell across the line was a guy in an HPK with a time of 41:50.
After the Cadence was pulled from the water I noticed that there were some weeds wound around the propeller shaft. Looking closer I discovered that the weed cutting blade was missing. Apparently the blade broke off from where it was secured with a screw to the strut. I'm guessing that the blade was fatigued from an earlier race when the propeller shaft was too loose and had been hitting the prop blades. This also explained why the Cadence wasn't going as fast as it should have.
All my troubles at this race couldn't compare with those of Rainer and Adrian. Apparently they were rowing at full speed to the finish line when they rammed into an anchored cabin cruiser. Neither of them wear mirrors; instead, they trust to looking over their shoulders once in a while. Adrian jumped into the water and Rainer, who was in the front, rowed the slowly sinking vessel to shore.
The awards ceremony was more of an announcement of racers and their times as the person who was supposed to bring the ribbons was unable to attend the race. That was OK with everyone there as it was all for fun anyway.
The sun came out in full strength as everyone packed up and left. The drive to the ferry was peaceful. I managed to get a spot in the waiting line for the ferry on the pier where a nice, cool breeze could be felt. Ahh, what a beautiful day!
Thank you, Charley Helsby and Windermere Realty, for a fine race!
Photos I took during the race can be found here.
