This is the toughest race done by the Sound Rowers. It consists of two days back to back of traveling around some good sized islands just north of the city of Anacortes, WA.
Last year I did the first day, ending the race extremely exhausted and unable to even consider doing the second day. This year I decided I had to do both days. Therefore, the pace would have to be somewhat slower in order to conserve my body for the second day.
With this in mind I called up Deb, who rows a Maas Aero shell and typically goes slightly slower than me in races and who was planning to do the second day only, and suggested to her that we could do both days. We would stay together during the first day, doing the route at a nice easy pace and she and I could do whatever we each felt like doing on the second day.
After some trepidation she agreed.
On Saturday morning I left Bellevue around 6:50 AM for the 90 minute drive to Anacortes. The sky, though partly cloudy, appeared to be clearing just as predicted by the weather forecast. However, the closer I got to Anacortes the thicker the clouds. In fact, just before turning off the freeway to begin the final 15 mile drive to town it began raining.
Delightful.
At least it was more of a misty rain than an actual downpour. It still might clear up by the start of the race.
Arriving right on schedule at 8:30 AM I was able to find a fairly close parking spot in Seafarer's Park where the start of the race was to be held. The rain was very light so it didn't really bother me as I walked over to the hall to pick up my registration information. There was a table filled with all sorts of boating-related prizes to be given away later and another table covered with beverages and snacks. Maybe I'll stop by later and snarf some of the goodies!
I returned to my car, took down the boat and wheeled it over to the staging area by a bunch of other boats.
As this race was insured though a different organization (the ACA) than the standard one used by the Sound Rowers and since this race was through some potentially very difficult waters each boat had to undergo a safety inspection. The safety inspector made sure I had a compass or GPS (I had both), a map of the course (provided by the organizers), space blanket, personal flotation device (PFD), a mirror (I had a reflective mylar sheet), a whistle or horn, extra food, water and clothing, bailing device and a cell phone or VHF transceiver (I had both). Check, check and check!
Shortly after the inspection the pre-race meeting was held in the hall. The race director covered all the points of the course, told us about the fleet of safety boats that would be monitoring us, and provided us with the VHF frequency and cell phone numbers to use if you got in trouble. He also requested that folks going to Saddlebag Island for the short (7 miles) race to congregate at the south end of the starting line so they would not have to cross paths with the folks in the Cypress race. With that the meeting was dismissed and people went off to make final preparations.
The tide was extremely low for the start of the race. It was so low that I decided there was no way I would wade into the gunk along the shore, thread my way between the decayed posts and partially submerged logs, rocks and other dark flotsam and jetsam to launch my boat.
Last year I managed to bend a rudder by hurriedly trying to launch into one of those hard to see logs. I certainly did not want to repeat that experience!
There was a dock at the south end of the park. It was mostly beached, but extended just far enough into the harbor that I could shove the Cadence into the water without trouble. After tying it up I returned to shore to snap photos of the others making their preparations.
After grabbing a class of apple juice from the hall I returned to the boat and started warming up and taking photos from the water. The home made vinyl housing with acrylic lens cover seemed to be working fairly well. The LCD display showed the images quite well and the manual zoom was still mostly usable, though trying to get to the widest angle was a bit difficult. The many folds of the vinyl made it difficult to compress. Still, it was a lot better and easier to use than the Casio setup I had used last year and again two weeks earlier at the Great Cross Sound race.
There were quite a few sea stars, mostly purple, stuck to the sea wall protecting the marina. There were quite a few barnacles, too.
While cruising about I also backed into a patch of what appeared to be giant brown cabbages growing on the bottom in the shallows. Rather than taking a chance at completely fouling my prop I took out the canoe paddle and backed off. Perhaps they were responsible for some of the rotten egg odor permeating this area!
I pedaled over to the Cypress starting line and waited for the signal to go.
We were off! Most of the folks in the rowing shells were pulling strongly and soon were out in front of the rest of the boats. Deb was in the thick of a bunch of kayaks, and had to take lots of care to make sure she didn't clobber anyone who might not have realized the reach of her oars.
The field was fairly wide for the first mile, though some of the kayaks started following in each others' wakes. I followed a couple of kayaks at first, and then fell back to wait for Deb. There was no sense in spending a lot of energy at the start. This was going to be a long race!
As I was wearing a long sleeved T-shirt made from a high-tech wicking material as well as a long sleeved nylon shirt and a PFD. All this exertion was getting me rather hot and sweaty so I stopped to remove the T-shirt. All the other boats passed by in the meantime, including Deb, as they continued across Guemes Channel towards the turn buoy at the far side.
I caught up to Deb before the first turn buoy. She was having a good time now that all the other boats were out of her way, and had paused to wait for me. We made the turn and headed west in the direction of Cypress Island.
It was still rather misty out. I was glad I took along an extra handkerchief in a plastic bag with which to clean the camera lens as well as my glasses. Under similar conditions during the Shaw Island race last year I ran out of dry things to clean the lens, and the photos taken later in the race were rather blurred.
We passed the Guemes Island ferry terminal when suddenly my speed dropped like a stone.
The GPS had been reporting a speed of about 6.5 mph. Deb and I had been keeping pace with each other, and now she was moving ahead. The Cadence was now traveling about 4 mph. Ok, there must be weeds on the prop. This was no big deal. All I had to do was pedal forward and backward a few times and the weeds would be cut by the blade and ejected.
This time there was an exception. All that happened was that pedaling became harder and harder to do and my speed decreased further. Uh, oh!
"Hey, Deb! Could you come back here and check my propeller? It appears I'm kind of stuck! I can't go any faster than 4 mph!"
She rowed back to me and came alongside. With me holding the front of her boat she carefully laid back, reached her arm under the stern of the Cadence and pulled out a giant wad of weeds.
"Yup, you sure do have a lot of weeds there, Mike!"
With the prop cleaning accomplished we continued on our way. Why didn't the weed cutting blade work? Was it just overwhelmed by a big clump of weeds?
It happened again. Deb came back and cleaned off the weeds.
And again. And again.
We had barely made it to Bellingham Channel, which separates Guemes Island from Cypress. I was thinking to myself that if I couldn't make it across the channel without stopping for weed removal I would just turn around and go back to Anacortes. I had to believe that Deb was thinking much the same thing.
A safety boat came by to see how we were doing. We explained the situation to them and said we were planning to go moderately slowly. We also told them we had a VHF radio over which we could communicate with them if we needed assistance. They said goodbye and went off to check on some other racers.
Across the channel we went. I kept as good a watch out for weeds as possible and - lo and behold - we made it across the channel before the prop got fouled again.
Deb cleaned it again, and again. By this time we were nearing Reef Point. This is a section where it is quite shallow and covered in various sized rocks and boulders. Today it also had quite a mess of kelp extending quite far to the south.
All right. We could either take the long way around or thread our way very close to shore and hope we don't bottom out on the rocks.
We took the shoreward route. Both Deb and I needed to stop, so we would merely land at whatever accommodating beach-like shore that might be in the area.
Deb carefully rowed her way through the kelp and the rocks. I took out the canoe paddle and used that instead of the prop. There were almost no waves to speak of, but the few waves that did occur helped to expose rocks just below the surface. Still, there was one rock that managed to stop me cold as it came in contact with the propeller. Oops!
It didn't seem to do any noticeable damage. Whew!
After the pit stop Deb cleaned my propeller one more time.
It remained rather misty all along the west side of Cypress Island. We enjoyed a fairly strong tidal current which got our speed up to as high as 8 mph, with only a little effort on our part.
It was time for a sports drink, and maybe a brownie!
Things were going fairly well. It was peaceful, the sea was calm, and we were sort of making up for lost time. I handed my camera to Deb so she could take a photo of me on the water, since otherwise all these photos would be of her or the island scenery.
About this time the safety boat came by to check on us. We felt a little guilty about not working harder, so off we went!
We soon reached Tide Point. Unfortunately for us, this is a place where the assistance from the tidal current seemed to come to an end. Crossing a fairly light tide rip our speed dropped back to about 6 mph. At least we weren't fighting a current!
The water was a little rougher as we headed to the northwestern end of Cypress Island. In fact, there was quite a bit of chop caused by another tide rip. Deb took the outside and I went through the middle of it. It wasn't too bad, and it made the ride a bit more interesting.
Ahead we could see a couple of kayaks. According to the chatter I overheard on the VHF the last of the other racers were just ahead. Could these kayakers be them?
"Hey, Deb - we're only half a mile or so behind some other kayaks. Do you want to try to catch them?"
She was agreeable, so we increased our speed in pursuit.
We ran into another kelp bed. Deb took the outside and I took the inside. No problem!
We soon caught up with the kayaks. Unfortunately, these folks were not in the race. Rats!
I took out a ham sandwich on a sourdough roll, stuffed it with lettuce, and began chowing while pedaling. The cold can of creamy root beer soda was just the thing to quench my thirst. Deb took out some stuff she had packed and munched that.
The guys in the safety boat came up and asked where their sandwiches were. I offered them some corn chips, cookies and other stuff, but they declined.
Meanwhile, another set of kayaks could be seen in the distance. We continued at a moderately fast pace and nearly caught up to them by the time we reached the northeast point of Cypress Island. Oops - time to get my prop cleaned again!
No, those kayakers were also recreational folks. Where were those racers that we heard about?
I called up the safety vessel on the VHF. They claimed that one was just barely visible across Guemes Channel by Guemes Island, maybe.
We passed the shores of a state campground on Cypress Island, and headed out across the northern end of Guemes Channel.
The Cone Islands could be seen ahead and to the south. Last year both Deb and I experienced some rather strong tidal rips and whirlpools in this area. Today, however, the place seemed fairly calm and flat.
The safety boat had dropped back quite a distance behind. Deb suddenly exclaimed "There are whales!"
"Where?", I asked.
"Over there, towards the safety boat!"
Sure enough, a group of what appeared to be small orca (killer) whales were frolicking in the water between the safety boat and us. I tried to take their picture several times, but they seemed to dive below the surface almost every time a shot was taken. Still, I managed to get one almost decent shot and recognized them as Dahl's porpoises instead of orcas.
Wow! This was the first time I had ever seen them in the wild!
After another weed removal we continued to the northern tip of Guemes Island.
I was done with my sandwich and soda, and finished off the brownie when we encountered a much smaller version of the tide rip from last year. It was no problem at all, though at first Deb was a bit concerned.
There was a bit of a headwind on the way down the east side of Guemes Island. It felt pretty good to me as it kept me relatively cool. In fact, there were a few times I put on my Sound Rowers baseball cap to keep off a chill. The wind also created a bit of chop that slowed down Deb's rowing, so every so often I would pause and wait for her to catch up, hanging my feet over the gunwales of the Cadence to give my knees a rest. Otherwise, I felt in reasonably good physical condition.
About midway down the side we decided to take a break. I took out my corn chips and shared them with Deb, drank another juice, munched on some cookies and enjoyed the scenery. The wind and current caused us to drift back northward about a quarter mile or so, and the safety boat came up to make sure we were OK. They said they had no problem being out there with us slowpokes, and they declined our offers of snacks.
Shortly after our break Paul arrived in his kayak. He had not entered this race, but decided to go in the opposite direction and meet us to escort us back to the start.
On the return he kept close to the shore to stay out of the breeze. We chose to stay away from the shallows and the weeds as much as possible. Still, we had to stop several times for weed removal.
It was quite pretty traveling past the houses and trees along the shore. Both of us were getting rather worn by the day's efforts, and knew that the end was only about 3 miles away. Unfortunately, stops for weed removal were getting more and more frequent.
In fact, there was one section where I traveled no more than 30 yards and had to stop three times. I couldn't believe it! What on earth was going wrong with the weed cutter?
By this time Paul had disappeared off into the distance. He turned back and stayed with me while Deb continued rowing for a while. Paul did the honors of weed removal twice more; once before we started crossing Guemes Channel to Anacortes, and once just before we were engulfed by a pretty strong tide rip that had developed in our path in the channel between Guemes Island and Cape Sante on the edge of Anacortes.
The tide rip was fairly rough, but not especially difficult. The waves formed a quite disorganized chop with the crests no higher than 2.5 to 3 feet from the troughs. Still, it made for some excitement for which Deb wasn't really in the mood at this stage.
Neither of us got a lot of water in our boats. I made a somewhat more direct route through the chop than Deb as I tend to like the adrenaline caused by pitting myself against the elements, and because the propeller drive is less affected by the waves than the rowing, though there were a couple of times where the prop was spinning in the air. Yee-haw!
After passing some anchored barges we rounded the rocky bluff of the cape into the harbor.
The dock was empty when we arrived about 4:17 PM. Apparently the race officials were misinformed that we were picked up and returned to shore, so they left to perform their other duties. Oh, well. At least the safety boat crew that stayed with us for the duration knew what was actually going on. Also, I didn't hear any such chatter on my VHF.
Our times for the day were therefore exactly and precisely 6:17:00, give or take 10 minutes.
Paul helped cart the Cadence back up to the parking lot where I doused it with fresh water and loaded it onto my car. Checking the stern of the boat I was only slightly surprised to see that the weed cutter blade was completely gone. Aha! That would explain why the thing acted like a weed vacuum over the course! It must have gotten tangled in that cabbage stuff right at the start when I had to reverse through it to reach deeper water.
We found some race officials at the hall and told them we had actually finished the race. I also insisted that Deb be given credit for all the assistance she had given me, so the officials asked how time she should be credited. "Well, with about 20 assists in weed removal at about 3 minutes per assist, how does an hour sound?"
They were agreeable, and so Deb's time was reduced by an hour.
After giving myself a sponge bath and changing into dry clothes I joined the other racers in the hall at 5 PM. The prizes were given away to the ticket holders still present (Zeke, you missed getting your prize!), which included a dry suit, dry bags, PFD's, charts, outdoor clothing, etc. I ended up with a nice dry bag and a waterproof chart of the San Juans. Thanks, guys!
There was a dinner shortly afterwards of several types of lasgna, salad, rolls, beer, wine and soft drinks. For dessert was a layered carrot cake and another type of regular layered cake. It was all you could eat, and there was plenty to eat!
After dinner a slide presentation was given covering paddle boating in the Tennessee area. As it was getting late and I had to drive 90 miles home, do some work on my boat and get some rest for tomorrow's race I left for home.
My thanks go to all the folks who worked to put on this event. I had a great time regardless of the weeds - and was definitely feeling a lot better than I did after last year's race!
Stay tuned for my report on Sunday's race!
Photos I took during the race can be found here.
Map of the course
