Well, here it is....finally, my first long-distance, change-out race in an OC-6 (6 person outrigger canoe). It was also the one and only dress rehearsal for the Catalina Crew before we head down to SoCal for the race in mid-September. The course was a lovely tour of Lake Washington - starting at Sail Sand Point's home in Magnuson Park just north of the University of Washington (go Dawgs!) in Seattle. From there, we headed south and across the lake to Medina, then, paddled down to Mercer Island and did a counter-clockwise circumnavigate of the island, and, finally, back up to the starting line for a total of ~26 miles. Garmin Connect - Activity Details for SSP 26 mile race coed crew ! It was cool that morning - but that was good b/c it kept the recreational boat traffic low so it felt like we had the entire lake to ourselves.
In total, I was scheduled for 3 change-outs: start in seat 5, change to seat 2, back to seat 5, finish in seat 2. Sabine kept it pretty simple and we did 3-seat change outs each time. The stroker in seat 1 changes about every 24 minutes, while all the other seats changed out every 48 minutes. Sabine, was our steersperson and ironed the race and never changed out - and, she paddled for most of the time. She is amazing and my mentor in this crazy sport!!We were planning to finish the race in 4 hours. But, paddling together in the weeks prior paid off - our strokes and timing were on, steady, and strong. And, our change-outs went smoothly. We finished way ahead of schedule with a final time of 3:47....woot!!! At our last change-out practice, I totally missed seat 2 and did the most dumbass move ever and reached for the aku in a panic. Needless to say, my left shoulder had been in pain the entire week leading up to the race and I kept replaying that image of me missing my marker in my head. So, I had massive butterflies for my first change-out. I jumped out of seat 5 into the cool water and it was invigorating. I climbed into our escort boat and chilled (literally) for 24 minutes.
Since we don't wear our packs on the boat while paddling, the only time we can hydrate and refuel is on the escort boat. But, I wasn't that hungry b/c of nerves and I was focused on calming myself down for my first climb back into seat 2. The time came, I jumped from the escort boat into the water and waited for the boat to come. I spotted the yellow tape and went for the hand-hold. The rest was a blur and before I knew it, I was in seat 2 (yay!) and reached ahead of me to help Diane into seat 1. I did it!! My second change went relatively smoothly as well - again, I don't remember much of it, but I was in my seat and paddling. The only thing I could remember was the pain in my left shoulder as I started to paddle, but in a way, it was good b/c the only way to work around that was to focus most of my power on the big muscles on my back, butt, and legs - what I should be doing anyway!! The race was awesome, and it being a long-distance race, I was completely in my element. But, because we were cruising way ahead of schedule, I didn't get to do my last change and I wasn't in the boat across the finish line :-( And, I was just getting into my groove and could've paddled for another couple of hours with the change-outs. What an amazing race and a job well done by the SOCC CATALINA CREW!! We got first in our division (6 women, 3 men) and we are so excited for the race to Catalina!
Our other SOCC mixed open boat finished under 4 hours as well and came in at 3:52. The overall winner was the crazy men's open boat from Kikaha who finished in 3:11. They've been paddling for years together and do all the badass races like Molokai. My friend, Doug (Slacker), is part of that crew and I can't wait to take up his offer to go paddling with him in his OC-2. It'll be a wicked paddle and there will be no time for whining (though, I'm sure there will be a lot of "Buttercup" ribbing, for sure :-))I would love to try and iron the race in an OC-2 (c'mon Nay Nay) next year. But, the change-outs are fun, too. Great job SOCC! Thanks, Dave, for being our escort boat. And, many thanks to Mary Ann for being our change-out coordinator!! Imua Seattle Outrigger!! Thanks for an amazing experience. Finally, here's a link to more pics from the race.
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