RE: [Paddlewise] Eddy currents and down river racing

Craig wrote perceptively:
>The surf-ski paddlers finish much faster than the rest because they can go
fast enough to (barely) stay in >sync with the favorable tides. Everyone else
has to deal with the adverse currents shortly after the start.

Brad wrote lyrically:
>In slowness there is tranquility, beauty, and inner peace.

Mark wrote observantly:
>I'm sure they're enjoying themselves. I'd rather take it easy and enjoy the
scenery!

G'Day Craig, Brad and Mark,

Oh well its explanation time and fessing up time. Have to say the Hawkesbury
is a very placid river and there's lots of volunteers monitoring along the way
and tempting stops every 30km or so. So not much chance of serious harm, apart
from ego bruising, arm bruising and a couple of rather awkward ferry cables
that have to be crossed carefully.

Craig I think the logic goes in this particular case that if you're slow
you'll have two tidals flows in your favour sandwiching one thats against you
and because its so far up stream the first tidal flow is pretty negligible.
And its fun for the speedsters to be able to say they did 110 km in 9 or 10
hours. A fast seakayaker can typically do it in 11 or 12 hours. Now here's
where I confess that I'm by no means a competitive type and my motivations for
this race are obscure and convoluted.

The first time I did the Hawkesbury it was at very short notice (3 days) at
the behest of a young and beautiful woman who had no partner for her borrowed
double Pittarak and we only got 3/4 of the way, my fault entirely , the boat
was so short I couldn't get a decent paddle stroke in and my shoulder packed
up. Nevertheless we both enjoyed the event and the young woman subsequently
went on to ski across the north pole with the first perhaps only group of
women to do so.

The second time I was determined to finish and paddled a rudderless single
Pittarak, finding allies in two beautiful young women who ran the local gym
and who volunteered to be my land crew without any begging on my part! This
was the only year I had no trouble finding my boat amongst the 400 hundred
others in the race - all I had to do was look for where the most men were
congregated. I finished that race in 19 hours due to seriously bad strategic
thinking and have to say that my landcrew were suprisingly sympathetic
considering the length of time I made them wait. By the way this was the time
when I made my greatest contribution to kayaking practise, which is the
discovery that a certain toffee will get you across the line when you have hit
the wall and all but given up - one fantale per km and you will finish on a
sprint. Recently I have reverted to sesame seed with toffee bars as they are
easier on the teeth. These bars are now an important part of my emergency
survival kit at sea - I kid you not!

The third time I paddled in a rudderless Kahuna. The Kahuna is an amazing boat
which seems to paddle effortlessly no matter what the distance or the wind.
Its also exceedingly slow in my hands, which can be partly explained by my
spending the whole night chatting to various other paddlers except for one
point where I fell asleep and only just saved myself with a brace. During the
race I met a most charming and beautiful older woman who was also paddling
that race, she was about 80 or so and a peer of Oscar Speck. She was able to
fill a huge gap in my knowledge of the man concerning his eventual arrest in
Saibai, an Island just off Papua New Guinea. Any way she does the race every
year and we eventually parted as she sped off ahead of me. That race required
hardly any effort on my part at all - the epitome of slackness I'm afraid.
Nevertheless the one extra point I made by at least finishing after 18 hours
(note the improved time!) was sufficient to take my team from fourth place to
third place - the only time our team has ever got a placing.

The last time I did the race it was with iron resolve and in a Mirage 580, to
test my ability to make longish crossings in the Whitsundays. It seemed
sensible to try this sort of thing out on something safe like the Hawkesbury
first. I don't know what got into me that year, but I trained with Lippy, a
good mate who was in the navy and seriously fit. We wanted to test what it
would be like to stay in a kayak without getting out for the full 110km. Lippy
was practising to cross Bass Strait and the Hawkesbury is a useful but not
sufficient test. We practised padding into 20 and 30 knot headwinds. I towed
my friend's children in boats up and down rivers. For a while it was hell and
then I started enjoying it. My mate Lippy is a large man and astounded me on
one practise paddle by going about 70km on the sustenance of one apple. I
finished that race in thirteen and a half hours and won acclaim as the most
improved paddler.

Any way this year I'm motivated to find out how age and decrepitude has
affected my endurance for longer crossings and I'm training with Dee who is
even tougher than Lippy. Question is has turning 60 slowed me down? I don't
think you're allowed much longer than 19 hours to finish the Hawkesbury.

BTW my current heroes for this event are my friends Kate and Rae, two women
who after just a few weeks of training and in their first year of kayaking
broke the record in their class. And you know I'm willing to bet they did
enjoy the tranquility, beauty, and inner peace along the way - Its that kind
of race!

All the best, PeterO
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