Budd Inlet Race

I've done this race several years in a row. It is one of my favorites because of the excellent lunch, subsidized by Evergreen Rowing, and the camaraderie of the people involved.

I managed to get to the Swantown Marina pretty early this morning. It was good to have some extra time to spend preparing for the race. This meant I could actually put my boat in the water at the ramp's dock (with the much more gentle ramp and lower edge), bring it over and tie it up at the breakwater dock out of the way. The dolly, extra clothing, etc., could then be stowed in an out of the way place, freeing me to take more event photos and not be late in the water.

Unlike last year, when the start was delayed over an hour due to fog, this year's weather was better at the start. Though there was a layer of low clouds, they stayed well above the water before the race. In fact, just as we began placing the boats in the water the clouds had pretty well dissipated and turned into a beautiful blue sky.

The standard pre-race meeting was held. Besides laying out the course, describing the safety rules and pointing out potential obstacles, Steve Wells, the race director, insisted that everyone have a good time and have a smile on their face regardless of what happens. He also insisted that everyone who registered should get a meal ticket, and that anyone else who wanted lunch would have to buy one. They were going to be diligent this year about collecting tickets!

The meeting ended and everyone began taking their boats down to the docks. Many of the rowers chose to launch from the end of the ramp rather than wait their turn at the low floating dock moored to the breakwater dock. This was probably a good idea as there was quite a line for the 4 and 8 man rowing shells to put in.

I managed to sneak past and climb into my Cadence. From there it was literally smooth sailing to the relatively open waters at the end of the dock and beyond.

Well, maybe not quite so open. Today's low tide was a minus tide. That meant that the water level would be lower than the mean low tide and more of this shallow harbor's bottom would be exposed than normal. In fact, the lowest point of the tide was expected to be somewhere around the end of the race. This meant that at least one or two sandy and somewhat muddy islands would be appearing right in the middle of the race course. A couple of years earlier I managed to run aground in my Escapade pedal boat. It had a much deeper draft than the Cadence. Still, there was no guarantee that there would be enough water to take the shallower, more direct route!

After milling about enjoying the increased maneuverability and responsiveness of my boat (due to the removal of the anti-weed/anti-obstacle skeg), taking photos of the competitors and generally getting in the way, I ended up on the far end of the starting line from the dock. This was intentional as I had never started this race from this position. During previous races it seemed that the ones who started way over here were the fastest and the first to the first turn, so I wanted to see if it really made any difference.

The signal was given for the race to start. There were quite a few rowers near me, along with an OC-2 manned by two strong paddlers. As this was my first real race in quite some time I started pedaling moderately fast, getting my heart rate to the mid 150's. I was more concerned with getting fewer blurred action photos than top performance.

For whatever reason, it appeared that the racers who started closer to the dock were going faster and were further ahead. Hmm, perhaps the grass is greener on the other side!

Regardless, there certainly were more opportunities for drafting over there. Sigh...I'll just have to go it alone for this race!

There certainly were quite a few rowers over here. Most of us stayed to the east of the sandy island emerging from the shallows, hoping there was enough water left in the channel to keep us from grounding. There was.

Vern and Janet were paddling fairly close by in their OC-2. I entertained thoughts of drafting them, as we were going close to the same speed. Nah - it was too early, and I was actually going faster than they were. It would be better to keep up the pace and put them well behind. In fact, they were probably starting to slow down slightly after the initial adrenaline rush at the start.

At Priest Point I saw a couple of kayaks on the shore. Could they be racers in trouble?

I pointed them out to Vern, who probably thought I was oxygen deprived. It turned out that these folks weren't in the race after all. They were mere tourists who stopped off to take a look at something. Bah!

It was something of a slog going to the first turn marker. Most of the other racers seemed to be heading considerably far to the west of the line I and a couple of other boats were taking. They must have been confused. Regardless, it seemed that they managed to get to the turn well in advance of me. Steve Bennett, who generally seemed to finish somewhat behind me - when I was in good condition - was ahead. He threaded his way through the legs of the marker and made his turn to the east just before my arrival.

"Steve, you should be disqualified - or have to go back and go around the marker!" I called out to him. He pooh-poohed that suggestion. I wonder why?

I made the mistake of drinking a bottle of juice before the race. It had filtered through, and now a pit stop was in order. Rats!

After veering a little off course for privacy and taking care of business I now had to try to catch back up to where I was.

The first person was Jeff Wong. It took but a few hundred yards and then he was behind me.

Vern and Janet were just ahead when we reached the sailboat marking the second turn. I made certain I was smiling, or at least not looking like death warmed over, for the photographer stationed on the boat.

The boat turned fairly crisply around the moored sailboat, and a refreshing southerly breeze began blowing onto my face. Ahhhhh! That felt nice!

As it turned out Jeff had been following me, making use of the wake from my boat. My speed at this point seemed to be a bit slower than normal at only 6.5 mph, so I told Jeff I was going to slow down and check things out. He thanked me for the ride and continued ahead while I ran through the weed clearing process.

Hmmm, it appeared to have no effect. That wasn't too surprising as the only things I saw floating in the water were the occasional large white jellyfish and the errant stick or two. I guess the reasons for the slower speed were my lack of conditioning and fighting the ebb tide. Oh, well. Onward!

I was cruising for a while and passed Jeff once again. The Heikkila's were still ahead in their OC-2, but not for long. Off in the distance near the shore I could make out Traci Cole in her HPK. She might have been taking advantage of a lesser current to fight there, but I would be more concerned with encountering eelgrass or other flotsam in that area.

A few minutes later I heard the sound of the first 4X rowing shell as it approached my port side. Here was my chance to try drafting!

I angled toward them, increasing my cadence and snapping a few photos. I managed to drop in behind them, snap another photo, and then pedaled like a madman to catch back up to their stern.

Unfortunately, their boat was a bit too clean in the water and there was not much in the way of drafting assistance - at least as far as I could discern. It was too much work for me to keep up, so I dropped off and waved farewell.

Traci kept close to shore. Off to the right I could see Steve Bennett in his fast sea kayak keeping on a course nearly a quarter mile from shore. Why he chose such a nearly middle of the route was beyond me. It would seem to combine the worst of the ebb current and the light headwind, not to mention the lack of quick visual feedback that progress was being made in that watery expanse.

Far ahead a large vessel was moored just off shore. I used it as a goal, pedaling at a heart rate of about 151 bpm.

With the sun in my eyes it was necessary to put on my Sound Rowers baseball cap to help shield them. This meant that my head started heating up and began sweating even more. It was too bad I don't have a decent visor!

A few minutes later I reached that large vessel. It turned out to be someone's motor cruiser, moored just offshore and in the middle of a bunch of smaller boats.

The human dynamo named Traci Cole was even further ahead as she skirted the shallows near Priest Point. Vern and Janet Heikkila were still just behind, closer to shore. Jeff was a bit further away from shore and also behind.

I had to make a decision. Should I try to return through the shallows, hoping there was enough water so as to not get grounded? Should I take the longer route around the shoals and newly emerged islands where there was no question of depth - but also no question that I would place further behind?

Seeing Traci making it through with no apparent problems I chose the risky route through the shallows.

Up ahead it appeared there was a heron standing in the channel with the water nearly up to its knees. That might just be enough for my propeller and rudder to clear the bottom. Well, if not that, then enough to at least auger through to the finish.

I pedaled on, the gps reporting a speed of over 6.5 mph. The ebbing tide and shallow water were both conspiring to slow me down. Of course, this should be affecting the other boats in the same manner, but that was no solace to me!

Gee whiz - that channel was getting narrower and shallower the further I got into it. Was this the right decision?

Traci continued onward with no apparent problems. Maybe it would be OK for me, too.

Moments later the propeller began making a light crunching sound, which went away, and then came back. Uh, oh. It was hitting the bottom.

I continued pedaling, but the going got slower and the pedaling got harder. The water looked like it was even shallower up ahead, as the short legged shore birds seemed to be hoofing it across the channel.

My wake continued down the channel with a height of at least 6 inches.

Reverse wasn't working too well, either.

Not wearing water shoes for this race I declined to exit and portage. Instead, the canoe paddle was deployed and used to turn the Cadence about to return to deeper water.

Just as I did this the first 8 man shell came alongside. "It's too shallow", I shouted to them. They were going too fast to stop, but at least they managed to not run over my boat. They, too, grounded shortly afterwards.

Vern and Janet grounded as well. They got out and scampered through the water.

I was back into water deep enough to pedal when Jim Szumila approached in his Cadence. "It's too shallow, Jim!", I told him. "You have to go back around the island".

He didn't listen to me; rather, he continued on slowly through the shallows.

Meanwhile I pedaled hard, backtracking around the two islands now protruding from the water. Two other 8's managed to ground themselves and I managed to get some photos between the hard breathing and over the islands. Could Jim actually be making his way through the channel?

Rats! He was! I pedaled harder, pulling on the pedals as well as pushing. Maybe, just maybe I could catch him if I sprinted as fast as I could.

Vern and Janet could be seen paddling their way to the finish, too, just ahead of Jim.

My legs were cramping, my overtaxed muscles complaining, but still I pressed on. I had to catch him!

Jim managed to cross the line just seconds before me, with just one boat length between us. His time was 1:17:44.

Good work, Jim!

After crossing the finish line with a time of 1:18:01 I circled around, taking a few more shots as my legs recovered.

Remembering that there were a bunch of hungry folks already on shore I decided to head in. It would not be good to miss out on lunch!

As I stepped onto the dock the muscles in my left leg turned into an excruciatingly painful charley horse. It was hard keeping my balance, and I almost fell over. Yeeowwww! After some massaging it eased up enough that I could hobble up the ramp towards the lunch area.

Lunch was an al fresco buffet with a green salad, toasted garlic cheese bread, pasta salad and grilled salmon. Dessert was in the form of lemon bars and fudge brownies. Yumm!

It turned out that there was enough this year for anyone who wanted to have seconds.

I was stuffed!

The awards ceremony started while I was retrieving my boat from the water. I guess I didn't hear the horn - oh, well.

Steve Wells read the times and handed out the ribbons by class and ranking. Almost everyone who had done this race in previous years had slower times this year. Either we were all getting more decrepit as we aged or the conditions just weren't as conducive to faster times. I vote for the latter theory.

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Photos taken during this day can be found here.


My course and statistics.

Here is a link to my 2005 cruises page.