Elk River Challenge 2006

The Elk River Challenge, held in the tidal estuary at the mouth of the Elk River near Westport, WA, is unique among the Sound Rowers races. It is the only one located on a river, and the only one where competitors as far back as the middle of the pack can see the progress of the leaders not once but several times during the course of the race. It also has the most opportunities for tired or overwhelmed racers to bail out and return to the start without having to travel a significant distance.

This year's race included quite a range of different boats and competitors. The boats ranged from plastic sea kayaks to lightweight surf skis, single lightweight rowing shells to doubles, single dories to a 6 person "huge boat" and, of course, a fast pedal boat. The competitors ranged from teenagers to folks many years past their retirement - and a dog named Scooter.



The tide was still incoming when we launched at Brady's Oysters, the very generous benefactor of this event. It had covered the oyster shell gravel driveway just enough to permit one to launch on it rather than have to put in on either side into some very weedy water. With the clear skies and warm weather over the past week the water was quite warm, too. Vern Heikkila, the race organizer, claimed that the water temperature was 65 degrees. It certainly felt warmer to me than that!




Some folks chose to carry their boats on a rudimentary trail to the shore at the base of the bridge over the river. Apparently they fear the navigational hazards of the oyster bins along the driveway, or had bad experiences with scraping their boats against the oyster shells. I didn't worry too much about it as I took the time and caution to avoid those hazards.



With the incoming tide came floating patches of weeds. The warm weather helped the plants grow prodigiously. There seemed to be a lot more pieces of eelgrass in the water, along with blobs of eelgrass and other sorts of algae and seaweed bunched together. I called them Vern's Mines. Catch them with your propeller and your speed drops immediately by 1 to 2 mph.



After a while during which most people were warming up we lined up in the shade under the bridge. It was going to be a hot one today! The forecast was for temperatures in the upper 90's inland, and the humidity was high. At least here, near the coast, there was an alongshore breeze that kept it a bit cooler.



The starting signal was given and away we went.



For some reason, just like in the Quartermaster Harbor race, I started out rather slowly. Perhaps it was because I didn't really have much of warmup, or perhaps I was still a bit groggy from the 2.5 hour drive to the start and a short night's sleep. For whatever reason, most of the other boats were soon ahead of me. It didn't help that I had to dodge some of Vern's Mines while shooting photos, or that I had to stop momentarily to clear the propeller a couple of times before reaching the first turn buoy out in the bay.

Several of the rowers in shells, who had mostly congregated in the center of the channel, had established their lead on the field by the time they reached the buoy. Only the guy in the surfski was still with them. The OC-2 paddled by Vern and Steve was not very far behind.



A short while later I reached the buoy, turning inside just before a kayak and a short distance behind Deb, Janet and Bela. There did not appear to be a whole lot of boats behind, but it was somewhat difficult to see with the sun now reflecting off the water into my eyes.




I caught up to Bela when I encountered another mine. It was quickly dispensed, but that dropped me back another 20 or 30 yards. The heat was also starting to build as we were now traveling with the wind and in a virtual dead calm. The shade under the bridge was but a short respite as I caught and finally passed Vern en route to the first slough. The gps reported my speed at over 7 mph.

A few more mines were encountered, but I still managed to keep ahead of Bela in his OC-1 and pass Deb and Janet in their double fast sea kayak before the 2nd buoy at the end of the slough. The lead racers passed going in the other direction and I cheered them on.



When Vern and Steve went by I asked if he couldn't have chosen a hotter day. It was absolutely boiling hot. Even paddling with my hands in the water while pedaling wasn't enough to cool me down, though it did serve to splash water on the camera lens, much to my chagrin as I discovered later.



I was now trying to catch a white and blue OC-2 and a yellow OC-1. The OC-2 rounded the buoy and headed back, and I started taking pictures of it and the OC-1, when suddenly the OC-1 flipped right at the buoy and dumped its rider into the water. Perhaps it was intentional, as that would have been a great way to cool down!

The paddler said he was OK and didn't need any help, so I continued onward.

What a difference the change in direction made! The tailwind was now a decently strong headwind. My speed dropped to about 6, but I was slowly gaining on the OC-2 anyway. The wind was probably affecting them more, especially with two bodies high above the water.

I cheered the incoming racers and shot them photographically as they passed. The third buoy was soon sighted and I headed southeasterly up another slough.





There were far fewer mines up the sloughs, but there were still a lot of weed fragments and plants growing on the bottom. I had to keep quite a distance from the apparent shoreline in order to have adequate depth to separate the prop from the plants, some of which resembled furry green ropes.



Rounding the last buoy I was somewhat surprised to see how close the OC-1 that had overturned had come. That dunk in the water at the end of the hottest leg of the course must have been invigorating!

It was time to put the pedal to the metal.



The distance between me and the blue and white OC-2 ahead had been shrinking and growing ever since the first turn, mainly due to the mines. With the wind and tide blowing most of that stuff to south side of the slough and the return course heading along the north side, it was literally clear sailing for most of the way to the finish. The gps was showing speeds in the 7+ mph range, which I attributed partially to the current of the Elk River. Gradually I crept closer and closer to the OC-2, which should have had the benefit of the current as well, but for whatever reason was not keeping pace. Could I finally catch them?

We soon reached a set of ancient wooden pilings stretching into the channel. Vern had described them as the remnants of an old whaling factory. Considering that the place must have shut down by the turn of the previous century it is amazing how long that stuff has lasted in this environment!



We were now in the wide channel at the mouth of the river. It seemed almost easy to catch and pass the OC-2, taking a few shots of them and saying "Thanks for slowing down for me!".



I think they were a bit perplexed.

If I was pedaling strongly before I really started working hard now. All I had to do was hit another mine and the OC-2 might pass me.

Far ahead I could see the double kayak with Jeff and his partner nearing the bridge and the finish line. There was no way I could catch them, but I would certainly try to reduce the time as much as possible.

One final sip drained the last of my water bottle. It would have to hold until the end of the race.

With the bike shoes and Speedplay Frog pedals helping greatly to enable me to pedal nice, even circles, my speed increased to nearly 8 mph. Ha! Try and catch me now, OC-2!

Things were going well until about 100 yards before the finish. I was trying to take some photos when suddenly my legs felt the propeller drag increase significantly. Rats! Because I wasn't watching carefully I had run into a mine!

My speed was now only 6 mph, but there was no way I would stop to clear the prop. I'd just plow on through to the finish.



With a time of 1:13:43 I crossed the line. Hurray!



This was my slowest time for the course by about 4 minutes, but this was the first time I placed in the top 10 boats. Perhaps if I had more time to exercise these days I'd have done better, too.

After the race Vern had drawings for prizes. They were frozen cooked crab, a life jacket, and certificates for discounts at the local restaurants.



The first place overall finishers were awarded some hand made paddling kayak whirligigs, which were very nice. The guy in the surf ski, the folks in the double rowing shell and the father/son pair in the slow (a.k.a. poke) boats were the recipients.

Thank you, Vern, for having a another great race!



Photos can be found here and here.