Commencement Bay Race 2007

After having had a nearly week long period without precipitation the rain returned Friday afternoon. The forecast was for showers and clouds on Saturday, with temperatures in the 50's to low 60's.

Sure enough, Saturday dawned with some light drizzle and 50 degrees.

After breakfast, however, the rain had stopped. Yay! It was time to put the boat on the car and head to Tacoma.




The parking lot was mostly empty at 8:30 AM. Several cars and vans carrying double racing shells were parked, and a couple of kayaks were present as well. I pulled into a spot near a large grassy area.




Todd Silver, the race director, was setting up a table loaded with goodies for the event. There were tasty muffins, soft drinks, fresh fruit and even a pecan pie. Yum!


Steve Wells was handling race registration at a nearby table. I walked over, registered and was handed boat number 1. Perhaps this was a portent of things to come - I hoped!



Upon returning to my car I found that another pedal boat had arrived. Todd (another one) had driven down from Seattle with his blue Cadence to participate in his first Sound Rowers race. Welcome, Todd!

We unloaded the boats from the vehicles and wheeled them to a staging area not far from the cobble beach where we would soon be launching.



The pre-race meeting started a little late. Todd Silver described the course. It was a narrow triangle with the start and finish at the apex, and the base formed by two buoys at the far eastern end of the bay near the container docks and a paper plant. This year, however, there would not be the hulking sawdust filled barge moored at one of the buoys as there had been in previous years. The 5 and 1 minute warning signals and the starting signal were also described. The meeting concluded with announcements relating to safety on the course, PFD requirements, etc.





Todd and I helped each other get our boats down onto the beach amidst the other folks launching their vessels. One man brought two young children with him to race in his 3 man kayak. They seemed to be excited about going on this adventure with their father.

For launches such as this where one has to wade into the water before entering the boat, I used to wear water shoes for the wading and switch to cycling shoes for the pedaling once the boat was further out. Today I was trying out for the first time a pair of Shimano cycling sandals. They were excellent! The soles were tough enough to protect my feet from the stones, yet able to provide adequate footing on their slippery surfaces. The open design allowed the water to drain out immediately so I did not have to delay stepping into the cockpit. The velcro fasteners were quick to disengage and engage, and made putting on dry socks a quick and easy task. Lastly, the cycling cleat secured them quite well to the Speedplay Frog clipless pedals.

Now we'll have to see if they truly do have problems holding up when used in a salt water environment. This was a complaint by one or two people on a Hobie mail list.





I pedaled out to the fleet of boats massing near the starting line.



There were a couple of dragon boats from a local dragon boating club in the race today. The folks on board all seemed cheerful and ready to rumble. There were also several men's double rowing shells, piloted by some of the best Sound Rowers racers. With the southerly wind and fairly calm conditions at the start it looked like it could be a very fast, competitive race - at least for these guys!

About the only boats not present were the usual outrigger canoes and surf skis. I guess that some of them were in Hawaii for the Molokai race.



At the starting line the wind was pushing the boats northward. Some boats had more windage than others, causing them to clump somewhat by the time the one minute warning signal was heard.

Finally, we were off!


Pedaling east into the bright overcast the GPS was reporting speeds of around 7 mph, possibly higher. The double rowing shells gradually pulled away, with a surf ski or two not too far behind. A couple of single rowing shells also pulled ahead. Meanwhile, most of the rest of the field remained behind as we headed towards the first buoy.



Remembering how this race turned out photographically in previous years, i.e., lots of shots of different racers at the beginning followed by shots of one or two racers for the rest of the event, I decided to do the course in the same fashion as I did the Lake Whatcom race. I would head to the second buoy first, head to the first buoy, and then return to the start with the rest of the racers. This would enable me to take photos of everyone in the race as I passed by in a sort of reverse direction.



I bid adieu to Steve Wells as he headed in the direction of the first buoy, and set course towards the freighter moored at a grain elevator on the south side of the harbor.



With the sawdust barge gone the second turn buoy was hard to see against the far eastern shore. I made my best guess as to its location and pedaled rapidly toward it.

The GPS was reporting a somewhat slower speed than before. I guessed that perhaps the tide and river currents were working against me.



Sure enough, I encountered almost head on the first racers in their double shell on their return.





The competition between the front competitors was looking pretty fierce. Those guys were working like maniacs!





Rounding the second buoy I met the first paddler in a surf ski. We exchanged greetings and off we went our separate ways.





Racers were passing by quickly now. Some were taking a rather wide tack towards shore, and others were heading closer to my position. The water was also starting to get fairly choppy, probably mostly due to the merging of the water from the Puyallup River with that of the harbor.



As I neared the first buoy I encountered Todd pedaling his Cadence. He seemed to be having a good time and was making pretty good progress. Unfortunately, however, it appeared that his chain had come somewhat loose and would skip if he applied too much pressure on the pedals. I yelled to him that I would come back and give him a tow after getting shots of the rest of the racers.





Still en route to the first buoy I encountered a cluster of boats, including the one paddled by the dad and his two kids. They all seemed to be having a great time, even though most appeared to be a little wet from the increasingly heavy chop.

After rounding the buoy I continued westward through the chop until I found Vadim paddling his sea kayak. He was doing great in that mess but was happy to hear that it was calmer further along in the course.

I headed back in the general direction of the second buoy in order to join up with Todd. The waves were mostly abeam, which reduced the splashing a bit. The propeller was no longer spinning in air from time to time, either. Meanwhile, the GPS was reporting a speed of about 6 to 6.5 mph.



Eventually I found him. He had progressed quite a bit further along the course than I had expected. Rats! I should have angled further towards the west! Now I would have to work in order to catch up.



Slowly but surely the distance between his boat and mine shrank. He had been doing a great job of pedaling evenly, just cruising through the water. We talked for a few moments - and then I left him in my wake with a short sprint. Seeing a couple of rowers close to shore and not very far ahead I briefly entertained thoughts of trying to catch them.



After a short consultation with my muscles the decision was made: nope - not today. I just continued pedaling at moderately high effort.

After an hour and 4 minutes I crossed the finish line. Overall, with the pauses for photography and the extra distance covered (about 6.5 miles), that wasn't too bad.



Todd came across the line soon after, with a time of 1:05:27. That was also a good time, though the distance he covered was probably closer to 6 miles, and he couldn't press as hard as he would have liked.



After a while talking and taking more photos we headed to shore.

The munchies were still there, so I grabbed a chunk of pecan pie. That really hit the spot!



The awards ceremony was held after the last racer crossed the finish. The first boats across the line were the double rowing shells, which was not a surprise. However, they managed to set a new course record with a time of 40:36. Their average speed was over 8.8 mph - not bad at all, especially considering the chop approaching the first turn.

After the ceremony I assisted Todd in adjusting the chain on his boat. It appeared that a couple of mounting screws had come loose, but no damage had been done.

We assisted each other in putting the boats back on the cars and headed home. Another race and another fine day!

More photos and the race results can be found at the Sound Rowers web site.