The last time I did this race the conditions were so crazy we did the alternate course, but this time we're doing the proper course.
On Catseye Beach we do a last minute check of the canoe, we're pretty happy but Al Bradley comes over and says 'it's going to be rough girls, I'll fix a few thing for you', and out comes the gaffa tape and he seals everything shut. We can now head out for the start.
For the 42km it is one start, all the crews fight for the perfect position, canoes wedge into any gap they see forcing others out of the way. Annett lines us up next to a fast men's crews and the steerer gives us a filthy look - bad luck, we stand our ground.
Before the yellow flag is even raised we're doing a solid level 2 to keep with the pack - Yellow Flag, we're now picking up the pace - Red Flag, we're now motoring along trying to stick with the top men, it's race pace and the race hasn't even started! I guess they have to make the race official so Green Flag! We get a good start, the top men's crew look like they have a motor attached, they drop us pretty quickly but we stay in front of a lot of the crews.
Dent passage is crazy, a head wind with tide in the opposite direction is challenging for crews but a stack of fun, yee haa!!!
We make it out of the passage into far calmer waters and see a floatilla of support boats in the distance, which one is ours? We make out some orange and see the rest of the team, Annett confirms our change 1, 3, 4, 5, the support boat zooms ahead trying to find a spot amongst other support boats to drop off the girls. 'Paddlers in the water' calls Shell, power it up.
The energy builds, 5 unzip, 4 unzip, 3 unzip, 1 unzip, I can see the nervous energy on the faces in the water as we approach, 'READY, OUT!' For a brief moment it's Annett and I and then a mad scramble as arms, legs and bodies hurl into the canoe, yay, they all made it, 'Full crew', we're away.
Other highlights - or lucky escapes:
We're about to do a change in rough water, I'm in seat 1 and can see 3 girls in the water, the canoe is bouncing around in the swell, as the canoe bounces past, 2 bodies are safely on the left with hands running along the gunwale for guidance, our 3rd paddler Di is coming into 2, I stare wide eyed as I see her head in the water on the left, oh crap, she's now on the right with the nose of the canoe just ahead of her!! She calmly puts her hands on the nose and is somehow now on the left, at this point I don't think I'm even paddling believing I'm going to have to jump out and rescue Di. Meanwhile Di has made it to seat 2 and is about to jump in however Lisa is also wide eyed having witnessed this and wasn't sure if she should depart! I start paddling, Lisa jumps, Di hauls herself in saying 'oh my god, oh my god, oh my god'. Near miss and we're away.
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