Well, another year and all done.  First off, a huge thanks to my Sponsors who combined helped me raise a total of $900, which exceeded my $750 Target.

Now onto the race report.

Like last year, Saturday in Windsor was quite warm, it was about 27deg and sunny, The wind came up about 2pm!

We spent several hours before the start sorting out check-in and scruitineering and catching up with the other South Austrailan Paddlers who made the trek over.

I made the decision, to put on the full thermals even though it was quite warm at the start, and I am glad that I did.  As soon as the sun dipped, the temperature dropped from the high 20’s to about 10, and when I reached Sackville, I added yet another top layer to keep me warm.

Loosly speaking the race is broken down into 4 Sections – Start to Sackville 32km (Checkpoint Delta), Sackville to Wisemans 65km (Checkpoint India), Wisemans to the Low Tide Pit-Stop 88km (Between Checkpoint Lima and Mike), Finish 111km. You can meet your land crew at Sackville and Wisemans, the Pit-Stop is on the other side of the River and run by one of the Unversities where they provide you with a warm drink, scone and the last chance to strectch your legs and take a leak before finishing.

HCC Checkpoints

Of course, if you choose to, you can meet your land crew at Catti (12km – Checkpoint Alpha) but very few people stop here, some first-timers might.  Additionally, you can elect to pull into Spencer which is 13 km from the finish (Opposite the creek just before Checkpoint Oscar), but it adds about 1/2km and is well off the paddling line.

On the water ready for the the 4:45pm start, I told my land crew to expect me in Sackville in about 4h 10m – just before 9pm. The first section was with the outgoing tide for about 2 hours and I really got a great start and arrived in Sackville at about 8:20pm, nearly 30 minutes ahead of schedule. I had planned to take about a 45-50 minute break as the tide was coming in, but got away in around 40 minutes leaving around 9pm. The next section, the longest, was going to be against the tide for most of it, and with the tide for the last 30 minutes or so. This year, the tidal flow in the upper reaches of the river was not really a great influence on my speed.  Yes, it did slow me a little but nowhere near as much as I expected it to. I told my land crew to expect me at Wisemans at around 1:15am. I arrived at 01:04 = 11 minures ahead of schedule.  My race plan was to have a quick stop and make the most of the outgoing tide and hopefully make the low-tide Pit-Stop with the outgoing tide.  I left Wisemans at 01:35 and told my land crew to expect me at the finish around 8am.

Sure enough, I knocked off the 25km down to the Pit-Stop and arrived at 03:46am, with the tide still flowing out. I jumped out into the mud and enjoyed a hot drink and a scone, and got back under way at 04:05am, just before the tide turned.

From there made good progress for the next hour and didn’t really notice the tidal flow untl just after sunrise when I hit checkpoint November where I started slowing down. With only 16km to go, it was a really hard slog!  With the tide moving in at about 2-3km/h It knocked my speed back to just under 6km/h.

This year, unlike previous years, I noticed that rather than just seeing other boats as they went past me, I was passing boats nearly all the way down the river.  I went past the first boat from one of the early starts in just 35 minutes, and was passing 3-5 boats every hour right down to Wisemans. The faster boats who started after me did go past me as well.  When I left Wisemans, until the finish, there were only 5 or 6 boats that passed me and I went past around 30 or 40 others before I got to the Pit-Stop.

At 07:42:24 I crossed the line in 14H 57M 24S ahead of my planned finish time of 8am.

I was really pleased with the event this year, and surprisingly, I pulled up much better than last year, a few hours sleep, a good feed and 1/2h in the spa worked out the kinks.

When I get home, I will drag out the GPS Plot and post the details.

.. and when you don’t get that right you are really off your game.

This week, after about an hour I got very uncomfortable – and it took me a good 20-30 minutes to settle down.  My cushion was not quite right and I had to try and shuffle it around under me.  As soon as It became a problem, my speed really dropped off and I never really got back into the rhythm  again.  In hindsight, I should have stopped, got out and re-adjusted my seat.

Once again, I managed to get lucky and pick the best weather this weekend – Saturday was raining nearly all day and wind was blowing – basically terrible and I was not holding out much hope to get out on Sunday.  Well, Sunday morning, overcast, but no rain and very little wind, a quick check of the tide charts to determine a suitable course.

Anti-clockwise around Torrens Island

Tide this week was outgoing and the low was going to be about 1.2M.  This is enough (just) so that I can get thru the cutting at the northern end of Torrens Island, so I decided to do an anti-clockwise  of the Island and to go up the River to add a bit of extra distance in.  When I started, it was about 3 hours from the top of the tide, and I knew I would still have enough water to get thru.

As it was, when I got to the cutting it was quite shallow – I had less than 1/2m of water under me, but at least I could paddle the whole way and not walk.

The highlighted “X” on the water is an interesting point – it is basically where the tide does not flow – but simply goes up and down as it is where the water meets as it flows around the Island.  So, with an outgoing tide, when going anti-clockwise – I am actually padding against the tide for a little way.

I was tucked in quite close to the Island as there was just enough water to paddle in and the mangroves offered a little bit of protection from the wind.

This week the wind was quite light varying from N to NW at around the 5-15km/h.  I was actually going quite well for the first hour until I got a numb bum about the time I was going thru the cutting.  Basically most of the way along the Island back up the Port River I spent time trying to sort this out which slowed me down.   Once again, I had to battle with the wake of the tug-boats going up and down the river.  Only had 1 small rough patch from the wind – as I came thru the cutting into the Port River, in shallow water with the wind almost in my face until I crossed the river.

Speed Plot – 9km mark where I was adjusting my seat

• Distance: 22.8km
• Time”  3:13.20
• Avg Moving Speed: 7.1km/h
• Tide:  2.1 High /  1.2 Low
• N to NW wind 5-15km/h

Not a Pretty Site!

Well, it is a look – but not a great one.  When I go out paddling I am not going to win any fashion awards, but I am going to ensure that I am warm and comfortable.

The Fashionable Kayaker!

It took me a little while to work out what works best for me and it is all about layers.  What I wear as a base layer is compression garments – long legs short shirt.  Next layer is a long layer of thermals, followed by another layer of shorts and t-shirt, then the cap.  Getting in and out means getting wet feet.  I have lightweight foot cover that has a rubber sole.

I found that without the compressions, I would get cramps in my legs several hours after I finished – something that I no longer need to deal with.  The thermals are for warmth, the shorts are for extra padding on the seat, the shirt help keeps the wind out.

In summer, I tend to go with a short sleeve thermal layer or go without if it is warm enough.

A small extract from the HCC 2012 Newsletter #1

…but who said people who paddle 111km down a river, overnight, are normal ??

Earlier this year, I set myself a few goals, one of them was that I would
again front up and enter the 2012 HCC – http://canoeclassic.asn.au/

You simply cannot just turn up and hope that you will be able to complete
an event such as this – it takes considerable commitment (not the sort
with men wearing white coats) and planning. What this means is that at
around 16:45 on Saturday the 27th October, I will set off from Windsor and
about 14-15 hours and 111km of paddling later arrive at Brooklyn.

The HCC is not just about a bunch of Kayakers having fun paddling 111km
down a river overnight, it also has a serious side to it as well. This
brings me to another of my goals I set – and that is to exceed the
Sponsorship that I raised last year.

I keep coming back again (and again) because paddling 111km IS a big
challenge. Not just the physical challenge – with a bit of effort almost
anyone could do this, it is also the mental challenge – it is far harder
to overcome the doubt. The 3rd aspect is doing something for others who
are less fortunate – and that is where the fundraising comes in.

My commitment is that having submitted and paid my entry fee is that I
will head over to Sydney and complete the event. My personal aim this
year is to complete the event in less than 14 1/2 hours. My commitment
does not end there, with travelling over to Sydney, it costs us well in
excess of $1K just to participate.

Last year, with your support and help I raised $684 as part of the total
(approx $125,000), this year, I am aiming for $750. If you cannot get out
and do this event yourself please get behind me, by either sponsoring me
directly or by referring others. If you would like to sponsor me please
go to http://canoeclassic.asn.au/my/races/sponsorship?rid=11516 – all
donations are tax deductible.  Even $10 or $20 will help me get to my
target.

Thank you for supporting me in this my 3rd HCC.

… is going out and paddling!

This weekend, I took some time out from paddling to brush up on other essentials that most paddlers do not do enough of.  This weekend was about going back to the basics and doing a refresher on basic strokes, boat control and the big one – rescue.

Yes, This weekend involved having the bottom of the boat above water and getting getting back into it while on the water.  As I have been paddling this boat for about a year I thought it was about time to do something about this essential skill.

While I have been lucky and not been tipped out of the boat, it was really quite easy to flip it upside down, doing so in a controlled environment simply gives you the confidence to know that in the event of a capsize, it is not going to be a mad panic, but one of those things.

No, it is not such a crazy thing to practice rescues in the middle of winter – especially when it is in Angus Inlet.  Angus Inlet is the outlet for the Power station so the water is always warm as long as there is an outgoing tide.  So while it was only about 15 deg, the water was around the 18 deg mark and not too bad.

One thing that I did discover is that a wing paddle is great for going fast in a forward direction, it is not so great when it comes to support strokes!  I have never really had to worry about support strokes even in the worst of conditions I have been in – which is a real testament to the real-world stability of the boat.

So, with the weekend out, it means that the Rowing Machine and the Exercise Bike will get a bit of use to compensate for the reduced paddling.  I’ll have to ramp it up a bit from the 30 minutes 3 mornings a week.

As an aside, when you start getting the Newsletters from the HCC you know that it is not that long to go (again).