My long time paddling partner, Paul McIntyre decided to participate in the 2015 ETC Regatta and Paddle-a-thon on San Francisco Bay. This race, formerly known as the SeaTrek Regatta has been going on for 35 years. For most of those years it has been a fundraiser for Environmental Traveling Companions, whose stated mission is: ETC makes the joy and challenge of outdoor adventures accessible to people with disabilities and disadvantaged youth, inspiring self-confidence, connection to nature, and stewardship of the environment. A worthy cause!
Ken and Paul
I have paddled this race many times over the years in both singles and doubles, skin boats, strip boats and this time in a double surfski. Paul and I have both been paddling single skis for the last few years and decided to give it a go in a double ski. A friend lent us a Carbonology double. The first time Paul and I had ever been in a double ski together was three days before the race and it wasn’t pretty! We probably looked like a couple of monkeys on a log. After our first practice session, we both were thinking that this might be a mistake. Long story short, we went out for three consecutive days preceding the race looking for progressively bumpier conditions. We have countless miles and races together in double kayaks over the last 20+ years. The day of the race our mojo kicked in and we spent most of the race in third position behind Carter Johnson and Nicholas Cryder. The local elites including Kenny Howell and Dave Jensen were playing cat and mouse with us the entire race. The last mile we were probably a quarter mile behind Cryder and decided to pour it on, not thinking we would really be able to catch him. We smelled blood when we noticed him turning his head several times to see if we were gaining on him. He finally just stopped and veered off course, later saying he “wrote a check he couldn’t cash”. He was trying very hard to catch Carter. We old guys are better at pacing than the young guns. We wound up finishing 1 minute and 1 second behind Carter. It wasn’t lost on me, however, that we were in a double but it still felt like one of my best races in recent years. Results below.
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