Back from Hawaii and the website has been down for upgrading. I just installed Leopard on the Mac which forced me to upgrade the web page creation software ... which led to a whole lot of publishing problems. It’s back online and I'm getting caught up. The Queen Liliuokalani was a great race. Our canoe came in something like 63 out of 75 ... which doesn't look that good until you consider that the Hawaiian teams were the best of the best and our boat was primarily novices.

~Susanita

Keeping a blog is almost like keeping a diary, except it's public. Lately I've received a few emails from blog readers to the effect "Where are you?" I'm here. Right where I've always been. But lately I've been totally focused on training for races in the outrigger canoe. Not exactly a blog worthy event. In fact outrigger canoe races aren't really blog rich. Basically we launch from the shore or the beach and we go out ... for several hours. Then we come back. Exciting right? Well we've had a few races this summer and I have a few photos from the before race and after race. But it's not like I can stop mid race and take photos. Although for the race in New York City that would have been pretty cool.

In a few weeks we'll have the BIG RACE that I've been training for all summer. We're going to Hawaii for the Queen Lili race. It's an 18 mile iron man race ... meaning no crew changes. It should be exciting. So we've been increasing the length and intensity of our workouts. Above is the speed graph from Sunday's workout. One of the spikes down is the huli drill. A huli drill is to practice tipping the canoe over and flipping it back up and getting back in. We're hoping not to huli during the race ... but it pays to be prepared.

Well off to work now and later another practice at the boathouse.

~Susanita

This is a group photo of the NCAWPA team members which showed up for the Chestertown OC Race which was held on ... Kent Island. This was primarily an OC1/OC2 race but the novices in our club wanted to add a few OC6's just for fun. So we had three OC6 teams added to the roster. My team came in a very, very close second. The first place team was a KIOCC team and really only had one novice in the crew. So we were very pleased.



Nate was the stroker and his wife Reeza was the steersperson. Next to Nate and Reeza in the photo is me and Ursula. This was Reeza's second time steering in a race and she was awesome. She yelled at us the entire time. I think when the race was over her voice was starting to falter. A few more photos can be found HERE.

More blog posts coming ... it's been a busy few weeks. Last weekend was the 2007 Delmarva Greenland Paddler's Retreat. And there was a wedding thrown into the events!

-Susanita

This is the start of the race for the Kent Island Relay Race around Kent Island. The race was open to OC6's, OC2's and OC1's. I joined the NCAWPA mixed OC6 crew and my friend Susan Williams, from Philadelphia, joined a Canadian OC6 team. My mixed team actually ended up being put in the men's class because we were short one woman ... but it didn't matter. We were going to come in third whether we were in the mixed class or the men's class.



Susan, who is big on details but lacks photos wrote a pretty descriptive narrative of the race. You can read it HERE. I tend to focus on the visual so I did the photo album, with help from Susan. Susan took the photos at the end of the race. She did legs 1 and 3 for the Canadian team and I did legs 2 and 4 for the DC team. So Susan was at the pier when all the teams came back to the yacht club. You can see the photo album HERE.

I have a new land based camera (i.e. not waterproof) so the photos have a little more detail and clarity than what I could get out of the Olympus waterproof camera. It's a Sony Cyber-shot H7 and it has 8 megapixels and a 15x optical zoom. It's not a big increase in megapixels over the Olympus but the 15x optical zoom is a big improvement. The Olympus has a zoom but it's only digital not optical. I've been learning a lot about digital cameras these last few weeks. Anyways the next blog post will be after Shannon and I return from Maine.

-Susanita

Saturday KIOCC had it's first "Quit while you're ahead" race. This was a purely fun race although it had all the trappings of a real race. There were three races: women's, men's and mixed. And within each race there were three race lengths: 2 miles, 4 miles, and 6 miles. The race teams didn't have to preannounce their race length. The team just had to show up at the finish line for whenever they'd chosen to quit and signal to the time keepers that they were through. It was a great format. Most of the participants (myself included) were first time racers in an OC6. KIOCC has a large group of novice women who joined from a neighborhood on Kent Island called Mallard Run. So they call them the Mallard Run girls. It's a great group of women, all mothers with small children. So the fun race was a great way to introduce the novices to racing in a more relaxed environment. After the race, Terry (the official KIOCC grillmaster) fired up the grill and served hamburgers, hotdogs and kabobs. My friend Shannon came along and paddled in her Anas Acutas and took lots of photos from the water. To see the entire photo album, click here.

-Susanita

Blog posts have slowed down a little. Partially because mostly what I'm doing is race training with the outriggers and with the dragonboat clubs. Have you ever wondered why there aren't many blogs devoted to outrigger canoeing or dragonboat racing? There's not a lot to blog about until you actually have a race.

Well last weekend the Kent Island Outrigger Canoe Club (KIOCC) had a race. Above are a few of the photos from the race. The complete album is here. This was an OC1 and OC2 race. I've paddled an OC1 twice .. . and neither time very well. So I didn't even consider racing an OC1. But I did bring my surfski for the long race. I ended up not racing because this would have been my first day out in the surfski this year and the winds were very strong on race day. But I did get out in the water and paddled around taking photos of the race.

This weekend is more of the same ... race training and surfski paddling. But Shannon called this evening and asked when I might want to schedule some kayak/camping trips. So we talked about doing the Chesapeake Bay Island Hopping trip in August and maybe a Maine trip in September. Until then the main things which occupy my waking thoughts are ... which wing paddle to use for the races ... the Epic Mid-Wing or the Bracsa VII, which power drink would be best for racing the Blackburn, and what am I going to do if I have to pee in the middle of that race?????

-Susanita

That would be me in the back of the canoe ... trying not to get wet. In my defense, I had started to get out of the canoe when Deb, who is one of the presidents of the club, told me I could stay in because I was so light. The water was ice cold!

I've been slacking up on the blog. But like I wrote in March, if it ever gets to the point where blogging about kayaking interferes with really kayaking ... guess which one will go. You're right. The blog.



For me Saturday was the beginning of my summer training. Even though I have the Concept 2 rower to workout on during the winter, it's not the same as really working out on the river. So Saturday was my first day back working out with the Kent Island Outrigger Canoe Club. Shannon came along so she could kayak while I was doing my canoe practice. And after practice she and I did a short paddle out to Hog Island. Shannon bought me these very cool purple sunglasses one day when she was out shopping. They look great with the purple kayak and purple pfd.



Then the next day I joined the DC Dragonboat team for a workout on the Anacostia. Monday I started my pilates class and Monday evening I did another workout with the outriggers. Rest on Tuesday. Then on Wednesday evening I joined the Pier 7 pirates for my workout paddle on the South River. I only had time to paddle out and around Turkey Point which was about 10 miles, but my goal is to gradually work in more miles and bring the pace up. I don't need to kill myself the first day out on the river.

The regular Pier 7 paddlers showed up plus a few new faces. Dave Isbell was there paddling in his greenland SOF kayak. He says my kayak is almost done and we're hoping to do the "saran wrap" test next Wednesday. Dave will wrap the boat in something like saran wrap. I think he's actually going to use a firmer plastic. Then I get to sit in the boat while he makes final notes on where the cockpit, footrests, and seat should be positioned. Then I sink. Should be fun!

Thursday I did another workout with the DC dragonboat team. After Sunday's introductory paddle I decided I need a few more practices before I join the team in Taiwan. There are many similarities between the outrigger stroke and the dragonboat stroke but the main difference is the dragonboaters only paddle on one side. They do 4-5 minutes sets where they go all out. Then they rest. After the third or fourth set I was feeling major cramps in my lower back muscles. I was paddling on the right side of the boat and I really wanted to switch sides. But that's not the way they do it. So besides learning a slightly new stroke I also need to build up my endurance for one sided paddling. It was a little overcast and dreary Thursday night with scattered thunderstorms. Not a good evening for photos. So here are some photos from Sunday.



So that's my schedule ... paddling in some form at least five days a week.

-Susanita

It's still sweltering hot outside and only a few people volunteered to go out for practice Wednesday night. We had enough paddlers for one two man boat and the six man boat. Saki also joined us to try out my Huki/Futura S1-A surfski. In the six man were Tara, me, Jack, Nigel, Neil, and Bill. It was so hot Neil thought he would be cooler with his shirt wrapped around his head as a bandana. See photo to the left. It was great having Jack in seat 3 and Tara in seat 1. Jack is a former olympic paddler and he coached several people to the olympics. Tara is just an awesome paddler. They helped me work on my stroke and my transition. Sometimes I think I've got it and other times I just feel sloppy. I found out last night I was reaching too far into the water with the paddle and I was pulling back before the paddle was firmly planted, which caused a lot of splashing. While we were paddling the outrigger Saki was close beside us keeping pace in my surfski.

The S1-A is a very particular surfski. It's 18'4" long and has a mere 16" beam. It's rated as an expert ski, which means that it's very tippy. Saki_paddling_3But if you are the right size and right body type, it will embrace you willingly and perform like the perfect surfski. It will accelerate with lightning speed, edge smoothly, and idle calmly. If you are the wrong size, it will spit you out like a bucking bronco. When I took it to Lake Anna last spring for CPA's annual SK102 event about half a dozen people were unceremoniously dumped in the Lake by the S1-A.



Last night while we were doing our Wednesday night team practice Saki got to really test his ability to paddle the S1-A without the disruptions of the wind and waves we had last Saturday for the KIPP paddle. I made sure he had a paddle float because the S1-A is more difficult to remount than his C4 and before he set out he said he was prepared to spend a lot of time in the water. But that never happened. He just glided away and quickly got up to speed. Even though he's taller than me (like everyone else), Saki and I just happen to have the same inseam which means it's sized perfectly for him. And I think he would agree that it is the perfect surfski. As he was coming in to the beach after practiceJack_coaching_saki he said he couldn't believe how stable it was. That's the magic of this ski. It's truly a stable, fast surfski ... for the right person.



After practice Jack took a few minutes to work with Saki on his stroke and body rotation. Not that he needed any modifications. He's already fast in his Futura C4. But there's always room for improvement. And it's hard to turn down coaching from a former Olympic athlete and coach!

-Susanita

"Aloha means mutual regard and affection and extends warmth in caring with no obligation in return. It is the essence of relationships in which each person is important to every other person for collective existence. It's to hear what is not said, to see what cannot be seen and to know the unknowable.

It is this concept more than any other that distinguishes the Hawaiian culture. It also allows an outrigger canoe club and its members to grow and thrive."

Taken from the Kent Island Outrigger Canoe Club (KIOCC) guidebook.

This was my third paddle with the KIOCC. I initially joined their Sunday paddles as a way of cross-training for the surfski. I knew they were serious about racing so I wasn't sure what to expect. What I found was a nice group of people who are serious athletes but who also like to have fun. They told me they like to win, but the club is more about team spirit than winning. It's a good group of people.



Sunday is novice day so there were a few other novices besides myself. Chip began the practice by demonstrating proper paddling technique and going over the commands. In an outrigger canoe each seat has a purpose. The person in seat 1 sets the pace while the person in seat 2 calls out the commands. The person in seat 6 (at the rear) steers the boat. Initially I was worried that my small size would be a drawback to participating, but Chip assured me that for the six person canoes it's all about rhythm.



Chip organized the boats and put me in seat two in the four person canoe. They also filled five spaces on the six person canoe. I hadn't been to practice for a few weeks so my canoe paddling skills were a little rusty. For one thing the paddle stroke for a wing paddle is entirely different from the paddle stroke for a canoe. The club likes to use nicknames (the only other one I remember is buttercup who set the pace in seat 1) and somehow I got the name surfski ... so surfski (me) was reprimanded more than once on the first leg of our paddle. That's ok. I needed to work out some bad strokes.



We took two breaks while we were out. At the first break, Chip went over paddling technique and he switched the boats around. I got switched to the six person canoe ... this time in seat three. I get the impression they like to keep the little people in the front. After the second break we headed back to the put-in and some people took out OC-1's ... one person outriggers. I went out for a paddle in the surfski but I didn't last very long. The wind had really kicked up and I was bracing every third to fifth stroke. I came back to shore and Neil encouraged me to go out again ... this time facing into the wind. I did. And I flipped. It took me three attempts to remount the surfski. And that was it for me for the day.

Aloha

Susanita