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| The Certificate! |
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| The weather starting to close in pre start |
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| Off to the Start |
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| Pre start |
It all started off great, I got to Sackville on time at 1915, stopped for a brief top up of the water and food & have a stretch (butt/hamstrings sore).I was back on the water at 1940 and had the tough slog to Wisemans Ferry, it was fighting the tide the whole way.I got to Wisemans at midnight and was happy with the time to that point.I remember paddling with a guy on the run to Wisemans and telling them that last year it beat me and it was not going to do it again.
The paddle from Wisemans to the finish was mentally tough, in the first part I was frustrated with my speed and could not seem to get what I thought was a good speed when running with the tide, I could not get above 7.5km/h. As people passed me one after the other, they all asked how are you? My answer was I got nothing left!! I could not break it, it was checkpoint after checkpoint but seemed like I was not getting any closer to Brooklyn. I was starting to think I could not make it. I made the call to stop at the Low Tide Pit-stop for a stretch and a breather to get back on track. What a great move that was! After a coffee and a scone from the volunteers there I was away again and the mood had lifted. when the mood lifted so did the speed, i was back to doing 10's again and with it came the passing of kayaks.
Then the Southerly hit, it was horrible, 1-2 foot chop hitting you head on but unsighted as it was 4am. I was into strong winds and chop, the speeds dropped back to 5's as I joined another guy for the slog home. I got to that checkpoint and now had the Southerly behind me and only a little over 4km to the finish. I was cruising nicely at 7km/h riding the wind swells towards Wilson island. Then in a split second I was hit by a wave at 45* from the rear of about 3 feet, it knocked the paddle from my grasp and next thing i was upside down in the water. With the help of fellow paddlers in a double, Kayak 212, I got back in and bailed out the water and went for home. The swim had given me a second wind, I was not letting Mother Nature beat me and I was giving my all, I had passed a few kayaks that had got by me in my little episode in the water.
I saw the finish line and I was paddling like it was a 500m sprint. I was not going to leave anything in the tanks. I passed a few guys in doubles on the run in.
I was home I had completed my Hawkesbury Classic at my second attempt.
14 Hours 12 Minutes & 39 Seconds
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| The End |
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| I had done it! |
I will add some pics once i get them from everyone who took them.
Hi Grant
ReplyDeleteI am one of the guys from kayak 212. Was very happy to have been able to help you...could have happened to any of us. What a night...what an experience. Gotta be back next year.
Regards
Thank you very much David and when you see Roy next pass on my thanks too.
ReplyDeleteWhen I fell in I was looking around and thought this is going to be tough. When I saw you guys it was a relief to but it mildly. Glad to see that they have adjusted your time to compensate for it too. I tried to find you guys when I finished but it was a little chaotic with all the rain.
See you next year for sure.
Well done Grant all that and still time for a swim too I am impressed! I finished in 16hrs 36 mins 7secs. The wild winds made life very interesting for a while. I was the last paddler through Point O before they stopped it ,at point P the man asked me if I wanted to be sent back to Spencer? there was no way I was going to do that after all the effort to get there so he let me go on to the finish. I already knew my Point 65N could take a lot more than that weather so I felt confident to go on. Did you tip out after point Q that was very difficult to negotiate I thought. You were lucky to have the other guys nearby, I found myself paddling on my own most of the last part of the night with hardly a boat in sight a lot of the time towards the end, I was worried at that stage about a capsize with no one around me. Regards Glenn
ReplyDeleteThanks Glenn, it certainly was tough. A friend said he heard they were thinking all night to stop it at Spencer.
ReplyDeleteI fell in after Checkpoint Q probably at the 6 on Map 5. Was about halfway to Checkpoint S.
I thought so; I started to go straight across there and thought better of it.I turned up into the waves a bit more so I could take them almost on my bow. That cost me about 1klm in distance but was a lot easier; I doubt I would have made across without a capsize if I had not done that. It must have been awful for you when it happened I'm glad you came out of it and continued many would have stopped after that.
ReplyDelete