[Paddlers] [Members] Sauvie Island Paddle - a true pleasure

[mduryea at att.net]

Woo Hoo! What a blast!

Chip, really, we can't thank you enough for your good cheer and indominable spirit along the way and to both you and Julie for the warm welcome at the dock (Julie we could hear you cheering as we pulled past the dolphin!)  It was the perfect cap to an awesome day - Although we were so tired we were pie-eyed, I was grateful both for the opportunity to refuel a bit, but also to savor the day with you and our teammates before we all headed home for hot showers.  Thank you both for being there!

Paul, we look forward to you joining us for this adventure next year - and not just by phone!  It was about blending, playfulness, experimenting and making thing work, and it made me think of you and Keith and Clint and Tony a lot.  We love ya, man, and you were definitely with us on this trip!

Laura and Steve, you guys were awsome - thanks for putting all the pieces (and the people) together.  Darcy, thanks for the concept!  Peter, thanks for showing up, but also for making sure we had what it takes to make a voyage like this - It was cool to see things come together.  As for the rest of us, this one will be a tough one to top, but (WooHoo!)what shall we do next?!

Thanks for a great time!  Maria
-------------- Original message from Laura Ricker <rickerla at yahoo.com>: -------------- 

54 miles 10 hours 45 minutes we paddled around Sauvie Island.  

Thank you Peter for seeing us off.  I cannot tell you have much that meant to each of us. We were truly flattered that you came down at 6am and more than one person mentioned how much that meant to them throughout the day. 

Our women's crew was amazing. I cannot say enough about the energy, the courage, the tenacity of these women; Carin, Darcy, Maria, Beth and Megan!  What an animal.  Another Fire Dragon stepped up and filled our empty seat when Terri unfortunately had to step out due to injury (get better!).  This group was truly a pleasure to paddle with.  Women who generally do not race together throughout the year had incredible blend, spirit, and pop.  The boat really did glide. 

The GPS was a life saver and both Steve and I had one on each boat.  With it our crew was able to stay between 6 and 7 miles and hour all the way around the island.  We cruised the back stretch with an average of 6.3, cruised upriver with an average of 6.4 and hit some small bumps that took us to 7.  With the GPS you could really tell where to go to find the water to make the paddle much more smooth for everyone.  It is amazing how much a few feet to the east or west will make!  The GPS was excellent.  

We stopped every hour for 3 or 4 minutes based on Peter's recommendation that Maria shared with us and that was a godsend.  Perfect!  Enough time to grab a Gu or eat a bar, stand and stretch or change some clothes.  One time we pushed it a bit too long looking for Frenchman's Bar and bonked a bit but we made it!

The men's crew did awesome and were constant carrots for us throughout the paddle.  For most to not have any training for this they did incredible. Scott, Alok, Ryan, Steve T, Mike, and Steve P it was a pleasure to have you all out.  Great team players, thank you.  We all met up at Coon Island at 22 miles for lunch, met up at the tip of the island Warrior Rock for a break at 33 miles, met up at Frenchman's for a break and more food at 45 miles, and paddled home.  We paddle alongside a rainbow on the way home as the wind and chop picked up on our last 4 miles but overall the weather was perfect!  

Carin's boyfriend, Chip, was the real hero.  He drove back-up for us up through Sauvie and would stop and take photos.  Chip then laid out a full spread at the clubhouse that Julie helped him put together of Hot Totty's, Beer, chips, apples, dip, and Hot Chocolate and Rum.  It was great!  

And most important we called Paul along the route.  Maria got a hold of him while he was at the Sexton with some Homies.  We all said hello and we passed on our cheer and good thoughts.  Thank you everyone who accomplished such a great feat.  It was truly a pleasure and another highlight to my year paddling.

Best to all and to all a good night. 

Laura

 

Paddle.  Experience.  Enjoy.  
www.paddlepods.com 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/html
Size: 6768 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.mountainhomecc.com/pipermail/paddlers/attachments/20091004/f7ca9b28/attachment.txt