Surfski Knowledge Base

* following from Bellingham paddler Paul Reavley on Whatcom Paddlers discussion board *

My Day At The Doctor
Paul Reavley
11/27/23 #34762
(No comments to make about anyone else's race - they can tell you themselves if they want - but it was a tough, hot day)

Race Quote of the Day:

Dean Gardiner giving pre-race talk (after telling us that the forecast was calling for tailwinds): “If you feel the wind in your face you're going the wrong way and you're an idiot”

As it turned out there were always plenty of people in front of me to easily follow during the race, but more about that later.

Doctor race day started for me at 4:45 am. Got up and got ready, putting my race clothing on, then grabbed all of my race gear and headed to a prearranged Uber pickup to take me to where Jeff C., Van MD, and Brian K were staying. Then I drove with them the rest of the way to our boat that would take us to Rottnest Island. When we got there our boats were already loaded along with around 25 or so other boats and their paddlers - ready to go. We had an assortment of paddlers on the ship, everyone friendly, some local and many from farther afield - the other side of Australia, New Zealand, Singapore…I believe most were renting boats from Ozone Western Australia but there were also some OC6ers. I was told that last year was the first year for OC6s in the Doctor (2 boats) and this year that number doubled to 4.

Not much wave or wind action on the trip to the island. We docked and unloaded all of our boats onto the nearby beach sometime around 8 am. Now we had to wait from 2 to 6 hrs for a start time to be decided depending on forecasts and observations for their best guess of best conditions for the race. There were quite a few restaurants and a large grocery store. Everyone found a spot in the shade, drank water and rested. At some point we needed to move our boats to the beach closer to the starting line. Some folks did that right away and some waited until a time was announced for the race and our pre-race talk. The Quokkas started to come around and pilfer any unattended food. They look a cross between a fat rat and a kangaroo. Someone said that “Rottnest” comes from something like “Rat Nest” because of the Quokkas. I don't know if that is true.

Finally a start time was determined and we soon made our move to a small roofed area near the start line for Dean Gardiner's race talk. We were given more instructions about the course and landmarks to guide us and the order of start waves was repeated. They also told us that they were using a geofence with our trackers and if anyone wondered outside of it, a safety boat would approach to get us back online. If anyone needed 2 course corrections we would be disqualified. The first wave of various racers took off with their horn blast and I moved toward the start line along with the rest of the second wave. The top 20 seeded male paddlers and top 20 female paddlers had been given yellow jerseys (based on their performance in all of the previous WA race week races) and were supposed to be at the front of their respective waves. My wave had all of the OCs including the OC6s. We started with our horn blast and weaved our way through a number of sport boats before passing a buoy (was that the hotspot??) and heading for the Trigg buoy another 19 or so kms NE. Initially there was very little wave action and not much in the way of surfing, at least not for me. As with the other races I gradually drifted to the back and got to watch subsequent waves of faster paddlers zoom by. Gradually the wind and waves built somewhat going in our direction and I was able to start getting some runs. Those runs were the first times that I was able to start making up some time on other paddlers. For me these runs were by no means constant, but I could sometimes string several waves together and actually get a little surfing time to rest without paddling. And I did manage to pass a couple of people. When I was not on a run I could see the people close to my speed in front of me pulling slowly away. Then I would catch a wave and start to make up time again on these few I could compete with. Unfortunately, not only did the wind and waves not continue to build, but they actually eased off. After passing the Trigg buoy we had 6+ kms still to go, and our angle to the waves became a bit less in line with the waves more jumbled, not lined up and rarely surfable - for me - and if I did catch one I never was able to link it with another. I was basically even with a woman in an OC for the whole last 6 kms and I don't know if that was a good thing because it motivated me to stay ahead of her and at the same time zapped what little energy I had left. When I got to the beach I don't know how long it took me to walk normally and begin heading to the finish line. I must have looked fairly bad because I had a lot of people asking me if I was alright. Yep - just let me get in the shade and drink some cool water please. No, it was not a classic day for the Doctor, but it did leave some impressions.

We've moved down to Scarborough from Sorrento and are now trying to get everything straightened out for the ICF race. They just announced that it will be on Thursday. Conditions are looking much better both wind and temperature wise for what will be our last race on this trip.

Paul

Nicholas Cryder
11/27/23 #34763

Stellar writeup Paul, you guys have come so far in your paddling journey! Keep going!!

Paul Reavley
11/27/23 #34766

Thanks Nicholas.

Race Photos

Paul Reavley
11/28/23 #34768

Paddlers Pod Doctor Recap Podcast

https://pca.st/episode/c8c33ba2-4a57-4570-b922-324fa5094f97

kas@gorge.net
11/28/23 #34769

Wow, that sounds just brutal!! Thank you for the recap. If I was there, I probably would have just fallen asleep under that tree and woken up after the race began🤪 That is an amazingly long day, congratulations 💪💪