Been a little while since last post. Well, lots of finals and final projects for school have made things busy. But now it's Winter break, and it's been great so far: a white Christmas (which NEVER happens in Texas), a good New Year's, and some good progress on a few projects. Will post most recent guitar project in a week when it's finished. For now, here's some pics of the snowfall, recent experiments in coffee roasting with our canoe captain, and a picture of the monstrosity that is the FrankenCanoe (stored above last year's 20 ft, canoe, for scale). We still don't have a way to transport that beast. I hope we can get it going soon!

Team Zissou!

It's that awesome time of year again. Here's my Halloween costume- just needed a 24ft. racing sail yacht for the perfect accessory.

On a very, very sad note, here is just one tragic story of what is sure to be hundreds more from Sandy. I chose this one because of its classic, nautical theme.

One-Hundred-One!

This is my 101st post! The first pic here is of a swollen Colorado River at Little Webberville Park. The trip from here to Big Webberville Park is about 5.5 miles by river. It's a nice quick trip, and a calm section of the river (even when the water level is up). We have a cool wet winter predicted, and I'm hoping it bodes well for next year's Texas Water Safari! Although the rain recently was good, it wasn't a Charleston kind of rain (see pic 2). I've been to that market before and can assure you that it is NOT usually kayakable.

Ol' Blue

A good friend (and semi-neighbor) just inherited a beautiful blue Old Town 17 footer. Now with 2 canoes (and an extra interested paddler) in relative proximity, there should be more river time in the near future!

Casey's New Orleans SnowBalls

These are the only snow balls you're likely ever to see in Austin. Of course, in Texas, we call them snow cones. But these are New Orleans style, and Casey's is THE BEST place in town to get them; it's one of my favorite things about summer. I get the orange with whipped cream (real) on top, the wife gets sour apple with caramel on top, and the boy gets something new every time (tiger blood? they got it). Labor Day is the last day they're open each season, so we had to get one more before they closed. We have had such good Casey's kharma this year. Everytime we've been, we get there and there's 1 person in line. When we leave, the line is around the building. Here's to you, Casey's - until next year.

Castle Hill

Up on Castle Hill, where the thugs meet. I discovered this place a couple of weeks ago in a neighborhood I haven't been driving through in a while. It's a great find, and more reason cell phone cameras rule! Check out the slide show here

. PS- If you go, wear close-toed shoes, or risk contracting HepC.

Last of the Summer Weekend Projects

As I got home today, and set my groceries down to fish for my keys, I could hear the local high school marching band practising in the distance. Makes me think of that White Stripes song about going back to school. Anyways, here's a short of my last weekend project of the summer: a guitar I made out of an old neck and a couple of brownie tins. Many thanks to cigarboxnation.com for tips on how to wire it for use with an amp. I will definitely be making more of these!

As the Summer Winds Down

The temps are still in the hundreds, but the days are noticeably shorter and the talk of football is back. A nice weekend with not too many responsibilities left me no choice but to brew and bottle, and sail in the last race of the Summer series. It's been a while since I was under sail and without a paddle, and it felt good. Projects are limited with the number of hours I will be taking at school this Fall semester, but I'll see what kind of adventure I can cook up for the Winter break. Any ideas?

A 10 Foot Trailer for a 40 Foot Boat -

Hmmm... looks like some balancing will be in order. Here is the new (used) trailer platform for Long John Silver (name is not official) and a stack of lumber. We will soon begin building up a trestle on which to carry the new 40 foot aluminum. Wish us luck.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls...

step right up, step right up. Two bits is what it costs, just two bits. Witness a spectacle... nay, an aberration of nature. A freak of the canoe world. Behold: FRANKENCANOE!
What you are looking at is Team Marines' 2010 Water Safari entry - a home built forty foot aluminum canoe for 6 paddlers. Forty. Feet. Made from cutting an Osagian canoe in half and welding 23 feet of metal in the middle, those guys finished the race in 60 hours.
Team Cuatro Sinko planned to race the CR 100 in it, but about 24 hours after our team captain bought the thing, race officials finally returned our emails and informed us that the race was limited to solo and tandem boats. Wow. Oh, well - their loss.
We will be racing instead in the Jr. Safari, the first 16 miles of the regular Texas Water Safari (familiar territory). Will this mean we get competitive? First let's see if we can even steer the thing!

Cool TWS Vid

Not as elegant as a pod of dolphins, but here's some nice underwater footage of the Texas Water Safari race start.
And here is some neat time lapse of Palmetto (one of the checkpoints) at night.

July!

That month usually doesn't have an exclamation point on the end of it for me, but it's been almost a week since I watered my plants - or needed to. We've had a cool front bring us several inches of rain and highs in the low 90's. Wow! Summer is 1/2 over, and I haven't even thought to myself, "when is this going to end?!". It's a shame the rest of the country has been having record heat waves.
Team Cuatro Sinko, it seems, is up for another canoe challenge: the Colorado River 100. You guessed it - it's a 100 mile race down the Colorado River. Happens on Labor Day. Just enough time to get good and flabby if I don't continue training.
Also, it looks like the team is in the planning stages of the Texas 200 (these events have very clever names) - the 200 mile sail up the Texas coast. We have two options: sail a Catalina 22 (a very capable shoal-draft boat with a swing-keel) or rig our canoe Tinkerbell with a Sunfish rig and fit it with amas (pontoons) to make it a trimaran. In true "go big or go home" Cuatro Sinko style, we are currently considering both. Heck yeah!

Last on the Topic of TWS: Inspiring Individuals

Alternate title for the post: Cojoneros. I'm not sure that's a word, but what I mean is 'Folks With Cojones'.
There were a lot of inspiring folks out there in the race, but these are my top 3 favorites:
1. Old Man and the Sea - solo paddler in his 60's (maybe 70?), plugging away, portaging over dams and jams. Awesome. Lucky he had a light composite canoe.
2. Not So Lucky: The Reluctant Solo Paddler - this guy's partner wanted out. He didn't. So he stayed in, found an old tire/rim on the river bank to use for ballast in the bow of his aluminum 2-seater. He finished not long after we did (and under the 100 hours). This is surprisingly not the first time I've heard of this happening, but it was cool to see.
3. El Cojonero Mas Loco - this guy is the first to try (and first to finish) the entire 260+ miles on a stand-up paddle board. Not really much more to say about that. Simply amazing.

pic: stand-up paddle board guy displaying withering hands, around mile 190.

Update (written 7/02/2012): well, it looks like there's mutual respect amongst all us folks who were told we couldn't finish. And speaking of the devil! Check out TheStandUpGuy blog!

TWS: Lessons Learned

There are a multitude of things I've learned while training and running the Texas Water Safari. Not least among them is the importance of a good team. But the following is advice for folks not running with such a large pack, and some for general paddling:
1. dry bags
2. take care of your hands and your butt, and they'll take care of you.
3. almost as important as hydrating is taking in enough salt and electrolytes. This year was the first ever fatality of the Texas Water Safari, in the 50 years it's been going. The cause: water intoxication - too much water intake and not enough salt/electrolytes.
4. listen to veteran's advice, take what you need and disregard the rest. Many veterans told us we would not be able to finish in the boat we chose. I'm glad we didn't listen. We dared, and we did. We practiced, thought, and trained, and had a GREAT time. Don't let others tell you that you can't- instead, keep your head down and keep paddling (practicing and training, that is).

The Bay, and... Finish Line?

After the Salt Water Barrier was several miles of canal: calm, calm water with no wind. We were racing the sun to get to the bay, but night fell before we made it. We pushed on. The excitement that we were likely only a few hours from finishing was tempered by drowsiness. Half asleep, I almost hit a crushed aluminum can floating up to the bow before realizing... it was alligator eyes! What must have been at least a 4 ft. gator darted off a few inches before the blade of my paddle came down on his head. We were all now perfectly awake and alert.
The lack of sleep and the dark continued to play tricks on our eyes, making faces out of trees. Finally at the bay, we chose a bright light on the opposite side and paddled hard. We were pointed dead into the wind, and the boat felt stable plowing straight into the waves. After about an hour, we changed our strategy: we would wade and walk the boat in shallow water along the banks of the reed-covered barrier island. We didn't get far. Back in the boat, and this time taking the waves at an angle. The boat was still steady, but the wind was rising and the waves were growing. We slowed to a crawl. Palm-sized fish were jumping around, over, and into the canoe. I saw what would be the last of my TWS nighttime misperceptions: a race official standing in the bay with a reflective windbraker and a clipboard, observing our progress. It was really a channel marker buoy, which meant we were headed generally in the right direction.
But with the wind and waves increasing, it made sense to get out again and try walking along the coast. It seemed like forever before we made contact. Even though it was midnight, an enthusiastic spectator on the shore yelled an encouraging "Almost there! Only a few hundred yards!".
Touching the finish buoy, picking the boat up the stairs of the sea wall, and dragging it under the arch felt surreal. Two hundred and seventy miles. Excitement and relief- fireworks on the inside and outside a collapse and sprawl onto the grass (after pictures, of course).
Official time: 87 hours and 43 minutes. Not bad for four canoewbies and a 20 ft. Old Town canoe.


Pic: team with captain

Day 4- the Home Stretch

After successfully negotiating the hazard that swamped and pinned us in the Marathon (we got there just before dark; all part of the plan) we took another hour-and-a-half nap just past the Victoria park/checkpoint. The rest of the night was uneventful, except for a very large alligator gar that jumped up and hit the boat broadside, just at the gunwales. Another few inches and that sucker would have been in the boat!
This last section included some very cool bridges... and some very big log jams. These were the kind that were not sitting on the banks majestically, or cluttering bridge piles with only a four foot channel by which to slip through. No- these were the ones we'd been warned about, the ones we could see on Google Earth. The ones where people have marked takes outs, because these ones spanned the width of the river, and went on for 1/4 mile or more. Now it was getting interesting again. The four of us had to think, reconnoiter, and use muscles we hadn't used in a few days to lift 8-10 feet up a bank, carry, and drag the boat around. We were lucky to hit them during the day.
Passing them made us feel invigorated, and conjured images of African or Amazon safaris. If we threw some more coal into our steamers, we may make the bay before nightfall, and have the advantage of a daylight navigation. We hit the Salt Water Barrier (last checkpoint!) and unloaded all of our unneeded gear and uneaten food to make us as light as possible. The wind was calming down, and everything seemed to be in our favor.
Pic: extraneous gear.

Third Day- The Cuatro Sinko Way

Third day and all was still going well. Time started to become meaningless; if it weren't for the pressure to bank time and make checkpoints, the only thing that would have mattered would have been the position of the sun. I must have asked a dozen times what day it was. We passed log jams the size of large houses. With fingers, shoulders, and butt all getting used to the grind, I was getting into a rhythm and started falling asleep while paddling. I've fallen asleep standing before, but never while I was still moving.
The pic is of the team preparing for a portage. The strategy was to carry most gear and over half our water in individual backpacks. As we approached a dam, we would take turns dropping out to unclip our pack and put it on. This made the canoe a lot lighter and easier to pick up, carry, drag, and put in. That's the Cuatro Sinko way.

Texas Water Safari, Day 2

The day started well with a good portage around Gonzales Dam, and a check stop that included a sock full of ice for the shoulders (a MUST for each daylight check stop), and a fresh wrap on the fingers. I found during training that gloves keep my hands from ever drying. If they get wet, the skin softens and makes them more prone to blister. Instead of gloves, a good wrap with medical tape, then duck tape, does the trick.
It was a few hours past the check point that we decided to stop for a hot meal (MRE) and a siesta. We each got about 30 minutes sleep, then back to paddling. everyone was still in good spirits, and we managed to have another dry stretch. By nightfall we had banked enough time for another 1.5 hour nap. All was good: another weird but uneventful night, then

day was breaking.

The Texas Water Safari 2012, Day 1

I figured I'd wait until the river dreams stopped before writing about our adventure, but a week later I'm still having them. Maybe I need to purge to stop the dreams- so here it goes, Day 1 Texas Water Safari:

Feeling pretty good on the river at the starting line in Aquarena Springs: well hydrated, bowels evacuated, and a calm restful sleep the night before. It's as if my mind finally just gave up all the anxiety. I tried a Gestalt method of just riding the anxiety whenever I felt it the previous week, and it seemed to work. There was a lot of excitement on the river, and a record number of boats (136, I believe). This first day would include the most technical part of the course, and our first night-time paddling yet.
All went smoothly. We cruised by our checkpoints, stayed afloat in the rapids, and portaged like pros. Folks said we'd have trouble portaging such a large, heavy boat around the dams; we practiced this part of the river, though, and had a technique that actually jumped us ahead of a few other teams. Feeling pretty confident by dusk, we attached our bow light, donned our PFDs and headlamps, and decided not to sleep until after Gonzales (which we'd hit the next morning, if all went as planned).
We came to a few major obstacles this first night: Palmetto Bridge, Ottine Rapids, and Ottine Dam. We took them all slow and safe, and it paid off. Our movement in the water at night was swifter than had been anticipated, so the extra time spent being safe was more than compensated.
Lack of sleep and the almost pitch black played tricks on our eyes. One of our crew was convinced there were "murals on the walls". Fact is there were no murals... and no walls. Only trees. Other boats way ahead of us looked like lights from a spelunker exploring caves of trees in the distance. Another boat came up behind us, their bow light casting our shadows on the bluffs and banks. It was a surreal vision, but daybreak found us safe, dry, and in good spirits.

Here We Go...

We leave in a few hours to check Tinkerbell in at the race start. She'll stay overnight, and we begin the race at 9AM (almost 24 hours from now). Check out the GPS website that will update our location every 10 minutes, www.tinyurl.com/cuatrosinko .
It's already been so much fun getting ready for this thing. I look forward to seeing all I can see, and conquering this passage. Not looking forward to the sleep deprivation, exhaustion, and monkey butt. However, I have to keep in mind that we don't have all that much to complain about: check out this story.
Hopefully next post will be filled with stories about how we made it!