Catalina! I am exhausted just thinking about it! You all have got to remember this post from last year and how we had a series of unfortunate events that led to the last place finish of our poor pitiful boat and its crew. Well the Catalina race was two weeks ago on September 7th along with the birthday of my very favorite sister Kathleen (I have been trying to figure out how I was gonna give her a shout out without going back in time, problem solved) and our boat and crew did amazing, talk about ending the season on a high note! About three weeks leading up to the race I was tired, oh so very tired, work was killing me, I was and still am way behind in chores around the house, Gracie was pretty much in the custody of the AV Pet Suites and I was feeling really guilty about that, I needed a break and just flat out did not really want to paddle anymore, put a fork in me, I was done. So done, I was very close to emailing our coach and telling her I was not going to do the Catalina race, but then Kona happened and it gave me the jump start I needed to finish out the season and I am so glad I did. I was lucky enough to be placed in a coed boat one more time, this time I was with Meegan, Melanie, Patti, Greg, Buck, Dana, April & Eric (our coach). When I saw the line-up I knew we were going to have a great time, seriously these are 8 of the nicest people I know and they are all strong paddlers, however after seeing the line-up and all of these great peeps I kind of panicked I knew with Eric in the boat he would be steering the majority of the race if not the whole thing and where did that leave me, but paddling each time it was my turn to hop in the boat. Now this would be a non-issue had I spent the season paddling, but I spent the season steering now don't get me wrong when you steer you have have a hand in every stroke but you also can rest when you need too, so I was scared!
The race got started and the first water changes were made, everyone was doing great, we made a few adjustments here and there but overall we just moved right along and had a great time. A little over half way there we made a water change and I climbed into seat five and not knowing it my foot slipped through the seat and I punched a water bottle holder that was screwed on to the boat right off. We all get into the boat and we are moving past another DOCC boat and we are yelling at them cheering them along and bam we huli, we are now in the water, with all of our stuff everywhere and we are all shaking our heads to what had just happened. Later it turns out that our coach was reaching down for the the thing that I broke off the boat and since he had his head down he was not able to stop us from going over. All in all it was really funny! Towards the end of the race I was sitting in seat two, what the heck I have not sat seat two in oh like a year! I was in there for four pieces and I was getting tired and hungry as I was paddling along I seriously thought about just jumping out, all I wanted to do was eat and that was all I could think about. I got a short break shortly after I thought about jumping and then it was back in the boat to steer us to the finish line, Eric had all of us girls and Greg finish the race along with the promise of cheeseburgers for lunch as long as we did not let any boats pass us on the way in. This past Sunday we all had cheeseburgers together! We finished the race in 5 hours 34 mins! I had the best time ever! I am so proud of myself and our boat, we were supportive, encouraging and never once had a negative thing to say to one another, I hope I am lucky enough to paddle with all of these people again next year!
Hugs and high fives for a job well done!
Packed and ready to go, I may or may not of found a pair of wet pants inside a Ziploc bag last night from Catalina, eww!
These hot things (no shirts and all) met us at the beach in Catalina, they were borrowing our boat to race it back to Newport Beach the next day, umm sure, no problem you can borrow our boat anytime!
Dana, Me, April & Buck representing DOCC for 3rd place in the Open Unlimited Coed boat!
Eric, Melanie, Me, Buck, Patti, Greg & Meegan! Sadly Dana and April were unable to make it. Eric took us and our significant others to lunch at the Dana Point Yacht Club, thank you Eric!
Ken's boat on the other hand did not fair as well, the were the very last boat in but they persevered through two huli's, a poorly rigged boat and a steersman who wanted to go a different direction than back to Newport Beach, but they finished and that is all that matters!
The 2nd huli of the day!
We dropped beers from the bridge for them!
Waiting for the boats to come in!
It was a beautiful weekend in Newport Beach and Catalina, we could not of asked for better weather or better people to share this journey with, congrats to everyone on a job well done, until next year!
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