Welcome to the Washington paddlers

Duncan and Kim of Bellingham, Washington are here to paddle for a few weeks. Looking for a good deal on a Stellar ski. The one on the right is for sale...

Eurochallenge 2012
Wednesday May 2, 2012
Following is my report on the week leading up to and including the race. It's a work in progress and will change daily.  For anyone thinking of doing the race next year use this as your reference as I find out what works and what doesn't.

Coming from the west coast of North America there's an eight hour time change. It took me four days to adjust to this so either arrive just a few days previous to the race before your body realizes what's going on or give it a week and see some of Spain and France as I did.
 I flew United at a cost of $1300. I booked the flight about 10 days before leaving and there were still seats available on each of the three legs - either it's a low travel time of the year or there really is a recession going on.
I rented a BMW 116 from Hertz at the Madrid airport. Cost was $        Luckily this vehicle was cheap on fuel as I wasn't ready for the highway tolls which amounted to about 40 euros each way for the  drive to France. The tolls cost more than the diesel. This small car was ideal for travel and more specifically parking. The on street parking is crowded and some of the hotel parking spots (most of which charge 10 + euros / day for a spot) required work to get into.
I stayed at a variety of hotels from an 18 € / night pension in Villajoyosa, the race sponsored Allon Hotel (212 € for 4 nights) and two paradors (don't ask €).
Thanks to Daryl of Think for arranging a boat and paddle for me. The race site listed boats from 60 € for the two days of the race and 120 € for the week. Think, Epic and Fenn boats were available. If you're thinking of doing the race next year the first thing to do would be to reserve a boat and paddle. The hotel and flight and car weren't such a priority.

Spain is taking some getting used to as I'm having trouble finding a few things. Food for example. More to come.......

Using a kitesurfing leash

Since hearing the discussion lately about failing velcro on leashes I've started using my kitesurfing leash on my ski. It has carabiners on each end and a release. See the red handle with the arrow? That's the safety release which allows you to quickly unhook from the kite (or ski) and prevents "kitemares". The PFD I'm using is a Mustang inflatable with built in rings for a tether when sailing in rough weather.

Paddling Balandra (near La Paz)

Thanks, Chris for putting this together...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osOaFpHr3cs

BEST PADDLE OF MY LIFE... UNTIL WE DID THE SECOND RUN!

The wind had been blowing all night and when we awoke there was a nice swell producing breaking surf on the beach.  We knew the wind was going continue to build so we headed north. Warren, Allan, Renée and myself (Chris) set off  to the Hot Springs to do a 10km down wind run.  Renée dropped us off and returned with the truck to La Ventana stopping at the market along the way.  

After launching from the beach we headed north east to get into the bigger waves and to clear Punta Gorda.  The waves were beautiful... swell with wind waves on top.  The swell was moving fast and would normally be hard to catch, but the extra push from the wind waves sent you screaming down the waves.  

When we got back there were hi-5s all around and I remember saying, "that was the best down wind I've ever done!"  Renée was eager to paddle now so Allan volunteered to drive back up for another go round.  The wind seemed to be a bit calmer (maybe 15knots), but the waves seemed larger.  Once we were out off shore we realized that they were much bigger.  It was hard to stay together because people kept disappearing in the 6 foot swell.  Renée took a spill early on and we circled around.  Paddling into these waves was very humbling.  A few broke just as I was popping over and then I would crash back to the other side.

After flying down a few monstrous waves, I realized that this was definitely going to be even better than the first run.  As we neared La Ventana the wind was picking up again and the Kite Surfers were out in strong numbers.  Luckily they were all being blown down the beach giving us room to surf into the beach safely.

When we got back to Warren's camp I checked my GPS to see how fast we were going.  I remember Warren posting that he clocked his fastest time a few weeks ago at 18.2km.  My GPS was showing 18.3 so I now had the record... for a few minutes.  Then Warren checked his and he had an unbelievable 20.7km.  Warren exclaimed that it must have been the lighter boat... we were both in V-10s, but he had the Ultra.  I think it was more to do with the Wardog's strength and fearlessness!

What an amazing day to cap off an amazing week.  I have to return to the cold tomorrow, but we might try to break another record tomorrow morning.  The forecast is for 30knot winds.  

¡Adiós de La Ventana, Baja Sur!

Chris

This is Chris half way through a four hour paddle. For more photos go to the Surfski Baja Facebook page.

The four of us (myself, Alen, Kim and Rene) were finally able to get on the water today after 3 days of 25 knot winds and 7 foot seas. The remnants of the big waves helped me post a 18.2 kmph (11.3 mph) top speed.