James River Paddle Challenge 2011

SUPerb.......

I don't know how else to describe it.

Last Saturday a group of approximately 60 paddlers (SUP, kayak, canoe and outrigger) gathered at Jamestown Island, Williamsburg to participate in the 2011 James River Paddle Challenge to benefit the James River Association.

The 10 mile course was mostly flat-water taking us through the tidal section of the James River and circumnavigating historic Jamestown Island.  The same Jamestown Island where John Smith and his fellow explorers from the Virginia Company landed and established the Virginia English Colony all those years ago.  ; )

Now...we had never paddled 10 miles on our Stand Up Paddleboards before so signing up for this event was a little nerve-racking.  However, luckily for us our good friends at Chesapeake Boardsports were happy to lend us two hard boards for race day so we had absolutely no excuse not to sign up.  ; )

The drive to Jamestown Island was beautiful.  Mostly because the boards we would be borrowing were in front of us the whole way!  LOL!  ; )  But really, all of the scenery was gorgeous.

Once we arrived to the marina where we'd start the race I felt butterflies in my stomach!  There were so many people there! I'd definitely hoped for a good turn out but I really just didn't know how many SUPers would actually participate.  I was happily surprised (as I think the race organizers were as well).

Once we parked, got our equipment ready and lathered on the sunscreen we sought out our fellow SUPers.

And of course we couldn't resist a few photo opportunities!

We were thrilled to see some familiar faces like Camille of Black Dog Paddle!  We'd just met Camille at Riverrock in May so it was great to see her again!  Thanks Camille for thinking to take a "before" picture of us!  =)

We also (officially) met Jason and Jenny of Stand Up Paddleboards Richmond!  Jason was also at Riverrock but we didn't get a chance to meet and chat so it was awesome finally putting names with faces and talking SUP!

After a detailed safety briefing and last minute bathroom opportunity...we were off!

The Stand Up Paddleboards started first.  Then the canoes, outriggers and kayaks.

It didn't take long for me to realize even with a hard board I was still going to finish last in the SUP division.

But honest to goodness....that was A-OK with me.  =)

If I'd been focused on trying to go fast...I would have completely missed seeing Historic Jamestown settlement and waving hello to the John Smith statue!

Here's another quick shot of my perspective from a 12' Doyle Discovery...

Seeing Historic Jamestown from the water like this was surreal...but I knew the safety crews on the water were all volunteers so I didn't want to keep them out there any longer than they were absolutely needed....otherwise I would have taken a TON of pictures.

I did sneak one more shot in (while I had the camera out) of all the Stand Up Paddlers and canoes/kayaks shrinking in the distance ahead of me....

Paddling 10 miles on a hot sunny day proved difficult at times.....but each time I started feeling a little put off by the fact that I was (yet again) bringing up the rear in a race....something happened that made me extremely grateful for being exactly where I was....

I hit a mental block at around mile 3 or 4 when I lost sight of almost everyone.  A brief feeling of disappointment shot through me and I thought "It's going to take me 7 hours to finish this race." 

Just then, as if on cue...a beautiful tiger swallowtail butterfly fluttered out over the water and around me and then back toward dry land....and I knew it was my Papa (late Grandfather) telling me not to worry...that everything was going to be OK (he loved butterflies and so they hold special meaning for me).

I hit a physical block at around mile 6 when my feet began cramping up.  I knew I'd have to get off them for a minute to ease the pain so I put my paddle down on the board and rested on my knees for a moment.  I was frustrated that I had to stop...that is until I saw an osprey gliding very fast and very low over the water next to me.  I'd never seen one so close!  Nothing extraordinary happened, he just...flew.  But seeing such an awesome creature in it's natural habitat made me very happy.  It motivated me.

I was up and paddling again with just a few miles to go.

The last few miles took you through the "Thorofare" which (unfortunately) had strong outbound currents. 

This is where I hit my emotional block.  I lost sight of everyone at this point.  I was tired, my feet continued to cramp and anytime I stop paddling to give my feet a 10 second rest I was being pushed backwards by the current.  I had a moment of helplessness.

And then something tapped my paddle.

Seriously.

I looked down at the water and sure enough....there were crabs, blue ones about the size of biscuits, swimming (or more like cutting through the water) near the surface next to my board where I was trying to paddle.  I was immediately thankful that I had taken a few breaks because I imagine the only reason they turned up was because my paddle hadn't been in the water enough to scare them off.  It was unreal!

This close encounter (and seeing crabs swim for the very first time in my life) gave me another boost.

I knew I was getting close to the finish when the water traffic picked up a little.  Ok, that's a lie.  I knew I was getting close to the finish because each boat that passed me shouted something like "You're almost there!" or "You're braver than me!  But you're almost there!"

At mile 9.5 I hit another block.  But this wasn't mental, physical or emotional.  This was an actual roadblock.

Boat traffic had completely died down and as I turned up Powhatan Creek I saw something in the water ahead of me to the left.  It was crossing the creek.  I quickly realized if I continued to paddle I would be on a collision course with this creature so I stopped once I got a little closer.

Turns out....racoons can swim.  And they can still hiss at you even while swimming.

I never thought I'd see a raccoon swim.  Narly.

Once the raccoon was safely ashore I continued on my way only to almost hit a red bellied water snake!  Oh how I wish I could've taken pictures of all of these amazing encounters!

At long last, I crossed the finish line to a very awesome round of applause from all of my fellow paddlers that stuck around to see everyone through.  What a fantastic feeling!!!!!

All in all, it took me 3 hours and 16 minutes to paddle 10 miles.  My husband completed the race in 2 hours and 30 minutes. 

And the best part....we were still smiling afterwards!

Thanks again to Macky and Steve of Chesapeake Boardsports for providing the boards as well as board transportation!  You guys rock.

And thanks to EVERYONE that came out and participated in this event!  It was so wonderful to connect with so many SUP enthusiasts!!!!