I went outrigger canoeing with the Pu Pu O Hawaii crew again on Sunday. I had always wanted to write my paddling experience as a poem, so here goes...
Arrive at Santa Cruz in the morning,
The air was cold, but the sun was shinning.
Launched the canoe with southwestern wind blowing,
Choppy seas did not stop us from paddling!
From the harbor we paddled into the sea,
Waving at boaters, surfers and everyone else we see.
The paddlers' faces were filled with glee,
Amazing weather we are all enjoying for free!
On this morning, our motion were spot-on,
Our reach were long,
Our strokes were strong.
Canoe glided with otters and dolphins swimming along.
On the way back, we rode the waves,
A little energy we all saved.
Around us the sea raved,
Time on water time I still craved!
Showing posts with label paddle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label paddle. Show all posts
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Paddle for Life 4.0
This past weekend, I participated in the 4th Paddle for Life Dragon Boat Festival. I had been participating in the race every year since its beginning in 2007 and always had a good time.
This year, the event was held at Leo Ryan Park in Foster City. I raced at this location in 2007, and actually preferred it to Jack London Square. The water is calmer, there are no wake from ships/boats and best of all, it is a shorter drive from my house, so I don't need to wake up as early:)
I arrived at Leo Ryan Park at 8am. Summer 2010 had been unusually cold, but this morning was especially gloomy. Someone asked "What happen to the Sun?", to which I replied "They got acquired by Orcale." :)
Xilinx was the defending fundraising champion, so this year, we were rewarded with the "Ultimate Team Tent". Our tent was provided by the organizers, pitched near the finishing line, where we had a great view of the competition. Breakfast, lunch, snacks and drinks were provided, as well as 2 cushioned butterfly chairs!
For the last couple of years, we share a tent with Lucy's party boat. Lucy and Marvin were married last year and they had a baby. Lucy is now too busy to organize a team :(
As per last year, 10 person boats were used for this race. I asked our team captain, Marin about this. It seems like many teams had difficulty finding 20 paddlers. So, 10 person were used instead, so that teams with less paddlers can still participate.
The Xilinx team had enough paddles to fill 2 boats, so we were divided into Virtex boat and Spartan boat. Most of the people on the Virtex boat had raced in previous Paddle for Life events, while the Spartan boat were mostly newbies. Having paddled in the past 3 events, I was placed on the Virtex boat.
Our first race was against PepsiCo, MPBA and Rainbow Coi. Marvin was our drummer. Before the race, Marvin told us his stradegy: given we were a team of veterans, Marvin expect us to be able to paddle in sync better. So, he planned to have a high stroke rate.
It was not to be. Our team did not click. From the marshall area paddling to the starting point, our paddles were not totally in sync.
I also felt the floor of the competition boat was especially slippery. I quickly took off my sandals before got to the starting line to help get more traction. Luckily, with the calmer water, the starting call was slower. The judges actually had time to say "We have alignment!" before making the start call.
Our boat got off to a good start, but during the transition from start to race pace, we lose our timing. The boat started to rock. With the 250m course, there was no chance to recover, and we came in about 4 seconds slow to take second place. I felt really frustrated after the race. With the slippery boat and the timing issues, I did not feel any power on my strokes!
For the second race, Xilinx Vertex raced with Clorox, Chu Crew and Xilinx Spartan! The Spartan team had a really good first race, so it was not clear the Virtex boat would prevail against them.
Nathalie was our drummer for this race. Given the problem with how slippery the boat was, I marshalled barefoot. This really helped my grip and I was better able to help move the boat. I felt our boat paddled better compare to the first race, but when I looked up after the race was over, all the boats seemed to have crossed the finish line at about the same time.
When the result was announced, it was explained all four boats were separated by less than 1 sec! Our boat, the Virtex team, unfortunately, came in last, while the Spartan boat came in first. Marvin was perplexed. I heard him discussed with another Bay Area Dragon teammate how the experience team actually performed worst than the novice team :)
We stopped for lunch while the organized arranged for the final race. The "Ultimate Team Tent" had our lunch provided by organizers and we were served not-fully-thawed turkey wraps and potato salad :( Just after lunch, our massage therapist showed up. Again, that was one of the perks of the "Ultimate Team Tent".
The Virtex boat was assigned to the Division E finals. In the finals, we faced Henkel ACA Dragon Flyers, VOCAL and Water Shredders. Marvin was our drummer for this final race. We had decided we would do a different call for the transition from the start to race pace since that seem to throw the timing of the boat off the most.
Again, for this final, I marshalled barefoot. After 3 races together, our team finally came together. We had a good start and did a pretty good finish! At the end of the race, I looked up and notice we had finished neck to neck with another team. As we were paddling back to the marshalling area, Marvin nodded to one of the judges at the finish line, who said "Xilinx!"
After docking, we got the official confirmation. Xilinx Virtex was the Division E champion and we were to receive Gold Medals. After 4 years of racing, I finally medal-ed.
IMHO, our team this year probably was did not perform better than teams from previous years. But we did win our division this year and I am happy to finally bring home hardware.
After the race, I got a chair massage from the masseur, then hung around for the medal ceremony. Our last minute donation push helped Xilinx won the fund raising challenge again, so next year, we could look forward to the "Ultimate Team Tent" once more.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Whitewater Rafting in the Middle Fork of American River
White water rafting on the South fork of American river was so much fun, I decided to do it again. This Labor Day weekend, I venture out to Coloma once more. This trip was to run the Middle fork of the American river.
(BTW, I have gotten some question on this: yes, there is a North fork of the American river, which I plan to run next Spring. That river is not dam controlled and typically do not have enough flow to raft after Spring time.)
I had enjoyed my rafting trip with Mother Lode: the company I went with during Memorial day, but they did not have enough clients to fill 2 boats on this Labor Day weekend! I was therefore transferred to join Mariah Wilderness Adventure on this trip instead.
I arrived at 4:30pm the day before to set up camp and spent the night. Mariah's camp ground was all dirt:( I had preferred the lawn camp ground at Mother Lode. This camp ground was also located by the South Fork of American river, less than a mile from Mother Lode's camp ground. The nicest feature of the camp ground had to be the swimming hole, basically a bend in the river with shallow bottom. I had brought my swim gear, but decided not to swim because the water and the weather was too cold.
After an early dinner at Sierra Nevada House, I read a little and went to sleep. I wanted to be ready for the 7am trip.
I got up at 6am, and considering I was camping, had a fairly decent night. Mariah did not offer breakfast, so I brought along some banana and bagel. The middle Fork rafters met at 7am and were driven to Raley's at Auburn, where we picked up 2 more guest. I made a mental note to check hotel prices at Auburn. It would make a more comfortable sleep compare to camping.
From Auburn, it was a 45min drive to the put in point, located at the foot of Oxbow reservoir.
As usual, we were given a briefing on the van ride to the put in point. The Middle fork is classified as a class IV-V river, so besides a repeat of the usual paddle commands/safety instructions (which I had heard on South Fork), we were taught a few more tricks. One command was "get down", where all rafters would abandon their usual position sitting on the side of the raft and get into the middle of the raft, holding on to straps attached to the raft.
The other was "high side". This command would be used when a raft is about to flip, one side of the raft would be higher than the other. Rafters sitting on the lower side of the raft should shift to the higher side of the raft to re-balance the raft.
Our lead guide for the trip is Morgan. Our guide is Matt. In our boat were 4 guys from India (sorry, I don't remember their names) and Vince. Vince was a former river guide, so we had extra help on this trip.
I sat in the front right hand side spot. Vince was on my left. There was a diver (aka non-swimmer) on the trip, so he sat in the back, right next to Matt.
We were given the usual PFD, paddles, spray jackets and helmets for this trip. After a quick gear check, we pulled the raft to a small ramp for put in. Of the dozen or so companies that were rafting that day, we were the first to launch!
Immediately after put in, we practiced turns and other paddling commands. We did not have much time because there is a Class III rapid near the put in point. It is appropriately named "Good Morning!" Learning from my South Fork experience, I wore a spray jacket on this trip. Still, I got a good splash and woke up even more!
The first couple of miles down the Middle fork were filled with class III and class IV rapids. Between these rapids, Matt had us working on paddling and turning again. Also, in preparation for tunnel chute, we also worked on "get down" and "high side", so it was a really active start to the day.
Matt guided us expertly through the next few rapids before we reach "Tunnel Chute". Tunnel Chute had to be the most famous rapid on American River. It is basically a hole in granite blasted out by gold miner with a turn and a big drop before going into a tunnel. Some even considered it class V rapid. All the pictures one sees with rafters holding their paddle up in the air and seated inside the raft were from this rapid.
We had to positioned the raft when we entered the bend and into the drop. Just before the drop, Matt called "Get down!" Everyone reacted immediately. Then for a second or two, there was nothing except white water all around us. At the bottom of the chute, we had to get out of our position and immediately start paddling again, as the river took another turn. It was hardcore white water fun!
After Tunnel Chute, everyone relaxed a little. After all, the most difficult rapid was behind us. Vince and I switched position with guys in the second row so they could experience the full force of the river for themselves.
We got through the rest of the class II and class III rapid without much difficulty. Then we approached Kanaka falls. Matt had the habit of briefing us on the rock formation of the major rapids ahead of us and the paddling he expected of us. On Kanaka, we were to make a bend in the river and there was several bumps along the way. As we paddled the rapid, on one bump, both person on the front row fell. I was able to grab the person in front of me and pulled him in, but Vince was unable to pull the guy on the left back into the raft. He fell into the white water. It was the lower portion of the rapid and water was starting to slow, so Matt called "All forward". We raft towards him and pulled him back into the raft.
Morgan had mentioned on a rafting trip, an average of 1 client would go swimming. Since she and Matt did not have client fall out on the previous day's trip, I guessed they were due.
After Kanaka, the water flattens out. There was about 2-3 miles of flat water paddling. I had a chance to really admire the beauty of the river and its canyon. According to Matt, the canyon walls are 2000 ft high. Being near the river, the area is lusciously green. The view was just amazing!
There were also lots of guide stories swapping between Vince and Matt.
Matt recalled this past summer, he had given a briefing to a group of rafters and noticed one lady looking very puzzled. When the lady first saw the river raft, she exclaimed, "Oh...these type of rafts!" The raft she had in mind were formed by tying several wooden log together....like those described in the adventures of Tom Sawyer.
Vince countered with another story. When he was guiding, at a bridge running across the river, he would tell clients that this was Native American territory and the Native Americans did not like people looking at them. In fact, they would shoot people looking at their faces. Just as all the clients were looking away from the bridge, he would slap the water with a flat paddle, simulating a gun shot sound and gave everyone a good shock!
I asked Vince a little more about himself. Turned out, he was a techie just like me! He used to work in a technology company and was married. After his divorce, he and his ex-wife sold their house. Each of them had about $300K from the sale. He became a river guide and worked the river for 5 years. His ex-wife, meanwhile, bought a new house in Half Moon Bay. Given the current real estate market, it was likely his ex-wife was underwater in that mortgage. He had his fun being a river guide and now worked in Philippines, managing a call center for My Linux Support.
Vince told me he was tempted to tell his ex: "After the divorce, I rafted a 100,000 river, scuba dived a 100,000 dive sites and f**ked a 100,000 women. So, what did you do with your money?" Then he contemplated for a second and said: "I better not. She would shoot me!"
It was about 12:30pm when we reach a small beach and break for lunch. Given the bumpy ride, any bread the guides brought along would be squashed! Instead, we were given pre-squashed bread: tortilla! It was served with ham, cheese, fresh cut vegetables, potato chips and condiments.
After lunch there was another 2 -3 miles of flat water paddling. On this stretch, Matt showed us his favorite rock formation on the river.
My waterproof disposable camera picture did not turn out well, but the rock was basically one rock shaped like 2 boobs with cleavage in between. Naturally, someone had placed 2 pebbles on top of the rock. Matt deadpanned, "And the rocks on top only shows up on a cold day!"
About half an hour of flat water paddling, we got busy again. The interesting rapids were now ahead of us. Our first major rapid after lunch was Chunder. Chunder was a finesse rapid. We had to position our raft in a particular direction on the right side of the rapid to go through it.
After Chunder, was the other infamous rapid of Middle fork. Ruck-A-Chucky was thought to be un-runnable until some river guide did it in the 80's. However, no river company would take client down this rapid. We left the raft and walked around the rapid on a small unmarked trail. Even Matt did not raft through this rapid. He had Morgan pushed our raft down the rapid, while he waited at the bottom of the rapid to pull the raft in. Despite claims that we were suppose to portage, we did not lift the raft on this rapid.
After Ruck-A-Chucky was Cleavage. This rapid had a opening between two rocks (hence the name). After a drop, there was a rock right in between the open which Matt referred to as Dick rock. We were to help turn the raft to avoid it.
Parallel park was the final major rapid. Here we were required to turn left, then backed the raft up and then pulled all forward. The motion of the raft resembled parallel parking, hence the name. We had no problem with this rapid too.
Coming out of parallel park, we hit Texas Chainsaw. There was a rock formation on the right where the bottom of the rock, near the river, had been eroded away. Since we had a fair amount of speed coming off the previous turn, we were not able to paddle away from the rock. I was on the front row left and had to bend down to avoid the rock from taking my head off.
Off the next class III rapid, Matt suggested we go surfing. We park our raft in the eddy where water was calm, then paddle upstream towards a the rapid. I realized for the first time how much power rafters could generate when we paddled together. At the base of the rapid was a with lots of white water. As the front off the raft moved into the white water, it tipped down, and the front of the raft was filled with water. White water has no bouancy.
The surfing was pretty much the last thing we did on the river. We pulled out at a small ramp near a park and took a 45min drive back to camp.
I had planned to camp another night, but I was no tired after all the rafting. After breaking camp, I drove home.
Before leaving, I asked Vince about Cherry Creek. This was a class V river, which called itself the standard which all class V are measured against. I wanted to raft that river someday.
Vince suggested running North fork and Cal Salmon before doing Cherry Creek. Also, on a high flow (3000-4000 cfs) day, South Fork could be a good training ground. The idea, according to Vince was to experience falling out of the raft. That way, one would not panic as much if it happened on Cherry Creek.
A map of Middle Fork of American river can be found here. Description of the rapids can be found
here
Finally, photos of me going down Tunnel Chute can be found here
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Paddle for Life 2009
For the third year in a row, I am part of the Xilinx team that participated in Paddle for Life Dragon Boat Festival.
This year's race was held in Jack London Square, like last year. However, instead of Bay Area Dragons volunteers organizing the entire event, a company handled all the race planning and logistics. To the paddlers, the only visible difference was the size of the boat used in the race and the course. Instead of longer dragon boats which requires 20 paddlers, we are using shorter boats, which only requires 10 paddlers. Also, instead of the 300m course used last year, a 200m course is used.
As per last year, we were told to reach Jack London Square at 8:30am. Having done the race last year, I knew what to expect. I found a place near Heinold's First and Last Chance Saloon to park for free!
I then went to the team staging area and help set up the tents. Like last year, we were sharing tent space with Lucy's Party Boat, except, Lucy is now Marvin's wife:)
The first race was between Xilinx-Virtex, Xilinx-Spartan and Xilinx Party Boat. Since we had 20+ paddlers signed up for the race, and a smaller crew was required for each boat, Xilinx was able to field 2 teams. Marvin choose the team names, which are the names of the 2 main product line for Xilinx. Backup paddlers from Lucy's Party Boat and Xilinx formed a third boat, hence Xilinx Party Boat:)
I was assigned to Xilinx Party Boat for this first race. After the usual warm up drill, we moved to the marshalling area. The race was running behind, but not as much as last year. Paddlers were loading and unloading quickly and there wasn't a long way to paddle to the starting line or from the finishing line. The company held dragon boat race professionally and it showed.
Marvin and Nathalie were the drummers for Xilinx Virtex and Xilinx Spartan respectively. Lucy was the drummer for Xilinx Party Boat. She was pregnant so I was a little worried. The smaller boats are more "tippsy" and I certainly didn't want her in the water.
It was a fairly windy day, so lining up the boats for the start was difficult. The starting call was came very quickly. The judges even warned us of the fast starting call. I had experienced that in previous races, so was prepared. Our boat, despite having never paddled together, came in 2nd, ahead of Xilinx Spartan, but behind Xilinx Virtex. This makeshift crew paddled in time the entire race!
After the race, I joined Xilinx Virtex for the debriefing, since I would be paddling with Xilinx Virtex for the rest of the day. Marvin did not have anything negative to comment. A by-stander from another team said to Marvin, "Dude, you have a very fast boat!".
On the way back to our tents, Virtex boat members chatted among ourselves about the Spartan boat being slower. I joking said, "That's expected! Virtex runs faster than Spartan!" Virtex is the high performance product line from Xilinx and has faster speed specs than Spartan parts. The pun drew laughter from everyone.
In the second race, Xilinx Virtex competed against East Bay MUD Azul and PepsiCo NikNak PaddleWak. All the paddlers from Virtex team had participated in the last 2 Paddle for Life and it showed. When the steersman gave the command, "Take it away!" to bring us to the starting line, the entire crew responded and the boat really moved. Even the steersman was impressed.
Nathalie was our drummer for the second race. Again, we had a fast starting call. But everyone on the boat was experienced and was not taken by surprise. The boat was really moving after the first eight strokes. The wind had picked up during the race and I felt us slicing through the water. Everyone was paddling in time. Nathalie actually called the finished late and we were still in our finishing set when "Let it ride!" was called. She later explained her view of the finishing line was block by a big boat in the harbor. But we did not need a strong finish. I steal a peek at the other boats near the end of the race (I know...very bad) and knew we well ahead of other teams. Another number 1 finish for Virtex!
The dragon boat festival then broke for lunch. As we were still eating, we were suddenly informed our next race was coming up in 15mins! Everyone decided not to eat too much food. A full stomach and paddling does not mix:)
In the third race, Virtex competed against Chong Hwa Saint Tao Yuan and Kapakahi Dragons 2. Marvin was our drummer for this race. At this time, the weather had turned really rough. As we paddled to the starting point and was waiting for other boats, a strong wave hit us on the side. The dragon boat tipped dangerously low to one side and took in water. I swore we were all going into the water when the steersman yelled "Brace the boat". Amazingly, we did not flip.
We held a light brace on the boat while lining up for the start and had our paddles submerged even before the starting call. As expected the starting call came quickly and we burst out of the gate. I felt our boat sliced through the water, but the wave was really strong on this race. Several paddlers, including myself, got a taste of the bay water splashing into our mouth. We paddled in time, but during the "stretch" pieces, I did notice Marvin holding his hand to slow Ava, our lead paddler's cadence down during the race. Overall, I thought we had a strong performance, but after the race was over, I saw Kapakahi Dragon 2 was ahead of us. There was no time to rest however, since the sea was really rough and we had to brace the boat again, before paddling back to the dock.
Our time for the third race was 1 minute 13.41 seconds, good enough for 3rd place overall.
As we gathered for our debrief, we heard an announcement over the PA system. The weather condition had turned so bad that the rest of the race were cancelled. The race that was on-going was the last race. Unfortunately for us, Independence High School was in this last race. Marvin and Nathalie had commented all their paddlers are from the national team. Not surprisingly, Independence High School recorded the fastest time of the entire race and pushed Virtex from 3rd place overall to 4th place overall.
So no medals for us this year again:( Personally, I agree with the race director's decision to stop the festival. The sea was really rough and some boats are going to get flipped if we had continued.
But again, I thought we had a really good team this year and while we were probably not going to beat Independence High School, I felt we had a good chance to medal if the race had gone on.
I now look forward to next year's race. If everyone on Virtex returns, we should get a good chance at medalling next year.
Pictures of the race can be found here.
This year's race was held in Jack London Square, like last year. However, instead of Bay Area Dragons volunteers organizing the entire event, a company handled all the race planning and logistics. To the paddlers, the only visible difference was the size of the boat used in the race and the course. Instead of longer dragon boats which requires 20 paddlers, we are using shorter boats, which only requires 10 paddlers. Also, instead of the 300m course used last year, a 200m course is used.
As per last year, we were told to reach Jack London Square at 8:30am. Having done the race last year, I knew what to expect. I found a place near Heinold's First and Last Chance Saloon to park for free!
I then went to the team staging area and help set up the tents. Like last year, we were sharing tent space with Lucy's Party Boat, except, Lucy is now Marvin's wife:)
The first race was between Xilinx-Virtex, Xilinx-Spartan and Xilinx Party Boat. Since we had 20+ paddlers signed up for the race, and a smaller crew was required for each boat, Xilinx was able to field 2 teams. Marvin choose the team names, which are the names of the 2 main product line for Xilinx. Backup paddlers from Lucy's Party Boat and Xilinx formed a third boat, hence Xilinx Party Boat:)
I was assigned to Xilinx Party Boat for this first race. After the usual warm up drill, we moved to the marshalling area. The race was running behind, but not as much as last year. Paddlers were loading and unloading quickly and there wasn't a long way to paddle to the starting line or from the finishing line. The company held dragon boat race professionally and it showed.
Marvin and Nathalie were the drummers for Xilinx Virtex and Xilinx Spartan respectively. Lucy was the drummer for Xilinx Party Boat. She was pregnant so I was a little worried. The smaller boats are more "tippsy" and I certainly didn't want her in the water.
It was a fairly windy day, so lining up the boats for the start was difficult. The starting call was came very quickly. The judges even warned us of the fast starting call. I had experienced that in previous races, so was prepared. Our boat, despite having never paddled together, came in 2nd, ahead of Xilinx Spartan, but behind Xilinx Virtex. This makeshift crew paddled in time the entire race!
After the race, I joined Xilinx Virtex for the debriefing, since I would be paddling with Xilinx Virtex for the rest of the day. Marvin did not have anything negative to comment. A by-stander from another team said to Marvin, "Dude, you have a very fast boat!".
On the way back to our tents, Virtex boat members chatted among ourselves about the Spartan boat being slower. I joking said, "That's expected! Virtex runs faster than Spartan!" Virtex is the high performance product line from Xilinx and has faster speed specs than Spartan parts. The pun drew laughter from everyone.
In the second race, Xilinx Virtex competed against East Bay MUD Azul and PepsiCo NikNak PaddleWak. All the paddlers from Virtex team had participated in the last 2 Paddle for Life and it showed. When the steersman gave the command, "Take it away!" to bring us to the starting line, the entire crew responded and the boat really moved. Even the steersman was impressed.
Nathalie was our drummer for the second race. Again, we had a fast starting call. But everyone on the boat was experienced and was not taken by surprise. The boat was really moving after the first eight strokes. The wind had picked up during the race and I felt us slicing through the water. Everyone was paddling in time. Nathalie actually called the finished late and we were still in our finishing set when "Let it ride!" was called. She later explained her view of the finishing line was block by a big boat in the harbor. But we did not need a strong finish. I steal a peek at the other boats near the end of the race (I know...very bad) and knew we well ahead of other teams. Another number 1 finish for Virtex!
The dragon boat festival then broke for lunch. As we were still eating, we were suddenly informed our next race was coming up in 15mins! Everyone decided not to eat too much food. A full stomach and paddling does not mix:)
In the third race, Virtex competed against Chong Hwa Saint Tao Yuan and Kapakahi Dragons 2. Marvin was our drummer for this race. At this time, the weather had turned really rough. As we paddled to the starting point and was waiting for other boats, a strong wave hit us on the side. The dragon boat tipped dangerously low to one side and took in water. I swore we were all going into the water when the steersman yelled "Brace the boat". Amazingly, we did not flip.
We held a light brace on the boat while lining up for the start and had our paddles submerged even before the starting call. As expected the starting call came quickly and we burst out of the gate. I felt our boat sliced through the water, but the wave was really strong on this race. Several paddlers, including myself, got a taste of the bay water splashing into our mouth. We paddled in time, but during the "stretch" pieces, I did notice Marvin holding his hand to slow Ava, our lead paddler's cadence down during the race. Overall, I thought we had a strong performance, but after the race was over, I saw Kapakahi Dragon 2 was ahead of us. There was no time to rest however, since the sea was really rough and we had to brace the boat again, before paddling back to the dock.
Our time for the third race was 1 minute 13.41 seconds, good enough for 3rd place overall.
As we gathered for our debrief, we heard an announcement over the PA system. The weather condition had turned so bad that the rest of the race were cancelled. The race that was on-going was the last race. Unfortunately for us, Independence High School was in this last race. Marvin and Nathalie had commented all their paddlers are from the national team. Not surprisingly, Independence High School recorded the fastest time of the entire race and pushed Virtex from 3rd place overall to 4th place overall.
So no medals for us this year again:( Personally, I agree with the race director's decision to stop the festival. The sea was really rough and some boats are going to get flipped if we had continued.
But again, I thought we had a really good team this year and while we were probably not going to beat Independence High School, I felt we had a good chance to medal if the race had gone on.
I now look forward to next year's race. If everyone on Virtex returns, we should get a good chance at medalling next year.
Pictures of the race can be found here.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
White Water Rafting in South Fork of American River
This Memorial Day weekend, I joined Absolute Adventure for a camping/white water rafting trip. The day before, thirteen attendees met for a short hike under Foresthill bridge, the highest bridge in California. Then we went to Mother Lode River Center to spend the night, in preparation for a early start on paddling day.
I waked up at around 7am in Mother Lode River Center's camp site. We were up late the night before drinking beer, eating s'mores, playing "Two Truths and a Lie" and generally having a good time round the camp fire. Unfortunately, I don't usually sleep well while camping and this trip was no different. Carrisa had just woke up and was starting breakfast. She told me I was early, so I went back to my tent and took a nap. I woke up again at 8am, just in time for a hot breakfast of bagel, bacon and eggs.
I had rafted in 2005 at Cache Canyon with White Water Adventures. Cache Canyon supposed to be a class II-III river, but its worst rapid was a class II 1/2. It was so safe, guides were not needed. I had a lot of fun on that trip, and I wondered why it took me a couple of years to get back into the activity.
After breakfast, we met our friendly raft/river guides. Since we had a little time to kill, we toured Mother Lodge's organic garden, learned to make lynards with duct tape, before boarding the ECO bus (runs on recycled vegetable oil!) and took a 45min ride to the put-in point. On the bus, we were given a safety briefing. The basics were similar on all rivers: keep your feet away from the bottom of the river, float feet pointing down river etc. There were also some new instructions, like getting rescue by the throw bag and getting directions from the river guide after falling into the river. The South Fork of American River have several class 3 rapids, so more precautions were needed.
We were on the one day double run trip. Our put in point was at a park. Everyone was encourage to use the facilities, since once the rafting begin, the only place to "go" was in the river. We were then given life vest and paddles. Safety instructions were repeated and simple paddle commands were taught and it's time to paddle!
In the morning, I paddled on the right hand side of the raft, second row from the front. The first major rapid we hit was called "Meat Grinder". It was a rather technical rapid to cross, requiring the raft to move forward, turned and back-paddle.
The river water was still very cold on Memorial Day weekend (most of the water in this river was from snow melt) and I got a good splash even though I was seated in the second row. Any lingering sleepiness was immediately gone!
The rapids kept coming and with a river guide doing the steering, all we needed to do was followed his instructions. It was at this time I realized even professional guides got into some of the trouble I had gotten into on Cache Creek.
I had missed time some turns and had to let the raft go through some rapids uncontrolled, letting the white water pushed the raft along. Karl, our guide, did the same thing. He called it "zen boating":)
I had my raft stuck on rocks and had to jump out of the craft to push it and free it. It happened to us on this trip too. Our raft was stuck on one rapid too, and poor Karl had to jump into the river to push the raft and free it.
The biggest rapid we hit on the morning run was call "Troublemaker". We went into the rapid the right way, but was unable to execute the turn cleanly. We ended up going down the second part of the rapid sideways. While I felt the raft was fairly stable on this rapid, others in our boat thought we were going to flip.
We saw another raft full of private rafters came through Troublemaker. They were not as lucky as us. A couple of rafters fell off the raft as they went through the drop in Troublemaker. We paddled to help one guy to shore, but their boat was speeding down the rapid. We had no room in the raft and had to leave the paddler by the river shore. I wondered how he got home.
After Troublemaker, we were went back to Mother Lode's camp and break for lunch. We assembled sandwiches from marinated artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes, selection of cheese and deli meat. Scot, the owner, gave us a talk on environment issues. He talked about plans to build Auburn dam, and how it would turn all the river we rafted in the morning into a lake. He was clearly passionate about environmental issues, but was not pushy about his view point. He just people to be informed about environmental issues and write to their congress person to voice their concern or support.
After lunch, we went back into the river. I switched seats with Bill on the raft and was rowing on the left in the first row. Bill was sick of being splashed by all the cold river water, while I was looking forward to more splashing! I put on a spray jacket, but no wet suit, since the weather was somewhat hot and I rather had an occasional cold spray of water than be hot on flat water.
The two bigger rapids on this stretch of the river were Satan's Cesspool and Hospital Bar. Satan's Cesspool had a sharp drop entering the rapid, and then a sharp turn. We hit the rapid expertly and ran through without much difficulty. Hospital Bar was the last major rapid. By the time we hit this rapid, our boat was paddling very well together and made all the right moves. Again, we ride through the rapid without any difficulty.
After Hospital Bar, the river flatten out. Memorial Day was fairly early in the rafting season and there was lots of flat water between Hospital Bar and the pull out point. To save us the paddling effort and to make some quick bucks, some townies on jet ski came and gave us a tow. Thes jet ski were quite powerful! I estimated about 20 rafts from Mother Lode and another river company were towed about a mile or so to the pull out point by a single jet ski.
After pulling out, we rode the ECO bus back to camp. Everyone was tired, but hyper after a good rafting trip.
The detail rapid description for South Fork of the American River can be found here. A map view can be seen here.
Photos from my trip can be fseenhere.
Back at camp, Carrisa had just started dinner. The rafters took a quick shower and spent the rest of the time playing volleyball. After dinner, we drank beer and played a little frisbee.
During the rafting trip, Karl, our river guide, told us about the local night life hot spot. Coloma Club, or as Karl affectionately called it, the "CC". We decided to check the place out.
The CC's clientele was a strange mixed of people: locals, river guides and rafters from nearby cities: Sacramento and San Francisco Bay Area. It was Karaoke night, and some of the ladies in our group took the stage singing! We danced, sang and really let our hair down.
At about midnight, I started feeling a little tired. I took off back to camp, sat by the camp fire and ate more s'mores, before heading back to my tent for a well-deserved rest.
White water rafting was a lot of fun and I planned to do more river runs.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Stand Up Paddling and Cafe Brasil
I first saw stand up paddling in 2008 Santa Cruz Kayak Surf festival. It was a strange sight. Out in the ocean, far away from shore, were these people standing and paddling. They look really stable and were even able to ride waves!
Well, as some of you know, I am a self-proclaimed paddle junkie. So, when I saw stand up padding lessons offered by UCSC recreation, I jumped at the opportunity.
The meeting time for the lesson was 9am at UCSC East Field House, which was a welcoming change from the earlier starting time for kayaking trips. There I met who I taught was the instructor, Conner. When I first saw Conner, I laughed. He had the the stereotypical surfer dude look. Long blond hair, shoe less, shirt less and laid back attitude. Turned out he was the surfing instructor for UCSC, but stand up paddling lessons were being outsource to Surftech.
This was the first time UCSC offered stand up paddling lessons and Conner himself had not done stand up paddling, so everyone was new to the sports and nobody knew what to expect. The Recreation department suggested everyone wore a wet suit while padding, so all of us loaned suits from the UCSC recreation department. Then, Conner drove us in a department van to Santa Cruz harbor. There was where our lessons were to be conducted.
10mins after we arrived, Rob from Surftech showed up in a van filled with surf board and paddle. He then proceed to pull out about 20 surf board and handing out paddles to everyone.
It was a really hot day, and based on conversation Rob, we were not expected to fall into the water too much, I decided not to wear my wet suit. Apparently, everyone else in the class reached the same decision.
We carried the surf board down the boat launch ramp, then dropped the board in the water. With someone holding on to the board, I slided stomach down onto the board. Once I felt stable, I came up to kneeling position and started paddling away from the ramp to make room for other surfers.
After launching everyone, Rob told us to stand up gently. The board was surprisingly stable in the protected water of the harbor, and I did not have too much difficult standing up. Then, Rob suggested we swaying our hip from side to side to loosen it up. According to him, to will help us get "sea legs", so that we can react to waves and better keep our balance. Obviously, I did not understand the last part. As I started swaying, I fell into water.
It was actually a bit of effort to swim back to my board, since when I fell, I kicked the board away from myself. Once I reach the board, getting back on was quite easy. I was able to reach reach across the board and pull myself stomach first onto the board. Like I said, surprisingly stable, much more stable than a kayak.
We went round the harbor once, then Rob asked if anyone had questions. When nobody said anything, he decided we were ready to paddle in open sea!
The class started paddling out the mouth of the harbor into the bay. We were quite a sight, since there were several college co-ed among us, wearing bikini. A boat passed us on its way into the ocean, and I could hear the couple on the boat talking.
"Henry, this must be your lucky day!" the lady said. "There are girls in bikinis inside the harbor!"
At this time we were near the mouth of the harbor. Another boat sped by, and the wake of the boat caused me to fall a second time:( Luckily outside harbor, water was not as dirty.
Our class paddled to the beach to the right of the harbor (when facing land). We quite a distance away from the beach, so there was not much swell. The weather was getting really hot. Everyone began to lie down on their board and rest, tanning and enjoying the sun.
Conner, the surf instructor, began riding some waves. Obviously, he was able to get the hang of riding wave on stand up paddling board quickly. I saw him ride a few waves and that looked really fun!
Fascinated, I decided to join in. Having not surf before, I was unable to judge the wave. I had paddle in front of a wave, waiting for the wave to catch up. At first, I felt nothing, then a sudden surge which I was unprepared for. My stance on the board was totally wrong for riding wave. My body was perpendicular to the board, with feet on the sides! The board quickly sped up, and like someone had pull a carpet from under my feet, I fell backwards into the sea. The board was washed ashore, with me swimming behind to catch up.
I retrieved the board on the beach, collected my breath and tried paddling out. But the waves in the surf zone was quite strong. I was not having much success leaving the beach :( I would paddle a few feet and be washed back ashore by the waves. Sensing I am in a difficult spot, Conner came to the rescue! He told me to walk the board by my side as far as possible into the ocean, while going directly into the wave front. Then at the point when water was chest high, we "jumped" over a wave front. At this time, he had me kneel down on the board and started paddling back into the ocean, out of the surf zone.
I was a little tired from battling the wave coming out, so decided to rest a little more. The rest of the group decided they had enough sun and started heading back to the harbor. Most people were paddling sitting down or kneeling. I tried paddling standing up, but my legs were tired from all the balancing. Also, my attention was occupied by keeping stable and I could not put as much energy into each paddle stroke. I resorted to paddling most of the way kneeling down too.
After I had paddled into mouth of harbor, I stood up and paddled back to ramp. As I was kneeling down and tried to slide over to land, I was feeling effects of the wave and lost my balance again. Rob reach over with paddle and help me regain stability. I guessed this was a tiring sport!
We helped Rob pulled all the board out of the water and into his van. Then we rode the van back to UCSC.
Overall stand up paddling was a rather fun experience. However, I think I need to do more flat water training before going to sea again. Hopefully, I will be able to do surfing sometime in the future:)
After we got back to campus, I checked the time. It was about 1pm. I decided to try my luck and have lunch at Cafe Brasil, a restaurant which was highly recommended on Yelp, served Brazilian food, immensely popular and had really short hours. This was my third attempt to try this restaurant.
As usual, there were long lines out the door. I decided to get food to go. I knew from reading Yelp review people raved about the Acai bowl. But having spent much of the morning on water, I had also wanted a hot lunch. Therefore, I ordered an Acai bowl junior and the Muqueca, as recommended by the super hot server.
The Acai bowl had granola topping with almonds, over a slush of ice and pureed acai. The Slush was filled with strawberries and banana slices. Sweetness from strawberries and banana matched well with the slight acidity from the acai berries. I could eat this for breakfast everyday!
The hot entree came with a side of a simple green salad with slice hearts of palm. The flavor from hearts of palm was quite unique. It had a little texture with a "fresh spring" like flavor. The salad was served with a balsamic vinegrette.
Muqueca was a seafood dish. Fish and shrimp were cooked in tomato sauce, with a touch of coconut milk. The dish came with side of rice and farofa. The fish and shrimp were nice and firm. The background taste of the tomato sauce with coconut milk was refreshing. I associate the coconut milk flavor curry, accompanied with either heat or lots of spices. Here, the coconut flavor was light and refreshing.
Farofa looked like a pile of sand! (It is actually toasted manioc flour. I checked on the web and no, I don't know what is manioc flour). It tasted like bread crumbs and I didn't care for it.
You can read more review of Cafe Brasil on Yelp.
All in all, a good paddling and food day, with college co-ed in bikini as a bonus. I need to come back to Santa Cruz more often:)
Well, as some of you know, I am a self-proclaimed paddle junkie. So, when I saw stand up padding lessons offered by UCSC recreation, I jumped at the opportunity.
The meeting time for the lesson was 9am at UCSC East Field House, which was a welcoming change from the earlier starting time for kayaking trips. There I met who I taught was the instructor, Conner. When I first saw Conner, I laughed. He had the the stereotypical surfer dude look. Long blond hair, shoe less, shirt less and laid back attitude. Turned out he was the surfing instructor for UCSC, but stand up paddling lessons were being outsource to Surftech.
This was the first time UCSC offered stand up paddling lessons and Conner himself had not done stand up paddling, so everyone was new to the sports and nobody knew what to expect. The Recreation department suggested everyone wore a wet suit while padding, so all of us loaned suits from the UCSC recreation department. Then, Conner drove us in a department van to Santa Cruz harbor. There was where our lessons were to be conducted.
10mins after we arrived, Rob from Surftech showed up in a van filled with surf board and paddle. He then proceed to pull out about 20 surf board and handing out paddles to everyone.
It was a really hot day, and based on conversation Rob, we were not expected to fall into the water too much, I decided not to wear my wet suit. Apparently, everyone else in the class reached the same decision.
We carried the surf board down the boat launch ramp, then dropped the board in the water. With someone holding on to the board, I slided stomach down onto the board. Once I felt stable, I came up to kneeling position and started paddling away from the ramp to make room for other surfers.
After launching everyone, Rob told us to stand up gently. The board was surprisingly stable in the protected water of the harbor, and I did not have too much difficult standing up. Then, Rob suggested we swaying our hip from side to side to loosen it up. According to him, to will help us get "sea legs", so that we can react to waves and better keep our balance. Obviously, I did not understand the last part. As I started swaying, I fell into water.
It was actually a bit of effort to swim back to my board, since when I fell, I kicked the board away from myself. Once I reach the board, getting back on was quite easy. I was able to reach reach across the board and pull myself stomach first onto the board. Like I said, surprisingly stable, much more stable than a kayak.
We went round the harbor once, then Rob asked if anyone had questions. When nobody said anything, he decided we were ready to paddle in open sea!
The class started paddling out the mouth of the harbor into the bay. We were quite a sight, since there were several college co-ed among us, wearing bikini. A boat passed us on its way into the ocean, and I could hear the couple on the boat talking.
"Henry, this must be your lucky day!" the lady said. "There are girls in bikinis inside the harbor!"
At this time we were near the mouth of the harbor. Another boat sped by, and the wake of the boat caused me to fall a second time:( Luckily outside harbor, water was not as dirty.
Our class paddled to the beach to the right of the harbor (when facing land). We quite a distance away from the beach, so there was not much swell. The weather was getting really hot. Everyone began to lie down on their board and rest, tanning and enjoying the sun.
Conner, the surf instructor, began riding some waves. Obviously, he was able to get the hang of riding wave on stand up paddling board quickly. I saw him ride a few waves and that looked really fun!
Fascinated, I decided to join in. Having not surf before, I was unable to judge the wave. I had paddle in front of a wave, waiting for the wave to catch up. At first, I felt nothing, then a sudden surge which I was unprepared for. My stance on the board was totally wrong for riding wave. My body was perpendicular to the board, with feet on the sides! The board quickly sped up, and like someone had pull a carpet from under my feet, I fell backwards into the sea. The board was washed ashore, with me swimming behind to catch up.
I retrieved the board on the beach, collected my breath and tried paddling out. But the waves in the surf zone was quite strong. I was not having much success leaving the beach :( I would paddle a few feet and be washed back ashore by the waves. Sensing I am in a difficult spot, Conner came to the rescue! He told me to walk the board by my side as far as possible into the ocean, while going directly into the wave front. Then at the point when water was chest high, we "jumped" over a wave front. At this time, he had me kneel down on the board and started paddling back into the ocean, out of the surf zone.
I was a little tired from battling the wave coming out, so decided to rest a little more. The rest of the group decided they had enough sun and started heading back to the harbor. Most people were paddling sitting down or kneeling. I tried paddling standing up, but my legs were tired from all the balancing. Also, my attention was occupied by keeping stable and I could not put as much energy into each paddle stroke. I resorted to paddling most of the way kneeling down too.
After I had paddled into mouth of harbor, I stood up and paddled back to ramp. As I was kneeling down and tried to slide over to land, I was feeling effects of the wave and lost my balance again. Rob reach over with paddle and help me regain stability. I guessed this was a tiring sport!
We helped Rob pulled all the board out of the water and into his van. Then we rode the van back to UCSC.
Overall stand up paddling was a rather fun experience. However, I think I need to do more flat water training before going to sea again. Hopefully, I will be able to do surfing sometime in the future:)
After we got back to campus, I checked the time. It was about 1pm. I decided to try my luck and have lunch at Cafe Brasil, a restaurant which was highly recommended on Yelp, served Brazilian food, immensely popular and had really short hours. This was my third attempt to try this restaurant.
As usual, there were long lines out the door. I decided to get food to go. I knew from reading Yelp review people raved about the Acai bowl. But having spent much of the morning on water, I had also wanted a hot lunch. Therefore, I ordered an Acai bowl junior and the Muqueca, as recommended by the super hot server.
The Acai bowl had granola topping with almonds, over a slush of ice and pureed acai. The Slush was filled with strawberries and banana slices. Sweetness from strawberries and banana matched well with the slight acidity from the acai berries. I could eat this for breakfast everyday!
The hot entree came with a side of a simple green salad with slice hearts of palm. The flavor from hearts of palm was quite unique. It had a little texture with a "fresh spring" like flavor. The salad was served with a balsamic vinegrette.
Muqueca was a seafood dish. Fish and shrimp were cooked in tomato sauce, with a touch of coconut milk. The dish came with side of rice and farofa. The fish and shrimp were nice and firm. The background taste of the tomato sauce with coconut milk was refreshing. I associate the coconut milk flavor curry, accompanied with either heat or lots of spices. Here, the coconut flavor was light and refreshing.
Farofa looked like a pile of sand! (It is actually toasted manioc flour. I checked on the web and no, I don't know what is manioc flour). It tasted like bread crumbs and I didn't care for it.
You can read more review of Cafe Brasil on Yelp.
All in all, a good paddling and food day, with college co-ed in bikini as a bonus. I need to come back to Santa Cruz more often:)
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Kayak Elkhorn Slough
I talked H into kayaking with me in Elkhorn Slough with promises of calm water paddling and abundance of wild life to observe. She agreed.
Our day started like most kayaking trip: early in the morning. We drove to UC Santa Cruz where we met up with my favorite kayak guide, Dave Johnston and the rest of the tour group. From there, we were transported by van to Elkhorn Slough boat launch at Kirby road.
When we arrived, I was surprised to see the pier which we used for launching kayaks last year was in ruins! Apparently, Dave was surprised too. Without a pier, we were forced to do beach launch on the small, gravel filled edge "beach" on the side of the pier.
H and I had some paddling experience, so we launched quickly. Also, I still remembered the paddling route from last year and quickly made our way out of the delta, towards the sea, leaving the rest of the group behind.
The early morning was filled with birds. The majestic white Pelicans was making a rare appearance in Elkhorn slough! These white Pelican would fly close to the ocean surface, then suddenly land in the sea water and make a quick turn. It was amazing to watch. Some were flying so close to our kayak that I was concerned we would be knocked over.
As we paddled closer to the mouth of the river, we started seeing my favorite animal: sea otters. Most of the otters I had seen at Elkhorn slough are quite shy. As soon as they detected us, the otter would dive into the ocean. On this trip, we were lucky to see an otter having a meal. It was trying to break open a shell and we had quite a show:)
The trip to the mouth of the river took about 2 hours. There, we shored for lunch and rested on a sandy beach on the left of the river mouth.
After lunch, we paddled under Highway 1 bridge to see the seals. After that, we paddled back to the launching point.
Due to the date, the falling tides were in effect for our paddle back, so Dave suggested we kayaked back near the edge of the delta, away from the middle of the channel. This eddy current would help us along as we were paddling against the tide.
To further help us along, Dave had a special equipment for this trip: Kayak sail. There was a nice breeze blowing inland. H placed the sail behind her and, with a wind blowing, created a nice back rest for her.
The return trip was rather uneventful. We saw more seals, sea lions and otters. Since we paddle were closer to the edge, the water became really shallow and we were almost stuck a few times. Luckily, we were able to push our way out without having to get out of our kayaks.
Base on gmap.com, this is a 8 mile paddling trip, which took us about 4 hours of easy paddling to complete. It was an enjoyable time on the water.
Our day started like most kayaking trip: early in the morning. We drove to UC Santa Cruz where we met up with my favorite kayak guide, Dave Johnston and the rest of the tour group. From there, we were transported by van to Elkhorn Slough boat launch at Kirby road.
When we arrived, I was surprised to see the pier which we used for launching kayaks last year was in ruins! Apparently, Dave was surprised too. Without a pier, we were forced to do beach launch on the small, gravel filled edge "beach" on the side of the pier.
H and I had some paddling experience, so we launched quickly. Also, I still remembered the paddling route from last year and quickly made our way out of the delta, towards the sea, leaving the rest of the group behind.
The early morning was filled with birds. The majestic white Pelicans was making a rare appearance in Elkhorn slough! These white Pelican would fly close to the ocean surface, then suddenly land in the sea water and make a quick turn. It was amazing to watch. Some were flying so close to our kayak that I was concerned we would be knocked over.
As we paddled closer to the mouth of the river, we started seeing my favorite animal: sea otters. Most of the otters I had seen at Elkhorn slough are quite shy. As soon as they detected us, the otter would dive into the ocean. On this trip, we were lucky to see an otter having a meal. It was trying to break open a shell and we had quite a show:)
The trip to the mouth of the river took about 2 hours. There, we shored for lunch and rested on a sandy beach on the left of the river mouth.
After lunch, we paddled under Highway 1 bridge to see the seals. After that, we paddled back to the launching point.
Due to the date, the falling tides were in effect for our paddle back, so Dave suggested we kayaked back near the edge of the delta, away from the middle of the channel. This eddy current would help us along as we were paddling against the tide.
To further help us along, Dave had a special equipment for this trip: Kayak sail. There was a nice breeze blowing inland. H placed the sail behind her and, with a wind blowing, created a nice back rest for her.
The return trip was rather uneventful. We saw more seals, sea lions and otters. Since we paddle were closer to the edge, the water became really shallow and we were almost stuck a few times. Luckily, we were able to push our way out without having to get out of our kayaks.
Base on gmap.com, this is a 8 mile paddling trip, which took us about 4 hours of easy paddling to complete. It was an enjoyable time on the water.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Paddle for Life 2008 and A's baseball
Last year's Dragon Boat race was so much fun, I decided to do it again this year:)
Once again, Xilinx formed a team to participate in the Second Annual Paddle for Life Dragon Boat Festival. This year's race is held in Jack London Square in Oakland, and the date was chosen to coincide with the Fifth of May according to lunar calendar: the traditional date for Dragon Boat Festival(端午节).
H's interest was piqued by my talking about Dragon boat paddling for weeks leading up to the race and she joined a team to paddle as well.
We reached Jack London Square at about 8:40am. The Xilinx team had set up a 3 huge tent space, which we shared with Lucy's Party Boat. Marvin, the Xilinx team captain, is dating Lucy:)
The fist race for Xilinx was at 9:45am. We were competing for the JLAC Silicon Cup. Also in the race were IBM, Intel and Agilent...basically other hi-tech companies.
We did our warm up, and marshall for the race. But the race was delayed from the start. One problem with the Jack London Square location is the loading dock was quite small. Also, the starting line was located at a dock further inland from Jack London Square and the ending line was located at Jack London Square. Every team therefore needed to paddle the entire length of the race course just to get to the starting point.
In the first race, Xilinx came in 3rd place, beating Agilent, but behind IBM and Intel. We started strong, but our synchronization was lost during the ramp up and that was when we fell behind. Our drummer told us we responded well to the middle power pieces, but this being a short course (only 300m), we were not able to make up for loss time. It wasn't even close, as we lost by almost a boat length.
Everyone joked that we have important business relationship with IBM and Intel, and didn't want to ruin it, so we let them off easy.
Meanwhile, H was racing with the VISA team. Their first race was against Clorox, Gatorade, Shell and AT&T. I was unable to see the start, but the VISA team was last at the middle of the race and never caught up.
I went back to the tent and got an interesting news. The Xilinx team will be racing against Lucy's party boat! And Marvin was going to drum Lucy's party boat for this race. Everyone had a good time teasing Marvin about where his loyalties should lie:)
As we ate lunch and prepared for our second race, the VISA team had their second race too. I met H at the marshalling area, and she told me VISA came in last in their second race too:(
We came in 3rd again in our second race, losing to Shell and MSAC Brute Force. We started poorly this time, as some of us missed the starting call, but paddled pretty much in time all the way. Unfortunately, we still lose by almost a boat length. We did beat Lucy's Party Boa though. Some of their paddlers had a few beers during lunch and it showed:)
Soon after our de-briefing, VISA was marshalling for their final race. One of their team member had to leave early, so I volunteered to be a hired gun for the VISA team. This race was for the division 8 final.
At this time, the wave at Jack London Square had really picked up. The race was therefore shorten to 250m, and the starting call was really fast. According to H, the VISA team had not practised together before the race, but their synchronization on the last race was quite good. I was happy to report, with me in the lineup, the VISA team came in first!
As soon as I got out of the boat, it was time for Xilinx's last race. We were racing in the division 3 finals. Again, even though we had pretty good form throughout the race, we came in 3rd again! It was quite disappointing. Marvin observed the race and commented our stroke rate was too slow. But we were having synchronization problem all day, so our drummer was reluctant to increase the stroke rate.
Overall, I still had a good time. The location at Jack London Square, though, had a major flaw: the tent area was not near the race course. While resting in the tent, we were not able to watch the competition.
Pictures of the Xilnix team can be found here and here.
After the race, H and I had a quick dinner in Oakland's Chinatown and drove to the McAfee Coliseum. H had gotten free Athletics tickets from work!
We were seated in a club suite just off first base. The last time I watched a baseball game in person was back in 1998, so this is special.
Unfortunately for us, the A's were not so special:( They gave up a home run on the first pitch of the game, committed an error, didn't have very good pitching and was soon down 0-5.
We sang "Take Me out to the Ball Game" during the 7th inning stretch, then decided to call it a day. H and I were both tired from the paddling and being out in the sun, and the A's certainly was not making things interesting.
Once again, Xilinx formed a team to participate in the Second Annual Paddle for Life Dragon Boat Festival. This year's race is held in Jack London Square in Oakland, and the date was chosen to coincide with the Fifth of May according to lunar calendar: the traditional date for Dragon Boat Festival(端午节).
H's interest was piqued by my talking about Dragon boat paddling for weeks leading up to the race and she joined a team to paddle as well.
We reached Jack London Square at about 8:40am. The Xilinx team had set up a 3 huge tent space, which we shared with Lucy's Party Boat. Marvin, the Xilinx team captain, is dating Lucy:)
The fist race for Xilinx was at 9:45am. We were competing for the JLAC Silicon Cup. Also in the race were IBM, Intel and Agilent...basically other hi-tech companies.
We did our warm up, and marshall for the race. But the race was delayed from the start. One problem with the Jack London Square location is the loading dock was quite small. Also, the starting line was located at a dock further inland from Jack London Square and the ending line was located at Jack London Square. Every team therefore needed to paddle the entire length of the race course just to get to the starting point.
In the first race, Xilinx came in 3rd place, beating Agilent, but behind IBM and Intel. We started strong, but our synchronization was lost during the ramp up and that was when we fell behind. Our drummer told us we responded well to the middle power pieces, but this being a short course (only 300m), we were not able to make up for loss time. It wasn't even close, as we lost by almost a boat length.
Everyone joked that we have important business relationship with IBM and Intel, and didn't want to ruin it, so we let them off easy.
Meanwhile, H was racing with the VISA team. Their first race was against Clorox, Gatorade, Shell and AT&T. I was unable to see the start, but the VISA team was last at the middle of the race and never caught up.
I went back to the tent and got an interesting news. The Xilinx team will be racing against Lucy's party boat! And Marvin was going to drum Lucy's party boat for this race. Everyone had a good time teasing Marvin about where his loyalties should lie:)
As we ate lunch and prepared for our second race, the VISA team had their second race too. I met H at the marshalling area, and she told me VISA came in last in their second race too:(
We came in 3rd again in our second race, losing to Shell and MSAC Brute Force. We started poorly this time, as some of us missed the starting call, but paddled pretty much in time all the way. Unfortunately, we still lose by almost a boat length. We did beat Lucy's Party Boa though. Some of their paddlers had a few beers during lunch and it showed:)
Soon after our de-briefing, VISA was marshalling for their final race. One of their team member had to leave early, so I volunteered to be a hired gun for the VISA team. This race was for the division 8 final.
At this time, the wave at Jack London Square had really picked up. The race was therefore shorten to 250m, and the starting call was really fast. According to H, the VISA team had not practised together before the race, but their synchronization on the last race was quite good. I was happy to report, with me in the lineup, the VISA team came in first!
As soon as I got out of the boat, it was time for Xilinx's last race. We were racing in the division 3 finals. Again, even though we had pretty good form throughout the race, we came in 3rd again! It was quite disappointing. Marvin observed the race and commented our stroke rate was too slow. But we were having synchronization problem all day, so our drummer was reluctant to increase the stroke rate.
Overall, I still had a good time. The location at Jack London Square, though, had a major flaw: the tent area was not near the race course. While resting in the tent, we were not able to watch the competition.
Pictures of the Xilnix team can be found here and here.
After the race, H and I had a quick dinner in Oakland's Chinatown and drove to the McAfee Coliseum. H had gotten free Athletics tickets from work!
We were seated in a club suite just off first base. The last time I watched a baseball game in person was back in 1998, so this is special.
Unfortunately for us, the A's were not so special:( They gave up a home run on the first pitch of the game, committed an error, didn't have very good pitching and was soon down 0-5.
We sang "Take Me out to the Ball Game" during the 7th inning stretch, then decided to call it a day. H and I were both tired from the paddling and being out in the sun, and the A's certainly was not making things interesting.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Santa Cruz Surf Kayak Festival
Readers of my blog knows that I have kayaked several times with Dave Johnston. In this Metro interview with Dave, there was some mentioning of Santa Cruz Surf Kayaking Competition. I found out this event after its completion last year, so had waited a year for this year's event. You can read more about it in this Wave Magazine article as well.I reached Santa Cruz at about 1:30pm. The event was held in Steamer Lane, but parking was limited around the Santa Cruz Surf Museum. I had to park in some residential neighborhood and took a short walk to the cliff.
The first event I saw was stand up paddling. I had not even heard of this sport, so this event was quite exciting for me. The board seems incredibly stable and the competitors were moving smoothly on the water. Some competitors were even able to ride the wave! This is something I like to try.After the stand up paddling demo, there was a surf kayaking heat. Dave was among one competitor in the heat, so I had someone to root for:)
For surf kayaking, short kayaks were used instead of the longer sea kayak that I am more familiar with. This gave the competitor much more control of the boat. And they needed every bit of control! The competitor paddled much further towards the ocean compare to surfers, and then waited for a good wave. When a good wave comes along, they turn their back towards the wave and paddle quickly in an attempt to ride it. With simple paddle stroke, they were able to control their kayak to go either parallel to the wavefront or perpendicular to it. When perpendicular to the wavefront, they received a lot of push from the wave and could ride it. However, the wave would push them too much after a while, and the competitor would turn their kayak into the wave for a second ride.The following is a video posted by Dave that illustrate what I was talking about.
Dave had some good rides, but so did some of his competitors. After about 10mins, the heat was over. There was another stand up paddling demo, followed by the finals for surf kayaking.
The other spectators seem to know all the competitors and every time a competitor caught a good wave and began their surf, the spectators would yell out encouragement. I doubt any of the kayakers could hear us high up on the cliff, but the sport had a nice cosy feeling to it where everyone was cheering for everyone.
I saw several good runs, including on by Rusty where he was tossed into the air for what felt like a couple of seconds, then landed safely and continued to paddle and surf! I have not done surf kayaking, so am unable to determine how difficult those moves are, but am fairly sure beginners do not stand a chance:)
I was at the event for a total of 3 hours. The weather had cleared up nicely for Sunday and I had a great time watching the competition.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Belated Knowledge of Singapore Dragon Boat Tradegy
Readers of this blog will notice I tend to record my activies on this blog and not express opinions, feelings etc. But this news affected me so much, I decided I need to write about it.
I was having lunch with a friend today when he asked out of the blue if I still do dragon boat racing. I told him no...I have a schedule conflict with Bay Area Dragons' training.
He then told me about the Singapore National Dragon Boat team tradegy. I found a few links on the web about this story, so will not repeat it here. Somehow, I had missed the news back in November.
I have only paddle a dragon boat 4 times (3 practice and a race), so I cannot call myself a dragon boater, but I definitely feel a little connection with the paddlers and was a little depressed.
As someone who enjoy paddle sports and had even paddle a dragon boat, I was shocked! Dragon boats are really stable(especially compared to kayaks). I don't expect it to flip at all.
Further, I am sure all the paddlers are good swimmers (most water sport enthuse are)and are athletic(it is the national team afterall). It just seemed so unlikely something like this would happen. Maybe they were tired just after the race (I know first hand how tire one can be after a race).
In one of the news article, it seemed like the teams were not required to wear life jacket. I can just imagine in order to gain an edge, teams will not wear life jacket since it is extra weight and is somewhat clumsy.
I guess any water sport is inherently dangerous, and this should be a lesson for all of us. I wear a boatsmarter.com wrist band as a good luck charm when I paddle, and I support their message of wearing a life jacket all the time.
My heart and condolences goes out to the Singapore National Dragon Boat team.
I was having lunch with a friend today when he asked out of the blue if I still do dragon boat racing. I told him no...I have a schedule conflict with Bay Area Dragons' training.
He then told me about the Singapore National Dragon Boat team tradegy. I found a few links on the web about this story, so will not repeat it here. Somehow, I had missed the news back in November.
I have only paddle a dragon boat 4 times (3 practice and a race), so I cannot call myself a dragon boater, but I definitely feel a little connection with the paddlers and was a little depressed.
As someone who enjoy paddle sports and had even paddle a dragon boat, I was shocked! Dragon boats are really stable(especially compared to kayaks). I don't expect it to flip at all.
Further, I am sure all the paddlers are good swimmers (most water sport enthuse are)and are athletic(it is the national team afterall). It just seemed so unlikely something like this would happen. Maybe they were tired just after the race (I know first hand how tire one can be after a race).
In one of the news article, it seemed like the teams were not required to wear life jacket. I can just imagine in order to gain an edge, teams will not wear life jacket since it is extra weight and is somewhat clumsy.
I guess any water sport is inherently dangerous, and this should be a lesson for all of us. I wear a boatsmarter.com wrist band as a good luck charm when I paddle, and I support their message of wearing a life jacket all the time.
My heart and condolences goes out to the Singapore National Dragon Boat team.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Moonlight kayak in Santa Cruz
My little skiing accident on Northstar caused much pain during the week. My back muscle was tense the entire week and I was walking around gingerly, trying to avoid further straining that muscle.
It was then I discovered there was going to be a moonlight kayaking at Santa Cruz. Since kayaking is mostly a upper-body sport, I debated a little, but convinced myself in the relative calm evening water, I should be able to get around:)
My friend H and I met at Fry's electronics at about 3:30pm. We carpooled to the dock at Santa Cruz Yatch club. As usual, our guide Dave Johnston, was there to greet us. Readers of this blog may know that I had done several trips with Dave and had always enjoyed paddling with him. As an added bonus, Amy, Dave's assistant on the unsuccessful whale watching trip, was with us as well.
Both my friend and I had kayaked before, so I decided I would paddle in front and be the main drive of the kayak. For most other paddlers on this trip, this is their first kayaking experience. Dave had all of us paddled around a little in the harbor to get comfortable.
At this time of the year, the sun started setting really early. We got into the water at about 4:30pm and by 4:45pm, the sun had began setting below the breakwater. The silhouettes of hikers/walkers on the breakwater slowly came into view and within the relative calm of the habor water, there was a certain sense of peace. This is the part about kayaking I enjoy the most, an almost serene moment on the water...
We decided to head outside the protective breakwater into the open sea. It was a peaceful night and there was no strong current. Dave ordered the group to head north towards the wharf. Along the way, we saw a sea lion sticking its head out of the water, playfully observing us:)
I did not track time, but it must had took us a good hour to paddle from the Yatch club harbor to the wharf. Under the wharf, we could see harbor seals resting on the wharf structure and barking loudly. Dave had us go around the wharf, then paddled under the wharf to get a closer look.
At this time, it was completely dark and the moon was already up in the sky. Unlike my previous moonlight paddling trip, I did not see the moon climb slowly into the sky. My friend explained based on the lunar calendar, my previous trip was on the 16th, which was why I had gotten to see the slow moon rise. Tonight was the 12th.
As we slowly make our way back to the Santa Cruz Yatch Club habor, I observed the reflection of the moon in the sea water, broken by the gentle waves. I was reminded of Xu Zhimuo(徐志摩)'s poem about Farewell to Cambridge(再别康桥). In the poem, he coyed:
那榆荫下的一潭，不是清泉，是天上虹；揉碎在浮藻间，沉淀着彩虹似的梦。
Translation:
That pool under the shade of elm trees
Holds not water but the rainbow from the sky;
Shattered to pieces among the duckweeds
Is the sediment of a rainbow-like dream?
The statement about rainbow from the sky, shattered ito pieces somehow felt appropriate to what I was watching.
H sang Su Dongpuo(苏东坡) poem of the Water Song(水调歌头) on our way back. The wave was pushing us in the right direction and we did not had to paddle too hard.
We were on the water for a total of about 2 and a half hours, but it certainly felt too short. One draw back was the Santa Cruz coastline was not well lit and unlike the Oakland skyline, did not had much to see.
I had still not gotten my transparent dry bag for digital camera. I used my old analog camera instead on this trip. Pictures will be posted once the films are being developed.
A co-worker had recommended Saturn Cafe for dinner. I ordered the Spartacus Salad, and was rewarded with a big plate of organic greens, with bits of feta cheese, diced pita break, crispy faux meat patty, tossed in a creamy, slightly tart, dressing. Quite good!
The restaurant had a 60's Art Deco vibe. While Santa Cruz is located no more than 30mins from west San Jose, it felt like a much different world. The cafe culture seems stronger than San Jose and the neighborhood felt more lifely than San Jose. I come to Santa Cruz mostly for paddling, but felt that I should explore it further.
It was then I discovered there was going to be a moonlight kayaking at Santa Cruz. Since kayaking is mostly a upper-body sport, I debated a little, but convinced myself in the relative calm evening water, I should be able to get around:)
My friend H and I met at Fry's electronics at about 3:30pm. We carpooled to the dock at Santa Cruz Yatch club. As usual, our guide Dave Johnston, was there to greet us. Readers of this blog may know that I had done several trips with Dave and had always enjoyed paddling with him. As an added bonus, Amy, Dave's assistant on the unsuccessful whale watching trip, was with us as well.
Both my friend and I had kayaked before, so I decided I would paddle in front and be the main drive of the kayak. For most other paddlers on this trip, this is their first kayaking experience. Dave had all of us paddled around a little in the harbor to get comfortable.
At this time of the year, the sun started setting really early. We got into the water at about 4:30pm and by 4:45pm, the sun had began setting below the breakwater. The silhouettes of hikers/walkers on the breakwater slowly came into view and within the relative calm of the habor water, there was a certain sense of peace. This is the part about kayaking I enjoy the most, an almost serene moment on the water...
We decided to head outside the protective breakwater into the open sea. It was a peaceful night and there was no strong current. Dave ordered the group to head north towards the wharf. Along the way, we saw a sea lion sticking its head out of the water, playfully observing us:)
I did not track time, but it must had took us a good hour to paddle from the Yatch club harbor to the wharf. Under the wharf, we could see harbor seals resting on the wharf structure and barking loudly. Dave had us go around the wharf, then paddled under the wharf to get a closer look.
At this time, it was completely dark and the moon was already up in the sky. Unlike my previous moonlight paddling trip, I did not see the moon climb slowly into the sky. My friend explained based on the lunar calendar, my previous trip was on the 16th, which was why I had gotten to see the slow moon rise. Tonight was the 12th.
As we slowly make our way back to the Santa Cruz Yatch Club habor, I observed the reflection of the moon in the sea water, broken by the gentle waves. I was reminded of Xu Zhimuo(徐志摩)'s poem about Farewell to Cambridge(再别康桥). In the poem, he coyed:
那榆荫下的一潭，不是清泉，是天上虹；揉碎在浮藻间，沉淀着彩虹似的梦。
Translation:
That pool under the shade of elm trees
Holds not water but the rainbow from the sky;
Shattered to pieces among the duckweeds
Is the sediment of a rainbow-like dream?
The statement about rainbow from the sky, shattered ito pieces somehow felt appropriate to what I was watching.
H sang Su Dongpuo(苏东坡) poem of the Water Song(水调歌头) on our way back. The wave was pushing us in the right direction and we did not had to paddle too hard.
We were on the water for a total of about 2 and a half hours, but it certainly felt too short. One draw back was the Santa Cruz coastline was not well lit and unlike the Oakland skyline, did not had much to see.
I had still not gotten my transparent dry bag for digital camera. I used my old analog camera instead on this trip. Pictures will be posted once the films are being developed.
A co-worker had recommended Saturn Cafe for dinner. I ordered the Spartacus Salad, and was rewarded with a big plate of organic greens, with bits of feta cheese, diced pita break, crispy faux meat patty, tossed in a creamy, slightly tart, dressing. Quite good!
The restaurant had a 60's Art Deco vibe. While Santa Cruz is located no more than 30mins from west San Jose, it felt like a much different world. The cafe culture seems stronger than San Jose and the neighborhood felt more lifely than San Jose. I come to Santa Cruz mostly for paddling, but felt that I should explore it further.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Moonlight Kayak at Jack London Square
I have done several kayak trip in the past, but tonight I did something different. A kayaking trip at night!I arrived at California Canoe and Kayak in Jack London Square at 5:30pm. Launched at the from a dock at about 6pm. Got a quick lesson on getting into a kayak from a dock from our tour guide Su. He taught new technique that I had not seen.
We left Jack London Square docks and went right, towards the bay. Our first stop is USS Potomac, FDR's presidential yacht. It was not a very big boat, so I was a surprise. According to Su, while the boat has 2 chimney structure, one of them is fake and hide an escalator. (FDR was wheelchair bound...remember?).
Next to USS Potomac, was a ship label "RELIEF". According to Su, this ship was a floating lighthouse.
I was quite excited, as I had not expected seeing any historic relics during this trip. Took out my camera and tried to snap a few shots when I realized...battery have no juice!
We then saw a yacht leaving the harbor in Alameda, right across the water from Jack London Square. This was the evening cruise from Commodore Cruise, which I had taken just 2 weeks ago while attending M & S's wedding...One thing I did notice is the area around the port of Oakland is very quiet. Besides the few people at Jack London Square and the cruise, there was no one on the street.
We paddle away from the bay towards east. On our right are houseboats in the Estuary. With the fairly quiet water and the warm glow of the lights from inside the houseboats, the whole setting had an romantic feel...
Further up the Estuary, are several dry docks. Su explained these are Kaiser docks. It seems that the Kaier family, before getting into medicine, were ship builders. The docks were used to maintain World War 2 boats.
At this point, we had been paddling for a while. I was actually feeling a little hot with a fleece sweater and wool hat. I started around the sky, but did not see any signs of the moon in the sky! Jokingly, I paddled to Su and said I want my money back. "It is supposed to be a moonlight kayak", I said...
Su plead with me to be patient. We paddled further inland and stopped near the Coast Guard Island while a few of our paddle mates docked. I was casually chatting with a few other paddlers when my kayak turned west...From behind the Oakland hills, there it was! Round, a little fuzzy and red from the dust of the Southern California fires, was the moon. When I first saw it, the bottom 1/5 was still hidden by the hills, but it rapidly rises above the horizon. Against the backdrop of the Oakland skyline, which is not too busy, it glowed...
I was reminded of the Tang poem "海上生明月"(Moon rises on the sea), but for the life of me cannot remember what comes next...(which by the way is "天涯共此时", at the same time across the land）
At this point, our paddle mates joined us and we cross the Estuary again towards Coast Guard Island. Su had all our kayaks group together as he handed out cookies and sparkling apple cider. We looked at the moon, in the calm and quiet water, while eating cookies and drinking cider. It was a great feeling.
After another 20mins or so, it was time for the trip back. We went in between Coast Guard Island and East Bay, west towards the Bay and Jack London Square. I started noticing there were several restaurants on the Bay, but while driving along 880, we tend to miss these locations.
After another 25mins of kayaking, all of us got back to Jack London Square. We unloaded safely and changed into dry clothes. I had gotten friendly with a couple. Turns out the wife works at Pixar and is friends with a former co-worker of mine. Both of them has a software background, but also worked in animated film production, so had interesting stories to tell.
We were all hungry and decided to have dinner at Kincaids. The restaurant was near the dock and we had a good whiff of the food before heading out.
I would describe the restaurant as a steakhouse, even though it had a good selection of seafood. Despite the time and our attire, we were promptly seated near the window, from which I had a great view of the Estuary. I ordered the sesame crusted salmon with rice and sauteed vegetable. The food was pretty good and we had a good time. Please see my review on Yelp for details on the food.Left Jack London Square at about 11pm, tired, but very happy!
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Kayaking at Point Lobos
Woke up at 6:30am in order to get to Santa Cruz by 8am. This is the part of sea kayaking that I don't like. Since the ocean tends to be more calm during the morning hours, most trip starts early in the morning. Given it is about an hour drive on the hilly Highway 17 to the coast, I sometimes wish I am staying on the ocean front:)
We met up at the carpool location. From there, it is another hour of van ride to Point Lobos. This time Dave Johnston , our tour guide, drove, so I was able to catch up on more sleep.
We launch at Carmel River State Beach. This beach is beautiful! It is quite wide and deep(by Nor-Cal standards:), with a cliff on one side. The water front dips quickly, so there's not too much wave. The sand, however is not fine, but like small pieces of granite, making moving the kayaks literally painful:(
The weather on Sunday was slightly gloomy, but not windy, so conditions was just right for kayaking!
In that cove, we saw a baby seal. The animal was sticking its head out of the water, curiously observing us. It is so cute! We also saw red moss and majestic cypress tree, growing on the cliff face, barely hanging on to anything.
There was no real beach near Carmel River State Beach, so we were not able to rest on this trip. We explored about 2 more coves and started heading back. The trip back is quite uneventful and all kayaks got onto shore without flipping.
We were on the sea for a total of about 3 hours. At one point, I was a little hungry and felt a little seasick. I had packed a sandwich, but since we did not stop, was not able to eat it. I should have brought along a power bar, which can be eaten on the go.
Despite the bad start and a little seasickness, I had a good time. Going on the water is always exciting for me and the view of the rugged shoreline from the sea was quite a treat. I would not recommend this trip for beginner however, since the sea is somewhat rough.
Pictures will be posted after I had my pictures have been developed. I need to buy waterproof casing for my digital camera on future trips.
We met up at the carpool location. From there, it is another hour of van ride to Point Lobos. This time Dave Johnston , our tour guide, drove, so I was able to catch up on more sleep.
We launch at Carmel River State Beach. This beach is beautiful! It is quite wide and deep(by Nor-Cal standards:), with a cliff on one side. The water front dips quickly, so there's not too much wave. The sand, however is not fine, but like small pieces of granite, making moving the kayaks literally painful:(
The weather on Sunday was slightly gloomy, but not windy, so conditions was just right for kayaking!
As with previous trip, Dave have people sit in their kayak on the sand and he pushes the kayaks into the ocean. The first kayak launched successfully, but the second flipped! Not an auspicious start!
It took us about another 15mins to launch all the kayaks, including relaunching the one that flipped. Just as we kayak past the kelp forest, into open sea, one of the kayaker felt seasick. We had to go the next cove and unloaded him. Like I say, not an auspicious start.
Coming out of that cove, we went into blue fish cove. In the kelp forest there, we observed lots of wild life. Dave was able to pick up a jelly fish in the water. It was quite a sight to the translucent animal in the water. We also saw a crab. It was curious enough to climb onto our paddle. Big mistake, as I was thinking about salt and pepper crab...Luckily for the, we decided there was no room in the kayak for it, and it would live another day:)
From Blue Fish cove, we paddle between rocks to go into another cove, whose name I forgot. Paddling between rocks can be dangerous because the waves are strong between the rocks, but all of us made it through safely.In that cove, we saw a baby seal. The animal was sticking its head out of the water, curiously observing us. It is so cute! We also saw red moss and majestic cypress tree, growing on the cliff face, barely hanging on to anything.
There was no real beach near Carmel River State Beach, so we were not able to rest on this trip. We explored about 2 more coves and started heading back. The trip back is quite uneventful and all kayaks got onto shore without flipping.
We were on the sea for a total of about 3 hours. At one point, I was a little hungry and felt a little seasick. I had packed a sandwich, but since we did not stop, was not able to eat it. I should have brought along a power bar, which can be eaten on the go.
Despite the bad start and a little seasickness, I had a good time. Going on the water is always exciting for me and the view of the rugged shoreline from the sea was quite a treat. I would not recommend this trip for beginner however, since the sea is somewhat rough.
Pictures will be posted after I had my pictures have been developed. I need to buy waterproof casing for my digital camera on future trips.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Paddle for Life 2007
First of all, a big thank you to those who show up to cheer me/the Xilinx team on at Paddle for Life 2007!
For those that did not make it, here is a quick recap of the day:
In the first heat, Xilinx team Xtreme (I didn't choose the name:) went up against Lin Engineering, Apple and the San Jose police department. We were placed 2nd in our first heat, losing to the San Jose Police department by about 5 seconds, beating out Lin Engineering by 0.1 seconds. According to bystanders, we had a bad start and was half a boat length EVERY team at the half way point, then really make out for lose ground in the second half of the race. We were worried if we paddle too fast, the police will cite us for speeding:)
In the second heat, we went up against Kyphon, one of the Genentech team(they had 4 teams total) and another team I do not remember. We were again placed second, losing to Kyphon by about 5 seconds. However, our finishing time of 2:12 was the third fastest in all the recharge heats, so I guess it was the luck of the draw:(
For what it is worth, in the finals, the San Jose Police and Kyphon was placed 1st and 3rd, so if we had been place in any other recharge heats, we would have at least made the semi-finals.
For those that did not make it, here is a quick recap of the day:
In the first heat, Xilinx team Xtreme (I didn't choose the name:) went up against Lin Engineering, Apple and the San Jose police department. We were placed 2nd in our first heat, losing to the San Jose Police department by about 5 seconds, beating out Lin Engineering by 0.1 seconds. According to bystanders, we had a bad start and was half a boat length EVERY team at the half way point, then really make out for lose ground in the second half of the race. We were worried if we paddle too fast, the police will cite us for speeding:)
In the second heat, we went up against Kyphon, one of the Genentech team(they had 4 teams total) and another team I do not remember. We were again placed second, losing to Kyphon by about 5 seconds. However, our finishing time of 2:12 was the third fastest in all the recharge heats, so I guess it was the luck of the draw:(
For what it is worth, in the finals, the San Jose Police and Kyphon was placed 1st and 3rd, so if we had been place in any other recharge heats, we would have at least made the semi-finals.
All in all though, it was a good day. The weather was perfect: sunny but with a light breeze, there was a lot of time between heats so we had time to relax and enjoy ourselves watching other heats and commenting how much their timing is off:)
Here are links to video of race day(thanks Tom!). If you are looking for me...I am on the left, third row from the front, wearing a blue baseball cap.
Until next year...
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Kayak Elkhorn Slough
After the mis-adventure from last week, I decided to take another chance and kayak again...this time the relative calm water of Elkhorn Slough.
I got a single kayak this time and paddle along the slough. We were going toward the sea, so during low tide, the water helped the kayaks moved along. I had not adjusted my foot pedal well and after about 30mins in my kayak, my legs were falling asleep.
There was no wave at all and we were able to take our time observing the wild life: beautiful birds and sea otters. The surrounding was quite beautiful, with patches of greens and puddles of water. Paddling in this condition always made me feel very peaceful.
The Slough is a fair popular spot for kayaking. Besides our group, we saw at least 3 other groups kayaking. There is also a natural boat tour for those who is looking for a more relax experience.
We paddle for about 2 hours to the mouth of the river where we stopped for lunch on a beach. The morning chill was gone and the sun was shinning. I took a quick nap on the beach and woke up refresh!
I took the opportunity to adjust my foot pedals before starting on my way back. Half way back, I needed to use the bath room very badly. I had to paddle fast back to the dock. As such, I was not able to enjoy the trip back as much.
I met Amy, our assistant tour guide from the whale watching trip last week, at the dock. She was helping with another group. We chatted a little and found out Dave sometimes ask people who had trained with him to be guides. That sounds like a very sweet gig!
Definitely was rushed a little at the end, due mainly to my own doing. However, the condition at Elkhorn Slough was great and the surround was beautiful. This is probably a location I will come again and in my opinion, is great for beginners.
I got a single kayak this time and paddle along the slough. We were going toward the sea, so during low tide, the water helped the kayaks moved along. I had not adjusted my foot pedal well and after about 30mins in my kayak, my legs were falling asleep.
There was no wave at all and we were able to take our time observing the wild life: beautiful birds and sea otters. The surrounding was quite beautiful, with patches of greens and puddles of water. Paddling in this condition always made me feel very peaceful.
The Slough is a fair popular spot for kayaking. Besides our group, we saw at least 3 other groups kayaking. There is also a natural boat tour for those who is looking for a more relax experience.
We paddle for about 2 hours to the mouth of the river where we stopped for lunch on a beach. The morning chill was gone and the sun was shinning. I took a quick nap on the beach and woke up refresh!
I took the opportunity to adjust my foot pedals before starting on my way back. Half way back, I needed to use the bath room very badly. I had to paddle fast back to the dock. As such, I was not able to enjoy the trip back as much.
I met Amy, our assistant tour guide from the whale watching trip last week, at the dock. She was helping with another group. We chatted a little and found out Dave sometimes ask people who had trained with him to be guides. That sounds like a very sweet gig!
Definitely was rushed a little at the end, due mainly to my own doing. However, the condition at Elkhorn Slough was great and the surround was beautiful. This is probably a location I will come again and in my opinion, is great for beginners.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Kayak whale watching
I was searching online for kayaking trip when I found a story of whale watching on kayak. I research further and discovered such trips are available in Santa Cruz!
On this morning, I left for Santa Cruz. From Santa Cruz, we took a van ride to Davenport and launch our kayaks on the shores there. Dave, our tour guide, had a person stationed on shore to help spot whales while we paddle in the ocean, looking for the animal.
The day was quite sunny, but the winds were strong. I could see white peaks on the wave. According to Dave, it was going to make whale spotting more difficult, as the whale's spouting was going to be obscure by the white peaks of waves breaking.
We paddle south for about 2 hours. Along the way, Dave had us fan out to increase our chances of spotting whales. But nothing...I was quite disappointed.
Then came a call that one kayak saw a whale spout. We tried to kayak to its location, but the wave was strong and we were not making good progress. Given the condition, Dave decided to bring everyone back to shore.
We were about the 3rd kayak back to shore. Then we waited and waited...no signs of other kayaks joining us! Our spotter on shore told us that one of the kayak had flipped. They were rescued, but the paddlers were feeling tired. Dave decided to bring them to another beach.
Turns out, that other beach was surrounded by steep cliff. There was no way of carrying the sea kayaks (which are generally more heavy) from the beach back onto the road. Dave had to instruct the rest of the kayak to make another short trip, onto a beach which the kayaks can scale more easily.
By now, it was almost 1pm and the winds had really picked up. Dave's experience really shows. He would observe the wave and had the kayaks come in right at the same time as the wave was coming in, using the wave to help the kayak come ashore. All the kayaks came in fine, until Amy, our assistant tour guide came in. She was in a single kayak, which is more unstable. A side current came when she was trying to shore and flipped her over:(
I was glad our kayak did not flip over, but was a little disappointed since we did not see any whales.
On this morning, I left for Santa Cruz. From Santa Cruz, we took a van ride to Davenport and launch our kayaks on the shores there. Dave, our tour guide, had a person stationed on shore to help spot whales while we paddle in the ocean, looking for the animal.
The day was quite sunny, but the winds were strong. I could see white peaks on the wave. According to Dave, it was going to make whale spotting more difficult, as the whale's spouting was going to be obscure by the white peaks of waves breaking.
We paddle south for about 2 hours. Along the way, Dave had us fan out to increase our chances of spotting whales. But nothing...I was quite disappointed.
Then came a call that one kayak saw a whale spout. We tried to kayak to its location, but the wave was strong and we were not making good progress. Given the condition, Dave decided to bring everyone back to shore.
We were about the 3rd kayak back to shore. Then we waited and waited...no signs of other kayaks joining us! Our spotter on shore told us that one of the kayak had flipped. They were rescued, but the paddlers were feeling tired. Dave decided to bring them to another beach.
Turns out, that other beach was surrounded by steep cliff. There was no way of carrying the sea kayaks (which are generally more heavy) from the beach back onto the road. Dave had to instruct the rest of the kayak to make another short trip, onto a beach which the kayaks can scale more easily.
By now, it was almost 1pm and the winds had really picked up. Dave's experience really shows. He would observe the wave and had the kayaks come in right at the same time as the wave was coming in, using the wave to help the kayak come ashore. All the kayaks came in fine, until Amy, our assistant tour guide came in. She was in a single kayak, which is more unstable. A side current came when she was trying to shore and flipped her over:(
I was glad our kayak did not flip over, but was a little disappointed since we did not see any whales.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
People Paddle 2007
First, a big Thank You for all your support to make my paddling at this year's People Paddle event possible. I have raised a total of $270 for Project Open Hand.
This morning, I got to SF at 8:15am. I was forced to drive as both Bart and Caltrain do not have service that can get me to Pier 40 at 8am. Found a free parking spot across from Delancey Street restaurant, so the day is off to a great start!
I signed in, grab a little breakfast, got my PFD (personal floatation device, not PDF:), listen to last minute paddle and safety instructions and was in the water at about 9:30am.
I had asked for a sit on top kayak, but regret a little this morning. Having taken a self rescue class, I am fully qualified to use a sit inside kayak, which is faster and more manuervable.
We were in formed of a course change due to weather and instead of going from Pier 40 to the Bow and Arrow, we went south toward China Basin (that's where Barry Bonds hits those home run:) and went up the mission creek.
Before the kayak race officially started, we were blessed by the "Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence". The sisters are 5 drag queens, which definitely gave the whole event a San Francisco feel:)
A funny thing happened on my kayak back from China Basin to Pier 40. A couple in 2 person kayak ran into my kayak twice. The husband, paddling in the front apologise profusedly, saying "We're sorry, but I am not the one steering". That statement did not sit very well with his wife, paddling in the back.
During our trainig, the instructor had specifically told couples in double kayaks to take it easy, saying double kayaks are nicknamed "Divorce boats" for a reason. I hope those 2 make it:)
The entire trip took 2 hours, but with the relatively calm bay water, gorgeous weather, sun shine and cool breeze, it went by very quickly.
I docked at about 12:20pm, had a quick snack, then sat and enjoyed free music outside Java House. There was an award ceremony to honor the person who raise the most funds and the fastest kayaker, presented by the above mentioned "Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence".
The entire event ended at about 1pm. Definitely a pleasant way to spend a beautiful spring Sunday morning.
For people whose interest in kayaking are piqued by my description, City Kayak offers this same kayaking trip, plus Bow and Arrow for ~$70.
Here is the SF Sentinel blog posting on the event. I am in the last picture, wearing a blue baseball cap.
This morning, I got to SF at 8:15am. I was forced to drive as both Bart and Caltrain do not have service that can get me to Pier 40 at 8am. Found a free parking spot across from Delancey Street restaurant, so the day is off to a great start!
I signed in, grab a little breakfast, got my PFD (personal floatation device, not PDF:), listen to last minute paddle and safety instructions and was in the water at about 9:30am.
I had asked for a sit on top kayak, but regret a little this morning. Having taken a self rescue class, I am fully qualified to use a sit inside kayak, which is faster and more manuervable.
We were in formed of a course change due to weather and instead of going from Pier 40 to the Bow and Arrow, we went south toward China Basin (that's where Barry Bonds hits those home run:) and went up the mission creek.
Before the kayak race officially started, we were blessed by the "Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence". The sisters are 5 drag queens, which definitely gave the whole event a San Francisco feel:)
A funny thing happened on my kayak back from China Basin to Pier 40. A couple in 2 person kayak ran into my kayak twice. The husband, paddling in the front apologise profusedly, saying "We're sorry, but I am not the one steering". That statement did not sit very well with his wife, paddling in the back.
During our trainig, the instructor had specifically told couples in double kayaks to take it easy, saying double kayaks are nicknamed "Divorce boats" for a reason. I hope those 2 make it:)
The entire trip took 2 hours, but with the relatively calm bay water, gorgeous weather, sun shine and cool breeze, it went by very quickly.
I docked at about 12:20pm, had a quick snack, then sat and enjoyed free music outside Java House. There was an award ceremony to honor the person who raise the most funds and the fastest kayaker, presented by the above mentioned "Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence".
The entire event ended at about 1pm. Definitely a pleasant way to spend a beautiful spring Sunday morning.
For people whose interest in kayaking are piqued by my description, City Kayak offers this same kayaking trip, plus Bow and Arrow for ~$70.
Here is the SF Sentinel blog posting on the event. I am in the last picture, wearing a blue baseball cap.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Kayak Self Rescue Clinic & Visitors From San Diego!
In preparation for People Paddle 2007, City Kayak offered a self rescue clinic at a discount to people paddle participants. I decided to take advantage of this offer, since I enjoy kayaking, and the lessons will make me more comfortable in renting a sit inside kayak for future trips.Ted from City Kayak led the lessons. The first part was a demostration and practice on land. For self rescue, we learn paddle float rescue, which can be used in any conditions. Then there is T-rescue, where by another kayak would assist a cap sized kayak. Finally, the sloppy rescue, to be used in calm weather conditions.
In this picture, Ted have me simulate wave on the paddle float to get us a feel of where our center of gravity should be, in order to have the maximum leverage against the wave.
After land practice, we have a hands on session. We were all given wet suit, and then cap sized our kayak on purpose. Getting wet in SF during early April is not a good idea, even with wet suit:(
I was able to do the paddle float rescue and with the help of Brenda did T-rescue. However, I think I have an extremely unstable kayak and was never able to do the sloppy rescue. Hopefully, this will not come back to haunt me during People Paddle:)
More pictures of the clinic at posted by Dean.
After the clinic, I met up with my landlord's family from San Diego. I first met the family while working as an intern in San Diego almost 10 years ago.
We have remain friends after I moved out. We last saw each other in 2003, and then sort of lose touch. When I sent out email asking for donation for People Paddle, they suddenly realized I am in the Bay Area and they were out here visiting.
We had dinner together in at R&G Lounge in Chinatown. After dinner, I drove them around town for some of my favorite SF sights.
I am really happy to get back in touch.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
