Surfski Knowledge Base

Morris Arthur <marthur@…>
06/17/08 #4523

Yesterday, I set the course record for the Whiskey Run: 33 minutes 08 seconds.

Ok, let me back up:
Yesterday evening (Monday), inspired by Larry G's description of his mid-day paddle, I paddled out to Whiskey Rock. It was ho-hum, weedy 1-2 ft bumps on the way out. But after I turned north, I caught these wonderful 3-4 ft rollers back to Marine Park. Sweet, well-connected rides! …After whooping it up (by myself), I was sad that I didn't get to share the experience… and I lamented that we had very few downwind races around here. And, heck, I didn't know if I was paddling well or not.

Anyway, I dreamed up this course and I challenge you (and myself) to beat the record… or just use it as a measuring stick.

So here's the challenge:
-Search for the perfect conditions: Flat water with current? Raging S wind? Fast rollers?
-Get yourself to Whiskey Rock: either paddle from Marine Park, or shuttle to Larrabee (sissy!).
-Line yourself up with the south edge of Whiskey Rock and the south edge of the “gym house”. ( I guess you can go out into the bay as far as you want.) This is the start.
-Race your clock north until you pass the north end of the dry dock near Marine Park (line up the two north edges.)
-Stop your watch.

Post your attempt here, especially if you set a new record. (Hey, we can even have different classes.)

Here are details of my run:
4.87 miles
33:08 minutes
8.9 mph average speed
10.8 mph max speed (over 3 seconds) …GPS said 11.9 mph (over 1 second)
Bay cam indicated 10 mph WSW winds, and it seemed I was bucking a current.

Come on, you can beat that!

Morris

Re: The Whiskey Run: Course Record
lori & beau whitehead
06/17/08 #4524

What a coincidence… My wife asked me what I wanted for my birthday today. I said that all I wanted was a ride to Larrabee so I could surf my stand up board back to Fairhaven. Of course I checked the internet for wind direction etc. and Lori dropped me off at the boat launch around 1:15. It was a bit of a battle to get out of the little cove at Larrabee, but once I got far enough out past Whiskey Rock and turned north… sweet!! Like Morris said; 3-4 foot rollers perfectly spaced for rail-roading a stand up board home. Of course I went swimming about 8 times, but that's what makes a board fun (plus I'm not sitting on my arse)
So, from Larrabee to Marine Park took me 52 minutes… a bit slower than a surf ski obviously. I'm guessing it will be awhile before another stand-up paddler gives me a run… Brandon?

Re: The Whiskey Run: Course Record
Morris Arthur <marthur@…>
06/18/08 #4525

Sounds like Beau just set the record for the standup board division.
It seems Monday and Tuesday were great bay-paddling days…

For those of you who don't get email attachments, I created a new folder in the Photos section of the website:
“_Race Courses”. I put the gps track map of the Whiskey Run in that folder. (Hopefully, others can post different “race courses” that they create.)

Morris

Thursday nooner 'Whiskey Run'……
Larry Goolsby
06/19/08 #4544

Hammer and I met at Marine Park at 11:30 in order to establish a
record time for doing the Whiskey Run in an outrigger. The tide was
due to start coming in shortly after 12 noon and the water was flat.
Not the conditions we hoped for when establishing a downwind record
time. As we paddled towards Whiskey Rock, a slight NW wind picked up
and we knew that this record time was going to be for an 'upwind'
Whiskey run. I was not going to make a record attempt myself and I
was only there to keep Mike honest. Frankly, I would rather kiss my
sister before you would catch me paddling an outrigger (but that's
another story).
We started back from the south edge of Whiskey rock and I could see
that this was going to be a painful all day event if I didn't do
something to assist Mike with his goal. I quickly paddled up in front
of him and forced him into drafting on me. Still, if I paddled more
than 40 strokes a minute, Mike would fall behind and I would have to
stop and wait. I was tempted just to paddle home and leave him there
but, there was a stiff 2-3 knt headwind so you have to imagine how
rough the conditions were becoming. So finally we arrived at Marine
Park and set a new standard for all outriggers to try and break. Our
time was 52 minutes and 45 seconds. Maybe we will go back and try it
when the wind blows from the south and see if we can improve on this.
LG

More “gluttons for punishment!”
Pmarcus
06/21/08 #4554

The first and only Zodiac Challenge took place today. I was just a
little late for the Saturday “Niner” and with talk of good following
currents from the early group, I finally got launched and underway. The
Zodiac is a very big wood schooner that attempts to sail on weekends.
With about one knot of breeze and heavy canvas sails it made for a good
turning bouy that was stationary half way out to Eliza. I was going on
a good clip so I just stayed there till I got to all that floating
lumber that resembled a boat, turned left and pushed off to Governor's.
I made a very short pit stop to help inspire the growth on the
Governor's Pt. Beach (sorry Mr. Hilburn, I had to stop) then throttled
up on the way back to Marine Park. There was about a 3/4 knot
difference of current speed as I hugged the inside of Dot Island and
went inside Bird Rock and then along the wall.
I'm sure you all wondering where I'm going with this…so to make a
short story even longer…..those of you that have nothing better to do
can beat my version of the Whiskey “Really Flat Water, I'm sure you can
better this,” Run at 10 miles in 1:22:20. Kinda boring but a good
training paddle…..we have to try and pretend to catch Don K. and
Joost you know!!

Have Fun…..Peter

Re: Downwind run on Sunday?/ Whiskey Run…..
Larry Goolsby
06/22/08 #4560

So Mike Hammer, Simon, and I decided to drive down to Wildcat Cove
and paddle back to Bellingham. The wind was not as near as good as it
had been in the morning and the BCS Bay cam showed an average of
about 10 knts. When we arrived at Marine Park, there were whitecaps
but the wind was dying and by the time we left for Larabee, the
whitecaps were pretty much gone. Luckily, Lance was at the park and
offered to ride down with us and drive my rig back for me (Lance,
please explain the cigarette butts and empty condom wrapper).
At Wildcat cove there was absolutely no detectable wind. The only
wave action was a residual West to East swell that was parallel to
our beam. We paddled out quite a distance hoping to find a southerly
wind but no chance of that. We were so far out from shore that it was
hard to see Whiskey Rock. As we paddled north, we had flat conditions
with a slight side swell. At around Clarke's Point, we could see a
ripple on the water signifying that there was some southerly wind. As
I passed the tunnel, I heard my scuppers 'suck' for the first time.
By the time we hit Post Point, we had a 15-20 knot southerly wind
finally. Simon's time was 34:10 and mine was about 35:00 because I
headed through the weeds and beached my boat before checking my time.
Mike Hammer set a new record for the outrigger with a 41:00 minute
run. By the time we left, the wind was as big as it had been all day.
Our timing sucks….
LG