Trial by Water

I am not sure if there was ever a race so aptly named as this weekend's 17 km small boat race "Trial by Water" sponsored by Ocean River Paddling Sports of Victoria. The race is often a challenging race involving more strategy than one might imagine in such a short run. The race day can look calm and peaceful, however the tide tables and local knowledge will give clues to different strategies that make the race easy or frustrating. The women' race started at 9:30 and went off without a hitch. The men's race, however started at 11:00pm and was more interesting...

This year's race started out with the women running in a a freshening breeze and overcast skies and the men's ended up with a steady 30 knots with gusts to 36 knots in bright sunshine. For the mens's race 6 of the boats managed to get around Trial Island Lighthouse and head cross wind to the finish before the washing machine got fired up.  The tide was also in an aggressive flood in the same easterly direction as the wind. Waves stacked up into a monster washing machine for the boats right off the tip of Trial Island by the lighthouse. As the first boats ventured through the washing machine, it was not long before the first OC1 was over.

However, the race was well organized and set up with safety in mind.  The Oak Bay Sea Rescue Society was on hand with two fast hard hull inflatable rescue boats, Aux 33 and 35, from the Station 33 of the Canadian Coast Guard Auxillary based at Oak Bay. Ocean River Paddling Club also provided two power boats as race organizer/safety boats.

The above photo is the lee side of Trial! The top of Trial on the windward side was equally twice the wave height and more disturbed than illustrated here.

The first two boats into the washing machine were plucked up by the CCG Aux and brought around to the east side of Trial Island into the lee of the wind and waves.  At this point the Safety Director for the race, Brian Henry turned the last 5 boats around and had them back head down the lee side of the island.  Meanwhile the first six boats completed the race and were safely at harbour in Gonzales Bay. Of the 5 remaining boats, two were directed to head to the Oak Bay Marina. This left two more boats, which were still in some peril and ended up brought in by the CCG Aux.

All in all, the race was exciting (more for some than others) and people were well protected and extracted quickly when things became more than some could handle.  It was not a race for novice paddlers. This weekend has been particularly warm and as is often the case, folks seemed to dress more for a summer lake than the cold ocean water. Of those that ended up in the water, some repeatedly I am told, were cold and shivering quite a bit.

30 knots from 8 o'clock in choppy seas, CCG Aux 33 in background escorting another boat.

At the end of the race there were lots of stories to talk about and another paddling venture drew to a close.  Kudos go to Cindy Wright for organizing the race and putting up with all us whining and snivelling paddlers and also a big thank you to the Oak Bay Rescue society and Station 33 of the Coast Guard Auxillary.