I am so thankful that we don't always have 3 day races. In the rain and the wind. 3 days is alot, throw in the weather, and it is long, cold and hard. So we left on Thursday, for the first time, we took the boat ferry hopping. The ferry was overloaded, so off to Lopez we went in hopes of catching the same on to Anacortes. Not happening. So on Lopez we sit, waiting for the next boat, which still gets us there sooner than if we had waited for the next boat at home. So we made it down around 9ish, promptly went to bed. Woke up bright and early Friday, (me a bit earlier than needed, thanks to a weird dream about rabid monkeys attacking my kids) so we leave for the races, sign in, register and wait. In the wind and rain. Lots of rain. Can't really set up the canopy's, to much wind, so wet we get. So our first heat on Friday we pulled a 4th, then a 2nd. Saturday didn't go so well. On the first heat he was pushed into the in field by another boat, resulting in a 5th place. Then a 4th. But one of those 4th's that was close! 1st and 2nd were nose to nose, about a rooster tail ahead of us, and 3rd finished maybe 1/2 boat length ahead. That was a good heat. Sat night, we went to some friends house for a few hours, then back to the hotel. On Sunday, our very last day of racing for the year, we had an interesting 1st heat. On the pre start lap, a boat cut lanes resulting in another boat running over the back of ours. Not the way you want to start your last day of racing in the boat. But Jim decided that the boat wouldn't sink until it stopped, so he raced! And not only did he race, but he pulled a first place out of it! Now I ask, how many boats pull 1st with part of the back missing? It was pretty sweet. Unfortunately, we didn't get to go into the final, we couldn't get the boat fixed in time. And didn't really feel like it anyways. So we finished 4th for the weekend I think. If we had ran the last heat we should have pulled a 1st or 2nd, but that is the way it goes.
So we are now done racing for the year, we have the region awards to go to in a few weeks, then the nationals in January. We finished in 3rd in the nation this year. Not as good as we were hoping for, but the fact is that that is where we finished all year! So I will post pics of the new boat, and of both the awards to. Thanks for following us this year, we have enjoyed all the comments and questions emailed. And for those of you who met us in the ferry landing every race, thank you!
