Surf riding is a whole new experience for those of us from primarily flatwater experience, and it has it's challenges. You need to be able to get the boat to respond at the appropriate time so that you're actually paddling with the surf/swell and not against. Done right, you can actually expend a lot less energy keeping on the wave - this is a technique that will be good to use throughout the 60 km race in two days' time. Done wrong, you use a lot of energy for less gain - for long distance races, not the best situation to be in.
Here is a link to some video on doing changes in the OC6. I'm in the second seat up until the first change where you'll see me jump from the boat, and Emilie (one of my teammates with the Ottawa Galley Girls) get into my seat.
http://youtu.be/yxg3M5VpWds
In the afternoon, we hiked through some of the NaPali coastline. This area of the island is inaccessible by car (the trailhead starts where the road ends), so it's really quite rugged and pretty pristine. The hike also served as a "first look" at the type of scenary we will be following throughout the race. The trail wasn't your typical American hiking trail, so the going could get a bit interesting at times. All in, we hiked for about 13 kms, which pretty much wore us out.
Here are some photos along the way....
This morning, we had our last practice before the race on Saturday. Because we're going to be in a safety boat during our "breaks", we decided to see how well we fared paddling while using sea-sickness medications. Some people it didn't affect, while in my case, it was likely a combination of fatigue, lack of sleep and the medication, but I was pretty much useless this morning. Needless to say, I won't be taking that medication on the day of the race. If I get sea-sick during the breaks, I'll just have to deal with it.
Till next time!
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