Molokai Crossing

The race is done and I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck. This may be as much from getting on a plane and flying all night as from the race, but I’m sure some is from the race. The bruises anyway! It was a fun time! My team mates were great. It was a real thrill to paddle with them, especially Mindy. Before the race, we had one real practice and one back and forth in a little bay paddle trying different combinations and seat orders. So, as expected, we got better and better throughout the race. We didn’t have a great start but then we got a really good groove and reeled in NAC Lanikila and Outrigger Canoe Club. That was fun. Then, we chose and different line then those two crews and we never saw them again. It’s a funny race in that for hours two to five it’s not uncommon to see no one. It’s like racing ghosts. Then, at the end of the race when you’re running along Waikiki, boats emerge from nowhere. The route we chose is usually the more common route, but not yesterday. It depends on the tide and wind condition which way is the fastest to go. The route we took goes in close to Oahu and then runs down the shore. Typical is that you have to paddle through so really messy, yucky, water but then you get to surf all the way down once you get alongside Oahu. Well, the yucky water was there, but we didn’t exactly fly down the next section – it was a little messier than we expected it to be. Unfortunately, the two teams that we had got up to earlier in the race and then diverted from both beat us handily by the finish line – whether that’s route choice or crew strength is hard to know. We ended up 9th. Our team name was Team Facebook as that's how Mindy touched base with most of the team. Full results can be found at:

http://www.ocpaddler.com/forum/2009/na_wahine_updates_results.
Just scroll down through all the chat and one entry is results.

Gotta go join facebook...maybe