We eat fantastic seafood here. I act as the team taster, the first to try unfamiliar menu items. It seems I can’t lose.
It starts on the second evening, when Wayne and Jeff have salmon. I’m not going for this farmed North Sea stuff, I want a wild fish, and go with the Robalo, which is probably sea bass and perhaps an endangered species so I’m not really doing Mother Ocean any favors, but it is pretty darn good.
The next evening, Jeff announces he is going to have Robalo, since mine was so good. I counter with the declaration that I’m going for the Pulvo, or octopus, because what-the-heck-it-is-on-the-menu-and-you-only-live-once. Everyone looks at me with great skepticism. When dinner finally arrives, I have a plate of the most exquisite chopped-and-broiled-in-olive-oil-and-garlic, tender, and tasty seafood that you could possibly imagine. It is, in the words of She Who Is Small But Mighty, “Plate-Lickin’-Good™”. My reputation is made. For the rest of the trip, people will have what I had the night before.
I continue my food dominance through a Hawaiian pizza that has bananas in addition to the usual ham an pineapple, a monkfish brochette for two (split with Jackie) that is a shish kebab of monkfish and shrimp and onions and peppers, and the Caldeirada (split with Jeff, which turned out to be a seafood stew containing lobster and monkfish and shrimp and other fish and potatoes and other veggies, garnished with hunks of fried bread.
The final night, though, I go back for one last round of octopus. Wow.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Chapter 9 Friends
Valerie Bertrand. Reigning World Champion from 2007, buddy of Devon. She is Team Norway. Competing with 2 broken ankles and torn ligaments acquired within the last month after an encounter with a rock after kayaking off a waterfall. Holy Sh*t!
Brent and Lori. Brent is one quarter of Team Canada, Lori is his fiancée. Brent is like me, a newbie who knows he is in over his head but enjoying every minute of the ride.
Team Scotland. They know how to party.
Jackie Ferguson. Irish girl competing individually.
Brent and Lori. Brent is one quarter of Team Canada, Lori is his fiancée. Brent is like me, a newbie who knows he is in over his head but enjoying every minute of the ride.
Team Scotland. They know how to party.
Jackie Ferguson. Irish girl competing individually.
Chapter 8 Miscellaneous Conversations
Wishful thinking
Wayne: That is one heavy boat!
Me: Yeah
[Note to self: Ask She Who Is Small But Mighty {OK, beg if you have to} ‘Honey, can I please get a new boat?’]
*****
On fame
(Japanese accent): Debon?
Me: Yes.
(Japanese accent): Debon Bahkuh?!?!?!!
Me: Yes.
(Japanese accent): Ohhhh! Debon Bahkuh very famous!!!!
****
It’s a small world
Me: By the way, Carole Westwood said to tell you: “Hi and Merde”.
Val Bertrand: What!?!?! How do you know Carole?
****
Why we all drank too much
Carla (bartender and surf photographer of renown): Are the mojitos OK?
John and Eddie (Team Scotland): These are better than what we had in Havana!!
****
Ouch
Spectators (in sympathetic pain): Oooooooooooooooooooooo!
Announcer: If the judges scored for wipeouts, that would be a ten!
****
Are you sure?
Jeff: You know who you remind me of? Steve Martin.
Me: ????
****
On the better part of valor
Jimmy: Why don't you try Jeff's boat?
Self to myself (after spending 5 minutes cramming myself into Jeff’s boat): Yeah, I could probably roll this boat.
Myself to self (trying to remove the foam implosion-slash-suicide bar that has me jammed into the cockpit and succeeding only after at least a minute of struggle): Umm—I’m not sure we can get out of this puppy if things went bad.
Self to myself: Bad?!? No way! You know you can roll!
Voice of daughter Molly, aged 12, who knows about the unfortunate surfboard-to-the-head incident in Noosa a couple of years ago (with all the seriousness that a 12-year-old can muster): “Daddy, you be careful, ok?”
Me: Um, Jimmy? I don’t think so.
****
The brotherhood
Brent Daniel (Team Canada): Dude!!
Me: Dude!!
Wayne: That is one heavy boat!
Me: Yeah
[Note to self: Ask She Who Is Small But Mighty {OK, beg if you have to} ‘Honey, can I please get a new boat?’]
*****
On fame
(Japanese accent): Debon?
Me: Yes.
(Japanese accent): Debon Bahkuh?!?!?!!
Me: Yes.
(Japanese accent): Ohhhh! Debon Bahkuh very famous!!!!
****
It’s a small world
Me: By the way, Carole Westwood said to tell you: “Hi and Merde”.
Val Bertrand: What!?!?! How do you know Carole?
****
Why we all drank too much
Carla (bartender and surf photographer of renown): Are the mojitos OK?
John and Eddie (Team Scotland): These are better than what we had in Havana!!
****
Ouch
Spectators (in sympathetic pain): Oooooooooooooooooooooo!
Announcer: If the judges scored for wipeouts, that would be a ten!
****
Are you sure?
Jeff: You know who you remind me of? Steve Martin.
Me: ????
****
On the better part of valor
Jimmy: Why don't you try Jeff's boat?
Self to myself (after spending 5 minutes cramming myself into Jeff’s boat): Yeah, I could probably roll this boat.
Myself to self (trying to remove the foam implosion-slash-suicide bar that has me jammed into the cockpit and succeeding only after at least a minute of struggle): Umm—I’m not sure we can get out of this puppy if things went bad.
Self to myself: Bad?!? No way! You know you can roll!
Voice of daughter Molly, aged 12, who knows about the unfortunate surfboard-to-the-head incident in Noosa a couple of years ago (with all the seriousness that a 12-year-old can muster): “Daddy, you be careful, ok?”
Me: Um, Jimmy? I don’t think so.
****
The brotherhood
Brent Daniel (Team Canada): Dude!!
Me: Dude!!
Chapter 7 The Magic Wristband
This is the magic wristband. It marks the wearer as a competitor in the events at Santa Cruz Ocean Spirit. It gets us into the VIP open bar at the Opening Ceremonies (where we, the surf kayakers, proceed to consume all the alcohol allotted for the 3 hour event in less than an hour.) It gets us into the music festival at night for free. And most importantly, it gets us past Carlos the Security Guard and into the boat storage locker so we can get our boats.
When we were first issued our wristbands, we were told that we’d be issued new bands every day. So after Opening Ceremonies, with the VIP open bar and the discovery of SuperBar and Carla’s mojitos and the fireworks show and people jumping into the pool and basically staying up too late because no competitions were scheduled for the next day, three members of Team USA West cut them off before collapsing into bed. Only to find that our boats were completely inaccessible the next day. And, we only had 2 extra wristbands. Neither of which came to me. So there was a day of having to have somebody else grab my boat out of storage for me, until we could get it all sorted out. In the end, I finally got a band, to the relief/amusement of Carlos.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Chapter 6--Team Trials
Tuesday was the start of team trials. In this phase of the competition, team members compete in 4-person heats in the following classes:
Junior’s (under 18) High Performance (HP) – 1 slot/team
Junior’s International Class (IC) – 1 slot
Women’s HP – 2 slots
Women’s IC – 2 slots
Men’s HP – 3 slots
Men’s IC – 3 slots
Master’s (over 40) HP – 2 slots
Master’s IC – 2 slots
The way the scoring works is that you get 1 point for a first place finish in a heat, 2 points for a second, 3 for a third, 4 for a 4th, and 5 if you don’t enter a competitor. Lower scores are better.
Each team member can compete in a maximum of 2 events. So you can see that with a team of 6, we’d only be able to fill 12 of 16 competition slots, thus conceding 20 points off the bat.
Twelve teams were competing, most with full teams. There was a first round, after which the top 8 teams would compete again and the scores would be combined for final rankings. Finally, the top 4 teams compete again in the finals--unlikely for us without a full team.
I was competing in Men’s and Master’s HP. Thus, I would compete in 2 more heats at least, then 2 more if we were in the top 8. They were running the competition on two sites on the beach. There was a bit of a panic when we realized that, because of the offset in timing between the two sites, I was scheduled to compete simultaneously at both sites. Fortunately, just as we discovered this and informed the judges at one of the sites, the competition at the other site was postponed for 2 hours for a longboard competition. Problem solved.
My teammates were amazing, scoring mostly firsts and seconds in their heats. My turn in Master’s HP rolled around, and I have to say that my head was in a much better place this time compared to my first competition heat. I’d had time to do some free surfing in the intervening days, and Jim and the rest of the team had been giving me intensive coaching. Nonetheless, I finished up in 4th, though I was in third right up until the end. I was bummed. Because of the long delay, the Men’s HP division was pushed off until early the next morning, after which team scores were to be tabulated and we’d launch right into the semifinal round of 8. We were pretty close to 8th, but it wasn’t a sure thing.
Early Wednesday morning we showed up at the beach. I surfed pretty well in my heat, and of course Jeff and Jim kicked butt, so then we had to wait for the results, which were: USA West in 8th! We were through to the semis!
Once again we were in 2 sites on the beach. My two heats were separated by 15 minutes. First up was Master’s. I got a good ride off the bat, with my teammates screaming and yelling and waving the Stars and Stripes on the beach–it was a fantastic feeling. In the end, I scored a 3rd! Major coolness. Then it was into shore to turn in my jersey (competitors get color-coded jerseys so the judges know who to score) and then sprint up the beach to get my new jersey and then into my boat for the next heat. My teammates dragged my boat to the second site, and then I was ready to go. I decided to go for the biggest waves, which worked to the extent that I caught them, though I really didn’t do anything with my rides. So yet another 4th for me.
Nonetheless, at the end of the day, the entire team surfed fantastic, and we actually moved up one spot to 7th. (Call me Mr. 7th, I guess.)
Jeff tearing it up:
Junior’s (under 18) High Performance (HP) – 1 slot/team
Junior’s International Class (IC) – 1 slot
Women’s HP – 2 slots
Women’s IC – 2 slots
Men’s HP – 3 slots
Men’s IC – 3 slots
Master’s (over 40) HP – 2 slots
Master’s IC – 2 slots
The way the scoring works is that you get 1 point for a first place finish in a heat, 2 points for a second, 3 for a third, 4 for a 4th, and 5 if you don’t enter a competitor. Lower scores are better.
Each team member can compete in a maximum of 2 events. So you can see that with a team of 6, we’d only be able to fill 12 of 16 competition slots, thus conceding 20 points off the bat.
Twelve teams were competing, most with full teams. There was a first round, after which the top 8 teams would compete again and the scores would be combined for final rankings. Finally, the top 4 teams compete again in the finals--unlikely for us without a full team.
I was competing in Men’s and Master’s HP. Thus, I would compete in 2 more heats at least, then 2 more if we were in the top 8. They were running the competition on two sites on the beach. There was a bit of a panic when we realized that, because of the offset in timing between the two sites, I was scheduled to compete simultaneously at both sites. Fortunately, just as we discovered this and informed the judges at one of the sites, the competition at the other site was postponed for 2 hours for a longboard competition. Problem solved.
My teammates were amazing, scoring mostly firsts and seconds in their heats. My turn in Master’s HP rolled around, and I have to say that my head was in a much better place this time compared to my first competition heat. I’d had time to do some free surfing in the intervening days, and Jim and the rest of the team had been giving me intensive coaching. Nonetheless, I finished up in 4th, though I was in third right up until the end. I was bummed. Because of the long delay, the Men’s HP division was pushed off until early the next morning, after which team scores were to be tabulated and we’d launch right into the semifinal round of 8. We were pretty close to 8th, but it wasn’t a sure thing.
Early Wednesday morning we showed up at the beach. I surfed pretty well in my heat, and of course Jeff and Jim kicked butt, so then we had to wait for the results, which were: USA West in 8th! We were through to the semis!
Once again we were in 2 sites on the beach. My two heats were separated by 15 minutes. First up was Master’s. I got a good ride off the bat, with my teammates screaming and yelling and waving the Stars and Stripes on the beach–it was a fantastic feeling. In the end, I scored a 3rd! Major coolness. Then it was into shore to turn in my jersey (competitors get color-coded jerseys so the judges know who to score) and then sprint up the beach to get my new jersey and then into my boat for the next heat. My teammates dragged my boat to the second site, and then I was ready to go. I decided to go for the biggest waves, which worked to the extent that I caught them, though I really didn’t do anything with my rides. So yet another 4th for me.
Nonetheless, at the end of the day, the entire team surfed fantastic, and we actually moved up one spot to 7th. (Call me Mr. 7th, I guess.)
Jeff tearing it up:
Chapter 5--Teammates
Here is the operative adjective for the people on this team: Nice. Extremely nice.
Here are my teammates:
Devon Barker. Professional kayaker, former (2005) World Champion woman’s surf kayaker.
Jim Grossman An amazing athlete. Top 5 in the world in surf kayak.
Jeff Hille Works for Genentech. Jim Carrey look-alike. A team newbie like me.
Rachael Krugman. Soon to be a student in OT. On a team of very nice people, she is the nicest. Another team newbie.
Wayne Waddington Works in construction. The team’s oldest member. Twisted (in a good way) sense of humor. Another world-class surf paddler.
Here are my teammates:
Devon Barker. Professional kayaker, former (2005) World Champion woman’s surf kayaker.
Jim Grossman An amazing athlete. Top 5 in the world in surf kayak.
Jeff Hille Works for Genentech. Jim Carrey look-alike. A team newbie like me.
Rachael Krugman. Soon to be a student in OT. On a team of very nice people, she is the nicest. Another team newbie.
Wayne Waddington Works in construction. The team’s oldest member. Twisted (in a good way) sense of humor. Another world-class surf paddler.
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