Buffalo Bayou Regatta Trip Report

Buffalo Bayou Regatta Trip Report

 

Kayaks and Canoes of all shapes, type and sizes were everywhere! Old ones, new ones, cheap ones, expensive ones; they were stacked 3-4 high on top of trucks, cars and trailers. Buffalo Bayou volunteers helped you unload then you parked your car elsewhere

 

The following will chronicle the most physically challenging thing I have done in years I knew it would be but I didn’t know how right I was. The mental challenge was not that hard because “Fear always springs from ignorance” and I was fearless this morning. As I arrived it was probably about 40 degrees and the water was in the high fifties (a guess). .  

 

Physical challenge number 1 - Getting up that morning knowing it was really cold and being 45 years old and out of shape.

 

Physical challenge number 2 - Launching from the very steep, heavily vegetated, slick banks of Buffalo Bayou. How the hell am I getting down there? I eventually found a spot flat enough to launch from with some help but I briefly considered going in penguin style and just sliding right in.

 

Physical challenge number 3 - Learning very quickly how to control a 16’ boat in a swiftly flowing body of water through an obstacle course of kayaks, canoes, downed trees and other debris piled up in the bayou. …oh and did if forget to mention there are 300 other kayaks learning the same thing at the same time in the same spot. I quickly put down my rudder to help me through challenge.

 

Physical challenge number 4 - Downed trees and branches and other piled up junk formed an obstacle course or choke points every few hundred yards. Weaving your way through the obstacle course, while trying not to get hung up, was very challenging. When you did get hung up you could count on getting yelled or getting rammed by the very rude %@*^holes in their racing kayaks. They didn’t slow down for anything or anybody.

 

Physical challenge number 5 – Turtle time! I was approaching a huge downed tree that was blocking 80% of the width of the bayou, the guys in front of me (and there were quite a few) were able to duck under it as it was 2 ‘-2 ½ ‘ above the water. Well, as you guessed it I needed 3’. I got whacked by a log and knocked out of my kayak. I was not really a turtle but a more of a frigid dunking. The shock of hitting that cold water took my breath away. People from the shore and other kayakers were asking me if was ok but I couldn’t answer. I weakly waved I’m OK. But I really wasn’t.  God bless Stohlquist and my PFD – if I had been wearing my inflatable I don’t know if I would have had the presence of mind to pull the cord.   I continue moving with the current and my kayak until I hit the next obstacle. But now I was between the obstacle and kayak with the current pushing my kayak against me. I somehow maneuvered my kayak around me and over the obstacle as I sat on a submerged log catching my breath. When I looked around to survey my situation I found a wooden canoe paddle in the debris from some other unfortunate souls who had flipped somewhere. I slipped the end of the wooden paddle through the lifting handle on the side of my kayak and used the paddle to stabilize the kayak and then I was back in the saddle and facing a new challenge – hypothermia! Thank goodness I was nice and sunny; I only shivered for about 30 minutes until I dried out.  Only 15 minutes had elapsed but it took me an hour to catch everyone I was even with when I got dumped.

 

Physical Challenge Number 6 - 15 miles is a really long paddle!! My GPS couldn’t pick up anything in the canyons of the bayou so I had no idea how far I’d gone. After an hours and 20 minutes I figured I was about half way completed. We were passing under a bridge with a Buffalo Bayou Regatta sign on it that said. “Only 9 more miles to go!” I was crushed! I had been busting my butt, almost drowned and was trying to get over a mild case of hypothermia and I had only gone 6 miles. But that only made me more determined.  I started out the race with a goal of 2 hours figuring I could average 7.5 miles per hour with a current. But at that point I just wanted to finish.  

 

The next 9 miles went by pretty fast (another hour and a half actually). I had quickly learned to maneuver in and around other kayaks and canoes and obstacles and choke points. If you have ever run long distance competitively you know what I mean when I say “Reel ‘em in”. My goal would always be to pass the next guy in front of me by going just a little bit faster than they were. Every stroke got me closer, when I eventually caught them I would aim for the next one. After 2+ hours reeling ‘em in was taking longer and longer.

 

I finished in just under 3 hours thinking all my challenges were over. As I turned the corner to see where we were to get back on shore I was again proved wrong. I could take option 1: stop next to a 3’-4’ bulkhead and be hoisted out of the water along with my kayak by some helpful souls (but I weigh 265 lbs and I knew better).  Or go for option 2, a small beach (3 feet wide) next to some steps leading up the embankment.   I chose option 2.  I got out, got the blood flowing back into my legs and out of my butt and grabbed the rope to pull my kayak up the embankment. Wet boots, slick mud, a steep embankment and not being careful proved too much and down I went, hitting hard and sliding down the embankment into a large piece of concrete that caught me in the ribs. I then had to jump back in the water to keep my kayak from floating away.  A fellow kayaker, feeling sorry for me, helped me up and then pulled my kayak up the embankment. 

 

As I sat on my kayak catching my breath and shivering, (again), I was grateful to have finished and lived. 

Other than the extreme personal satisfaction of having challenged myself and completing the event, I reflected on what else I gained from this experience.

 

But next year I’ll be ready!  Who’s with me?