TOM SIMMAT

Christine; etc

2013-07-01T19:44:00.002-07:00

Back at Muk Tuk. Finally the Germans have flown out. But all good fun.

Canada Day today so nearly everything is shut.

Raining now and strong Southerly wind just what we wanted across Lake Labarge, but that did not happen.

Urs and I pulled up well, poor Steve Mooney still having trouble sitting down.

Big prize ceremony about six hundred people.

If you email Harry Kern, haywire@polarcom.com , he will send a lot more pictures back.

Spoke to Igor at Dawson he has given up photography, now does joinery. He did not look well. no front teeth and very thin. He did not know I was in the race. He sent his regards.

Give my Love to Lissa before she goes.

I fly out day after tomorrow, ie Wednesday the third, in the morning. It is now Monday three in the afternoon.

Love Tom

Awards banquet at Robert Service School

2013-06-30T15:54:00.001-07:00

Sunday, June 30

11 a.m. – 3 p.m. Awards banquet at Robert Service School (NEW LOCATION), 3rd & Queen. Banquet tickets added to racer packets. Extras may be purchased from YRMPA at registration. Catered by Percy De Wolfe Society and Northland Beverages.

Hi Tom and Urs here

2013-06-29T16:00:00.004-07:00

On Arni's lap top in a dining room some where in Dawson.
Good nights sleep, blisters recovered, shoulders sort of recovered, arms sort of recovered, bum sort of recovered, we will try to find Diana's massage chair.
There is a shop in Dawson that sells all sorts of stuff. The idea is the men sit in the massage chair while the women shop.

We knew the double canoes were faster through the water than us, so we tried all sorts of short cuts to catch number 19 ahead and stay ahead of the canoe behind us. Some short cuts payed off others did not. Off course we can only see about 2 kilometres on the river and then they are only dots. We often caught up to the dots only to find out they were big logs.
We did see the second canoe ahead but thought it might have been the first. Once we were on the straight track to the finish they just powered away out of sight.
Great boat, great company, great land crew.
We are stoked we won the double kayak division by some hours, we will give you the margin when we find out.
Thanks for all the face book support, and others, it realy spured us on and made us forget the pain.
Urs and Tom

Tom Simmat and Urs Mader Team "On the Way to Maine" - 3rd Overall - 1st kayak in the 2013 Yukon River Quest

2013-06-28T23:05:00.003-07:00

Urs and Tom have finished 3rd after 2 double canoes.

24 minutes after the first boat

45 hours 26 minutes overall for 715 kilometres

1st boat "Round Side Down"

2nd- "Looking for Forty Creek"

3rd "On the Way to Maine

Canoe team catching up to Tom and Urs

2013-06-28T18:47:00.005-07:00

I was feeling grumpy because Tom and Urs are letting another team catch them just before the finish. They will probably come in 3rd of 67 boats

So I had a look at the team bios - apart from being much years younger than Urs and Tom they have a good pedigrees

http://www.yukonriverquest.com/yrq/app/13yrq/teams.php

In 1st place Team: 19 Round Side Down mens Tandem Canoe

Tim Lynch

Age: 40
Sex: M
From: Faro, YT, Canada

Bio Marathon Canoe Racing
Wilderness Canoe Trips
YRQ 2012

Aims

Dave Lewis

Age: 51
Sex: M
From: Milton, NS, Canada

Bio Marathon Canoe Racing
Wilderness Canoe Trips
YRQ 2012

Aims To experience this amazing event a second time.

In 2nd place Team: 53 Looking For Forty Creek

Gaetan Plourde

Age: 39
Sex: M
From: Perth, ON, Canada

Bio 4.5 x YRQ
Hawkesbury Canoe Classic 2012
Hobart Marathon 2013

Aims Leave nothing on the river.

Reason for Entering Still addicted.

Ian Mockett Age: 40
Sex: M
From: Stittsville, ON, Canada

Bio 2.5 X YRQ'S

Aims STAY CRAZY

Reason for Entering I'M CRAZY

In 3rd place Team: 20 On the Way to Maine mens Tandem Kayak

Tom Simmat
Age: 65
Sex: M
From: Belrose, NSW, Australia

Bio 3 YRQ
1 Yukon 1000
14 HCC 110
6 Murray 400
2 Murray 200

Aims Feed my Yukon addiction

Urs Mader
Age: 60
Sex: M
From: Upper Coomera, NSW, Australia

Bio 10 Hawkesbury River Classics
3 Murray River Marathons

2007 YRQ

4 hours to the finish at Dawson

2013-06-28T16:28:00.000-07:00

Urs and Tom - "Team On the Way to Maine"

http://www.yukonriverquest.com/yrq/app/13yrq/results.php

are 4 hours from the finish in Dawson in 2nd place, 20 minutes behind the leaders - "Round Side Down". There is another double canoe - "Looking for Forty Creek" 7 minutes behind.

Over 700 kilometres of paddling for over 40 hours.

Whitehorsestar.com - Tandem canoe team holds slim lead entering ...

2013-06-28T01:40:00.005-07:00

WHITEHORSE STAR

Sports archive for June 27, 2013

Tandem canoe team holds slim lead entering Carmacks

CARMACKS – Two tandem paddling teams continue to battle stroke-for-stroke in the early going of the Yukon River Quest.
The canoe duo holds a seven-minute advantage over the kayak at Carmacks, the first mandatory layover along the race route.
Menʼs tandem canoe Team 19 ʻRound Side Downʼ pulled into the Coal Mine Campground just before 8 a.m. this morning.
Paddler Tim Lynch of Faro and Dave Lewis of Nova Scotia held their early lead over Australians Tom Simmat and Urs Mader of Team 20ʼs ʻOn the Way to Maineʼ after passing them on the river after Lake Laberge.
Menʼs tandem canoe team No. 32 ʻMen of the Midnight Sunʼ was third, arriving at 8:20 a.m.
“Conditions were good,” Lynch told the Star. “It was a little hot yesterday. It kind of made it a long night after Lake Laberge.”
The Yukoner admitted it will be touch to shake the Aussie duo that remained hot on their heels.
“Theyʼre really good,” he said. “But so far, so good. Weʼd like to make it to Dawson.”
Both he and Lewis also competed in the race last year. Things have changed thus far, however, as last year they spent much of the race following in the wake of the womenʼs voyageur team ʻSkirting Disaster.ʼ
“They knew the river and we followed them,” said Lynch. “Weʼre missing them.”
ʻOn the Way to Maineʼ lead paddler Tom Simmat said they werenʼt able to keep pace with the leaders in the fast water past the lake.
The two had exchanged leads a few times before the canoe team took the lead for good about two hours before reaching Carmacks.
“We expected to be in the first two,” Simmat chuckled.
“We actually really expected the voyageurs to be ahead of us,” admitted Mader. “Theyʼre normally in front of us, so thatʼs a surprise.”
A large contingent of volunteers and fans was on hand to welcome the leaders in, after the campground was awakened at 5:15 a.m. by a group of angry crows.
Whoops and cheers went up from the crowd lining the Yukon River each time a canoe or kayak was spotted on the horizon.
Checkpoint in sight, many paddlers appeared reenergized, paddling strong to the small dock where they were greeted by race volunteers.
Many struggled with sea legs while climbing out of their boats, having spent more than 20 straight hours paddling from Whitehorse.
Inuvik paddler Kendall McDonald, from the third-place team, said he was looking forward to a shower, for starters.
He and teammate Tim Gordon entered Carmacks about an hour faster than their time last year.
Paddlers experienced some good luck while crossing the long, and historically perilous, Lake Laberge.
Smooth waters and sunny skies had racers in good spirits early.
Shouts of “Living the dream!” came from a voyageur canoe paddling past the media boat.
“How far to Dawson?” queried another.
One of the paddlers near the back of the pack even offered $15 for a cold Yukon Gold lager – a request the media boat could not fulfill.
“It was a breeze,” said Mader, who last endured stormy waters on the lake during the 2007 race. “It wasnʼt cold at all. It was calm. Flat as anything.”
Two tourists paddling the lake in a canoe with gear including a guitar and a fishing rod ended up getting some unwanted attention when they ventured across the lake in the midst
Conversations around the checkpoint dealt with the quick tandem canoe and kayak times during the first half of the race.
Typically, the race is led by the eight- or 10-manpower voyageur canoes, but not so this year. The first four teams into Carmacks were tandem teams.
“The whole scope has changed this year,” said longtime race media coordinator Jeff Brady.
“It used to be voyageurs, voyageurs, voyageurs.

Arrived at Carmacks in second position

2013-06-27T15:26:00.003-07:00

Yukon River Quest

First two teams into Carmacks. Round Side Down in at 07:59 followed by On the Way to Maine at 08:06. Paddlers look great.

20 hours of continuous paddling to get to Carmacks, 7 hour stop then off to Kirkman's Creek for a 3 hour stop and then on to the finish in Dawson - 750 kilometres

Five Finger Rapids next

Arriving at Carmacks after 20 hours of continuous paddling

Add caption

Very difficult getting out of the boat, very strong current. Tom ended up in the water in 2007

Tom with Sheila Dodd. She runs the checkpoint at Carmacks. We met her the first time we went to the Yukon

Tom looks like he needs a sleep.
LCRK hat is still looking good.

Urs and Tom leading the Yukon River Quest 2013

2013-06-27T01:50:00.001-07:00

Follow the race on Google Earth

http://www.yukonriverquest.com/yrq/app/13yrq/results.php

The checkpoint at Policeman's Point

The canoe "Round Side Up" having a nice wash-ride down the river behind our boys - passing the Policeman's Point checkpoint

Urs and Tom seems to be paddling very well together

Yukon Quest 2013 - Urs and Tom in first place going into lake Laberge

2013-06-26T15:30:00.000-07:00

http://www.yukonriverquest.com/yrq/app/13yrq/results.php

Yukon River Quest

IT'S RACE DAY!!! - We will start with 62 teams today. Unfortunately, lost a couple teams to some accidents in route and 3 others did not show. Teams are getting their boats to the launch area this morning. Photos coming shortly. Let's all gather down by the river for the noon start!!!

The scrutineers checking safety gear

Where will Tom and Urs stow everything?

I hope they don't need anything

With the ladies as usual, because I'm not there.

The river is high so there is not much beach

Registration Day - tomorrow the race begins

2013-06-25T23:03:00.002-07:00

"Hi Christine,

Very pressed for time this year. Too short to prepare but c'est la vie. Will update FB later tonight. All good, scrutineering done, now at race briefing then packing , sleeping and have to be at checkin at 8.30.

Cheers for now - more later but soon. "

Arni

FROM FACEBOOK

Arni Urs MaderOn the way to Maine...

Scrutineering went smoothly. Just had dinner at Georgio's and now final packing and sorting for the big day tomorrow. The river is very high so only one person per boat allowed to hold it as there is hardly any beach. We have to line up at 8am! Start at 12noon. Weather forecast very hot but probably thunderstorms. The ferry trip up was breathtaking. Tom picked us up at Skagway. Such a gorgeous place. Had dinner there then drive to Whitehorse and saw our first bear hooray. Saw lots of whales, dolphins, seals, sea otters etc on the ferry trip. Just couldn't have been better. Walked the 7 1/2 m kayak on and off - big help that Penny and Evelin were there.

2013 Yukon River Quest Race Schedule

Saturday, June 1

Icebreaker Race: Marsh Lake dam toSchwatka Lake (28 km)
The annual Icebreaker Race will be held on Saturday, June 1. The Icebreaker is a 28 kilometre race from Marsh Lake dam to Schwatka Lake. Register at the Schwatka Lake parking lot beginning at 9 a.m. sharp to allow ample time to have your boat measured by the YRQ practice squad and loaded up for the shuttle. The shuttle leaves the parking lot promptly at 10 a.m. This is a good opportunity for local paddlers and new racers to meet YRQ veterans and get some tips.
Hosted by Yukon Canoe & Kayak Club and Sponsored by Up North Adventures. (SO SORRY, THIS EVENT WAS CANCELLED THIS YEAR, HOPEFULLY WILL HAPPEN NEXT YEAR)
There also are WEEKLY RACES every Thursday leading up to the race at 7 p.m. on Schwatka Lake (May) or Chadburn Lake (June). YRQ veterans will be available to offer tips before each race.

Saturday, June 22

Afternoon – Yukon River training run : Whitehorse-Burma (30 kms.)
Put-in next to Kanoe People at 1st and Strickland. Free shuttle available for registered racers at Burma Road pullout at 1, 3 and 5 p.m. to bring teams and boats back to Whitehorse.
Sponsored by Kanoe People.

Monday, June 24

Afternoon – Yukon River training run : Whitehorse-Takhini (20 kms.)
Put-in next to Kanoe People at 1st and Strickland. Free shuttle available for registered racers at Takhini River pullout at 1 and 4 p.m. to bring teams and boats back to Whitehorse.
Sponsored by Kanoe People.
6-9 p.m. – YRQ Meet & Greet welcoming reception at the MacBride Museum , 1st and Wood. Appetizers available. Free museum access, race DVD presentations.

Tuesday, June 25

11 am -2:30 p.m. – Registration, Boat Measuring and Gear Inspection on lawn behind Yukon Visitor Information Centre, 1st & Hanson. Hosted by Yukon Tourism & Culture with beverages Sponsored by Northland Beverages/Aquafina
3:00-3:45 p.m. – Mandatory pre-race briefing for All Support Crews in Yukon Visitor Information Centre theatre.
4:00-4:45 p.m. – Mandatory pre-race briefing for All Voyageur Teams in Yukon Visitor Information Centre theatre.
5:00-5:45 p.m. – Mandatory pre-race briefing for All Solo and Tandem Teams in Yukon Visitor Information Centre theatre.

Wednesday, June 26

7:30-10:30 a.m. – Positioning of boats & final inspections at Rotary Park.
IMPORTANT –Volunteers will be coordinating vehicle access to avoid congestion.
Voyageurs will be launched and moved to their starting locations on the river beginning
at 7:30 a.m. Then solo and tandem boats will be lined up by groups of numbers every
half hour in their shore launch positions per the schedule below. After boat/gear are in
place and vehicle is moved, then there will be a final inspection.
Voyageurs (by number) 7:30-8:30 am - launch in river, move to starting spot downriver.
Solo and Tandem canoes and kayaks – lined up by number on shore as directed by volunteers:
#1-25 8:30-9 am
#26-50 9-9:30 am
#51-71 9:30-10 am
11:30 a.m. – Welcome and Introduction of Teams – All teams need to be at starting line under YRQ banner in middle of Rotary Park at 11:30 a.m. Pre-start includes brief speeches by Yukon dignitaries and all teams are introduced along with their bib sponsors at the starting line. Hosted by City of Whitehorse Parks Dept.
12 Noon – Start of 2013 Yukon River Quest – Listen for the SS Klondike whistle or race horn.
Teams run from the banner to the Canada Trail and down to the launch area. Each
team may have 1 support person assisting them for the launch. Great views of teams
on river downtown, and at Takhini River, Burma Rd., and Policeman’s Pt. checkpoint.

Thursday, June 27

2:00 a.m. – Teams must be by CP3 Lower Lake Laberge to remain in the race.
6:00 a.m. – Carmacks checkpoint opens at Coal Mine Campground, about 2K past the bridge (for drivers), on the right just before the Campbell Hwy. intersection.

Friday, June 28

6:00 a.m. – Carmacks checkpoint closes. All teams in race must depart by this
time.
12 noon – Dawson City Finish Line checkpoint opens on Yukon River dike between gazebo and historic CIBC bank building. After teams finish, they will be directed to docking area downstream on the right.

Saturday, June 29

Evening – Diamond Tooth Gerties (1 drink ticket for each racer), sponsored by Klondike
Visitors Association, 4th and Queen.
11:59 p.m. (or sooner) – Dawson Checkpoint Closes. Cut-off time for official finish is 11:59 p.m. Checkpoint will shut down at midnight or earlier.

Sunday, June 30

DOWN MEMORY LANE

Yukon River Quest 2007

Lynton, Pete, Steve, Urs, Mark

Liz, Tom, Katrina, Christine, Arni

2 single kayaks Urs and Tom - 1 double kayak Pete and Steve

We all stayed in the B and B in the background in Whitehorse and the landcrew travelled in convoy in 3 cars. Great fun was had by all.

Off to Scagway to collect Arnie and Urs

2013-06-24T18:53:00.002-07:00

"Yesterday, Sunday here, nothing open in town, spent the day sorting out the gear and food for the race. Put target times on the maps. The higher river means a fast race so I shortened the target times a little.

Frank had a full house yesterday with lots of tour groups and a chinese film crew last night.

Very hot now, must be over degrees.

They had a late melt and now this hot weather has accelerated the melt hence the high river levels.

Going to scagway today to pick up the boat and Urs and Arni.

I will try and open internet in town."

Love Tom

Tom is referring to Mike Rourke's river maps and Topographical maps which he bought online from Mac's Fireweed Books in Whitehorse

From 2010 BLOG for the YUKON1000.....

"What is critical racing on a river as fast as this is knowing where you are. Finding the fast water and the shortcuts. Paddle smart and you don't have to paddle hard. There are 110 maps, each map covers 15 to 20 kilometers. About an hours paddling. I am reducing them to A5 size, to make them manageable on my lap, putting them into sets and getting them laminated and bound, At some points in the river the river basin is 10 kilometers across, with 6 or 7 different channels and the best channel up to a kilometer wide.
Taking the wrong channel will find us in very slow water. So I am clearly marking the way through with the fastest channel. Which is not necessarily the widest.

I was able to use my times on the river in the three times I did the Yukon River Quest, at 760 kilometers that is less than half this race, but I have also used as a comparison the times of last years competitors, and in particular for the second half. So to navigate we will use both time distance down the river from known points, as well as way-points, Latitude and longitude. So I know where we should be time wise the whole race. Provided we can maintain those speeds.

One critical time on the river is Lake Laberge. Lake Laberge is only about 2 hrs after the start, it is about 4 kilometers wide and 50 kilometers long. The other end of the lake is well and truly over the horizon and it can get very rough. As an idea this part of the race is equal to about two Twenty Beaches races or about the same length as the Molokai . If the wind is against you as it was for me in 2005 it can take 7 hours. In 2006 it was behind me and I surfed the lake for 4 hours with the GPS often clicking at 18 k/h. So that 3 hours difference may put my ETAs way out."

Tom leaves Muktuk today to stay in town with Arnie and Urs. When he returns from Dawson after the race he will stay at Muktuk again for 2 days.

Christine

This German backpacker took a shine to Tom in 2010.

The main house at Muktuk.

Tom would be sleeping in the upstairs room at the back left, with a view of the river.

Sled dog training wheel for winter.

You can see why Tom and Frank are mates. Frank was until recently a competitor in the 1000 mile Yukon Quest dog race.

from Yukon River Quest Facebook page

13 hours ago

Still having problems getting teams Spots up to speed. Besides the list of people from whom I have yet to receive any messages, there are all those teams from whom I have not received any messages in Whitehorse.
If you move any GPS a long way, it takes it a while to figure out where it is, and the Spots are low power devices and it takes them longer than most. I have seen them take 6 hours to work it out.
Teams MUST set their devices to track and leave them on today and tomorrow. Then put in new batteries for the race.
I want to see those tracks. You will not pass Tuesday's inspection without them.

Yukon River Quest Teams with no Spots registered with the race:
4, 23,25,26,27,49,64
Teams with Spots registered but no data ever received:
35,67
Teams from whom I have not received a track near Whitehorse:...See More
Yukon River Quest If a your boat shows up on the race tracker page in or near Whitehorse, you are good. I will be "talking to" all the non-compliant teams Monday Evening. Oh, and 61 is one of the good guys. The good guys outnumber the not so good guys, but only just.
Leigh Merritt done and done, sorry didn't realize we weren't tracking. Thanks Ryerson Clark for the text!
Ali Morham Peter is there a way to find out if a team has passed for sure? Ie has team 61?

Staying at Muktuk with 3 cooked meals a day

2013-06-23T22:43:00.002-07:00

"Cannot open up emails using www.tomsimmat.com.au/webmail for some reason, any how not from Frank's computor.

Anyhow, hope you got yesterdays email.

I also sent out a spot signal.

Had a paddle yesterday down to Raymond's Landing. All the rivers are very very high. The Tekhini where we put in at Franks last time is about 2 meters higher so you can even get down that track that led to the water.

This means we will have a very fast race.

Did food shopping and I am getting the gear organized.

Things seem expensive in Canadian Tyre. Cheapest tent over $200. 10 times what I paid in Australia.

Mosquitoes are unbelievable, so walks are difficult.

Had Franks pancakes this morning.

I will try and log on to emails in town this afternoon.

Go to Skagway tomorrow to pick up Urs. About a 3 hour drive. I will take my time and take lots of Photos.

Love Tom"

As well as caring for sled dogs. Muktuk has cabins and bed and breakfast accommodation with 3 meals a day included. Ideal place to prepare for the race. Plenty of space and interested helpers with tools.

Arnie had booked accommodation in a hotel in town from 24th June when Urs and Arnie arrive, but Tom is taking the opportunity to stay with Frank at Muktuk until he collects them from Skagway.

There is kayak access to the Tekhini River from Muktuk which flows into the Yukon.

Christine

Working on the Horizon Flyer in 2010 at Muktuk

Steve and Tom entering the Tekhini in 2010 from Muktuk, the river is now 2 metres higher


The cabin Pip and Steve stayed in. Tom and I had a room in the main house

Arrived in Whitehorse

2013-06-22T15:55:00.001-07:00

"Arrived at Muktuk OK last night. Frank very pleased to see me.

Air flights went OK, seats OK food OK.

Sat next to a couple from Cairns. They are doing a guided canoe tour from Whitehorse to Carmacs over days.

Had a run this morning, got eaten alive by mosquitoes.

Going shopping this morning for matches gas etc

Love Tom"

Tom eventually left Sydney on Friday afternoon. Flying all the way to Whitehorse. He is carrying a Spot GPS Messenger again and this is his message from Whitehorse

"TomSimmat
Latitude:60.84151
Longitude:-135.29997
GPS location Date/Time:06/23/2013 02:51:11 EST

Message:Team 20 "On the Way to Maine" Tom Simmat, Urs Mader

Click the link below to see where I am located. http://fms.ws/CauCE/60.84151N/135.29997W

If the above link does not work, try this link: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=60.84151,-135.29997&ll=60.84151,-135.29997&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

TomSimmat

You have received this message because TomSimmat has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Ready for Adventure
FindMeSPOT.com"

No big road trip this time as Arnie and Urs have collected the kayak from the shipping terminal in Vancouver, driven to the Alaska Ferry Terminal at Bellingham and boarded a ferry to take them to Skagway, Alaska, where Tom will collect them on 24th June. A 3 hour drive from Whitehorse.

Skagway, Alaska

A place exists in Alaska where the past lives on, where the cries of “gold in the Yukon” still echo from steep canyon walls, where the sounds of barroom pianos and boomtown crowds ring out in the night. A place where the romance and excitement of yesteryear linger around every street corner, every bend in the trail. That place is Skagway!

http://www.miningswindles.com/html/klondike_gold_rush.html

http://skagway.com/jigsaw-puzzle/

Tom is staying at Muktuk again to prepare for the race

The Story of Muktuk

Mutkuk is an Inuktitut word meaning whale blubber.
Frank Turner named his dog kennel Muktuk because his friend Victor Kisoun of Inuvik brought him muktuk to feed his very first group of dogs. As with the whale hunt, where the work must be shared, so is the harvest where nothing is wasted.
Muktuk is the outer layer of fat found in Beluga and Bowhead whales which are hunted along the Arctic shores of Alaska, Yukon Territory, and Northwest Territories. This part of the whale has the texture of egg whites with a nutty flavor that dogs love.
Mutkuk was traditionally set aside to feed Inuvik sled dogs as a highly nutritious treat for these hard-working and vital servants who provided the primary means of transport to their first keepers.

Tom back to the Yukon for the 5th time - Yukon River Quest 2013

2013-06-20T16:24:00.001-07:00

DISASTER STRUCK!
Training was going really well. After the Murray on Christmas, they ordered their custom-made double kayak from Ron Elliott who worked hard to make fast as well as Yukon compliant. Urs had flown down to Sydney twice for him and Bruce to train together. Then both trained really hard individually with lots of cross training. After the great workout that is the Nationals, Urs went for a 4 hr kayak paddle yesterday and was feeling great. Bruce, of course, was no slouch either in his fitness training, taking part in the North Face 100 race in the Blue Mountains last weekend. Well, running on tracks in the Blue Mountains has its challenges, Bruce slipped and fell - disaster struck - and now he has 2 broken ribs and it's good bye Yukon River Quest! I went to outrigging last night and when I came home, Urs was totally deflated in bed with a bottle of red albeit still quite full so I helped share it. Brucie feels terrible, in more ways then one, but there is nothing that can be done. In kayaking, it's 'rotation, rotation, rotation' and I can't calculate how many rotations that would be for 720km! In the meantime, that beautful kayak is on the high seas to Vancouver! As it's 7 1/2metres long, it had to go in a 48' container - apparently, it's sitting on top of palletts of Australian wine being exported to Canada. Hope its having a good trip.

.........Arnie Mader

TOM TO THE RESCUE!
Great news - the YRQ is back on track. After the heartache of the last few days, it's back to aching muscles as training is back on. Tom Simmat is available and fit (very fit actually), and he is in! Brucie, despite his own disappointment and pain, has been very generous in helping to make it possible for the race to continue. Tom and Urs have never paddled in a double together and - come to think of it - I have never seen Tom paddle a double kayak before in all the years I have known him but I guess they have 720km to sort it out!

.........Arnie Mader

Who to Watch on the River -15th annual YRQ dates: June 26-30, 2013

The 2013 YRQ will have stiff competition in many categories. This is a year where any number of different craft could emerge as the overall winner, but here’s a breakdown by class:

Solo canoe (C1): 3 teams – Fan favorite Hiromune Imai returns for the fourth straight year in a different craft. So far he has finished in solo and tandem kayak and voyageur, and the Ecochallenge Japan veteran now will go solo canoe along with seasoned Yukon adventure paddlers Gienieczko Marcin of Poland and Jeff Brainard of Toronto.
Solo kayak (K1): 12 men, 1 woman – The favorite has to be past solo and tandem champion Stephen Mooney of Whitehorse, who wants to give it another shot for his 50th birthday after a few years off. He could see a challenge from Australian racer Anthony Cape and race veterans Heinz Rodinger of Austria and Joe Evans of Oregon, who will trade his canoe for a kayak this time around. Unfortunately only one woman signed up this year, “Super Maryo” Mary Obstfeld of Alberta.
Tandem canoe (C2): 14 men’s teams, 3 women’s, 13 mixed – The largest class in the race harks back to the race’s origins when just tandem canoes were allowed, and this year’s field should be highly competitive. The Faro, YT/Nova Scotia combination of Tim Lynch and Dave Lewis gave a run at the record last year and missed it by eight minutes. They are sure to be chased by past C1 standouts Gaetan Plourde and Ian Mockett of Ontario, and last year’s mixed champ Terry Wescott with fellow racer Chip Loring of Maine. In women’s canoe, the Alberta team of Joanne Arthurs and Andrea deJong have the only YRQ experience, and will see challenges from “Bear(ly) Scared” of Great Britain and “Team Sisu” from Teslin, Yukon . In mixed canoe, several veteran teams should be in the hunt. Back for year 15 is Larry Seethaler with partner Brenda Forsythe of Anchorage, Alaska. Jim and Pam Boyde of Whitehorse, and Pauline Frost-Hanberg of the Yukon and Dennis Fosseneuve of Ontario have placed in prior races as well.
Tandem kayak (K2): 8 men’s teams, 1 mixed – The K2 class features the Australian dream team of Tom Simmat and Urs Mader, who have each placed as high as second in the K1 class in the past. They should be a formidable team and could challenge for top spot. Also watch out for a pair of teams from Great Britain who are paddling for the Afghanistan Trust that helps British paratroopers recovering from injuries. The lone mixed team is “Pass the Wine Gums” from Whitehorse, and there are no women’s K2 teams this year.
Voyageur canoe (VC): 4 in the open class; 5 women’s, and 3 mixed teams. The fundraising goes large in the big boats with three teams from Great Britain raising money for “Help for Heroes,” a charity that aids veterans of current UK conflicts in the world. Close to a quarter million dollars was raised last year! They will be challenged by Team Sunrise from Japan. The women’s class will feature some strong Yukon teams – perennial favorites “Paddlers Abreast” and “Team Whoa” along with “300 Years of Wisdom,” “Currently Available” and the “Modern Dwellers” from Alaska. In the mixed division, it appears New York paddler Kerry Newell has assembled a crew of racers called “Passing Through” which may charge to the front of the pack. They could be challenged by “Outward Bound Canada” which had a good race last year in the women’s division. And they both better watch out for “Your Worst Nightmare Dream Team” of USA paddlers from Washington, Texas and Hawaii.

http://www.yukonriverquest.com/

Arni and Urs Mader - ON THE WAY TO MAINE

"Halleluja - the kayak arrived in one piece and on time. We are on the way from Vancouver to the Alaska Ferry Terminal at Bellingham."

Urs and Arni unpacking the kayak before loading it onto the Alaskan Ferry to travel to Skagway where Tom will collect them to take them to Whitehorse for the start of the race.

.........Arnie Mader

Tom arrived at the airport yesterday 20th to fly out of Sydney to Whitehorse. Flight cancelled. No prior message. At the desk United Airlines staff said mechancial failure in Sydney. The security staff told me the plane didnt leave America.

Next flight they could give Tom was 22nd. No good. Managed to get a flight today 21st after 4 1/2 hours of standing at the United desk and a $56 parking fee. Back home. Did I mention we had our 3 year old grandson with us. He was so good waiting for 4 1/2 hours.

Travel insurance will cover the difference if you can buy another flight to meet a deadline, like wedding, funeral or kayak race. You have to buy the ticket after negotiations fail with airline and then you will hopefully get a refund.

Christine Simmat

Tom back to the Yukon for the 5th time - Yukon River quest 2013

2013-06-20T16:24:00.000-07:00

DISASTER STRUCK!
Training was going really well. After the Murray on Christmas, they ordered their custom-made double kayak from Ron Elliott who worked hard to make fast as well as Yukon compliant. Urs had flown down to Sydney twice for him and Bruce to train together. Then both trained really hard individually with lots of cross training. After the great workout that is the Nationals, Urs went for a 4 hr kayak paddle yesterday and was feeling great. Bruce, of course, was no slouch either in his fitness training, taking part in the North Face 100 race in the Blue Mountains last weekend. Well, running on tracks in the Blue Mountains has its challenges, Bruce slipped and fell - disaster struck - and now he has 2 broken ribs and it's good bye Yukon River Quest! I went to outrigging last night and when I came home, Urs was totally deflated in bed with a bottle of red albeit still quite full so I helped share it. Brucie feels terrible, in more ways then one, but there is nothing that can be done. In kayaking, it's 'rotation, rotation, rotation' and I can't calculate how many rotations that would be for 720km! In the meantime, that beautful kayak is on the high seas to Vancouver! As it's 7 1/2metres long, it had to go in a 48' container - apparently, it's sitting on top of palletts of Australian wine being exported to Canada. Hope its having a good trip.

.........Arnie Mader

TOM TO THE RESCUE!
Great news - the YRQ is back on track. After the heartache of the last few days, it's back to aching muscles as training is back on. Tom Simmat is available and fit (very fit actually), and he is in! Brucie, despite his own disappointment and pain, has been very generous in helping to make it possible for the race to continue. Tom and Urs have never paddled in a double together and - come to think of it - I have never seen Tom paddle a double kayak before in all the years I have known him but I guess they have 720km to sort it out!

.........Arnie Mader

Who to Watch on the River -15th annual YRQ dates: June 26-30, 2013

The 2013 YRQ will have stiff competition in many categories. This is a year where any number of different craft could emerge as the overall winner, but here’s a breakdown by class:

Solo canoe (C1): 3 teams – Fan favorite Hiromune Imai returns for the fourth straight year in a different craft. So far he has finished in solo and tandem kayak and voyageur, and the Ecochallenge Japan veteran now will go solo canoe along with seasoned Yukon adventure paddlers Gienieczko Marcin of Poland and Jeff Brainard of Toronto.
Solo kayak (K1): 12 men, 1 woman – The favorite has to be past solo and tandem champion Stephen Mooney of Whitehorse, who wants to give it another shot for his 50th birthday after a few years off. He could see a challenge from Australian racer Anthony Cape and race veterans Heinz Rodinger of Austria and Joe Evans of Oregon, who will trade his canoe for a kayak this time around. Unfortunately only one woman signed up this year, “Super Maryo” Mary Obstfeld of Alberta.
Tandem canoe (C2): 14 men’s teams, 3 women’s, 13 mixed – The largest class in the race harks back to the race’s origins when just tandem canoes were allowed, and this year’s field should be highly competitive. The Faro, YT/Nova Scotia combination of Tim Lynch and Dave Lewis gave a run at the record last year and missed it by eight minutes. They are sure to be chased by past C1 standouts Gaetan Plourde and Ian Mockett of Ontario, and last year’s mixed champ Terry Wescott with fellow racer Chip Loring of Maine. In women’s canoe, the Alberta team of Joanne Arthurs and Andrea deJong have the only YRQ experience, and will see challenges from “Bear(ly) Scared” of Great Britain and “Team Sisu” from Teslin, Yukon . In mixed canoe, several veteran teams should be in the hunt. Back for year 15 is Larry Seethaler with partner Brenda Forsythe of Anchorage, Alaska. Jim and Pam Boyde of Whitehorse, and Pauline Frost-Hanberg of the Yukon and Dennis Fosseneuve of Ontario have placed in prior races as well.
Tandem kayak (K2): 8 men’s teams, 1 mixed – The K2 class features the Australian dream team of Tom Simmat and Urs Mader, who have each placed as high as second in the K1 class in the past. They should be a formidable team and could challenge for top spot. Also watch out for a pair of teams from Great Britain who are paddling for the Afghanistan Trust that helps British paratroopers recovering from injuries. The lone mixed team is “Pass the Wine Gums” from Whitehorse, and there are no women’s K2 teams this year.
Voyageur canoe (VC): 4 in the open class; 5 women’s, and 3 mixed teams. The fundraising goes large in the big boats with three teams from Great Britain raising money for “Help for Heroes,” a charity that aids veterans of current UK conflicts in the world. Close to a quarter million dollars was raised last year! They will be challenged by Team Sunrise from Japan. The women’s class will feature some strong Yukon teams – perennial favorites “Paddlers Abreast” and “Team Whoa” along with “300 Years of Wisdom,” “Currently Available” and the “Modern Dwellers” from Alaska. In the mixed division, it appears New York paddler Kerry Newell has assembled a crew of racers called “Passing Through” which may charge to the front of the pack. They could be challenged by “Outward Bound Canada” which had a good race last year in the women’s division. And they both better watch out for “Your Worst Nightmare Dream Team” of USA paddlers from Washington, Texas and Hawaii.

http://www.yukonriverquest.com/

Arni and Urs Mader - ON THE WAY TO MAINE

"Halleluja - the kayak arrived in one piece and on time. We are on the way from Vancouver to the Alaska Ferry Terminal at Bellingham."

Urs and Arni unpacking the kayak before loading it onto the Alaskan Ferry to travel to Skagway where Tom will collect them to take them to Whitehorse for the start of the race.

.........Arnie Mader

Tom arrived at the airport yesterday 20th to fly out of Sydney to Whitehorse. Flight cancelled. No prior message. At the desk United Airlines staff said mechancial failure in Sydney. The security staff told me the plane didnt leave America.

Next flight they could give Tom was 22nd. No good. Managed to get a flight today 21st after 4 1/2 hours of standing at the United desk and a $56 parking fee. Back home. Did I mention we had our 3 year old grandson with us. He was so good waiting for 4 1/2 hours.

Travel insurance will cover the difference if you can buy another flight to meet a deadline, like wedding, funeral or kayak race. You have to buy the ticket after negotiations fail with airline and then you will hopefully get a refund.

Christine Simmat

THANKYOU!!!!!

2010-08-13T03:25:00.000-07:00

Thank you extraordinary Steve, desert runner, Bass Straight crosser, Yukon conquerer, cougar fighter, finder of cabins, super organized, laughter at my jokes, boiler of billies and lighter of fires on windswept gravel banks.

I could not have asked for a better Yukon solo buddy.

Thankyou Pip for lending me Steve and providing so much organization.

Thank you Lynton for for giving Pip to Steve and the great stability and sound advice you offered the team.

And they waited, and they waited and they waited and they waited and they waited, to make sure they were there when we arrived

Thank you Kobi and Fiona for finding the missing spoon and keeping Christine happy and enthused.

and a special thank-you to the very best land crew Christine , now four time Yukon land-crew and countless Murray Marathons and Hawkesbury Canoe Classics. And the very best keeper of blogs.

and thank you Daen and Carina who kept the Australian side of the blog going.

and thank you Kristal and Amanda who at The Pilates Room kept my body together, and Dean and Yanda for their advice and training, and Lane Cove River Kayakers for their support and the Sunday morning guys at Manly Warringah and all those people who followed the blog who we knew were behind every one of the two million paddle strokes we each had to make to complete this crazy race.

And the mad Scotsman, Peter Coates for his extraudinary forsight in organizing such an event that can only grow and grow and grow.

Tom

Sorting Out Recovery

2010-08-09T04:26:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not adding to the blog recently but, back at work trying to catch up and earn some money. What I need is a patron, so I can gallivant round the world and do this sort of stuff. Work does interfere with paddling. Leonardo De Vince had a patron so he could just sit around and draw stuff in a sketch book and invent stuff and dissect dead bodies and pull their bladders out and write backwards. Not that I am comparing myself to De Vince;
Yet.
I read somewhere that De Vince advised on diet for his kings troops in battle. Sort of an early sports medicine guru.

Christine and I have been going through and sorting out the stuff, and putting it all way for next time. I did drag out my own bladders and sterilize.

I even managed to fit in a few paddles including a race down at Manly Warringah Kayak Club on Narrabeen Lake. I ran out of puff after about 5 kilometers, but did finish.
I am about 2 kilos lighter than when I left but was unable to weigh myself over there. I have been making a bit of a pig of myself, on American apple and blueberry pie, and with no training I have probably put on a couple of Kilos since the end of the race.
Also feeling a bit tired in the afternoon. That may be Jet lag or maybe some sports medico guru will say I am depleated in hemogugu's or something like that.

Did I mention before my back was itchy. When we stayed at the 40 mile cabin. That was the one with the meat safe, gun rack and the Auson Wells writing table.

I hung up all my Skins and thermals to dry inside next to the fire. I needed to go outside with Steve's camera to take the photographs you have seen on the blog. I did not think it was worth putting my skins and thermals back on, so I raced around outside, just in my Crocs and budgee smugglers, through the swarms of mosquitoes. I thought if I kept moving I could stay ahead of them. So all was probably well until I thought, while I was out there, I might as well have a pee.
At that point the mozzies did catch up and I have had an itchy back up till yesterday.
Chritine recons it was not mozzie bites but some dreadful rash from wearing sweaty tops all day or from lack of nutrients, bit like scurvy, or how the oranges on the orange tree get spots when you don't give the tree enough fertilizer.
So some sports health guru type will probably have a theory about that also.

On the way home I made the mistake of reading a book by Nick Jans about Timothy Treadwell. He was the guy who lived with bears in Alaska for 13 straight seasons and was finally with his girl friend killed and eaten by one of them. The book pointed out some basic dos and dont's about preventing being eaten by a bear and it would appear, in hind sight, that racing around in the woods in just Crocs and budgee smugglers was not a good idea.

Post Race Stuff

2010-08-03T11:17:00.000-07:00

We have flown over night out of Anchorage down to LA. We did a very dosey Parramatta Road style bus tour of LA, which explained were every body important used to live and where everything important used to happen, including where Bay Watch used to be filmed. The surf was not up but you could get a shower holding your board so you at least looked wet.
Also saw where every body used to stand on wet cement and had their names put next to their hand prints. Guys like Russel Crowe in frnt of the Chinese Theartre which did not look very Chinese.
Any how then we drove to Palm Springs. This is a nice place and nice and hot. This is also a place where every body used to holiday and generaly get rehab and the odd bit of plastic surgery before their next shoot. Even Shrep came here for rehab and surgery.
I have now to repack my bags to international flight standards, with some mythical weight limit that no one understands but the lady weighing you in.
I am a lot lighter than when I flew from Australia so I wonder if I get any bonus points for that.
Re packing the bags I go through the gear I did not need to bring.
Steve was much better organised than me but there was not much on the boat I did not use.
What I did take was lots and lots of saline solution as eye wash. In the past I found if I got Yukon water in my eyes soon after the White River entered, the high ash content hurt like hell and I could only get releafe with the eye wash. This time I had a similar problem with stinging eyes, but when I wiped them with a cloth I had in the cockpit to clean my glasses, the cloth was covered in tiny black flies. This was a continual problem. I had to wipe my eyes every couple of hours when paddling. But I never used any of the saline solution.
I had no chafe problems so did not use any of the first aid stuff, but that could have been a different story. I could have done with a better tent, but the half height therma rest was a must as was the minus 15 sleeping bag.
There was a 2 litre bottle of emergency water stuck in the bow that I could not get. I should have tied a bit of string to it. I took about a kilo of lollies for a sugar hit, but only had a few. A fe more pockets to keep stuff in it place in the cockpit may have helped other wise I used every thing.
Need now to drive back to LA and then back to Sydney. We have had no end of trouble getting internet access i Palm Springs. My next blog will be from Sydney.
Tom

Anchorage Airport

2010-07-31T23:25:00.000-07:00

I am sitting at Anchorage airport waitIng for our flight to LA, watching huge cargo air craft, taking off and landing and wondering why we can no longer air freight kayaks into Alaska. Most of these aircraft are Air China or Singapore Airlines, or Korean Air many are unmarked, just big and white. Japan Airlines air freighted my kayak before and I have not seen one of those yet.

Looking down at my fingers typing, the backs of my hands and fingers are peeling having been badly sun burnt. I did not wear gloves in the race, just covered my hands in a thick coating of Vaseline each morning. This kept my hands dry. I got a small blister on my little fingers on the first day. I bit them and let the fluid run out, I adjusted my grip and had no further problems. I was also able to adjust my stroke to more vertical and keep a check on the release so water was not left on the blade and drip down the paddle shaft.

I tried also to keep a nice light grip on the paddle, except of course when we had drama times like emergency paddling around a gravel bank or island.

So apart from a bit of sunburn on the backs of my hands and the two small blisters that literally went away I had no problems with my hands

Steve had big problems. He was paddling a much heavier boat to start with, and carried a lot more heavier food than I did. His instant tent was great, he was set up a ready for bed, while I was still fluffing around with logs to tie mine down but his tent was a full kilo heavier. That all added up to a much tougher paddle for Steve.

We talked about swapping boats a couple of times, but were worried about the seating change. Steve had a simple blow up pad. I had worked on my seat for months and fashioned the foam for the right angle and shape. I trained in my Horizon Tourer with this seat. It is the same boat essentially as the Flyer so I was able to bring it with me and It is repacked in my bag to take home. Neither of us had any trouble with our seats.

Anyhow Steve’s hands blistered up badly. He wore gloves which held together the bandaging he did each night. The last couple of days he must have been in a lot of pain, but in true Steve spirit he battled on.

DEBRIEF 4 Funny Stuff and Land crew

2010-07-30T22:23:00.000-07:00

Sleep deprivation does funny things to your mind.
I was putting in the hard yards, pounding along keeping an eye on Steve off to my right wing. As usual it was raining but the clouds were beginning to lift. There were sort of horizontal bands of cloud. Although I was probably half a kilometer from the shore a plank of wood appeared in front of me low over the water, I had to immediately duck in order not to hit my head, much to Steve's amusement.

We were coming up to a wide bend in the river, the sky was an absolutely featureless grey, in front of me way off in the distance, virtually from horizon to horizon, was a band of pine trees. The bottom of the band of trees was a perfectly straight horizontal line. The top, being the tops of the pine trees, was a bit like a painter had done a very bad job painting the line around a huge white ocean liner. So convinced was I that it was an ocean liner one of the many cruise ships that does the Alaska coast route, that I stopped paddling and desperately started back paddling in order not to run into this ocean going monster working its way up the Yukon.

The first three nights we changed our GPS batteries when we stopped. I could not find where my spare batteries were stowed so we decided to change them on the water when the batteries went dead and hope what we had would last.

So all GPS battery changing was done on the run in the middle of the river, often in quite quick flowing water.

With his sore hands Steve was having trouble opening his day hatch which was just behind him in the deck on the RHS. I got the battery container out for him. He had his new batteries neatly stowed in packs of three with tape around them. He got two out and asked me to hold them while he took the old batteries out of the GPS.
I remember wondering what percentage of the total volume of the Yukon river two triple A batteries would make up and if it would increase the river flow if I dropped them in the water. In order to find out I simply dropped them in the water next to my Kayak and watched them instantly dissapeared into the muddy water. "What the F... you do that for?" was Steve's reaction. I began to explain that I was doing an experiment on increasing the river flow, when I realized it did not make sense, and got his new battery container again out of his day hatch.

We did not find staying awake when we were paddling was a problem, but as soon as we rested our paddles, we often immediately dozed off, which put us in danger of capsizing the kayaks and we woke again shaking and splashing about before either of us actually fell in.

I did eventually find my supply of spare batteries and kept a few spare in a net under the deck between my legs.

In order to change my GPS batteries I needed to undo the battery clip with one of the blades in my Swiss Army knife. My fingernails were simply not strong enough.
I kept the knife zipped in one of the pockets in the front of my PDF. (life vest)
I had the GPS off the deck and on my lap and started to get the knife out of the pocket. With a little difficulty I got the knife out, and then completely forgot what I was getting it out for, so I zipped it back in my PDF and went back to paddling. I soon noticed the GPS was missing off the deck and on my lap. I could not work out how it got there so I hooked it back in its position on the deck. The next time I went to look at what speed we were doing I noticed my GPS was dead, took it off the deck and put it on my lap and started getting out the Swiss Army Knife. I got the knife out opened up the GPS and saw it had batteries in it, closed it again and re set it up on the deck. Off course the GPS was dead, and I started all over again.
Who knows how long it took me to get my mind in the state where I could do a simple task like change the batteries in my GPS. In the mean time Steve had paddled over the horizon, and when I eventually caught him I had difficulty explaining what had kept me.

Tom

Tomorrow thoughts on diet comparisons between Steve and I.

What are the Landcrew doing after their massive journey following the race 3300km???

Lynton is traveling to Purdoe Bay at the end of the Dalton Highway, flying across to Barrow and then to the UK to visit with his newly engaged daughter.

Kobi and Fiona visited Seward with Christine and Tom then took a train to Anchorage, a plane to Vancouver and then to Victoria Island and afterwards maybe a visit with relatives in Canada.

A pile of driftwood near the coal loader at Seward. The big rivers dump thousands and thousands of tons of driftwood into the sea each year.
The Eskimos that live way above the Arctic Circle, and hundreds of miles from any growing trees are expert timber workers, constructing house and whaling boat and of course kayak framing out of timber. They have names for the different species. Most of their wood supply is delivered into the Baring Sea and Arctic ocean by the mighty Yukon River, most of which Steve and I had to dodge on the way down.

Christine and Tom are spending 3 days in Seward recovering, watching the cruise ships, watching the fish being cleaned visiting the Aquarium and walking to the Exit Glacier.Tomorrow flying out of Anchorage to Los Angeles, a day bus trip around Los Angeles and then 2 days in Palm Springs before flying home.

Debreif 3 Some Scary Stuff

2010-07-29T23:14:00.000-07:00

The Yukon is a very mobile river, particularly through the area of the Yukon Flats. Each year, particularly when the ice breaks up the River banks are eroded significantly and the river changes shape.
As we passed through with the river level so low, the river banks were 4 or 5 meters high. Great looking garden top soil. On the outside of the bends where the current was fastest, often the river bank was badly under cut. Curled over on top of us like riding a surf wave tube. Several times as we passed by a whole section of the undercut bank would collapse with a great crash into the water, including the trees standing on top. As the trees wipped over they could reach 20 meters out into the river.
Some trees would immediately twist their way free of the bank and carry on downstream in the current only to later be stranded on a gravel bar. Other trees would still have their roots attached to the bank. These trees would hang on desperately to the bank, majestically out in the flow. We could hear these trees from some distance as the water roared passed the branches. This gave us a bit of warning. Debris, from other fallen trees, eventually got caught up in their branches and the trees, still with roots hanging onto the bank, swung against the bank. There they sat silently until the debris washed off their branches and with a great roar and rush swung back out vertical to the bank.
Survival rule No. 1 Dont be tempted too often into the fast water too near the bank

There were no river maps in the Yukon Flats area, The topographical maps were so out of date, "they may well of been of the Mississippi". As said the race director, so we relied on relatively new Google Earth images.
The river is so full of volcanic ash and silt that you cannot ascertain its depth by its color.
Shallow water we could ascertain by boat speed on the GPS, or stranded debris and tree trunks, but on several occasions when more than half a kilometer from the bank on either side we hit gravel and mud banks. There was no indication it was shallow, just the same creamy flowing water. Not until we were stuck and stopped did we become fully aware of how fast the river was running. Some times we simply got out and dragged the kayak to deeper water, but often the river bed was too soft to stand on and you feet sink deep into the mud and you were at risk of getting stuck falling over and letting go of your boat. With a half mile wade / swim to the shore.

Before the flats the river gauged its way passed rocky bluffs, where the ice break up showed great scraping around the water line. May be it was the rain we had, or the hotter sun, but a couple of times when we went passed these cliffs, high above, a piece the size of a house broke off and crashed into the water beside us, sending out waves that followed us down the river for some time.

If we were not 100% alert, often we got caught just on the wrong side of an island or gravel bank, this required us to paddle desperately against the current, often bottoming out as we went against the current around the top. On one occasion after a desperate effort, I backed off a bit early and was crashed broadside into very sharp tree stump. Had the boat been holed or had I been tipped in I would have been in all sorts of trouble.

The river is full of bits of trees and logs. The moose we spotted and the cougar looked just like logs in the water. Even male moose with their antlers would look like a log with tree roots. This is their camouflage. There are no predators for moose in the water, no sharks or crocodiles. They are probably most venerable between the edge of the water and the trees on the side, where bear may be waiting In fact moose we understand are very dangerous. If approached in the water they will stand on their hind legs and strike at you with their front. All three plus ton. The moose we did see we consciously paddled away from. How many did we not see. The cougar I had to avoid by doing at least twenty desperate back strokes, or I would have run into it. It made no attempt to change direction to get away from me. It just kept swimming in the same direction while looking at me. That cougar had completed at least a kilometer crossing of the channel onto an island. It could similarly find us sleeping on an island, often much less than that from the mainland.or had we come across moose or the cougar in a more compromising position in the river when we could not stop, or the current would not let us steer around them it may have been a different story.

I would often power ahead and while Steve was catching up stop paddling, eat something, do a pee, change the batteries in the GPS etc. It was amazing if he passed me too soon, how quickly he disappeared and what an effort it was to catch him again.
Similarly Steve, soon after we left Dawson, had to stop to desperately do a No. 2.
At this point the current was running exceptional fast, I noticed he was not behind me and backed off a bit, turning every now and then to see if I could see him. It was raining. I was just about to reach for the 2 way radio (range line of site 3 kilometers)when I saw him. Apparently in his urgency to get out of the boat, he fell out and capsized. All be it on the bank, his boat did fill with water. It would have taken who knows how long to paddle back up stream in that current to find him, had he not recovered by himself.

Tomorrow some funny stuff.
Tom

Debrief 2

2010-07-28T23:10:00.000-07:00

When the Australian Double canoe passed us Steve was a different man. Off he went after them and I had a real battle holding on to him. These racing canoes we were up against are 8 meters long, kevlar and weigh less 15 kilos, and very fast. The problem is that because of the huge amount of available space, they are tempted to fill them up with all sorts of unnecessary gear,

Up wind they are a lot of windage, added to the paddlers sitting in a vertical position.
We headed straight into a head wind, that knocked them around and we soon over took them and powered away, with Steve leading the charge.
Getting into Dawson we were able to get a sort of update from our trusty land crew.
We powered on to Eagle, in an attempt to reach there before the 11.15 pm cut out. We also wanted the time to get through customs included in our compullsary 6 hour lay off.
Approaching Eagle again it was bucketing down, freezing rain in our face. Extra incentive was to again find a cabin, or even the B and B the land crew were booked into. The heavy rain had washed out the road into Eagle and we sort of hoped it had been repaired so the crew could meet us.

I again powered ahead, to look for customs, and in the dim light on the shore to my left, there appeared flashing lights. I swung around the ferry pontoons and the customs officer was waiting on the shore just above the mud line. I nudged the shore dug out my passport, swung my legs over the side into the deep mud and promptly fell flat on my face, passport and all.
The Customs Officer said the secret to walking on the mud was to keep taking lots of little steps, "a bit like a duck."
Steve came round the corner and we were able to both press our spot devices just inside the 11.15 time limit.
There was some confusion about the time as the US was one hour behind Canada.
It was still bucketing down and we finished the customs formality and paddled the short distance down past Eagle to the B and B.

The land crew were not there so the road must have been still closed. The river was now very low and we struggled up a steel ladder passed a steel 4 meter high retaining wall.
We did see the customs flash his lights again and wondered if the canoe behind us was in.
The B and B was open, so we helped ourselves to showers, dry beds and attempted to dry some gear.
Rain, rain, rain all night, and it was not a pleasant thought getting back into the kayaks in the morning in the dim light and cold rain.
Survival mode again I thought, We put in a very big day the day before so let us just battle on. Every one is in the same situation, but the rest of them did not sleep in beds.
So off we went again after re-strapping Steves back, into a very miserable morning.
The rain did eventually clear a little and we inquired on the river as we passed cruising paddlers if any other canoes had passed that day. "You are the first we have seen" was the consistent reply.

We passed Circle and again attempted to contact the land crew on the 2 way but no response. They had not been able to get to Circle and in any event the faster water was a good 4 kilometers away down a channel on the other side of the river.

We were now in bear country and required to comply with the local camping regulations which involved camping 100 meters from your food which had to be strung 3 meters off the ground and 3 meters from the trunk of any tree.

Tactically we thought we might again stop early that night and see if the canoe behind passed.
Again we sighted a cabin on the map, and set about running down close to the bank to find it or at least the path that lead to it.

And what a great cabin it was. Fully set up with the basics by the National Park, including a meat safe,
fire, outside dunny and fifty million mosquitoes to keep us company.

meat safe

The view opening to the river was limited, but while we lit the fire cooked dinner and hung out our cloths we took it in turns to watch the river to catch that passing canoe. We saw nothing, but may have missed it.
The cabin was like something out of Ernest Hemmingway.

We slept up in the loft, cooking by the heat of the rising fire.

We left more or less on time the next morning, but noticed the river had risen a lot. Fortunately we had tied our kayaks to the bank.

A day of hard slog through this complex part of the river, we relied on way points we had pre set into the GPS at critical turning points. The river basin was up tp 10 kilometers wide with several channels the fastest up to a meter wide.
Every turn we stared ahead and behind to see if we could see a canoe, with many false alarms
With the river higher we thought there might be some hope of finishing without the extra night on the river, but the river again slowed.

Steve was beginning to get really buggered. We were off the river maps and into the google maps. These maps did not indicate cabins etc, It was impossible to know if the cabins we passed were private or public, so the next two nights would be camping,

Camped again early that night on a gravel bank. Steve lit a big fire out of drift wood. My tent pegs would not hold in the gravel, so I had to tie my stays to stumps off the bank.
In putting up my tent I broke a tent pole, I fixed it by shortening it, but it broke again in the night.
Again it was windy and rainy in the night, I did not get too wet, but my tent in the morning was soaked and we were both beginning to run out of even half dry stuff.
Although it was wet once we got going in the morning, I was quite warm.

The river is full of millions of tons of debris. Trees logs etc. Half way through the next day I was paddling up to what appeared to be a log, and I had to back paddle desperately fast to avoid hitting a cougar swimming from one side of the channel to another. Stunned we both watched it swim to the shore, climb out and dive into the bush. It was some big cat.

Based on last years winning team I was able to count back from the finish, the hours to the finish and mark them on the map.

With about six hours to paddle to the finish, we camped again on a gravel island.

moose

We got away on time, but the six hours did not take into account poor Steve's condition, the slow river and the strong head winds.

If Steve could not paddle any further I was going to tow him home. About an hour after we got going I gaffer taped his right hand to the paddle. He felt much better as it took the weight off his fingers.

A couple of hours before we finished I re did the gaffer tape. Despite the very strong head winds and Steve in obvious extreme pain to Steve's credit he managed to finish all 1600 kilometers under his own steam.

Debrief Part 1

2010-07-28T01:15:00.000-07:00

We were first into Lake Leberge. The lake was like a mirror, just a hard 50 kilometer slog. Just before we reached the end, the voyager and one of the double canoes over took us.
Soon after we reached the faster water we passed the canoe and just before the first night stop, we managed to pull back and pass the voyager.
We had practiced our over night stop and had eaten a hot dinner and in out tents by 11.45, and only a few minutes late out on the water in the morning.
Passing through Carmacks, we were disapointed with our time compared with previous River Quest times, but the land crew estimated we had opened up our lead to over an hour.
Five finger Rapids was very tame, as a result of the low river levels which also accounted for our slow times.
That afternoon it rained, and we spotted a cabin come camp site on the map. This would save us the time involved in putting up the tents. Steve was feeling a bit crook so I powered ahead of him to look for the site. Steve caught up while I was looking and found the site occupied by an English group on a guided canoe trip, Carmacks to Dawson over 7 days. The cabin they were not using.
It was only just standing, the floor had collapsed as had some of the roof and there was a mouse in residence. But there were 4 slatted bunks and it was out of the rain.
Steve was looking very tired and saw, I felt a sick myself and I realized the first priority was to finish this race and not to push too hard. it rained all night so I thought we should go into a survival mode and rest in a bit in the morning. As a consequence we left over an hour late.

We new we could not get water from the river once the badly silted White River entered the Yukon, so at Kirkmans Creak we filled our bladders for the last time out of the Yukon. In doing so we spotted two moose crossing the river. While watching them we became trapped behind a gravel bank and an early lesson in river vigalence.
Once The White River enters the Yukon the Yukon runs much faster. Steve for some reason decided to paddle the wrong side of a gravel island. The current was too fast for me to follow, and he disappeared.
I waited for him for what seemed like an eternity about a kilometer down stream. I was just about to reach for my 2 way radio to contact him, when he turned up, coming down a different channel, altogether.

After that fright we set up camp on a nice little island, complete with mouse poo.

Steve was feeling better and we were only about 20 minutes late in leaving that morning.

We had stopped breifly at a stream to get fresh water when the ... canoe passed us. We dashed back into the kayaks.
Steve was like a man possesed and powered after them. We caught them within an hour .I am falling asllep, more in the morning

FINISHED.

2010-07-27T01:38:00.000-07:00

The finish

Unlike you guys, we never really knew where we were positioned. We could ask other people on the river if they had seen any one through before us. We also started our compulsary six hour lay off early so any one behind us might pass while we were setting up camp. If they stopped after us they had to re start after us so we would pass them in the morning and know their position.

Steve's hands were falling apart, so early this morning I gaffer taped his right hand to the paddle. The worst case option was to tow him to the finish. Steve, however, after a new gaffer tape strap three hours from the finish, battled though the pain.

The last 30 kilometers down the deep valley to the finish had us battling into a twenty knot head wind with very litle river flow to help.

Ecstatic we were to finally see the bridge and the finish line, and even more Ecstatic to see our great land crew and quite a few locals cheer us across the line and to find out no one was ahead of us. And better still the second team were also Ausies about an hour behind ( check the web site for exact times.)

Land crew cleaned out the kayaks and we sadly said good buy the two great Australian boats the Horizon and Elliot. This is the first time ever single kayaks have raced over 1600 kilometers.
Steve is having his hands operated on and I am battling to keep my eyes open, so more tomorrow.
Tom

from the Landcrew
Thanks to Daen and Carina for writing the Blog when we had no access to the internet out on the Dalton Highway on the way to Prudoe Bay.

We are back in Fairbanks. The accommodation at the Yukon River Camp was very basic. Accommodation built in the 1970's for the workers on the pipeline, but the staff were far from basic they make our stay very enjoyable and the food was great. They left work to cheer on Steve and Tom from the bridge over the Yukon. They were the first to see the boys round the bend in the river and call to us.

A strong finish by the boys

medals for Tom and Steve

2nd No 4 Starfactor Rod Spinks, Greg Lennox from Queensland

3rd No 5 Tip-C David Dahl, Rick Lorenzen

lunch with the first 3 boats in

Remember No 8 Sugar Creek Bears,

No 9 Shalom Viking and No 1 Bearly Moving are still out there.


Tom with Sheila Dodd. She runs the checkpoint at Carmacks. We met her the first time we went to the Yukon