Monday, June 18, 2007

View from the Shore - Cadillac Van Isle - Leg 3 (Finish)

The third leg of the Cadillac Van Isle has ended and all boats are safely in Campbell River getting ready for the next two legs (the next stop is at a remote fish farm near Hardwicke Island).

I took an enjoyable slow drive up the old coast roads to Campbell River. Just past Oyster River I stopped and had a great view of the fleet, with "Flash" in the lead. Kairos finished around 1:50pm and took forth place for this leg. The finish off the fishing Pier in Campbell River offered entertainment as boats sailed in on a fast ebb current, causing at least one boat (Atalanta) to miss the finish line, try to turn around and fight the current to get back to the finish line. Kairos finished while Atalanta was still trying to get back to the finish line. "Blue Lightning" (with April on board filming) finished close to Kairos and April happily reunited with the crew of "Kairos".

Another early start tomorrow with the boat leaving the dock at 6:00am to motor up to Deepwater Bay for the start of the 4th leg of the race, 24.5 nautical miles to Hardwicke Island.

For me, I plan to drive up to Kelsey Bay (closest I can get to Hardwicke Island and about 5 nautical miles west of the finish line) and find a hotel room for the night (there are two, both not good, but adequate). Last year I was lucky enough to find a boat going to the fish farm taking the Save on Foods girls over to cater the evening dinner for the sailors (that's not what it sounds like either - I mean cater the food service, not....). I'm not so sure I'll be that lucky this year, but I plan to be at Kelsey Bay around the time the boats go over and see what happens. If not, I'll hang around Sayward/Kelsey Bay and read books and go for walks - it's actually very tranquil and just nice to get out of the cities. So my first stop will be the Vancouver Island Regional Library for some books and then head north and see what happens. Most ground support are heading direct to Telegraph Cove, but I think they miss out by bypassing Kelsey Bay - still, there aren't enough hotel rooms in Sayward/Kesley Bay to go around, so that is actually fine with me

Kelsey Bay is a great place to watch the fleet sail past on the 5th leg of the race. It's also a place that time seems to have forgotten. Ever since the highway was extended to Port Hardy, Sayward and Kelsey Bay's main reason for existing has disappeared. The old ferry dock is still there, but looks strange with no ferry activity. The village of Sayward's main street resembles a ghost town. It truely is a great location to do nothing - which means it will probably rain.

As usual, pictures and official details at the Cadillac Van Isle website at http://www.vanisle360.com/

Sorry - no pictures, this computer doesn't accept my camera USB connection and has no card reader. I'll post them when I can.

Kairos

Kairos is an Aerodyne 38 based at the Royal Victoria Yacht Club. She was recently brought to the west coast via a three-month trek from Stamford Connecticut, up to Nova Scotia, PEI and through the St. Lawrence to Kingston. Some of the crew couldn’t wait for her to get here so they joined the boat for part of the journey; Maureen and Marion sailed on the east coast, and April joined the boat in Vancouver for the final leg to her new home port in Victoria.

The name Kairos, is taken from Greek mythology and represents opportunity, the brief moment when things are possible

The Crew:

Returning crew

The crew on Kairos have raced together previously on Ockham’s Racer. The crew has waited patiently for two years for Ron to acquire a new boat and is now anticipating the adventure of the Cadillac Van Isle 360. Joining Ron for this year’s race are Maureen, Marion, Heather, April, Charlotte, Rose, Louise, Nigel, Dennis, Geoff, Curtis, Bert. The crew’s experience, ranging from a seven-year sailing journey around the world, to local and international racing, is varied and well suited to the variety found on the Cadillac Van Isle 360 Race.

Years doing the VI360

Ron and many of his crew have raced in all but one Cadillac Van Isle 360, and was one of the 14 boats that set sail in the original Cadillac Van Isle in 1999. This is truly one of our favourite races due to the variety of conditions and the people involved in the race.

Cadillac Van Isle 360 success

Ron has had success coming in second, first and second in division 2 during the Cadillac Van Isle 360s of years past. Lets hope the opportunity presents itself again - the moment when things are possible.

Ground support

Once again we have our fabulous ground support team, David, providing shore support for Kairos. David has also been land racing around the island since 1999.

Fun spirit . . . but no skits

One of the things that leads to success for Ron and his crew is Ron’s leadership as well as our ability to have fun, but get serious and focus as needed.