Saturday, May 3 was the Drought Edition of the Great Russian River Race. We drove to Healdsburg and took a bus to private property five miles upriver. We parked our boat next to the Flamingo Team. Other contenders were Marmot Activewear, Murphy-Goode Winery and Camelbak. Categories were ment’s singles, women’s singles, women’s doubles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles.
We knew before the boats were in the water who the winners would be. There was a light Kevlar boat with aluminum fittings, and a really fast looking racing boat with a red top.
I was right. The Kevlar boat was on the shore and dry when we arrived. A frustrated and upset-looking Coast Guard guy came over, saw the water in our boat and asked to do a Safety Check of our boat. “The race is over,” I commented. “Checking it now would be a sequencing error,” but Howard said explained that the water was from when we went over… the boat didn’t leak. The Coast Guard guy was in a snit because the Race leaders blocked him from playing Safety Nazi beforehand… the race start was on private property. Howard signed the Safety Report and got a “if found please return” label for the boat. We dragged our heavy tandem boat up a steep hill with the help of a kind teenager.
The red-topped boat was in the parking lot already and the man, Tim Styles, was showering from a sprayer marked “insecticide.” What an ironman! Then I found out he only fills it with water and that he and his wife Nancy had run the race in just 50 minutes. It took us 12 minutes longer, in part because we went over in one of the three really gnarly spots that were cluttered with overturned boats. Our time was better than half the men racing in fast solo boats!
Great fun. Next time, I will rent a boat so that I don’t have to drag the tandem up that hill!
We came in fifth!
Cam pointed out that Scoma’s has a fleet of fishing boats that go out to sea every day and that you really can get fresh local seafood at their Fisherman’s Wharf restaurant. We went around the Cannery and Ghiradelli Square, and spent some time zooming around a pier near the Dolphin Club. When the tour was over, we walked half a block back to Ghiradelli for some great ice cream. We also checked out the Spy Shop on the wharf — the place to go for your own lock pick set.
The venerable, 85 year old Senior Peer Counselor put it best, “These people are a gift.” I learned so much from the unmarried couple in their 70’s with whom I stayed in Oakmont for the past eight months. 
