History of the Tsunami Rangers Sea Kayak Race – Part 6

Editor’s note: This is the second article in our Race Series this month. It’s about the 1993 Viking’s Day race. It was published in Bay Currents, the BASK (Bay Area Sea Kayakers) newsletter. We didn’t have a select batch of photos from this particular race so we’ve inserted representative photos from other 90’s races for illustration. Enjoy!

VIKING’S DAY KAYAK RACE
Bay Currents. May 1993 – volume 8, number 5
by Eric Soares

Last year Bo Barnes and I won the Pirate’s Day Race. This year Bo couldn’t race because he had to teach kayak surfing — a pitiful reason but better than most I heard. Valiant John Dixon lost his partner so agreed to paddle with me rather than against me. I was fortunate. John and I actually worked out three times a week for a month before the race. We surfed in our X-Os and finally went out in the X-2 double a few days before the big event. We were going to win.

So at noon on May 2nd, we and nine other teams and hardy individuals lined up on Miramar Beach and eagerly waited for brassy Bonnie Brill to blow the bloody bugle to signal the percussionist to bang the percussionist to start the 7-mile race through 20 knot winds and six foot seas north around Pillage Point to Flatliner Rock then back. Whew.

Even though this was a Viking Race, several notable Vikings of races past were missing – big Steve Sinclair, Creig Hoyt and Jon Hayle, Alex Oppedyk, and Killer Weed. However, Jim Kreofsky and John Nagle, two warriors from the notorious Banzai Bozo tribe from the Sonoma Coast were chanting “BO-ZO! BO-ZO!” as the rest of us eyed them with contempt. It looked like the Bozos wanted to take first instead of second (like they did last year). It didn’t look good. But John and I were confident. We had the same kind of boat as the Bozos. All they had between them was 500 pounds of rippling muscle and a desire to win. We had skill and cunning. Which would prevail?

The horn and gong sounded. We took off fast and got an early lead through the surf and toward the jetty with the Bozos on our tail. Off to our right we espied Nigel Robson and Tim Sullivan in a red X-2. As we neared Pillage Point the Viking team of Michael Powers, Bob Stender, and Dennis the Menace in a Seascape III overtook us all and headed for the channel next to the cliffs. But we were all in for a surprise – low tide! We all jumped out of our boats and ran 200 yards across the slimy rocks to big surf on the north side. Thanks to John’s running ability, we came out ahead and led the way to Flatliner Rock. The Bozos tried to pass us on the inside and we slowly, almost imperceptibly edged them closer and closer to the inside break just south of Flatliner Rock. Luckily for them they got wise and cut behind us and started to pass us on the outside.

I yelled, “John, do you want to go more outside where it’s safer?” No way did I want to get crunched between an 8-foot plunger and a five-foot ledge. Since he is cautious, I figured John would opt for safety. Instead, he barks “Go inside. Way inside.” My kind of partner! So we did. Two or three big waves crested under us and broke on the rocks. We were as close as one could get. Jim Kreofsky thought we were goners for sure. But we weren’t. We were extending our lead to 40 yards. We cut around the rock and I told John, “We’re tired, so we’ll rest while we broach on this big wave coming.” By staying close to the rocks and not hesitating (like everyone else) we would gain another 50 yards and clinch first place. We were bold. The wave pooped out on us half way around Flatliner Rock. Another big wave came and we broached in close to a bunch of exposed rocks. Then yet another Bagwan came roaring in and I yodeled, “Paddle!”

But we had no energy, so we rested while we broached into an exposed rock table and our
boat went C-r-u-u-u-n-n-ch! John and I paddled away but I knew we were sunk. “We’re sunk,” I said. As the boat started sinking (big holes and gashes will do that) John said, “Let’s go toward the beach while we still can.” We bolted toward shore, pumping like madmen all the way. The Bozos, Tim and Nigel, and the Three Vikings all asked if we were okay. We signaled yes and began swimming as our boat capsized seconds later. We got the boat on the inner reef, pumped out the water, hauled the boat out with the help of two Santa Cruz tribe members, and hitched a ride back to the start with Chris McCauley. We were fortunate. We agreed our big mistake was my misgrokment. We should have cut in even closer and zoomed through the channel that bisects Flatliner Rock. That way, we would have been even farther ahead, and it might have been safer. But we only had one second to choose and that was that. Also, we might have been able to paddle out faster if we weren’t so fatigued from racing 3.5 miles at top speed. But hey. Next time we’ll get in shape before the race.

THE REST OF THE STORY
Some racers saw the big waves at Pillage Point and went back. John Lull in his Express, Tom Cromwell in his Mariner XL, and Dale McCauley in his Sea Lion decided to tough it out and went the long but hardly safe route around the Maverick wave. How big is the Maverick? John Lull said, “I nearly got caught by a 20-footer, no shit!” John led the singles pack all the way back to Miramar Beach and got fourth place overall. The Three Vikings went BOINK in the surf and never caught up with the X-2 teams but did manage to get third place overall. Mo, Larry, and Curly’s prize was they got to keep their shirts.

Everyone got their share of thrills and spills. The Bozos wiped out at the point and got to practice their swimming skills. Luckily, they sustained only minor hull damage and continued on behind Tim and Nigel. Meanwhile, Steve Kaspar made it to the Slot and also pitchpoled, which caused the brim of his hat to cut into his forehead when he slammed face first onto the reef. With his face covered in blood, Steve recovered and continued on, undaunted.

It was a photo finish. Tim and Nigel surfed in first, dragged their boat up a few feet – and fell flat on their faces just short of the finish Line. No shit. The Bozos, who had given up, renewed their efforts and hauled their waterlogged Bozo boat across the finish line one-half second faster than their competitors. The Bozos won. Then they fell flat on their faces. A grand feeding frenzy ensued, followed by fine music and a mercifully short awards ceremony. For their second-place finish, Tim and Nigel got to split a custom-made Merv Larson surf paddle made by Jim Kakuk. Winners John and Jim won a portrait of Banzai Bozo painted by world-famous artist Janet Wilson – a $550 value. They are fortunate.

FUTURE NEWS
Andy Cominos, Bill Collins, and Dennis Swenson videotaped the race. Expect to see Andy’s edited composite in the near future. I heard that the infamous pirate Don Diego Cien Fuegos was at the race wearing a Zorro hat and a black sandman cape. See if you can spot him in your photographs.

Hear ye. Next year will be a grudge match between the Tsunami Rangers and their nemesis – the Banzai Bozos. The winner takes all. Angels willing, we’ll hold the Sea Gypsy Kayak Race at the Miramar Beach Kayak Club and Tsunami Ranger headquarters at noon on the first Sunday in May of 1994. Be there or be a Herbert.

In 1994, the race was held as the Sea Gypsy Race, and the name stuck. It continued under this name for the next eleven years. Stay tuned for next week’s post featuring more kayak carnage and hearty partying as the Sea Gypsy saga surges on. Thanks and happy paddling! 

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