INSTRUCTIVE DNF'S FOR NOVICES
By: omar goodpaddle@yahoo.com

In 1999 I undertook serious Safari training. On Lee Deviney's and Ken Keiffer's advice, I bought a used Advantage Tuff-Weave, a rock-solid but heavy boat. Paced myself first day. Got to Zedler shortly before dark, having fun. Shoving it over the dam I lost it for the last 18 inches. Had my battery packs anchored to the Wenonah factory seat stanchion. Their weight, on the impact broke the stanchion complete loose. I tried to brace and anchor the seat and paddled on to Palmetto but the seat was flopping from one side to the other, so I dropped out saying it wasn't my fault. Who would expect a Wenonah factory seat installation to break? (Followed the race by car, learning as much as I could.)

Lesson #1 Learned: Lee Deviney set me straight. He would not have DNF-ed in that boat. When he buys an old boat, he takes everything out and puts it back in. Kevlar and epoxy get old and brittle. He would have glued it back fresh and solid.

Next year, I got an XStream, trained hard, and mastered it. Was down below Slayden Cemetery Bridge about midnight, enjoying the flood's high waters. Came on Norm Thomas and Roy Lewis negotiating a nasty new jammer wherein the current was diving under the logs mid-river. I back paddled, waiting for them to clear. Roy flipped and Norm and I had the terrifying view of him upside down, still in his kayak, underneath the jammer, his headlamp still on, lighting everything up. I released and went to help. Sidled my boat up to the jammer and got out on the logs. The driving current came over the gunnels, filled the boat. Meanwhile, Roy freed himself and surfaced, but the current, incredibly powerful, sucked my boat under the jammer. Nothing I could do. Roy kicked his boat thru and paddled on. I kicked my boat thru and waited for dawn and sunlight (dry clothes, eating, sleeping on the anchor log) to dry it so I could repair the foot-long tear (it had been rai! ning, duck tape won't stick on wet). About dawn an insufficiently experienced TWS safety officer showed up. I told them I would fix my boat and finish. They ordered me into their boat and took me out of the race.

Lesson #2 With my present skill, I wouldn't release directly to Roy in the middle of the current. Hump across the river, to the side where there would be little current or even an eddy. Jam the boat. Get into the water from the side of the jammer (no current) and see if I could approach and help Roy.

Lesson #3 With a fully decked boat or LOTS of floatation, my boat probably would NOT have been sucked under the jammer (all those logs I was standing on were less bouyant than a decked boat, and they were not being sucked under the jammer).

Lesson #4 Networking, I came to realize that no seasoned Safarist would have put up with the safety officers taking them out of the race. I was in good condition and spirits. No danger. My boat turned out to be quite reparable. I could have/should have told them I was not getting in their boat. If they had DQ'd me, I would have every right to challenge and demand a review when/if I got to Seadrift. (Next day I went back, repaired my boat with duck tape and paddled it all summer with that repair, running Cottonseed twice.)

In 2001, I trained like crazy with Devo and others. Best condition for maybe 35-40 years. Overdid the paddling and injured my butt bones. Could not train in May, as the temp heated up. During the first day, I felt good, paced myself, letting others go. When I got to Palmetto, I lay down and was wracked on the front and back of my body with massive cramps. I let them pass and went on to Gonzales where I didn't seem to feel well, and rested 3 hours. Paddled on to Hocheim where I arrived, steering the boat lying back horizontal, because of the cramps. I pulled out and found that, after eating and drinking, when I got back to Austin I weigh 16 lbs less than the morning of Safari. That amounted to clinically serious dehydration.

Lesson #5 Consulting best minds of racing buddies, and Devo, and E-Caps (at length), and some info CaptJack sent me about supplements, I came to realize I had not taken nearly enough electrolytes and had not drank nearly enough. Did not know my hydration needs. (Proved this 2 years later, when I did finish, taking 4-5 times as much electrolytes and forcing myself to drink XX every 2 hours, weighing only 3 lbs less than at the start and feeling fine at the pavilion.)

2002: I was almost totally distracted fm Safari training by family matters that had me in Dallas every weekend for months. I did do calisthenics and jogged regularly, and I know of medium athletes who finished Safari with maybe one training run (I believe, Solomon, in 2001, for example). With little time to rig my boat, remembering the lesson about floatation, I got some polyurethane stuff at Home Depot and filled the front and back thirds of the boat with the stuff. It looked great, wasn't too heavy, and the can read, "Waterproof." During the first day, I tired badly, and wrote it off to my old bod and my lack of training. I could not believe how puny I was, how heavy that boat felt. When I got to Ottine about 2 a.m., I simply could not lift, haul, push, pull it up out of the water. Was tying it off, figuring I was wiped out, when some guys came along in an alum, hauled it out and down the other side for me. At Palmetto, I DQ'd myself for that help. My TC's each grabbe! d an end of the boat to carry it up the hill, groaned in amazement at the weight, got better grips and heaved. The boat broke into a V in the middle. It turned out that the polyurethan dries into a glossy waterproof surface on the outside but inside it's a large sponge. (Others, I found, tried this product, with the same results.) In addition, to the boat's weight, and a 3-4 day Safari load, I was hauling umpteen lbs of water in the 2 giant polyurethane sponges ((turns out, for several hundred $$, you can order polyurethane that dries "single cell" for marine floatation.))

Lesson #6 DON'T TAKE ANYTHING IN SAFARI YOU HAVEN'T THOROUGHLY TESTED ON THE RIVER.

Good luck, whomever. Hope this helps others avoid some DQ's.

"We have too many men of science, too few men of God. We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon of the Mount...The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living..." - - General Omar N. Bradley; Chief of Staff; United States Army; 1948

February 19, 2003
Safari notes by David Reichel

I compiled these suggestions from notes taken at the Water Safari Seminar (which I highly recommend), from talks with the College Station racers, and from personal experience.

• The bailer is the pee bottle (does anyone actually use it for bailing?). It's not bad to just lean to one side and do it (if your partner doesn't like to rock the boat once you get started!). It is also possible to use the canoe paddle blade to help. This is something that should be practiced in training. (These suggestions are not intended to be in order of importance!)

• Be sure seat cushion is solidly glued. Consider taking a spare.

• All medicines should be stored in front of paddlers if possible.

• All containers need to be labeled.

• Sunscreen is essential. Some paddlers find they can wear shorts as long as they use sunscreen.

• Vitamin E is the best thing to put on the hands to help prevent them from getting torn up. Apply every two hours if possible. The best source of Vitamin E is vitamin capsules. Puncture them with a pin to collect an amount that is satisfactory. Keeping hands dry also helps. Need to practice using light grip on paddle.

• Good to use only a small water bottle to Westerfield, or not take water. If you are well hydrated at the start, you shouldn't need water until then and it's less weight to carry over Cummings dam, the portage at Thompson's Island, and the falls at Rio Vista.

• It is most important to maintain intake of calories the whole way. If you get hungry during the race, you haven't been eating enough. If you don't get hungry, you probably haven't been eating enough. Appetite has nothing to do with it!! You need between 200 and 500 calories per hour. Ideally calories and fluids should be ingested every 20 minutes. Don't over drink water without calories because it's possible to be over hydrated. The risk of over hydration is very small if you are consuming calories with the fluid.

• Tape target times inside the boat. This helps you predict times to check points, water, etc. and helps give you goals to shoot for.

• Some paddlers take with mosquito netting. My opinion is that if you're paddling slow enough that the mosquitoes can get you, you're paddling too slow. (Maybe they use it when sleeping? I'd be more worried about fire ants on the ground.) Better to stay in the boat and keep moving.

• Be very careful to keep yourself cool. Stay hydrated. Wet yourself as needed. If it is brutally hot, consider stopping to immerse yourself in the river. The river is cooler at the start than at the finish. Later in the race, if the water feels cool to the touch, you might be overheating. You should be able to sweat. It is legal to get plastic bags with ice from team captains. It works well to put a little ice in a gallon plastic bag with small holes at either end of something that the racer can put over their neck. Cold water slowly leaks through the holes. The ice on the neck also helps the notorious "ice pick" in the neck that some racers complain about.

• Near nightfall, you might want to let yourself dry off. It can get seriously cold at night, especially if it is raining. Obviously, you might need to drink less at night, and maybe less calories, but don't stop eating.

• Most calories should be maltodextrin in water. Easy on solid food if you are paddling hard. Even if you aren't paddling hard on the second day, solid food can be difficult to manage. Take some with, but don't plan to live on it.

• Many racers say it really helps to have a small amount of salty foods like shoestring potatoes.

• Take Aspirin or Motrin, etc to help with any (every?) source of pain.

• Pack spray skirt dry.

• Take an extra paddle.

• Don't use super lightweight paddles. They tend to break too easily. The Black Bart or Zaveral regular lightweight paddles are fine.

• Should have a little medical tape and antibiotic with. Antibiotic should be used on any cuts as they occur. The river water is sufficiently dirty that almost any cut, big or small, will get infected after the race!

• Roll of duct tape for repairs.

• Take headlamps for personal use like mixing food at night. If the main headlight goes out, these become the lighting system. Take with enough C-cell batteries to keep these things going for two nights non-stop, (if necessary).

• Some sort of windbreaker or waterproof lightweight jacket might come in really handy. Try to pack it so it stays dry.

• Everything will get wet unless very carefully packed. It is amazing how water will get into things that you would think would stay dry!

• A good, simple food container is a gallon plastic bag with a knot. All "meals" should be packed separately in one-gallon bags. Since 150 calories per meal is about perfect, 300 calories candy bars should be cut in half and put in separate bags, as separate meals.

• Mosquito repellent.

• Small knife or razor.

• Chapstick (bullfrog?)

• Sunglasses. Some racers like to wear sunglasses for a while after sunset to accelerate getting night vision.

• Might want to take an extra hat. Probably good to start the race without a hat and put it on after the first hour or so. Most hats are lost in the first few miles. I highly recommend attaching hat with safety pins and fish line from hat to shirt, so if knocked off by branch, it can be retrieved easily.

• Some racers think extra shoes are essential. It is very easy to loose shoes when stepping into deep mud. Shoes should have some toe protection. I used sandals, but I covered my toes with duct tape to protect during portages the first day. I liked the way they drained and dried off later in the race. Some paddlers with expensive paddling shoes complained about rocks in their shoes and wet feet. I didn't have either problem.

• Be careful jumping out of the boat at all times. Sharp sticks can hurt you. (I know!)

• Take some caffeine with in the form of vivarin for the lower river. I should have used these a little more than I did. They seemed to clear up my nausea the second day.

• Everyone has bad stretches during the race when they feel terrible. Just keep going. It is amazing that you usually pull out of these bad stretches and feel decent later in the race. Of course, this if very much dependent on taking care of yourself during the race, especially eating and drinking.

• Take Tagament or some other stomach medication. Most paddlers have stomach problems that are helped my medication. (All that Dingy Moore Beef Stew?)

• Plan that 5 minutes out of every 2 hours is for personal maintenance. Make sure your partner takes time to do this too.

• Think about a boat repair kit. Aluminum boats often don't need repairs. A splash of lighter fluid, a match to light it (to dry the area around the hole), and a piece of duct tape applied to the outside of the boat can repair a serious hole.

• Need a rope to help pull the boat around objects or up banks, portages etc. An additional rope to the towline might be packed.

• Cool Max underwear or nylon are both much better than cotton. I wore no underwear under my tights and that worked well.

• If you wear shoes, drill a hole in the heel so water drains better. Wet feet can get pretty ugly and painful. That's why I like sandals better (but remember to protect the toes!). Some racers use shoes the first day to help with the portages and log jams and switch to sandals later in the race.

• Tights work well because they don't hold water.

• Some paddlers use back braces, but I've never tried these.

• Try to rig up something so that the bow paddler can lay back and sleep. The nicest arrangement I've seen is a piece of spray skirt material that can be snapped onto the same snaps used for the full spray skirt. This would be very comfortable. When the stern paddler needs to sleep, they can switch places. Under no circumstances should both paddlers attempt to sleep at the same time while moving in current. This is much too dangerous to consider.

• Insects at night are your friends. They help you keep paddling!

• Make sure you have a dependable lighting system. We did the Safari without lights, but I didn't care for it.

• Pumps to bail the boat, especially for the bay crossing, are very helpful.

• Be sure all spare paddles are stored carefully so they don't get lost when the boat tips over. (The boat will tip over!)

• When you come up to log jams at night, look for wet spots to help you see where other paddlers have gone. Of course, this requires that your lights are still working!

• Practice water handoff techniques if possible.

• When you take a drink, be sure to blow back into the jug, or the water will siphon out. I used a mouthpiece that prevented this problem. The drawback of a mouthpiece is that the water or drink that's left in the tube heats up. Personally, I liked the sensation of a warm drink becoming suddenly cold!

• The team captain should be well lit at night. Agree ahead of time how to identify him.

• Be ready to yell boat number out coming into checkpoints, especially at night.

• Have watch and schedule.

• Don't loiter at checkpoints. Team captains say positive things (like- you look beautiful, or you're paddling like crazy men, or the little people are chasing you so don't slow down! etc., whatever seems appropriate.)

• Plan to sleep no more than 30 min. Otherwise, you get too stiff.

• Team captain always uses clean hands when handling water jugs.

• Paddle hard but take care of yourself. Don't waste too much time the first day. You want to get as far down the San Marcos as possible before dark. Every minute saved on the upper river saves two minutes on the lower river!

• Team captain must get information about bay conditions and communicate with team. Wouldn't hurt to get information by Swinging Bridge, if for no other reason that to start smelling that sweet salt air as early as possible!

• Bugge uses water bottles for "food" and jugs for water only. I liked to put a "scientifically" calculated mix of powders in my water jug. I thought it helped me consume both more water and more calories. The only problem is to eat more calories at night compared to water. I did this by having a bottle of Gu to suck on at night to supplement calories since I was drinking less water.

• Jugs should be filled 1/4 ice and the rest with water to within 1" of the top. Don't screw too tight. If food is to be added, screw tight and then back off 1/4 turn.

• If time allows, use purified water.

• Bring some 5-gallon containers with. Sometimes it might be difficult to find water along the course.

• Bring large cooler for ice.

• Bring milk crates to hold water jugs and bottles.

• Don't touch the boat except to pass water (not urinate!) and to pull out garbage.

• Team captain needs some large trash bags, sunglasses, sunscreen, etc. (See team captain's checklist on website.)

• Set goals for the race, time and place. Team captain should try to keep informed about who is ahead and who is behind and how people are doing. This helps keep the racer's heads in the race, especially if they are traveling by themselves for long periods of time.

• Food should be bland!

• Orange Gu tastes awful the second day!

• I wish I had toughened my hands with more paddling and possibly rope climbing.

• Strengthen the upper traps in training. They tend to get pretty sore even if they're in good shape.

• Power bars weren't too digestible for me.

• Should have taken Dramamine for nausea that hit me hard the first night.

• I think I would have done better wearing shorts than tights. All of us had bark and twigs in our pants after the first logjam we had to swim through.

• Try to keep feet elevated out of water. Try not to let heels sit in a puddle for hours at a time.

• Practicing portages is just as important as practicing paddling, especially on the Upper San Marcos. Portages are not the place to rest.

• Use screw tops on drug bottles, not snap on lids (personal opinion).

• Pack boat so you can run (walk) up it without destroying things. Sometimes you need to be able to walk the boat to get in the boat in deep water, or when crossing a logjam.

• The mouthpieces I mentioned are also called bite valves. I liked the Camel Back bite valves the best. The Platypus bite valves came loose too easily. Try to keep the ends of the water tubes off the bottom of the boat, especially if you are one of those crazy paddlers who pee in the boat.

• Jugs must be placed upright immediately or they will empty into the bottom of the boat though the drinking tube or the air hole in the top of the jug. Note: the drinking tube is not the only hole in the jug!

• I really liked my gel seat, but they do add a little weight. In the future I would try a smaller one to save weight.

• In regards to weight, keep the boat as light as possible. A heavily loaded aluminum canoe is almost impossible to get over the portages.

• Training should be done with as much weight in the boat (or more) than what you will do the Safari with. There shouldn't be more than an additional 30 pounds per paddler in the boat. Shoulder shrugs and walking holding heavy weights should be part of training. Some paddlers have rigged up shoulder straps to take some of the weight off the hands. However, none of the portages are very long.

• Should have sleeping pills for the two nights before the race to get as much sleep as possible, and surprisingly, sleeping pills should be taken the two nights after the race. I was amazed how much difficulty I had sleeping after the race.

• Sit-ups and back exercises are a critical part of training. The stomach and back may be the first part of the body to give out. (Even before the head!)

• I liked using a sleeveless t-shirt so that nothing was restricting my shoulder motion. Of course, sunscreen is essential. Might be good to wear extra arm protection the first day.

• When you start hallucinating the second night and think that the branch coming up is a hallucination, duck anyway!

• Possible other equipment and food items to consider: dried fruit, fig or date bars, Advil, polypropylene shirt in waterproof plastic bag, Toilet paper packs (?), Coolmax t-shirt, flares, Hammer Gel (cheaper than Gu if ordered form PBN online)

• Come up with a recipe to put about 600 to 800 calories in a double wrapped gallon plastic bags, each tied with a tight knot., or packed in the seal-o-meal bags that some of the racers have access too. The gallon bags worked fine for me, but they did take up a little more room. Use one bag per gallon water bottle. Plan to drink one of these every 2 hours during daylight and about one every 3 hours at night. Plan to take in 150 to 200 calories every 20 minutes. It's worthwhile to set a beeper to go off every 20 minutes on your stopwatch and force yourself to eat. Feeding doesn't have to be quite as intense the first hour of the race. If you loaded on calories pretty well before the race, you might want to go light on the calories the first hour or so, because you really don't need them yet.

• For training, get in some long paddles. One veteran says that when you can get on the river at dawn and paddle until sunset, you are ready. Don't attempt this the day before the Safari!

• The longest training weekend should be 3-4 weeks before the race. There should be a 2-3 week taper before the race. The week before the race should be so easy it hurts. I was so well rested before the race I was going nuts wanting to paddle so badly. That's a good way to feel if you can do it.

• Practice eating during your long training runs the same way you intend to race. Don't try to paddle several hours without food! Eating not only helps to keep your energy up, it might help protect the muscles from excessive breakdown and soreness.

• Take time to study portages and log jams during training. If you do poorly on a turn, consider trying to go back and do it again.

• Be ready to hit sticks under water that you don't see. This is how most boats get tipped during the race.

• Be very, very careful about sweepers and heavy current flowing under logjams. Turn the boat to give yourself plenty of room around sweepers.

• When you come around a corner, look way down river to see if you can spot the best route to paddle. Surprisingly, you can sometimes see things when you first come out of turn that you can't see when you get closer to the problem area.

• Look for every opportunity to cut corners, especially in lower current. Don't just aim down the middle of the river, especially on the second day.

• The faster current on the outside of a curve is not always the best route in slower current. Sometimes it's fastest to cut the corner, even if it means hitting a back eddy.

• Practice turning the aluminum boat by leaning to the opposite side of the turn. Aluminum boats can be hard to turn, especially if bow heavy, but they are much easier to turn if you lean. This requires practice.

• Make sure the boat is trim. Fully loaded, it should be slightly lower in the bow. With forward motion it should level out. A bow heavy boat is harder to turn, but not slower. A stern heavy boat is easier to turn, but very slow. Avoid having a stern heavy boat! It may be helpful to have a stern heavy boat crossing the bay to ride up on the waves better.

• Get a good catch and relatively long stroke. The best Safari stroke is generally a longer stroke than racers use in short races.

• Try to keep the boat moving and make the best time you can on portages. The aluminum boat has a slower hull speed than many of the other tandem boats, but it has the advantages of being very durable and comfortable to paddle. In the past, aluminum boats have placed in the top 10 boats, so some people obviously have gotten them down the river very fast. Many boats will be passed if you can keep a steady pace and try not to stop unnecessarily.

• Practice turning the boat by switching sides and try not to use rudder strokes that slow the boat down.

• Bow paddler needs to help get the boat around tight turns. Practice bow rudders in training.

• Try to practice the bay crossing once before the race. Listen carefully to navigation instructions. The left side of the bay is very shallow. It looks like that is the shortest way, but be careful not to get too close to the left side or you might end up walking your boat in mud.

David Reichel

Kneeling:

White water, elegant freestyle, much "Red Cross recreational," and some race paddling are done kneeling. The knees, on pads, are solid on the deck, the butt on the seat or a padded cross bar. The back is at a comfortable, erect posture, and you can reach further out and better for control strokes than sitting.

I paddled for 50 years kneeling simply because it's more comfortable and in some ways more effective. In my first boat, a dugout balsam log in the Congo when I was 10, I soon decided that kneeling was better. Several of the cagier Safari finishers have their boats rigged for both sitting and kneeling.

Altho sitting is more powerful, with a lower center of gravity, for most racing boats, the "high kneel" is extremely fast. The HK racers develop fantastic power, are able to leverage their weight into the strokes better than sitting, enough to overcome the disadvantage of having to paddle on one side and use a racing J stroke. HK requires exceptional skill and is not for everyone. I tried it and came away in awe of those who master it.

This all makes kneeling a natural alternative for all Safari boats that have higher seats, which is most of them, including the aluminums, standards, and many solos, etc. No,it's doubtful you would want to attempt the entire Safari kneeling. However, it is a heavenly alternative, when your butt and back are sore and tired from round-the-clock sitting and the monotony and wear of 4,000,000 identical paddle, butt, and body movements.

I am committed, to the end, literally (am going to keep trying until I am 80 or 90), to a solo finish (if I don't buy a Kieffer sailboat, instead). Hence, my experiments, kneeling in the Spencer's XStream. I find I kneel quite comfortably in Wenonah Advantages, Voyageurs, and J190 C-1's. However, the XStream is maybe 8-12% more efficient (faster/less energy for the same speed). Hence, my recent 2-in-1 experiment down the upper San Marcos: Can I paddle the tippier XStream kneeling? And, kneeling, there is no way to manipulate the rudder, so, can I control the boat w/o a rudder? The answers were a reassuring Yes to both questions. I sold my Advantage, Voyageur, and SSS-18.

Keys are: get good pads, glued in the boat for you knees, shins, and feet. You still want a good pad for your seat. I also place soft sponges under my ankles to relieve the pressure.

XStreamists: feel free to contact me directly to discuss how to rig your boat for kneeling-with Jack Spencer's coaching we learned some remarkable tricks.

Good luck all.

John Stockwell

Hats Keep Our Heads Warm In the Winter

And, in the summer, too.

We wear hats and hoods and mufflers (not to mention ?long johns?) in the cold to retain the substantial heat that escapes from our heads and necks. Napolean wrote that, in the great retreat from Moscow, bald men died first in the cold.

Of course, hats and hoods retain the same escaping body heat in the summer. Put on your hat in your living room or car. Feel the warmth. Take it off. Picture the cowboy riding in from the range in the summer, taking off his hat and mopping his head.

I once participated in some tests of head cover in the Texas summer sun. We put thermometers under plastic sun helmets when it was officially about ?100 degrees.? The thermometers under white helmets registered slightly less than those in the sun. The thermometers under medium-dark green helmets registered 20 degrees hotter. The coolest readings were in the shade of a house or solid tree. The hottest readings by far were under green helmets on our heads as we jogged!

If you doubt this, paint one board white and one a dark color and put them in 100 degree direct sun. You can stand barefoot on the white board. You will not be able to stand on the dark board.

True, the nomads in parts of the Sahara wear robes and thick turbans on their heads. This is a maladaptive response to the sun. I once worked in the fringes of the Sahara, bought and tried on one of these rigs. Hotter?n heck! By contrast, the Vietnamese adapted to the sunlight with loose, open, white kimono tops, baggy bottoms, and the airy conical hats.

Boxers who need to lose 10 lbs in a day to ?make weight? will wear long johns, shell pants and tops, and hoods to overheat their bodies and sweat out the weight.

I went to RunTex and to a bike shop to buy some of the magic cool stuff that would allegedly keep me cooler than my natural skin during Safari. They couldn?t figure out what I was talking about. That stuff, they said, is best wear for the winter because it wicks out the sweat so it doesn?t stay next to the skin and make you colder. One of them pointed out that men and women in the Ironman Triathalon wear as little as possible, literally bikini-sized rigs. Many of the men run and bike shirtless or almost so.

John Stockwell

Ultralight, inexpensive floatation for our boats. Noting that my boat likely would not have broken in the diving jammer last year had it had abundant floatation.

: Bubblewrap sheets (available at Janitor's supply in Round Rock, etc.) rolled into logs and inserted in 39 gal 3-ply garbage bags that are tightly tied off at the end, then folded tightly for neatness and taped, attached firmly to the bottom of the boat. If you put the foldover on top it provides 4 layers for protection from junk punctures. Also, you can run it under yr spray skirt for further protection. Total cost maybe $5 per boat. Total weight should be under 1 lb.

John Stockwell

David, there are differing views on floatation. You have gotten the input from one of the top paddlers.

Other top paddlers go to the other extreme. Then build their Safari solo boats so that about 40 percent of the boat, forward and stern are "decked," i.e. sealed airtight. This adds maybe X lbs to the boat's weight and you can't walk in the forward/stern in jammers. But these boats will float over rapids and junk and hence are said to be "unwrappable." (In the last Safari I went into a diving current to assist another paddler who was in jeopardy. My boat flipped. With minimal floatation is was sucked under the jammer and broken.)

One top paddler in 2001 is going to put quality inflatable kayak floatation in his boat. Others use other ultra-light solutions (several empty gallon milk jugs?). Others use single cell foam. Styrafoam would be ideal but it is illegal on Texas waters.

Good luck.

John Stockwell

It isn't too Late! to lose 10-20 lbs before Safari.
Weight is not the friend of runners, biker, and paddlers.

The good news is that we know all we need to about healthy and fast weight loss and training. We've got about 15 weeks before June 9! We what we know you can easily lose 1-1.5 lbs per week.

Here is the ultimate diet. I got it from 3 individuals close to me who each took off 45 lbs and kept it off. My strength and endurance have gone up while I followed this approach.

The bad news is we're a nation of oinks because of our lifestyle. We won't be slender and stay slender without changing that style.

The 3 major elements are:

• Eat hearty breakfast (oatmeal and milk). Eat heart lunch (lots of veggies, especially the bbccc (Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots) lean meat and complex carbohydrates. Eat a snack midmorning if you like and definitely one about 4 pm.
• Curtail or minimize nocturnal feeding. We eat at night for social reasons, habit, gratification, and not because we need the calories at night. Calories eaten after 6p count 2x as much. Instead of depriving yrself however, use the time training. You won't be hungry while you train.
• Cut all sugars from you diet. Diet-related degenerative diseases have soared in this century in direct parallel with our junk food/convenience store diets. 'Sugar stuff.' By cutting al sugar stuff you will automatically eliminate 1500-2000 calories per day, 'light' or 'empty' calories that have little food value and translate quickly into fat. And you will avoid the rollercoast effect sugar stuff has on your blood sugars. Donuts for breakfast spike your blood sugars which then plunge, stimulating the craving for more quick, empty fixes.

Read the book, Sugarbusters.

John Stockwell

Bad News and Good News of Conditioning:
I found an article. We decondition much faster than most of us dreamed.

• 1-2 days: adrenaline and betaendorphin levels drop, possibly affecting mood.
  
• 3-5: muscles become tight. Touching your toes and other flexibility is more difficult.
  
• 7-9 days: your VO2max (ability to use oxygen) declines by 5%..
  
• 11-13: max heart rate and cardiac output decline. Endurance drops by 15%!
  
• After 2 weeks without exercise aerobic fitness declines by 15%.
  
• 14-16: mitochondrial activity (energy production) in muscles dwindles. Loggy feeling.
  
• 17-19: less efficient at sweating and getting rid of heat.
  
• 20: VO2max has dropped by 25%.
  
• 23-26: short-burst activities become much more difficult.
  
• 29-30: muscle strength down 20%.
  
• 2-8 months: practically all aerobic capacity is lost. Muscle strength down 40%.

The good news is that conditioning also comes back faster than we think. The Marine Corps estimates that it can get healthy 19-year-olds in condition to run 20 miles in 2.5 months. Dr. Kenneth Cooper concluded that individuals without a major weight problem can get in condition to run marathons in 4 months. The above article concludes that, if we have been 'in shape', it comes back 80% faster than if we have not.

This explains many Safari veterans' training strategy. There is sufficient time between February and June to get in peak condition. Altho, the article strongly recommends staying in shape year round.

John Stockwell

To remove duct tape stickum from boats, whatever: We called the MMM engineers. They said, "Mineral spirits."

John Stockwell

My first canoe race was the 1992 Texas Water Safari. I raced solo and finish after 54 hours in 25th place. Suffice it to say, there was a lot of on-the-job training. If you can't paddle that well, you will work a lot harder, but probably be paddling better after 260 miles.

My best advice: get in a comfortable, forgiving boat, but not anything less than an Alumacraft. Stay away from royalex or tupperware, they're too heavy and non-responsive. Get some decent used paddles: no aluminum, plastic or wood. Kevlar and carbon fiber are expensive, but worth every penny once you've made a million or so strokes.

Attend the water safari seminar in march and glom onto a group of experienced safari vets. You will be welcome and advice will flow freely as long as you don't try to reinvent the wheel or piss them off by incessantly questioning the practicality of their tried and true methods.

Mostly, put in a zillion miles of paddling, learn the first 90 miles and last five miles of the course and NEVER FREAKIN' STOP!

West Hansen

there are several paddling machines (ergometers on the market). Due to Texas's mildwinter climate that aren't real popular here. Plan on spending at least $1,000 for an erg. The Vermont Waterways Concept II Rowing erg. w/paddling attachment is the best known. It is also ridicuously expensive and takes up a huge amount of space. Nice for a gym but not for an average sized house.

Links to three other ergs can be found on Fred Merchinis kayak racing website:

http://pluto.njcc.com/~fmec/
K1 ERGO- from Australia
Modest KEM Kayak Ergometer - ERG from Denmark
CANUTEC- ERG from Canada

Lee Deviney

I am finisher of one TWS so the knowledge well isn't very deep, but I wouldn't leave home without: 2 hats(easy to lose one), a compass for the lower river & bay, jumbo bottle of ibuprofpen, rope (we had to drag the boat across the bay due to high winds), a big sponge, a small radio (if your partner quits talking to you), CoolMax or dryfit clothes ( cotton is history), best lights you can afford, a rear-view mirror mounted on your boat so you can see the alligators chasing you late in the race and a telephone credit card to call your Mama to come and pick you up after the second night on the river.

Despite the obstacles, you will never regret doing the Water Safari, your messages have inspired me to consider making a comeback. Good luck.

Bill Sleep

After reading some of the emails on TWS tips, I couldn't help but add my own advice. I've done the Safari 3 times and humor is something great to bring along. Humor will allow you to laugh at the stupid mistakes you make, make comments at how filthy dirty & smelly you are, you can laugh at your night fears, and help you forget the pain.

Anything else? Oh yes, vaseline.

Cindy Meurer

I've got a couple and strong opinion on a few more.

Tie Everything in, You should be able to lift the boat and turn it over with nothing-waterjugs included- falling out or even shifting much. If you can't even lift the boat You overpacked! Jugs should slide in & out of their place on the boat (no ties, friction or bungee only).

Good light don't have to be expensive or use Lithium. Lights rigged in April work much better than lights rigged in June.

Even the best light systems can go bad with enough use or abuse. Usually there's plenty of ambient light to keep going at the same speed. One of your best senses for night running is hearing.

John Mark Harras

TUMS were recomended in the orientation, but you have to chew a ton of them to work. I used Zantac. I pill every 12 hours and I never got an upset stomach, and my stomach does better on tylenol than advil. Sunscreen- I used Bull Frog. I only put it on the day of race and one other time, and I never got sunburned, infact I barely got a tan. It's sweat and waterproof plus it comes in quick-gel which is GREAT!! Deep-Woods Off has a little bottle of 100% DEET to keep the bugs off.

Lights- Now I quickly learned that this was a hottly debated topic. when several people saw mine, they made comments that they would never work, but they were the best ones I saw out of the boats I was near at night. I used Princton Protec/vortec? headlamps (around $35 I believe), waterproof to 2000 feet (yea like we can test that). I got them at REI. uses 4 AA bateries, has two interchangable lamps, High output (5 hour life with lithium batteries (walmart photo dept)) and low output , which came in handy through the fog(10+ hours with lithium). I removed the headband from one light and taped it to the deck of my kayak in reach of me so I could turn it off and on and replace batteries without getting out. I kept the other on my head. usually I just left the deck light on, and turned on the head lamp when I heard something odd. These are EXTREAMLY bright lights. with the high power bulbs.

I also had a string hammock, which was invauluable, I only slept for 3 hours durring the race on the second night, but I was off the ground, comfortable, and you can always find trees to tie it to. And going to sleep around 3am so the sun is up when your waking 3-4 hours later, is great on getting your body back in motion.

Roy L. Lewis

This is what I gave a novice at the beginning of last year.

Clothing

• Cover as much of your body as possible, including back of neck. Some people will wear shorts. Do not unless you can tan easily and can last 3 days of total sun exposure on your thighs. Also, you will end up applying sunscreen A LOT unless you do cover up.
• I wear a white lightweight long sleeve cool-max top that works in the heat of the day and will keep me somewhat warm at night. You will get cold at night, even in June.
• Long tights. Be careful of the seams. You do not want 3 panels in the back because of where the seams lie. You WILL chafe.
• Wear a hat. I sewed a bandana around the back & side edge to protect my neck.
• You will get dirty. Very dirty.
• Wear the clothes that you will wear during Safari during training sessions. Break them in. Make sure they work.
• Shoes. Big subject. Most portages are on the upper San Marcos. Some people wear tennis shoes the first day and then throw them out in favor of water socks. You want protection & grip on the bottom but still allow your feet to dry out. Some people on the 2nd day (once off the San Marcos), will take their shoes off between portages. Long ways between portages on certain sections of the Guadalupe. Once again, try your options during training. I had trouble both years.
• Bring a paddle jacket. Will keep you warm at night if you get cold. Plus may need if it rains. Some people bring pants as well. Keep extra clothing in a waterproof baggie or bag. Yucky stuff to try to get on if wet. Water & Ice
• Your team captain can only give you ice & water. I put some type of drink mix in every jug. Some people will switch out with plain water. I never do. I also use 2 different flavors. Variety is good. If you don't use a drink mix, your body will run out of electrolytes.
• You will consume approximately 1 quart of water every hour during the day. If you do not, you are not drinking enough. Plan to pee about once an hour. Once again, if you do not, you are not drinking enough. You'll slow down slightly at night.
• Keeping track of water & food consumption at night is more difficult than during day. I set the alarm on my watch to ring once a hour as a reminder. KEEP TRACK OF YOUR TEAMMATES as well.
• During the heat of the day, it is necessary to not overheat. Put ice bags on your head and neck. Baggies from newspapers work well. Also, homemade terry cloth bags work well.
• A lot of people ask for no ice in their water during the night. Be sure to write that down for your team captain.
• At most, you will need 2 jugs in your boat at any one time. Sometimes, like during the run between Gonzales & Hocheim, you will need 2 jugs plus a quart jug like a bottled water bottle. Rig a minimum of 5 jugs. Your team captain will appreciate it.
• There is a line between minimizing the amount of water you carry and running out of water. You do not want to run out of water but at the same time, water is very heavy and will slow you down. Be honest and careful about how much you'll need. On big teams, an extra jug or water bottle is carried along. Solo acts must think about this issue carefully. I ran out of water the first year in a big way. By the time I got to the next stop, I was dehydrated. Very hard to come back.
• Buy your water for the team captain. Hometown water from the towns on the lower Guadalupe do not taste good. It will affect your stomach. When you approximate the number of hours it will take you for the race, you'll be able to approximate how much water you'll need.
• Again, try your drink mixes during the training runs.

Food

If you are fast and a guy, plan on consuming 350 to 400 calories an hour.
• Variety is important. People mix between sport foods such as GUI, Power Bars, Cliff bars, etc. and regular food such as banana nut bread.
• Repeat. Keeping track of water & food consumption at night is more difficult than during day. I set the alarm on my watch to ring once a hour as a reminder. KEEP TRACK OF YOUR TEAMMATES as well.
• Food will spoil. Bananas only last till mid-afternoon Saturday. We packed real food such as a sandwich and bananas for the first morning through lunch.
• Saltines are excellent for upset stomach.

Illness

• You will get sick.
• Yes, you will get sick.
• It will come in waves. IT WILL PASS. The term is 'going down' as in 'She went down for about 30 minutes.'
• You will feel awful and want to quit. Do not. It will pass.
• Keep eating and drinking even though you feel bad. Take little bites. If you cannot keep your food down, eventually you will have to quit.

Cleanliness

• Your team captain should bleach your jugs between uses & rinse thoroughly.
• If you drop your drink tube in the bottom of your boat. Do not reuse. Have spare tubes with your team captain. It is legal for them to give them to you with your water. I switched out my drink tube once a day anyways.
• Get a cut? Squeeze some Neosporin on it as soon as you can. Bandage if possible. Else, WILL become infected.
• Some people bring a few Wet Wipes for their face.

Drugs

• Advil. Be sure to only take after eating. Will upset your stomach. Will help keep you loose.
• Pepto Bismol tablets.
• Vivarin. Also after eating.
• Tums
• Some people will bring a few vitamins.

Gear

• Leatherman
• Stainless steel knife
• mesh netting to keep bugs off your face at night
• required flares & life jacket.
• head lamp for bowman
• mini flashlight for other team members
• patch kit

Psychology

• Chop the race into pieces. Do not think about how long it is. Look for the next checkpoint or water stop.
  
• If you train properly, you will know your strengths & weaknesses. Be honest about long you will take. Set your goals appropriately.

Race Day Prep

• Vasiline your entire body. Bring some along and reapply along the way.
• Sunscreen your face and any exposed skin.
• Desitin your butt. Diaper rash is not fun.
• Eat breakfast.
• Sleep the night before. Have everything ready. No last minute prep work.
• Focus.
• Pray.

Cindy Meurer
3 time finisher

I've loved following the discussion on the bulletin board---lots of great selfless tips that underscore to me the beautiful nature of this race and those in it-----tips from some truly great paddlers. Since I love the race, but am not a great technical paddler, I thought maybe I could add something, not from a technical standpoint, but from a mental. If you are someone who is intrigued by the race, but knows that you are not, for whatever reason, going to learn the river, or paddle great distances before the race, the following might be helpful.

First, the start----when the gun goes off and the water erupts with churning paddles ----don't get caught up in that fury----you will only be crushed when you see how fast the real paddlers can go, and will get in some real trouble with the traffic. It is real easy to get swept away with the glory of the fast start--and you will burn up a lot of energy in the first 3 miles of a 260 mile race.

Second, if you are like me, and not a great paddler, you will tip over, maybe several times, depending on conditions. Do not waste energy getting upset--it will not help you---if you have a partner, you will only start destroying a relationship which will be strained just by the length of the race, and the sleep deprivation,--if you are solo, you will sap yourself, and trust me, you will need all of you to finish solo. hen you tip, relax, get your stuff together calmly, and if it is one of those public places, smile and wave at the crowd.

Third, take your time at the portages. There will be others rushing at these obstacles--but they are the experts, and we are not--we don't know how to go safely and fast (do you really want a sprained ankle 3 hours into a three or four or five day race), and we don't know what's around the next bend. You will make several portages, many of them in the dark, where you will say, "they've got to be kidding!"---but they can all be crossed safely if you don't rush. Keeps the tempers down, too.

Fourth, remember the length of the race. Much of the first day will feel like a race, with a lot of contact with other boats, and you will feel great--you're in excellent shape and after holding your own for 30 or 40 miles, (more than you have ever paddled at once), you'll start thinking that, maybe you can take these guys, you can just pick up the pace. Don't---there are still 220 miles to go---that's 220 miles---and you can't coast to the finish--the last 8 miles are across a bay, into the wind and current. Stay steady, keep moving, but don't get caught up in the notion that you can sprint to the finish after the first 40 miles.

Finally, rest, and rest wisely. If you have a partner, learn from the seminar about sleeping in the boat while your partner paddles---it will be amazing how much river you will cover by continually moving at a steady pace, even if slower than normal because one is resting. If you are solo, rest before 24 hrs., even if only for 30 minutes. If you push it, you will find a huge drop off in productivity after 40 or so hours--you will turn into zombie, paddling very slowly, or not at all, just floating and hallucinating--and you still have more than 100 miles to go.

Hope this helps and stimulates some more discussion.

Norm Thomas
-finished with a partner, 1978
-finished solo, 1998, 2000
-dnf, solo 1999