C
Section
Wednesday May 31, 2017
Le ader Special Focus
R2AK: To finish is to win Come and find out what ‘crazy bold’ looks like
to hide in whatever calm waters they could find. Year two hunted the psyche, offering no wind for weeks; teams rowed, paddled and pedaled on an endless treadmill of flat water. Too much wind or starved of it: miserable either way. But our kind of miserable. This year is looking to be a shooting match. A bevy of teams look possible for becoming the 2017 top finishers. Teams Big Broderna, Pear Shaped Racing, Pure & Wild/Freeburd, Bad Kitty and this crazy unknown boat from the French team, Phocoeana, are all worth considering. Teams hailing from Australia (Team Adventourists) and the U.K. (Team SailPro) are, too.
Daniel Evans R2AK race boss
F
or the third year, we’re dangling meat – in the form of $10,000 nailed to a tree in Ketchikan – for any hungry soul willing to play our game of “catch it if you can.” We keep the rules simple because we’re easily confused: You start in Port Townsend, Your boat can’t have an engine, Your team doesn’t get any planned outside support. If you have what it takes, we’ll greet you at the finish line in Ketchikan. Winner gets $10,000. Second place? A set of steak knives. And this year, we are rolling out the R2AK Buy Back Program. The first team to say yes within five minutes of finishing the race will be able to sell us their boat for another $10,000 – no questions asked. We’d love to buy that new performance Seascape 27 that Team Willpower is racing, but let’s be real. No questions asked means we’re buying the next best thing to bonfire wood. Over the past two years, only half the teams have even finished. Last year, Team MAD Dog hammered the record by arriving in Ketchikan in 3 days, 20 hours and 13 minutes. And on the opposite end, our 2016 final “winner,” Team Can’t Anchor Us, came in at a lightning 25 days, 11 hours and 57 minutes. And yes, your dog
Come ‘ruckus’ for free Special ops vet, race founder to offer two takes on racing Port Townsend’s own racer send-off happens June 7 in the form of a block party to wish good luck to all Race to Alaska (R2AK) participants. The Race to Alaska Pre-Race Ruckus offers food, good “swill” and music from 3 to 8 p.m., Wednesday, June 7 at and around the Northwest Maritime Center (NWMC), 431 Water St. The event, now in its third year, brings 93 new racers and 41 returning racers to town. “Racers will be showing up all day, so come early to meet and greet,” said Anika Colvin, communications manager for the NWMC. Boats and watercraft are to be on display in Pope Marine Park and Point Hudson during safety check-ins, so people can get up close and personal with the racers, some of whom are about to head out on a 750-mile journey. Two free public talks are planned as well. At 1 p.m., Wednesday, June 7, Jake Beattie, NWMC director is set to talk about “Three Years of a Bad Idea: Behind the Scenes of R2AK.” The event is planned for the American Legion, Marvin G. Shields Memorial Post 26, 209 Monroe St. Josh Collins, a special operations veteran and stand-up paddler, also gives a talk. His presentation, “3,500 Miles for Veterans: Texas to New York on a Paddleboard,” begins at 5 p.m. at the Legion Hall. Uncle Funk and the Dope 6 take the stage at 5 p.m. for music and dance. There also are free logo tattoos for those who dare, according to a press release. Food vendors and a beer tent are to be open from 3 to 8 p.m. For more details, visit r2ak.com/ruckus.
SUPS ARE ONBOARD And if you make it to the 5 a.m. start on June 8 at the Northwest Maritime Center, you get to see not one, but three stand-up paddlers who are betting they can make it to Ketchikan. Want to find out what crazy bold looks like? Want to find out how to pack a 14.5-foot boat for a race like this? Come down to the The second stage of the race begins June 11, and this year 41 boats are set to go all the way to Ketchikan. But how many will get Pre-race Ruckus June 7 to see the that far? It’s anyone’s guess, and anything is possible. Courtesy photo Northwest Maritime Center, Nick Reid boats and meet the racers – it’s free from 3 to 8 p.m. There’ll be What’s a win in Race to Alaska? boats on land and others in the – walking – would have made it For a few, it is taking the prize, there in half the time. water. Music starts at 5 p.m., and but for all of the others, this race food and drink is available if you IN FOR THE WIN is the Nevada test site of human are so inclined. We often ask teams, “Why determination; their skills and boat It’s not a question of should even bother?” These boats run the choices are pitted against 750 miles you show up, but how can you spectrum: home built, production, of unpredictable, savage coastline. not? Shake the hands of these one hull, two hull, three hull, To finish is to win. It’s getting heroes on June 7; come back at engineered, slapped together, that six-pack, ringing the bell and 5 a.m. on June 8 to cheer for the paddled, rowed, sailed or a comsaying, “Oh my god. I made it.” 63 teams as they take their first bination of the bunch. But when Our scant two years at this strokes into the unknown. teams meet others with unmisthing have shown us we don’t know (Daniel Evans is the race boss takably faster boats, they do not what to expect. Year one offered up and cofounder of the Race to go home. They’re not in it for the gale winds carrying away masts, Alaska.) prize. They’re in it for the win. breaking boats and forcing teams
R2AK race boss: It is not a race It’s an opportunity to test personal limits and take a journey Ross Anderson Contributor There is something Port Townsend needs to understand about the Race to Alaska, says race boss Daniel Evans: The R2AK is not a race. OK, they call it a race. Evans’ job description is “race boss.” And, in the first light of June 8, some 63 vessels, ranging from rowboats to worldclass racing craft, will jockey for position at the starting line off Point Hudson. On the signal, the crews will sail, paddle or row – but not motor – across to Victoria, British Columbia. Three days later, most of them will set off on the 710-mile course north to Ketchikan, Alaska, and whoever arrives first will collect an oversize check for $10,000. That looks like a race. But, Evans repeats, it is not. “We confuse people by calling it a race,” he says. So then, what the heck is the R2AK? “It’s a call to the heart,” he says. “We give people license to push their personal limits.” To understand this, consider Evans’ extraordinary seafaring résumé, which reads a bit like a Joseph Conrad novel. Over the past 25 years or so, he has paddled, sailed and skippered boats ranging from canoes to cruise ships in waters from Alaska to the North Atlantic and the Caribbean. He has climbed mountains, and skied down them. In most cases, he has lived these adventures as a leader and teacher, urging people to test themselves against the world Daniel Evans and its elements. ESSENCE OF A RACE And the lessons he has learned and taught are the essence of the Race to Alaska. A tall, lanky 45-year-old with wirerimmed eyeglasses bracketed by a head of black curls, Evans is the cofounder and chief organizer of the 3-year-old R2AK at the Northwest Maritime Center. He grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, but spent his summers sailing a vintage plywood Thunderbird with his grandparents around Gig Harbor in Washington. After high school,
As captain of the Adventuress, Daniel Evans has worked with sailors of all ages and experiences. The point of the Race to Alaska, he says, is a personal challenge and not really a race anywhere. Courtesy photo
he worked as a longshoreman in Alaska’s remote Dutch Harbor, where you’d think he would have gotten his fill of stormy seas. But his voyage had barely begun. “I understood wilderness, but I didn’t know the world,” he says. “So, I bought a Harley and traveled the country. I think that’s where I really developed the desire to experience things firsthand.” In 1992, he enrolled at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, living cheap on a 28-foot sailboat, climbing mountains in his spare time. While still in school, he took a job with the renowned Outward Bound program, which seeks to build character and leadership by teaching young people to fend for themselves in the outdoors. He taught courses in mountaineering and seamanship for Outward Bound, and met fellow trainer Jake Beattie. The two became close friends. From there, Evans moved to schooners, the grand double-masted sailing ships that have become central to Port Townsend’s cultural identity. For most of a decade, he
worked on and skippered schooners on both coasts, including five years as captain of the local Adventuress. Those magnificent boats helped refine his focus on teamwork and character. IDEA TAKES SHAPE Meanwhile, Beattie pursued an equally unconventional career, landing eventually as director of the fledgling Northwest Maritime Center. Three years ago, the old friends sat down in Port Townsend and talked about Beattie’s idea of a motorless race to Alaska. The idea was to present people with a challenge that focused not on horsepower, but on human endurance and ingenuity. Evans was captivated. “I loved being a captain on a sailing ship,” he says. “But I couldn’t resist the R2AK.” He traces the idea back to Outward Bound founder Kurt Hahn, who had observed that, when ships were torpedoed during World War II, it was the younger crew members BOSS, page 5▼
C 2 • Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader
Who will win? Favorites abound
For honor, for revenge, for fun – so many reasons to race Daniel Evans R2AK race boss It takes a special brand of sailor to look into the eye of challenge, tell their boss they have mono, kiss the family at the door and step into R2AK. We’d love to say we’ve cracked the code of the race and defined the brand, the perfect combination of boat, crew and cargo. We haven’t. We’ve seen hot-shot pros throw in the towel after one or two days and boatyard junkies hit the finish line in cheers of exhaustion. Multihulls work and are very competitive, but your grandma could have ferreted that one out. How about this: We’ll give you what we know and you can hit the scrying ball and start the betting pool in the office. Who will win? Heck, who will finish?
Team Campbell Sloop is made up of one person, Cameron Campbell. Cameron crewed last year on Team Squamish until he couldn’t take it and walked off the boat at Port Hardy – a serious need to redeem. Team Nomadica is the cleanest retelling of a fighting comeback. Buffered by “things not going the way you planned,� The Wedge is coming back at it with a faster boat and one less crew member.
comfortable paddling for eight hours at a time. Do the math. We did. It’s unbelievable. The other two stand-up paddlers? Best friends racing together but apart as Team Fueled on Stoke and Team Fueled on Stoke Part Deux. FROM AFAR, WITH GHOST Team Adventourists, coming in from Australia, are not prize contenders, but thrill seekers. Sadists? They’ve picked up a boat stateside – a Harmony 22 named Gizmo – said to be inhabited by a ghost. Team SailPro is our first all Polish team from the Isle of Wight, and its members have 85 years of sailing and more than 100,000 sea miles combined. Team Phocoena is our French team, coming with a 23.5 custom trimaran based on the successful designs used in European raids. Team 3 1/2 Aussies represents our Commonwealth brethren. Their math is suspect, but they have two members from Australia and two from Canada, with a mantel full of race medals, a claim to some determining Viking blood and a proven design in the F31R trimaran.
STAND-UP PADDLEBOARDS Karl Kruger, sole member of Team Heart of Gold, took a shot last year and broke his board. He’s back with a year more of training and a custom, hand-shaped board by Joe Bark. We’ve seen him train, and the one thin wafer he eats every hour while paddling isn’t some new take on Colombia’s finest flake, but we can’t tell ONLY ONE IN THE RACE Roger Mann, Team you what’s in it. What we know is that he Discovery, is the solo-finish can average 5.5 mph and is world record holder and the
Team Heart of Gold’s Karl Kruger of Orcas Island dropped out at stage two of the race last year, but is trying to make it all the way this year. Here, he’s shown last year as he headed out of Port Townsend. Courtesy photo by Jared Scott
man who defined epic for R2AK here, but didn’t finish in the year one and beyond. You only 2016 R2AK. want one of him in any given Look to the Burd brothers race at a time. (there are three of them this year) in Team Pure & Wild / Freeburd to contend, as well POTENTIAL FOR HONORS The Strandberg brothers as Team Pear Shaped Racing are back for a third time as on an M23 – one of four or five Team Big Broderna. Year one of its kind in the United States. And yeah, we just pissed off didn’t see them finish; year two they just missed the steak a bunch of teams by not menknives by three and a half tioning them here. Prove us wrong, other teams! hours. This year? They’re battling it out with local racing veteran Team Bad A GRUDGE MATCH Kitty, which has won pretty I mentioned them once and much everything else around now again. Team Bad Kitty
LEARn mORe
See Human Powered page 5
doesn’t like losing and hates not finishing. 2016 ended in limping home for that team after completing only a third of the race. Tripp Burd of Team Pure & Wild/Freeburd was set for a fantastic attempt last year with Team Tritium when the boat’s manager quit the race one day in. Team Heart of Gold, yeah, we already talked about him. He’s super pissed and looking for redemption.
LOCAL HEROES Be it the Proving Ground or the Bitter End, Port Townsend and the peninsula is represented. The rest are listed below, but you have to give it up to two teams heading to Ketchikan in unique ways. Team Grace B is captained by none other than one of the fathers of the Port Townsend shipwright scene as we know it. Ernie Baird built Grace B, a Crotch Island Pinky, 25 years ago and now he is retired – meaning he is racing her to Alaska. On the other end of the spectrum, we have three teenagers, a dad and a young friend who used to be a teenager making up Team North2Alaska. The captain is 17-year-old Henry Veitenhans, who, with Pa’s help, decided to build a boat and race it to Alaska for his senior project at Port Townsend High School. Best line ever? “We didn’t know how to build it with wood, so we welded it out of aluminum.�
R2AK: An engineless, 750-mile challenge 41 teams are registered to go all the way
THE stATS And ďŹ nally, to round out your betting odds, a few simple stats:
The Race to Alaska starts at 5 a.m., Thursday, June 8 with 63 teams set to cross the starting line just off the Northwest Maritime Center (NWMC) dock in Port Townsend, beginning a 750-mile race to Ketchikan, Alaska. R2AK is an engineless race, challenging entrants with squalls, floating debris and tidal currents that run upward of 20 miles per hour. Forty-one teams are signed up for the full race to Alaska, while 22 teams race in the first leg to Victoria, British Columbia.
Total teams – 63 Stage 1: The Proving Ground participants – 22 Stage 2: The Bitter End participants – 41
STAGE ONE: THE PROVING GROUND With 40 miles of unprotected water, heavy marine traffic, and elements such as extreme winds and unpredictable currents, this qualifying leg is called The Proving Grounds with reason. Full-race participants must complete the crossing to Victoria Harbour within 36 hours to continue on to Participants in the 2016 Race to Alaska are shown here during the race. Anything Ketchikan. This first leg ends in Victoria Harbour, where can happen on the water, which is one of the reasons the race is a challenge. much partying is expected and visitors are welcome. Racers Courtesy photo Northwest Maritime Center
Proud Supporters of R2AK!
W ’ Y
Community Bank Providing Banking &
Lending Choices that fit your lifestyle • • • • • •
Personal Banking Business Banking Electronic Banking Personal Lending Mortgage Lending Commercial Lending
Local Bankers • Local Decisions • Local Focus
Learn More > ourfirstfed.com > 800.800.1577 Member FDIC
are likely to arrive on the afternoon of June 8; the cutoff time is 5 p.m., June 9, which is just in time for the Victoria Racer Party, which is celebrated on that day at Whitehall Rowing and Sail from 6 to 8 p.m. with dancing and more. STAGE TWO: THE BITTER END This year the second stage of the race begins at noon on Sunday, June 11. Last year, 44 teams started for Alaska. This year, 41 teams are registered to go all the way. The NWMC reports that the race has a range of sailors who are smart and savvy, and some are returning with lessons learned from last year’s experience. Based on the most difficult level of simplicity, R2AK teams are entirely self-supported, with no supply drops and no safety net. A chase boat with the moniker of the Grim Sweeper brings up the rear to tap out entrants who have not made Ketchikan by July 4.
R2 A K Racer s Take A Bow!
TEAMS IN STAGE 1 (aka The Proving Ground) Solo teams: 10 No sail, human power only: 6 Smallest boat: 14-foot, Team TacomaAndTheSea Largest boats: 30-foot, Teams Ptarmigan and Harbinger Multihulls: 9 Monohulls: 7 “Repeat offenders�:12 TEAMS IN STAGE 2 (aka The Bitter End) Solo teams: 15 No sail/human power only: 6 Smallest boat: 14.5-foot, Team Adventure II Largest boats: 34-foot, Teams SailPro & Bad Kitty Multihulls: 22 Monohulls: 13 Repeat offenders:14 TEAMS FROM JEFFERSON COUNTY PT Watercraft: Full race Grace B: Full race North2Alaska: Full race Team Turn Point Design: 2015 Stage 1, 2016 full race, 2017 stage 1 Noddy’s Noggins: Stage 1 for the third year Lootas: Stage 1 Tom’s on the Move: Stage 1 Team Eagle (Take 3): Stage 1
“Good luck. Go fast. Stay dry.�
360-379-4181 232 Taylor Street
CALL The Leader in Local Marketing. 360.385.2900
Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader
Wednesday, May 31, 2017 • C 3
WelcomE to done : Ketchikan, Ak
A town that measures rainfall in feet, tourists by cruise ship loads, and parties by how many people dance. The R2AK finish line banner says it best: “Welcome to Done.” Teams have until July 4th to reach the finish. Last year the winning team arrived in three days, 20 hours, and 13 minutes, and the final team reached the finish in 25 days. While there is no race- specific safety net, the race has a sweep boat (aka “The Grim Sweeper”) that serves as a rolling disqualification line. It travels roughly 75 miles a day and if it catches you, you’re out. No one got swept last year. The finish line itself is at The Alaska Fish House, next to the dock, with a six-pack of beer waiting on the bench.
Everywhere : Driftwood & Debris
There is a veritable forest of wood in the water in and around the coast of British Columbia. All teams reaching Ketchikan shared stories of hitting driftwood hard, at least once, and often causing damage that forced them to make repairs. The boat speed of the top boats in this year’s race is in excess of 20 knots. The only way for us to feel better about how nervous we are is imagining how nervous those teams must be.
WayPoint 2 : Bella Bella, BC
Why Bella Bella? No idea, but it’s roughly the midpoint of the race and the last bit of civilization for a couple hundred miles. We almost financed the race by setting up a store that sold nothing but trail mix, Top Ramen, and hot showers. This year our media team will be camped out at Shearwater Resort.
Mess You UP : Cape
Caution
In 2015 Roger Mann became the world record holder for his solo finish. His triumph was one of clenched teeth determination. There were many dramatic moments in his voyage, but nothing more so than his pitchpole (when the sea throws your boat into an involuntary cartwheel) onto a beach at Cape Caution. Roger was trapped under his upended boat in surf, by himself, in the middle of nowhere, and his drysuit was filling up with seawater because the zipper was open. “I was pulling myself and my boat up the beach. I was absolutely pinned to the ground. I finally just had to cut the legs off the drysuit. It was the only way I could get out of the water.” And he’s back to race again in 2017, absolute grit.
mother nature wins : Johnstone
Strait
A notorious blow hole, Johnstone Strait funnels wind against the flow of the tide and seas stack up in short, steep succession. In R2AK 2015 Johnny Strait was a barrier that only 18 teams made it through, leaving broken masts, broken rudders, and broken morale as the weather raged on for over a week of gales.
100
Narrows
A salt water river that changes direction every six hours, Seymour Narrows is the famed tidal rapids of the Inside Passage. On a good day, tidal currents here run 16 knots, twice the speed of Deception Pass, with whirlpools 30 feet across and six feet deep—strong enough to pull under rowboats, kayaks, and especially anyone who is unlucky enough to fall off. Seymour Narrows is the first mandatory waypoint of the race and racers must pass through these gates before continuing on.
Stage 2 Start : Victoria, BC
While the no rules ethos of the R2AK doesn’t care, it’s by order of the Queen that there is no sailing in Victoria’s harbor. By law the last 1.5 miles of Stage One must be navigated by human power alone. Great for the guy on the paddle board, not so great for the big ass trimaran. Stage Two starts on Sunday, June 11 at high noon. During the first year of the race, the roaring wind stressed and broke boats, thankfully no people. But it was the incessant calm of 2016 that tested the racer’s pysche. The duldrums of no wind needled at the crews and left them feeling they couldn’t go another day.
Stage 1 Start : Port Townsend, WA
The Strait of Juan de Fuca is a nasty patch of water with big winds, plenty of tides, shipping lanes, notorious fog, and an international border. If you can make it from Port Townsend to Victoria in 36 hours without assistance, you earn the right to 710 more miles of hardship.
WELCOME TO YEAR
3
Still 750 miles, Still no support, Still no motors, R2AK.com @racetoalaska facebook.com/racetoalaska R2AK is a project of the Northwest Maritime Center; home to the Wooden Boat Foundation’s Festival and Boatshop, and Wooden Boat Chandlery, all supporting the mission of getting people on the water.
NAUTICAL MILES
WayPoint 1 : Seymour
50
25 10 0
C 4 • Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader
ON YOUR NEXT ADVENTURE, DON’T FORGET THE ESSENTIALS.
70-year-old boatbuilder this year’s oldest R2K racer OPEN FOR TASTINGS! 338 Sherman St. 360-379-0895 www.mttownsendcreamery.com
May all your seas be smooth and trouble free.
Ask about our marine coverage! McDonald Insurance Group, Inc. Chubb/Ace Marine Products Travelers | Safeco | Progressive 360-385-9550 • 1-888-827-7400 mig@McDonaldIns.com
620 Kirkland Way, #100 Kirkland, WA 98033
Good luck racers! For all your printing needs, come on down to the beach. 2319 Washington Street, Port Townsend • 385-4194 sos@olympus.net www.sosprinting.biz
www.porttownsendsails.com
Safe Seafaring From the crew at Henery Do it Best Hardware!
218 Sims Way • 360-385-5900
heneryhardware.com
Baird came from Chicago to start his career in the 1970s KirK BoXleiTner KboXLeitner@PtLeaDer.coM Ernie Baird turned 70 on May 7, making him the oldest racer in the second stage of this year’s Race to Alaska. Baird’s partners on Team Grace B include relative youngsters Martin Masson, 63, and John Calogero, 53, whom he credits with putting in “hundreds of hours” to get their vessel seaworthy. The team is named for the 26-foot-long, two-masted sailboat that Baird began building in 1980 and finally launched on July 4, 1985. The boat, in turn, is named after Baird’s mother, Grace Baird. When asked what makes the boat their vessel of choice for the Race to Alaska, Baird admitted, “It’s the one I’ve got. We will not win. We will not be comfortable. But I’m confident we will make it.” A photo of the Grace B was featured on programs and posters for the Wooden Boat Festival in 1999. One of those posters hangs in the bedroom of one of his three grandchildren, a 4-year-old. ‘KICK IN THE BUTT’ “They know me as this old guy, but I’d like them to know that I did something,” said Baird, who plans to do six-hour rotations around the clock with his crew, with one member off while the other two are on. “I’m getting soft, so this is a kick in the butt for me,” he added. “I’ve been drafted by the owners of fishing boats I’ve worked on to go crew with them, so I’ve seen what waters are like when they’re not happy and you can’t go home. As such, it’s not likely that I’m underestimating the risks here.” Even though Baird insists that his shipmates didn’t sign on “because of my sparkling personality,” he brings a wealth of experience in the maritime field to their upcoming voyage, dating back to his arrival in Port Townsend in 1977 as a 30-year-old carpenter from Chicago’s South Side. “I’m probably the only future boatbuilder the University of Chicago turned out,” joked Baird, who’d become acquainted with the maritime scene in the Pacific
EPOXY PRODUCTS FOR MARINE CONSTRUCTION, REPAIR & WOODWORKING APPLICATIONS. Paddle out with style & peace of mind using MAS EPOXIES. Explore our extensive line of epoxy resins to build, maintain and restore marine construction or repair applications. Great for beginners and loved by professionals.
Available at Fisheries Supply, Seattle Marine Supply, LFS, Comox Marine, Harbor Marine, Online at masepoxies.com or call 1.800.755.8568
ABOVE: Ernie Baird checks out Team Grace, a team named after his mother, Grace Baird. Photo courtesy of Jasmine Teagarden LEFT: Even at the age of 70, Ernie Baird remains an active woodworker and boating enthusiast. He’ll be the oldest racer to participate in the second stage of this year’s Race to Alaska. Photo by Kirk Boxleitner
Northwest after visiting a college friend in Portland, Oregon, in 1968. “When I went back to Chicago, it was the first time I felt I didn’t belong.” Baird began working for Mark Burn at Port Townsend Boat Works in 1979, until his 40th birthday inspired him to hang his own shingle, which led to the Baird Boat Co. starting in November 1988. Ernie Baird “When I told him I would be competing against him, FORMER OWNER Mark just shook my hand BAIRD BOAT CO. and told me to do good work,” Baird said. “As long as I doesn’t cover often enough.” maintained our reputation Baird recounted how for quality, he was confident Dan Kulin, owner of Port there would be business Townsend Rigging, had enough for everyone.” once warned him, “You’re going to get tired of tearing ‘COOLEST JOBS’ up old planks,” but it hasn’t In 2004, Baird retired happened yet, as Baird conand sold the company to tinued to work in his shop his employees, who turned even while speaking with it into Haven Boatworks, which he praised for taking The Leader. “I suppose there are on “one of the coolest repair three things about boats jobs in Port Townsend,” incorporating live oak into a that appeal to me,” Baird said. “One, they’re compelmillion-dollar renovation. lingly beautiful, especially “The oldest style of traditional wooden fishing boatbuilding is when your boats, which are made up of framing is sawn rather these gorgeous shapes. Two, than bent, which works they’re useful in extremely best if the trees are natudemanding conditions, rally curved,” Baird said. standing up to storms and “When I saw that they’d remaining serviceable. used 6-inch-thick curved Three, the people I’ve met live oak, I was green with jealousy. See, those are the who choose to make their sorts of projects The Leader living making boats are
“We will not wIn. We will not be comfortabLE. But I’m confiDENT we will make it.”
some of the most extraordinary people around.” Baird recalled conversations over coffee with coworkers who included doctors of chemistry, alumni of British military academies and survivors of disasters, such as tunnel collapses. “The range of education and experience they’d built up between them was remarkable,” Baird said. “And when it came to boatbuilding, they were really good at what they did. This profession requires a fair amount of intelligence and problem-solving skills. You have to create a structure that can get beat up. It’s a contact sport. You have to keep your wits about you, even in the cold and wet. They all could have made a lot more money doing something else.” Baird expanded his praise to include Jake Beattie, executive director of the Northwest Maritime Center, as well as Daniel Evans, coordinator of this year’s Race to Alaska, both of whom he characterized as “young men” younger than 50. “It’s amazing how much life they’ve brought into this, with their collaborations with the public schools, the Coast Guard and FEMA,” Baird said. “When the center was first proposed, the older boatbuilders were worried it would be costumes under glass for tourists, but they’ve done a genuine public service.”
We can help grow your business; call The Leader in Local Marketing! . 360.385.2900 ,
Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader
Wednesday, May 31, 2017 • C 5
Human-powered racers ready mechanics. Burritt is also a stand-up paddleboard instructor. Burritt’s advice on adventuring: “Just do it. Definitely know what you’re getting into,” be prepared and “don’t be afraid to push yourself into the unknown.” “We love Port Townsend,” he added. They have a fundraising website at CHris TUCKer gofundme.com/team-fueled-on-stoke-r2ak-fund. ctucKer@PtLeaDer.coM “We are looking to step out of the securities of life and society Three men plan to travel 750 miles from Port Townsend to as we know it,” the team states on its website. “To embark on an adventure into the unknown. To embrace Ketchikan, Alaska, in the Race to Alaska. And they plan to do so the challenges, the raw beauty of these waters and to share it with on stand-up paddleboards. Luke “Fueled on Stoke” Burritt, 33, and Erdogan “Fueled on each other, our fellow racers and the wildlife that surrounds us.” Stoke Part Deux” Kirac, 33, of Bellingham, are among the three. “We both love the outdoors [and] love adventure,” Burritt said FROM ORCAS ISLAND of their plans. Karl Kruger, 45, of Orcas Island is another stand-up paddleThey will use custom-built paddleboards. A regular stand-up board R2AK racer. paddleboard, he said, is typically 8-14 feet long and made from “I’ll turn 45 during the race ... but 23 at heart,” he said of his two or three layers of carbon fiber or fiberglass. age. But their custom boards are not typical. “It’s a chance to be on the water, and meet [and] race with folks “These boards are 17 and a half feet long,” he said of their who embrace [and] value adventure and uncertainty,” Kruger R2AK boards, and 26 inches wide, with eight layers of carbon said of why he wants to participate in R2AK. fiber and fiberglass to make them as rigid as possible. “But most of all ... this coast is outrageously beautiful, and I’m The boards have 28 tie-down points and custom-built rudder excited to experience it in such an intimate way.... This race is assemblies. elegant in its conception. Simple.” The two paddlers are sponsored by Blue Shed Shaping; Big Kruger previously paddled in the 2016 R2AK, but only made Winds in Hood River, Oregon; and Quickblade Paddles. it to just south of Nanaimo, British Columbia, where he had to stop due to equipment failure. MARINE MECHANICS Kruger will use a paddleboard designed by Joe Bark, and he When they aren’t adventuring, the two work as marine will be paddling alone.
They aim to go 750 miles on stand-up paddleboards
“We ARe lOOkIng to step OUt OF THE securitiEs OF life AND society As we know it.” Luke “Fueled on Stoke” Burritt RACER BELLINGHAM
“But I’m a Gemini ... so I guess two,” he joked, adding that he’s had support from several other people who helped him prepare for the race. Kruger is sponsored by Hammer Nutrition, Orcas Island Physical Therapy, Fitness Quest NW, Native Eyewear, Bark Paddleboards, San Juan Canvas, Kruger Escapes and High Street Design. When he’s not racing, Kruger works as a sailing charter captain for his business, Kruger Escapes. It runs sailing trips. His advice for adventuring: “Dream big, do your homework, check your homework, go do it. People have a way of choosing their own best therapy/educational experience.” The race begins at 5 a.m. on June 8.
Boss: Will there be any takers for the $10,000 prize? ▼Continued from page 1
who died; older crew were more resilient. “The younger guys didn’t know what they were capable of,” Evans explained. “So, we talked about the R2AK as a sort of Outward Bound course.” The two spent months planning the event and spreading the word. Two years ago, more than 100 sailors and paddlers and rowers arrived in PT with their odd array of unmotorized boats, and the R2AK became a reality. Appropriately, Evans and Beattie faced their own first trial in the crucial minutes before the start. In the predawn darkness, the old friends were perched in the pilothouse atop the Maritime Center, studying the marine forecasts and weather radar, apprehensive about a fierce northwesterly whipping down the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Their dilemma: Postpone the start for a day, or send 100 souls out into harm’s way, combating the wind and frothy 4-foot seas. “At 4:30 a.m., we decided we had to look for ourselves,” Evans recalls. “We got in my truck, drove to North Beach. Jake looked and me and said: ‘We’re on.’” It was a wild day. Some smaller boats didn’t make it past the Point Wilson lighthouse. Others washed up on beaches from Dungeness Spit to the San Juans. But most made it to Victoria. Nobody was hurt, and that first year’s R2AK, chronicled in media and on the R2AK online website, captured the imagination of armchair adventurers literally around the world. Last year’s event went more smoothly, thanks to lighter winds. But it raised another challenge unrelated to weather: The first two races were both won by
high-tech, expensive multihull machines that made it to Ketchikan in a few days, leaving the competition to slog northward in their wakes. What’s the point if 90 percent of the boats have no chance? BRAINSTORMING As they waited for boats to cross the line in Ketchikan, Beattie and Evans brainstormed, groping for a plan that might reward contestants who were unlikely to arrive first. Their solution was a buyback plan – an additional $10,000 to the first crew that arrives in Ketchikan and agrees to sell its boat – be it a million-dollar racer or a battered kayak – for that $10K. “No questions asked.” Will it work? Who knows? But another 64 boats have signed up this year despite the fact most know they can’t win the race. But, then again, it is not a race. Most
will show up for other reasons – the same reasons that thousands of runners enter marathons they know they can’t win. “It’s a call to the heart,” Evans reminds us. “A personal challenge. These are people who yearn to be hungry and wet and cold.” One dramatic example, he says, is the British adventurer Ernest Shackleton, who a century ago advertised for crew for his Antarctic expedition this way: “Men Wanted: For hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honor and recognition in case of success.” And, Evans notes, hundreds of applicants lined up for the opportunity. (Leader contributor Ross Anderson lives in Cape George and will not be racing to Alaska, or anywhere else.)
Port Townsend Orca Festival
201 7
CELEBRATE ORCA MONTH IN JUNE Visit PTOrcaFest.com for schedule & details
June 3rd - Day of the Orca 11-3pm at The Port Townsend Marine Science Center Get to Know Orcas with the founder of the Center for Whale Research, Ken Balcomb & PSE Naturalist Bart Rulon. Free boat rides, orca exhibits, & more!
Month Long - J-Pod Scavenger Hunt Get to know the Southern Resident J-Pod orcas by following clues and collecting trading cards. Prizes for all who complete the hunt, including free whale watching tours. Start at the Port Townsend Visitors Center.
June 24 - Summer Kick Off & Beach Party 11-5pm at The Port Townsend Marine Science Center A jam-packed day with fun and educational events to celebrate the start of summer and reinforce our connection to the Salish Sea. Live music, sand whale sculptures, gamesorca exhibits & more!
Reserve online PugetSoundExpress.com | 360-385-5288 Point Hudson Marina, 227 Jackson Street, Port Townsend, WA 98368
C 6 • Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader
Enjoy your adventure R2AK Racers!
2016 race participants at the Port’s Point Hudson Marina. Photo Credit: Race To Alaska/Northwest Maritime Center
From the start of your project to the moment you set out on your adventure, our exceptional local maritime professionals can make it all happen. Travel Lifts100+ Marine Specialties | Victorian Seaport 70 - 75 - 300 Ton Lifts | Superior Craftsmanship | Onsite Vendor Services Waterfront RV Park| Year-Round Transient & Permanent Moorage 17+ Acres of Work Yard and Long-Term Storage Do-It-Yourself Opportunities | Fun Atomsphere
visit us at www.portofpt.com Boat Haven Marina
Point Hudson Marina & RV Park
Boat Haven Boat/Ship Yard
2601 Washington Street Port Townsend, WA 360.385.2355
103 Hudson Street Port Townsend, WA 360.385.2828
2790 Washington Street Port Townsend, WA 360.385.6211
Jefferson County International Airport 191 Airport Road Port Townsend, WA 360.385.0656