In the bag

Dusi 2010 – done and dusted! We had a good day today, shot everything except Top’s Needle and Island 1and 2. Water was great, weather was cool enough for most of the race and the mood in the boat was as upbeat as ever. Although we shot all the big rapids fine, we had two swims in the most arbitrary places – one in the Kindergarten rapids where we temporarily lost a paddle and took a while to locate it trapped under the rapid in rocks, and the second under a large tree stump in fast flowing water, but not a rapid! The second swim just above Dog’s Leg could have been very nasty. I tried to cross the main current to get to a small sneak channel, but didn’t have enough boat speed to get across and ended up being pushed against and under the roots of a fallen tree. Fortunately we didn’t get snagged up and after a fairly long swim in the deep water managed to drag our way through the weeds on the side and get into the boat and on our way.

We finished the day in 3h33 for a total time of 13h37 which I was fairly chuffed with. Greg had a great race and was very strong on the water, only fading slightly on the very long haul over the dam at the end of day two. He was stable in the rapids and good company. I was fine for the most part in the bigger water, have a few bad habits to work on, but I need to work especially hard on my concentration and decision making when on the easier parts of the river.

So, it’s on to the Non-stop which is on the 12th February, and the good news is that Non-stop partner Charles had a great Dusi with Drew Wilson and is looking fit and strong for the race. They managed a 3h07 final day for a 12h08 Dusi!

Thanks so much to all those who sponsored us per mile or made donations! The Sunflower Fund really does do great work with this money.