Captain’s Log, Stardate 10-31-08
Treasure Island 2008
We had a fabulous year! You all worked hard and most of you were able to sustain the 9 months commitment, which is our season. Our race weekend started with our traditional Pasta Feed, where we talked about race day strategy and of course the inspirational speech #100 was given. Mother Nature threatened to bless us with Healers’ weather on Saturday, the first day of the festival. It did not matter to us, “no big deal’ is our mantra when it rains. I think we paddle best when we are wet!
Saturday, we did well in all of our seeding races. It was an especially exciting day for the newbies who never had the Treasure Island experience. Treasure Island is our largest race and is the most exciting. We know that all of our hard work is reflected in the results this weekend. It is also our last race of the season and our home turf, so we want to win! Our camera crew took lots of photos, some candid and some not.
Sunday morning dawned with sunshine and warmer temps. We were all in an upbeat mood and ready for magical races. We had three that day. Our Masters Crew, which is usually a combination of Red and Gold Crews, came in second in their race. Our time was not good enough to earn a medal. “No big deal”, we came in second, the best we’ve ever done! Next came the Red Crew in their final race. This was Red’s magical race! They came out of the dust and continually surged until they crossed the finish line five seconds ahead of the second place winner. I lost my voice from screaming for the Reds. It was so exciting to watch! Up next was the Gold Crew in their final heat. The competition was tough, but you know what happens when the going gets tough? Healers kick it up a notch. We had to make Healers Red be proud of us. We had a magical race and came in second in our final, and ended the festival and the season in good spirits!
The following week we had our end of the year party and Healers ate, drank and were merry. We had lots of fun with the Paddler Of The Year Awards handed out. Great way to end the year.
The off season means Healers get to sleep late (sometimes), hit the gym or attend Boot Camp, recruit new paddlers and get mentally ready for next season. For me it is a time to reflect on the past year and to make plans for the upcoming season. This year on the off season I will be working with other Kaiser facilities, and other corporate teams to form year round rec teams. I will also be working on developing CDBA’s Corporate Team Building Program, fine tuning the role of VP of Operations by developing close relationships with all CDBA team captains. I also hope to find time to run a half marathon and spend time with Ross and Macy.
Captain Out!