Baja Travesia

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Baja Travesia Underway

Karen Lundgren / 27.03.2007

Twenty teams headed toward the island Todo Santos in big winds and bigs swells. It looked calm in the harbor, but just outside the strong winds and big swells waited to pounce.

The teams looked confident and steady as they headed out for the 11K paddle to CP on the island. As the first teams approached the mouth of the harbor, Team Aguan/Thin Air was spotted heading back to start line.

They lost the main bolt to their rudder and needed a quick fix. Staff and other team's support crew quickly came to their aid and fabricate a repair. With the rubber piece from an umbrella, the springs from a pair of kayak portage wheels, a bike skewer and a couple of zipties the repair was in place. Team Captain, Tom Bastis got his team back into the boat and tested out the new rudder. "It's fantastic, better than new," he said with a huge smile.

They headed out across the habor with hopes to fill their sail with the big winds and catch the teams who were now 20-30 minutes ahead.

Meanwhile, Race Director, Paul Romero accompanied the teams to the island in a power boat. He radioed to base camp to request an additional boat from the Mexican Navy as the teams quickly spread out in the large swells.

At 9:30 a.m. five teams had checked into CP1 at the island. All reported that things were great and they were fine. All were enjoying the rough conditions. Teams Stride and the father, son and daughter team of Kayak Lake Mead were the first to arrive at 9:17 a.m. Ten minutes later, Teams Helly Hanson/Momar, Team BAARBD Wire and Team DART arrived at CP1.

The big swells brought trouble to three teams who flipped their boats and had to use some rescue techniques to keep moving. Teams Wild Burros!, Baja Total Fitness and Scrat all returned to the start after various levels of submersion. All were in good condition and were heading to CP2 with their crews to restart in an unranked position.

More to come as the excitement unfolds. The winds continue to blast the coast, but the rain has stopped and the skies are blue.See All Event Posts