Ski to Sea notebook: Kayak leg

"I'm actually relieved, just because of the direction of the wind," Walker said. "We'd be paddling directly into the strong south wind. We'd be exhausted before we could finish."

That was a change from what she originally thought about the leg.

"We thought it was going to be perfect conditions. Everyone's been focusing on the canoe leg," she said. "When I saw the whitecaps this morning, I freaked out."

BLACK STALLIONS

Don't blame Nick Toering for his team's name.

What can you say when you’re the Black Stallions, other than: "I didn't choose it."

The 18-year-old Seattle resident was in his first Ski to Sea, along with other high school students from Seattle.

"I'm a little bit nervous about this race," admitted the Franklin High School senior, who was more accustomed to paddling in sprint kayak races on flat water.

Still, he had mixed feelings about the kayak leg being shortened.

"I kind of wanted to do the whole five miles, but I am glad, because of the conditions, that we're doing the shorter one," he said.

But he was disappointed that the canoe leg was cut.

"They were our best bets," Toering said of his canoeists, adding that they were like the "anchors" of the team.

IN MEMORIAM

For the team members of Runningshoes.com, Ski to Sea was a time to compete, celebrate and remember a lost friend.

Teammates wore shirts dedicated to Kevin LaFleur, a former teammate and friend who recently disappeared while climbing Mount Baker and whose body has yet to be found.

"The last 10 years, he was with us for eight of them," said Peter Marcus, 48, kayaker for the team.

For the past few years, LaFleur had been the team's downhill skier, but the Lynden resident went missing while climbing at the end of April.

"He's definitely with us in spirit," Marcus said.

TAKING IT EASY

There’s a reason why Jake Gates was flat on his back in the grass, taking a nap, his eyes hidden behind shades that would've made Elvis jealous.

"I've got all the time in the world right now. My team's way back," the 29-year-old Bellingham resident said while relaxing near the outrigger canoe he had borrowed from a friend.\

Normally, he'd be doing the mountain bike leg. But the kayaker for The Trailer Park Boys team had blown out his knee last week, so Gates found himself doing the kayak leg for the first time in his fourth year of competing in Ski to Sea.

On the grass near Gates was his mullet wig, his plastic WWE championship belt and wrestling leotard.

"I had a full-body leotard on, but it’s too cold to wear it," he said. "It's too wet out there."

If conditions out on the bay improved — kayakers spent the day paddling in windy, choppy conditions — Gates said he might don the whole outfit.

And so what if it was 3 p.m. and he didn't expect to be able to leave for another hour?

"It's just fun. It's good times," he said.

LONG HAUL VOLUNTEERS

Contestants come from near and far to participate in the Ski to Sea race, but Dave and Mary Lynne Courtney drove 3,000 miles.

And they're not even in the race.

The couple, who just moved to Bellingham from North Carolina, were volunteers at the finish line, watching kayakers come ashore and ring the bell triumphantly to finish off the race.

"Three thousand fun-filled miles of interstate," Dave said. "We saw the deer and the antelope and the tumbleweeds."

And now they get to see the excitement of Ski to Sea, where they've been volunteering for the past few years before the big move.

"This is fun," Mary Lynne said. "We used Ski to Sea as a way to get to know people before we moved here."

This year's race was particularly pleasant because of the warm sun and cool breeze on the beach.

"It's beautiful here," she said.

RACE TO THE FINISH

The loss of the canoe leg and the shortening of the kayak leg made for some fierce competition at the end of the race.

"It was pretty crazy," said Larry Bussinger, the kayaker for the Banditos Burritos team. "Everyone was bunching one after another. There was no canoe leg to stretch it out."

Bussinger, 58, of Bellingham, was in a dead heat with another competitor on the water.

"I just beat them to landing, but I couldn't outrun them," he said of his close call.

Though there were quite a few clumped competitors, Bussinger says that in his 18 years of kayaking the race, he's seen tighter finishes.

"I've been in races before where it was neck and neck the entire race," he said. "This time I was out there alone and I just happened to catch somebody."

DID NOT FINISH

Team Do Work was eliminated from Ski to Sea in the final leg of the race, after their kayaker was forced to turn around due to a snapped rudder line.

James Adams, 32, Bellingham, said he had been kayaking for 20 minutes when the line broke.

"We were in the top 30," Adams said. "Now we have to drop out of the race."

A patrol boat brought Adams back to the kayak starting line.

He and a friend hauled the kayak back up the dock as other race participants put their kayaks in the water.

Adams has competed in Ski to Sea for seven years and has been the team’s kayaker for three of those years.

He said he planned to compete in the same leg next year and wasn’t dissuaded by Sunday's disappointing finish.

"It was a fun but unusual day," Adams said.

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