A note from Charlie and Sophie (from the riverbank)

Update so far! Charlie and I are waiting for the Camels at Mile 178, Thomaston Bridge between Cuero and Victoria. Its about 9pm and we expect them in approx. 2 hours. We can only give them water and an ice sock, a big sock stuffed with ice, which are proving a huge hit in the paddling fraternity.

Their spirits are good, the canoe is holding up brilliantly and they smell simply horrid. No injuries just a few aches and pains which handfuls of ibruprofen is handling well. Their lovely Camel uniforms are gradually disintegrating, Simon and James are still in theirs but are a muddy brown whilst JM is sporting a lovely muscle shirt.

It has been a tougher race than normal as the water level has been at an all time low so this exposes more log jams and sand/gravel bars which they have to portage over and/or around, this has really proved more difficult than they envisaged. Conditions now are good, open river with little debris but a strong headwind which is coming up from the Gulf, this is challenging for all teams. Sadly we were hoping for current but there is none to help them on this leg. Best advice for them is to try and get in the lee of the shore if possible and keep the bow down.

James has gone past his Nemesis leg from the previous race and he was dead chuffed to reach that point. We have foisted water on them like crazy almost to the point of bullying as staying hydrated is so key, obvious I know but easy to try and keep the weight down in the boat. Yesterday we had a fierce culling of all extraneous items, camera, some tools, clothing (more of which was JM's which he apparently needed! James was not popular), all in an effort to give them more water.

On the support side of things Charlie and I are having a blast, everyone involved with the Texas Water Safari be they officials or participants have been wonderful. As I write this we are sitting on the river bank in the middle of the most breathtaking country with about 25 of us all laughing and joking, sipping a Jameson on ice from quite the loveliest Texan with guess what on the radio?..........Country Music!!!! Woo hoo! There is such a sense of camaraderie and a diverse mix of people, quite a unique experience. The only downfall is the sheer quantity of Deet and citronella we have inhaled but ne'er a mozzie in sight! Fire ants are another question. Had a whopping case of heat rash today which starts with a massively swollen bottom lip (think Angelina Jolie but minus the top one) and a delightful armpit rash. Dead attractive. Charlie, being Daughter of Barbara, has medicine for all occasions so a good dose of Claritin aided by the whisky is doing wonders.

We have got our system down to a fine art now; stock with gallon jugs of water, copious amounts of ice and small bottles of water, drive to the checkpoints and hurry up and wait. When they arrive we scoot down to the river bank full of info about the coming leg and motivational speeches which I suspect irritate them no end. Charlie is Comms control and statistician whilst I drive,navigate and truck housekeeper, it seems to work perfectly. The truck is a tricked out black Ford Expedition SUV, aka The Pimpmobile. Its also serves as our bedroom, quite comfy really although it has one of the Camels shorts in it and is a little odiferous. Walmart is the store of choice, in fact it seems to be the only store, spent a littke too much time in there today and left with matching outfits, photo to come. We figured it might be good for morale. Well typing on a Blackberry is wearing but will update more soon.Go Camels!Sophie and Charlie