Registration and Orientation

Final day before the start which meant official registration and orientation to the race. The Texas State University Aquarena was a hive of activity as teams from the 100 boats entered into the race were busy making final preparations and registering their boats with race officials. Boats varied in size from small15ft. solos to 40ft. six man canoes. James' obsessive compulsions this past week had paid off, or at least he seemed to be in good company. The level of detail which other entrants had gone to in preparing their canoes was astounding. There was an immense sense of pride amongst our team as onlookers complimented us on the "cleanliness" of our canoe, a term indicative of the high-level of space-efficiency and practicality that had gone into setting out all our kit within the vessel. The "Dauman bike bottle holder" was amongst the innovations to the sport that James could be credited with. 

Conversations with veterans and novices alike seemed to revolve around a common theme - water, or rather a distinct lack of it. As confirmed by race officials during the late afternoon official welcome and orientation speech, this year is decidedly looking to be the toughest in the race's history. Record breaking low-water levels, abnormally high ambient temperatures and log-jams of epic proportions had combined to make what race veterans and officials called "the worst conditions ever for the Texas Water Safari". Talk of low-water levels concentrating all obstacles (fallen trees, aligators and other potentially unpleasant river creatures) and portages stretching for over a mile did little to calm our pre-race nerves. We also felt that our participation in the race was being followed closely by some of the other racers, as well as by the officials and even the local TV news channel (James and JM made another TV appearance, this time on local TV Channel 8 - footage to follow), so it is with an immense sense of pride not to mention purpose, that we continue our adventure thousand of miles away from home, hoping to return victorious and in one piece.

We look forward to final, final preparations tonight back at the hotel, having left our canoe wrapped in selofane and almost fully kitted out, in the park next to the start line. We will enjoy a final carb-loading meal hosted by the hotel's owners, who have also been caught up in the buzz of a team from Abu Dhabi flying to Texas to endure the challenges and hardships of the toughest boat race in the world, in the toughest year of the race's history.