Unlike you guys, we never really knew where we were positioned. We could ask other people on the river if they had seen any one through before us. We also started our compulsary six hour lay off early so any one behind us might pass while we were setting up camp. If they stopped after us they had to re start after us so we would pass them in the morning and know their position.
Steve's hands were falling apart, so early this morning I gaffer taped his right hand to the paddle. The worst case option was to tow him to the finish. Steve, however, after a new gaffer tape strap three hours from the finish, battled though the pain.
The last 30 kilometers down the deep valley to the finish had us battling into a twenty knot head wind with very litle river flow to help.
Ecstatic we were to finally see the bridge and the finish line, and even more Ecstatic to see our great land crew and quite a few locals cheer us across the line and to find out no one was ahead of us. And better still the second team were also Ausies about an hour behind ( check the web site for exact times.)
Land crew cleaned out the kayaks and we sadly said good buy the two great Australian boats the Horizon and Elliot. This is the first time ever single kayaks have raced over 1600 kilometers.
Steve is having his hands operated on and I am battling to keep my eyes open, so more tomorrow.
Tom
from the Landcrew
Thanks to Daen and Carina for writing the Blog when we had no access to the internet out on the Dalton Highway on the way to Prudoe Bay.
We are back in Fairbanks. The accommodation at the Yukon River Camp was very basic. Accommodation built in the 1970's for the workers on the pipeline, but the staff were far from basic they make our stay very enjoyable and the food was great. They left work to cheer on Steve and Tom from the bridge over the Yukon. They were the first to see the boys round the bend in the river and call to us.
A strong finish by the boys
medals for Tom and Steve
2nd No 4 Starfactor Rod Spinks, Greg Lennox from Queensland
3rd No 5 Tip-C David Dahl, Rick Lorenzen
lunch with the first 3 boats in
Remember No 8 Sugar Creek Bears,
No 9 Shalom Viking and No 1 Bearly Moving are still out there.
Congratulations Dad..
ReplyDeleteCongrats Tom and Steve, an awesome effort. I take my hat off to you both. Can't wait to hear the stories over coffee. No doubt you will be a training on Monday morning ha ha. Well done and catch up soon
ReplyDeleteCheers Yanda and Dean
That was great, fellas. A real milestone. Lots of milestones. Tim and Jude
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to you both! Everyone at Muktuk has been following the race, keen on getting updates and hearing the latest.
ReplyDeleteA hearty howl from the 137 huskies and the entire crew at Muktuk, especially Anne, Frank & Manuela
Well done Steve and Tom, a really impressive achievement. I thought the Hawkesbury was bad but this is ridiculous. Steve hope the hands recover, and Tom what's next?
ReplyDeleteA great Simmat effort on the blog too!
Cheers
Tim (Sindle)