August 20: Rescues give other teams reason to pause
By Dan Morrison

Team Dew launches into the final leg of the race

But the Eco-Challenge doesn't give such an award to anybody, even those who are inspirational in their failure, or fail in a brave and noble way.

Those who fail can expect a helicopter rescue and a safe return to their hotel in Cairns.

Nothing more.

When Team East Wind staggered into Bramston Beach yesterday, team member Nohoko Hayama's legs were so trashed she had to be carried into camp on the back of one of her teammates. After medical attention and a long nap, she was once again picked up by a teammate and carried to the mess tent, where she grabbed a little food.

Completely unable to walk, Hayama refused to quit. If her teammates would carry her, she would continue. Luckily they only had to carry her down the beach to the kayaks.

At 4 a.m. this morning, Hayama was carried down to the kayaks, wincing in pain the entire way. Her teammates tucked her into the boats, and, after making all the final preparations, they pushed off.

Hayama's ordeal was only to get worse.

Somewhere off the coast of Fitzroy Island, the second and more severe squall caught up to the Japanese team. The pilot of one of the helicopters described the scene.

"When the squall hit them the seas were up to 6 to 8 feet. Their kayak kept rolling over and over. There was a rescue boat right next to them, but there was nothing they could do in those high seas."

The squall passed quickly, but the damage was done. Not only could Hayama not walk, now she couldn't paddle. Team East Wind was plucked from the water and transported to Cairns. Another victim of the volatile weather of North Queensland.

Steve Hilts of Team Ranger, stranded at Bramston Beach

"Basically we arrived here at Bramston Beach near the end of the pack," Hilts explained. "But we've been having a pretty good race, a lot of problems, but we've overcome all the obstacles.

"We got here pretty tired, about 2:30 in the morning. We got our kayak gear together, and at first light shoved off, about 7:30.

"We were maybe 100 yards off the beach when a squall hit us. And we hunkered down and rafted together and got through that. We go on the radio and tried to get some info, and they said the squall could last from five minutes to 20 minutes.

"So we put the kayaks into the beach, because we thought we might have a problem with one of the rudders [leading to the rumor that Team Canada had been blown ashore; such is the nature of the rumor factory at this event].

"The kayak official met us about half a mile down the beach where we had been blown. And the rudder looked okay to him. There was a problem that he was able to correct.

"At that point we came back and talked to one of the race officials about the chances of further squalls, and what our options were at that point, because we had intermediate paddlers and two beginners. And we weren't too sure about our safety. Which was basically our call.

"But we wanted to rely on the race officials to give us their best information. They basically told us, 'We just sent off two more teams, and if you'd like to continue, fine; if you don't you are disqualified.'

"So we were getting ready to launch when all of a sudden another front moved in and just blasted the area with rain. It was so bad you could hardly see. At that point we got the word on the radio to hold all teams on the beach, and for those teams on the water to get off as soon as possible.

"I have severe reservations about tomorrow. They [the Eco staff] have their criteria about what they want to do with their event, and I have my safety criteria, and what we're going to do with our team.

"I would like to be able to rely on them for the best information, and we didn't get it today. They told us, 'Go for it. Get out there.' And today six rescues were performed. So that tells me something was lacking on their part.

"I have heard that the weather tomorrow is supposed to be just a little bit better than today. And I'm going to recommend to the team that we don't go. Just for safety reasons. It's not important to me. I've got a wife. I've got a family.

"But I'm part of a team, and we've come a long way together. So we'll have to see how they feel.

"Six teams rescued. And it's still raining now. I can't believe it.

"I've got a real bad feeling about tomorrow."

Dan Morrison covered the Marathon des Sables for Outside Online.