August 20: Storm puts race on hold
By Dan Morrison

Marshall Ulrich of Team Stray Dogs attempts to launch in heavy surf

Team Stray Dogs arrived at Bramston Beach sometime just after midnight in the middle of a torrential downpour. The were able to find a relatively dry spot in the corner of one of the communication tents, where they flopped down on the ground and immediately fell into an exhausted sleep.

In the morning the rain abated a bit, although it continued to occasionally whip through the camp area. Stray Dogs began prepping their kayaks.

Mark Macy and Shazz Davis were both limping slightly. "It's just the cumulative damage," winced Macy, "my feet are destroyed."

Davis attempted to put the best face on the painful ordeal. "It's okay really," she said while walking on her heels to avoid putting any pressure at all on her trashed toes, "this is almost over. Let's get going."

Macy, who had never been in a sea kayak before, was clearly nervous about the idea of paddling one for 10 hours in the open sea, sea that had sunk a kayak the previous day and put one team out of the race.

As Stray Dogs checked the steering foot pedals, and checked and rechecked the waterproof seals on the fore and aft hatches, a slight breeze began to flutter the flaps on the temporary tent city that has been following the race along its course.

The the storm hit with a vengeance.

The 30-foot communications antenna, although securely anchored with a dozen strong wires affixed to stakes hammered deep into the ground, quickly bent double and the tip slammed into the rain saturated soil.

Radio communications were temporarily out.

Scott Flavell quickly rushed to the beach to notify the safety officers to hold all boats.

Stray Dogs withdrew to a tent to wait out the storm.

Eco staff and volunteers frantically attempted to open tent flaps, close tent flaps, tie back tent flaps, untie tent flaps, anything that would keep the tents themselves from blowing down or blowing away.

Expensive electronic media gear was moved from area in danger of being flooded as the rain water began to collect in puddles and small lakes around the area.

Radio traffic became frantic.

One report had the remnants of Team Canada being blown back onto the coastline somewhere far north of Bramston Beach, but another report had them hiding from the storm on Russell Island. As with many of the reports during crisis situations in this race, it was impossible to know which was accurate.

Mark Burnett, who was well aware of the fact there were several teams offshore in kayaks, teams who would feel the storm's effects as those on the beach could only imagine, appeared slightly nervous as tents nearly disintegrated under the onslaught of the winds.

Mark Macy of Team Stray Dogs

Once the danger had passed, the teams were given the green light to launch. When it became clear that none of the teams out to sea had called for emergency rescue, Burnett relaxed and began to joke with Stray Dogs, who were making final preparation — again — to launch their kayaks.

It was pointed out to Burnett that this storm had hit with the intensity of the storm in British Columbia that had necessitated a temporary cessation of the race and the emergency evacuation of teams off the side of a mountain. Not only that, but this storm had occurred at nearly the conclusion of the race, just as the Canadian storm had done.

Burnett smiled and joked, "We just trying to keep everybody happy."

When asked what he had planned for next year's race in Morocco, now that an end-of-the-race-storm seems to be a tradition in the making, Burnett answered, "We'll have a sand storm."

Could happen.

When Stray Dogs finally slipped their kayaks into the surf, huge breakers rolled up on the beach, up and over the front of the kayaks and over the competitors. Marshall Ulrich's spray skirt was loose on one side, and his boat was quickly filled with water.

The kayak was pulled back up on the beach, and the water was pumped out. Then they launched again.

Paddling furiously, both kayaks crashed through the surf and Team Stray Dogs was on its way to Russell Island, Fitzroy Island, and finally the finish line at Cairns. If only the weather would hold.

It didn't.

A couple hours later yet another storm roared in from the ocean. Soon a voice could be heard on the radio, a helicopter pilot alerting the medical team at Bramston Beach he would be arriving soon with a competitor and to have blankets ready.

Another case of hypothermia. And in this case severe seasickness.

Team Halti from Finland had left about an hour before, during the lull between storms, Team member Panu Kanniainen, 22 years old, had felt the queasy symptoms of seasickness as soon as his boat passed through the breakers. It only got worse.

Then he became chilled, and began to shiver uncontrollably. They estimated they were perhaps kilometers from the safety of Russell Island. That should take a team of strong paddlers less than an hour.

An evacuated racer is carried to the medical tent at Bramston Beach

Kanniainen has to his credit: Finnish Olympic Training Team in canoeing, '96 Nordic champion in 500-meter canoeing, fifth place '95 World Cup canoeing, and competition in both the '93 and '95 world championships in canoeing.

But the seas between Bramston Beach and Russell Island were simply too much. Seasickness and hypothermia removed any hopes they had of safely reaching the island. They called for a helicopter rescue and soon Kanniainen was being carefully lifted out of the helicopter and carried to the medical tent.

For Team Halit, the race is over.

And in fact, for those five teams who have yet to reach the kayak section — Team New York's Finest and Team Eco-Agents, who are still competing; Team Big five, Team Xtreme, and Team Dalriada, who are officially out of the race but still continuing — this race is temporarily shut down.

At just after 11 a.m., after the latest rescue, race manager Scott Flavelle, who in many ways is the man who decides when and when it is not safe to continue the event, made a decision to stop launching kayaks until the weather improves.

"As of right now," Flavelle said, "due to the weather and the amount of rescues we're doing, we do not want to put anymore teams in jeopardy. We are going to wait until better weather conditions, and that may be until tomorrow."

Things change quickly in this event. But it seems unlikely Flavelle will lift the ban on the kayak section until sunrise. The race is officially over at 23:59 tomorrow. The kayak section has been taking strong teams some 10 hours to complete. The last five teams, who will launch tomorrow at 6 a.m. at the earliest, will have 18 hours to reach the finish line.

For those five teams, this is still a very close race.

Dan Morrison covered the Marathon des Sables for Outside Online.