Attendance: Bruce Bodson, Tim Brooking, Brent Hwang
Distance: 11.44 miles
Water Bodies: Lake Charlotte, Lake Pass, Trinity River, the Sulfur Cut, and Mac Bayou
In order to help prepare for the April 1st Lake Charlotte Challenge race, Tim, Brent and I went out to the racecourse to see what it looked like. It looked like a great place to hold a race!
The weather was pleasant, reasonably warm with a bit of light fog on Lake Charlotte, but no rain. Due to the fog, I led us astray paddling from Cedar Hill Park to Lake Pass, demonstrating the need to have a safety boat out there marking the spot on race day. Still, Lake Charlotte was glassy calm and made for a lovely paddle in the morning.
Lake Pass was flowing pretty well, and paddling toward the Trinity was a nice easy run. There were no unusual hazards or obstructions in the pass. When we reached the Trinity we had a brief discussion about whether or not to go up the Trinity to the Sulfur Cut as the racers will do, or return up Lake Pass to Lake Charlotte and go across Lake Charlotte to Mac Bayou, and up to the Sulfur Cut. Ultimately, after about a half mile of piddling on the Trinity, we returned by way of Lake Pass. Going back up Lake Pass was probably about as tough as going back up the Trinity, since both Lake Charlotte and Miller Lake were high and draining to the river. On the run back up through Lake Pass we saw the first of what proved to be several large alligators on the trip.
Brent had time trouble and departed for Cedar Hill Park as we approached Sand Island, so Tim and I continued up Mac Bayou and looked at the Sulfur Cut. There were no obstructions in Mac Bayou or the Sulfur Cut, other than a profusion of larger alligators, most in the 8-to-10-foot class. They should make the race interesting! We established a location for our turnaround buoy and determined a good location for our visibility person to sit at the intersection of the Trinity and the Sulfur Cut.
On our run back down Mac Bayou the alligators were again congregating on the shoreline behind Sand Island, but they shyly slipped away as we approached. I expect similar behavior on race day. The trip across Lake Charlotte was bumpy, even though the wind was probably not anything over 12-15 mph, so a consideration for race day.
I would say that we have a good route and that barring some truly inclement weather, it looks like we’re a go!