Cape Cod Bay Challenge 2018

[stoneaxe]

Lot's of changes this year.

Here's the official release from Chaser

"CCBC Paddlers –
 
Benjamin Franklin said….”When you’re finished changing, you are finished”….after 10-years of running the CCBC we are not finished but we do believe it is time for a change…..
 
The 2018 Cape Cod Bay Challenge will take place on Saturday, July 28th. This year we are shaking things up a bit and the route will be a 22-mile coastal paddle from Nantasket Beach (Hull, MA) to Duxbury Beach (Duxbury, MA). In addition, registration for the paddle will be open to a limited number (amount TBD) of teams (two people). There will be an alternate start location to the south of Duxbury Beach in case of unfavorable wind and weather conditions.
 
The after party will be held at Blakeman’s Restaurant on Duxbury Beach and should be a crazy good time. As organizers of the event, we are extremely excited about the new format and believe it will open the paddle up to more participants which will hopefully translate into greater awareness and fundraising for the non-profit we support….Christopher’s Haven (www.christophershaven.org).
 
A special thank you to the Duxbury Beach Reservation and Dana Battista from Blakeman’s Restaurant for allowing us to hold our event in such a spectacular location.
 
Registration for the event will open in a few weeks…….
 
Paddle on people!"



We had considerable discussion about the route and venue change. I and others voiced some concern about not crossing the bay but after talking it out I think it's a good change....certainly worth doing and seeing how it goes. I think most folks that wanted to cross the bay have likely already done so. Last year was our 10th anniversary and for many paddlers their (5th, 6th, or more) time doing it. The change for most of them we're hoping will be welcome.

This route gives us far less to be worried about and reduces our expenses..primarily the whale watch boat we were required to charter for safety. We also wanted to open up the event to relay teams to help increase attendance and fundraising and this also makes that far easier to support. It's a shorter paddle...still long but a little more inviting to a larger number of folks. The bottom line is that our focus is on raising funds for CH and we think this will enhance that.

The change is energizing us and we're all anticipating a very fun event. I'm really looking forward to it. I'll be pushing for a break at the halfway point at the south river...though I'm not sure how much break we'll get if there is surf....long, long rides there on a 14'er......

[PonoBill]

Wow. I more or less figured last year was my last CCBC, but this is interesting. I'll have to look at the other stuff I'm committed to, but if it's feasible, I'm in. It would be great to see all those folks again. And tell the guys the band better be good because I plan on dancing afterward. No fucking reggae stuff. By dancing, I don't mean bobbing up and down like a rooster.

[stoneaxe]

We heard more than a few regulars say the same thing. LOL...I liked the Reggae band we had last year...though I didn't dance much. Dropping is dancing if you can do it like a Jamaican....

[PonoBill]

Like them all you like, I saw you get up and bob around ONCE! After paddling that kind of distance I need to move or I'll freeze up like a statue. But I thought that date sounded kind of iffy. Portland Vintage Race Festival--same weekend. Mr. Peyote didn't get exercised last year, but this year I"m gonna hit it hard. Oh, wait, bad metaphor for racing cars.

[Caribsurf]

Hey Stoney what kind of conditions would we expect paddling North to South? Is it going to be a constant side chop? I am not familiar with Hull or Duxbury..is there surf or is it a calm bay?  A down winder  would be nice

Also by having  2 person teams, is this now a race? Can 1person paddle the 22miles or do you have to split it up?
Seeing that it’s only 22 miles, I hope that means we can sleep in a bit and not hit the water at 5 am 😄

[Chaser]

Don -

All the details have not been ironed out but we should have everything ready to go by May 1. 

The plan is to stay relatively close (within a quarter mile) of shore at all times...probably closer for a majority of the paddle.  I have paddled the Nantasket to Duxbury course in parts and both ways several times.  There are certain sections (along Humarock Beach) where side chop will be prevalent and then certain sections where it is generally protected and calm-ish (obviously depend on weather, wind and swell).  It is a pretty cool paddle with lots of massive house gazing along the way.  Nantasket is one of the local surf spots and could have some swell to paddle out through at the beginning but that time of year is generally flat. 

If the forecast is for a stiff wind coming from the south, the plan is to change to start to Scusset Beach (where we launched last year) and paddle north with the wind to Dux Beach (also about 22 miles).

The addition of the relay teams does not make this a race.  I know there are a bunch of people that really want a race component to the CCBC but it adds some serious logistical issues and isn't really what the CCBC is all about.  There are plenty of other race events out there that paddlers can participate in to satisfy their competitive spirit.  The thought of adding the relay teams is that it opens the event up to people who might not be interested in paddling the entire 22 miles and brings in more $$$s for Christopher's Haven.  We will limit the number of teams to 15-20 or something like that and our hope is that we will have more people interested in paddling the 22 miles solo.  Non-paddling team members will be on the support boats and teams can change paddlers only during on of the breaks.

Thinking that we will kick things off around 7am this year but need to confirm that with the authorities at the launch locations.

Hope you guys can make it!!!!

[Caribsurf]

hey Mike I hope you are having a great winter, and thanks for addressing my questions.  It sounds interesting for sure and anyway we can get more paddlers, the better it is for CH

after 7 years of paddling the 34 mile CCBC a 22 mile paddle sound more like a training session 

looking forward to learning more when details become available.

[Chaser]

This year’s poster...many thanks to Jess Hassett from Levitate for the design.

Registration is open so get signed up - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2018-cape-cod-bay-challenge-registration-45418681499

Bill sorry to say that one of the bands is that reggae shit....you look really good bobbing up and down like a rooster..seriously!

[stoneaxe]

Tomorrow's the day. Weather looks like it will hold. We did change to the alternate route since we are supposed to have 10-15 mph SW winds. So the crew will have a downbreezer making it a bit nicer. I can't paddle this year unfortunately...shit be falling apart on me... . Small crew this year but we expected that some after last year being the 10th. Bunch of folks taking a year off. We'll still raise about $50,000 for the kids at CH though so all good.

[PonoBill]

I didn't do the race after all, so I could have come. To damn hot to drive a race car. Yeah, I know, big sissy. I have a cool suit, but being at the track all day in 100 degree heat is brutal. Anyway, I'll do it next year if you do Bro. Maybe we could do it as a relay...  ...NOT. Get Mikey to relay with you.

[stoneaxe]

No...i'm going solo next year. Plan on coming out. Very bummed out not to be getting on the water with everyone this morning. Very small crew. Just a few new folks. Should be an easy one with the shorter distance and following wind. Foggy to start but it cleared before launch.

The party is going to be next to Blakeman's at Duxbury Beach. You're missing the oyster bar, and this one should be real good.......this is Island Creek Oysters backyard.....fresh and lots of them.....

[yugi]

nice pics! Glorious scene.

Have a fun race day!

I'm keeping you company on shore duty. Bust my collarbone. Hiking is my new sport.

mph? whats that?

[supthecreek]

Looks like perfect conditions Bobby!
I hope everyone had a good challenge and the newbies got some feel for the event....
Demo day in RI was fun, but I really missed being on a support boat, and hanging with everyone after..... such a nice crew! 

[PonoBill]

OK, I'm in. Get healthy.

[stoneaxe]

Thanks Yugi...heal well...come out and join us sometime.

We missed you Rick. Very CCBC vibe in the air last night.....you know the contented glow everyone has...I thought it might be diminished by the change but not at all. Simon was there as well as some of the other families, lots of hugs going around....

The challenge has shifted a bit for the CCBC I think. This was by far the easiest we've had. By changing to the near shore route and having alternate north/south launch points we can minimize wind and sometimes like yesterday get a nice push. There was still some personal challenge for some of the the newbies but as we go forward we are focusing more on the good we do for the kids and their families. We had great feedback yesterday, paddlers, boat captains, support all liked the change. We saw a lot of interest in the community, even though I did a shitty job of getting the word out locally we had a lot of folks watching and cheering us on along the way. We also had lots of folks at Duxury beach that said they wished they had known so they could support it.

Lots of excitement for what is possible next year. I was concerned for what the change might bring but I'm real glad we did it now. Still a challenge, just not so extreme, and it opens it up to far more folks to participate. We'll see some more change for sure. There's a lot we can do to bring others into the family that doesn't require someone to paddle only on the right side for 12 hours.... .

OH...and edit to my previous post above....it wasn't Island creek oysters this year...my mind went fuzzy. It was Powder Point Oysters.....the petites....freakin amazing....Andrew and his helper were shucking for an hour+ and since Pono wasn't there everyone had plenty  so I didn't feel too bad about sucking down a dozen or so.... 
http://www.powderpointoysters.com/our-oysters.html