Miami & the Puff Dragon Boat Team

What would a trip to Miami with dragon boat friends be without paddling? 

 

We didn’t formally meet the team members of Puff Dragon Boat Team at Oliver’s wedding but Leon, Tony, and I wandered out to the Miami Rowing Center Sunday morning to see if we could hop on Puff’s dragon boat to fulfill our paddling jones.  For those that didn’t know, Puff is the team Oliver paddles and coaches for since he left LARD and LA for Miami. 

 

After spending about 40 minutes driving around trying to find the Miami Rowing Center, which was a 5-minute drive from our hotel, we finally met the paddlers of Puff.  What a great group.  They were all so welcoming and friendly. 

 

Even though they were preparing for a race next week, they still found seats for us.  It must have been visiting day for Puff because there was also a dragon boat steersman from Britain.

 

We quickly realized how hardcore Puff paddlers were.  They paddle in one of the hottest humid infernos known to man.  GEEZ, was it blazing.  At least, we didn’t have to wear pfds.  I bet if LARD had to deal with such heat and humidity, we would morph into an OC6 team with no spares.

 

The good thing about the heat and humidity was I was able to test our practice shirts (Patagonia Capilene 1) in “extreme” conditions.  The shirt passed with flying colors. 

 

It was so mother f’ing hot and humid, right after we docked at the conclusion of practice, we went straight for the water fountain then right to the pristine multi-lane swimming pool that was right next to the rowing center for a few laps to cool down.

 

For those of you wondering, it was my first dragon boat paddling session since May as I have been recovering from my most recent back injury.  No pain while paddling.  This is a good sign. 

 

Thanks again to Puff for being so gracious.  I hope to see them out in Long Beach so we can return the favor!

 

 

 

Air Horns and PFDs

Contrary to what many assume, I did not go to UCLA.  I did my undergrad at UCSD.  My first year, I lived on Argo II and shared a suite with a bunch of pranksters.

One of the things we did to entertain ourselves was to scare the living crap out of people.  We quickly graduated from hiding behind doors and jumping out at people to using air horns to scare them.  All hours of the day, you would hear air horn blasts from our floor.  It didn’t matter what our friends were doing – in the bathroom, taking a shower, shaving, sleeping, or studying.  It didn’t matter.  You were fair game.  Yes, we were jackasses.

Anyways, air horns and other “sound making devices” were banned the following year.  Our rebellion morphed into hiding in our kitchen cabinets so we didn’t have to leave our rooms for earthquake and fire drills.  The ironic thing was we were also “creatively” using Everclear and lighters. 

Well, many years later, it looks like another rule was created to protect me.

After seeing another Southern California team use inflatable pdfs at this year’s Long Beach Tournament and learning the USDBF (United States Dragon Boat Federation) approved the inflatable pfd for all USDBF-sanctioned dragon boat races, I began to use an inflatable pfd for practice.  A few of my teammates also started using them.  They were great – comfy, liberating and safe.  It reminded me of racing in the ’06 ICR World Championships in Taiwan – or paddling freely on an OC1.

There are pluses and minuses to the inflatable pfd.  The main negative is that you have to pull the cord for the pfd to inflate.  So, if a dragon boat capsized and all 22 people simultaneously knocked themselves out, those 22 people would be pretty much screwed and would go straight to the bottom of the ocean.  Also, you have to periodically check the pfd’s gauge to see if it needs to be serviced.

The standard pfd is not without its negatives as well – one of the biggest for me is it’s actually much more difficult to get back into a boat with a standard pfd on.  Also, the standard pfd provides a false sense of security.  I don’t think it’s very bright for someone to even think about paddling in any sort of boat unless that person can swim.  But there are people that paddle without bothering to learn how to swim and believe a pfd is their substitute for learning swimming and basic water safety.

One’s ability to swim wearing a standard pfd is also severely retarded.  Pfds were designed to keep you floating in an upright position – not swim (or get back into a boat, for that matter).  If you have to swim any length over 10 yards, you’re screwed.

The fact that there are paddlers that don’t know how to swim magnify the need for leaders/swimmers on a boat to be mobile in the event a “non-swimmer” paddler is in need of a rescue.  Wearing a standard pfd, a stud swimmer becomes a sitting duck that cannot offer meaningful assistance.

Why the rant? I just got word over the weekend, that the SCDBC has officially banned the inflatable pfd.  Before, this past weekend, the SCDBC had no official stance on the inflatable pfd.

The above being said, I understand the SCDBC desire for safety.  I can only presume the merits of the inflatable pfd were discussed before they were banned.  I don’t know, though.  I wasn’t there because I wasn’t invited (I find this peculiar as I am currently counsel for the ICEA and SCDBC)

No more inflatable pfds on dragon boats, people.  Sorry.

Dragon Boat Restaurant on Yelp

A restaurant near Miami we probably won’t be able to try because of time constraints. 

 
Dragon Boat Restaurant
20 N Federal Hwy
Hallandale Beach, Florida 33009
(954) 457-9054
http://www.yelp.com/biz/dragon-boat-restaurant-hallandale-beach

The place has no reviews. How cool would it be for me to be the first person to review it???

ZRE Dragon XL v. Merlin Dragon Boat Paddle

Nick sent me these pictures of the new ZRE Dragon XL and his Merlin.

 Nick mentioned the craftsmanship on the Merlin is better.

 I hope to have my XL in my grubby paws late next week. More on the paddle next week.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Where Dragon Boat Happens

Aerial view of Mothers Beach/Naples Island, Long Beach.

Ghetto Speed Pass

Vi and I are driving around in Miami. I guess you need some sort of speed pass to remotely pay tolls for the freeway carpool lane.

 Will this work?

WTF Award Goes to the Bacon Bra!

What everyone wants – a Bacon Bra!

Daily IDBF Dragon Boat World Championships Results

You can track results here.

More pictures here and here.

Prague Pictures

Here are some pictures from Canadian Jason Au.

Thanks, Chuck.

Looks like the Swift Boats are having some difficulties…

Tommy L’s Photo in Sports Illustrated

See and download the full gallery on posterous

More From Nick in Prague

Sr. A Open bronze. Hungary 1st 7 s ahead, Russia 2nd 1 s ahead. Caught hungary 1st 500, sat on them til last 500. Lost them last 250 as we took on water & started to sink. Made it to dock as we were going under. Premier men ran bench 4 empty to keep nose light. Off to bed more tomorrow.

Iran Sunk

Iran didn't make it to the finish line….

Thanks for sending this, Nick!

WTF, Microsoft?

http://mashable.com/2009/08/26/microsoft-photoshop-trainwreck/

IDBF World’s Update

“Senior A women 4th. Senior B women (grand) silver. Senior B men sunk, dnf.”

 All teams refer to TeamUSA unless noted otherwise.

Update from Nick at Worlds

Nick’s text updates posted with his permission:

 ”Just finished 2k. Sinking as we hit dock. Passed 4 boats, didn’t get passed. Don’t know where we finished. Senior women medaled. Premiere teams race soon.”