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Standup Paddle Board event on Lake Tahoe
By Jack Leth Flotilla Staff Officer-Operations 11-01
During the weekend of Aug 21st and 22nd the 4th Annual Ta-Hoe Nalu races were held on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe. As we do most weekends during the summer the Auxiliary was there providing additional safety assets to back up the organizer. While the safety of the participants is the responsibility of the organizer they really appreciate having additional trained resources on scene in the event something happens.
Stand up Paddle Boards (SUPs) are the latest, greatest "new thing" here on Lake Tahoe. In case you are not familiar with the SUP, here's one at the event.
This one is a little unusual in that he has a "leash" attached to the board and his ankle; this is similar to what surfers do along the California shore. During organized events the participants are not required to wear or carry life jackets so all the chase boats and AUX facilities have to be extra vigilant for a SUP participant in the water. In the pictures you will see some of the participants with small backpacks; they have a tube that goes around to their face area to give them liquid nourishment.
Saturday dawned with a lot of wind that had been blowing all night generating some pretty good sized waves.
(It got worse during the day with the result that the one AUX boat that made it for the start eventually was near its operational limits and in the interest of safety had to RTB...love our acronyms...Return To Base).
All this weather didn't deter most of the participants; over 200 of them started the first race of the day.
They're off!
Sunday still had some wind but a lot less so we had two facilities on scene to back up the organizer's safety vessels.
Yule Tide, Flotilla 11N-11-01
Camie Marie, Flotilla 11N-11-01
In this picture the crew is talking to one of the organizer's PWCs. Note the large number of tents on the beach; this is quite a "happening".
The first race of the day was from Kings Beach to Dollar Point and back. Dollar Point is visible in the distance (a little over 4 nautical miles away).
Here's what we're looking for during the event
The participant has just fallen off his board and it capsized (note fin sticking up in the air).
No problem; he flipped it back over, got back on board and back in the race.
The first race of the day on Sunday included some small outrigger canoes like this one.
Before we leave at the end of the event the last thing we do is get a confirmation from the organizer that all his participants are accounted for.
If they are all accounted for then it time to head for the barn.
