My legs felt comfortable in tempsfrom about 30 to 55 degrees F on the race. Bonus: The material never ripped orsnagged. I have had problems with tights and durability in past races, but theSalomons did not let me down.Big, cold ocean water -- in the guise of the Strait of Magellan and the Beagle Channel -- were venuesin the race. As such, our sea kayaking equipment was top end. Like all theteams, we paddled two-person replica Vacheron Constantin watches Necky Amurak kayaks, comfortable and stableplastic-hull boats. We were outfitted head to toe by Kokatat Watersports Wear,which leant Team GearJunkie.com demo dry suits, PFDs, skirts, gloves andbooties. Overall, the GORE-TEX Front Entry Dry Suits from Kokatatwere bomber. At $899, they dont come cheap. But in big water the extraprotection is needed. In a pre-race kayak test on the Strait of Magellan,
Lieutenant Colonel Steve Beres is kayaking blind, literally, into a Class IV rapid on Oregon’s Deschutes River. This is a good idea. He’s here for Operation Peer Support—a program designed by the Blinded Veterans Association (BVA) and Team River Runner to encourage physical and emotional healing through adventure sports. Their mission today is to safely descend the Deschutes River in whitewater rafts and kayaks with the replica Patek Philippe watches support of an experienced team of river guides, several of whom are disabled veterans themselves. The tandem kayak piloted by Beres in the bow, and Sam Drevo, owner of Northwest River Guides, in the stern, peels into the current above a ledge that rolls into a powerful hydraulic: the entrance to Oak Springs Rapid, the crux of the Deschutes.
Northwest River Guides organized Thursday’s Deschutes trip with the local chapter of Team River Runner, a national veterans organization that uses paddlesports as alternative therapy. About 20 veterans showed up for the trip, along with their replica watch gift family members, supporters, and a big goofy guide dog named Shep (short for Good Shepherd). Beres, the group’s bravest paddler, is a former U.S. Army Green Beret who was blinded seven years ago in Iraq when a rocketpropelled grenade exploded beside him. After an emergency flight back to the U.S., his face was completely reconstructed with bodyparts from a cadaver.
