Imagine preparing to negotiate alligator-infested waterways in the United States when suddenly a more immediate threat emerges.
Tasman Bay adventure racer Nathan Fa’avae was paddling alone at night, in the Great Alabama 650 race, until an uninvited local joined him in his surf ski.
“Quite a big fish launched itself out of the water, went across my body, latched on to my left arm and bit me. I thought it was an eel, managed to ward it off and escaped with scratches,” reveals Nathan who later discovered that fish was actually a Bowfin which is a huge North American ray-finned fish.
Nathan also had another narrow escape when his kayak became pinned against rocks, turfing him into the water underneath his boat.
He lost his night lights before freeing himself and returning to the race which had begun so well for the 53-year-old.
The multiple world adventure racing champion had gone out fast when the 26 contestants left the foot of the Appalachian foothills, down through Alabama bound for the Gulf of Mexico 650 miles(1,046kms) away.
The solo paddler led at the 209 mile mark and then purposely eased off the pace.
“The race had gone to plan allowing me to conserve my energy, get into a rhythm in the middle stages, bank 10 hours sleep and then storm home when others began to tire,” explains Nathan.
After just over 450 miles and three days on the water, he was lying a handy fifth behind two tandem crews and two other solo paddlers.
Nathan was poised to pounce but he hadn’t banked on a hurricane forcing the cancellation of the Alabama 650.
There was no advance warning of the imminent threat but race organisors had no option but to abandon the event as the final destination, Mobile Bay in the Gulf of Mexico, was in the eye of the storm.
“We had numerous conversations with the National Weather Service and anticipated disruption to infrastructure meant we had to put first the safety of paddlers, crew, staff and volunteers,” confirms Great Alabama 650 Race Director Paul Wingo.
That left Nathan to find a boat ramp, Elm Bay on the Alabama River, to put ashore and link up with his support crew Paul Cox, the American who still holds the solo paddling record time for the race.
Then it was a five-hour drive back to civilization in Atlanta, Georgia, ending not quite the challenge Nathan had anticipated.
A race director himself, Nathan was left frustrated and philosophical.
“I have been around long enough to know nothing was going to change, the race was over.”
It cut short his fundraising for the Fa’avae Pasifika Trust.
He had hoped to raise $10 for every mile so $6,500 but with the cancellation mid-race, it will probably be more like $3,500.”
After his abortive solo paddle, Nathan plans to return to team racing in next February’s Coast to Coast with his son Zefa and top offroad cyclist Cameron Jones from Ruby Bay.
