The “Peace and Calm” of Huntley Park ended Thursday night until mid-day Sunday. The fourth of July was not bad at all…but by Thursday night the park was 80% full, and by Saturday it was 100% full…not sure they turned anyone away, but managers Sean and Patty said they ‘filled ‘er up”… maybe they might of crammed someone in if they had a small rig, or a tent…but essentially they were full. Saturday also brought out the Hydroplane boats. Saturday was worse than race day on Sunday. Most of the boats practiced, and they did not all practice at the same time…so we heard the revving up of the engines and whine of boat after boat most of the day with a short break at low tide around 1 pm.
On Sunday, they loaded into the water around 9:45, started up and headed down to Gold Beach. There was silence for about 15 minutes…then it sounded like an army of bees headed our way…got louder and louder and louder, then this guy in the pictures above showed up, followed by the other dozen boats or so. The guy in the above two pictures was in the front from the start of the race to the end…so I figure he won. There was no loud speakers, no announcers…it was just over, and silence once again fell on Huntley Park.
The most exciting part of the race was this Zebra Boat…the guy had to pull into the pits for a quick adjustment. A minute or so later he started to get back into the race…but when he gave it full throttle, it knocked him out of his boat. The “kill switch” did its work cutting the engine’s power, and one of the safety boats captured the boat. I am sure it was a long, embarrassing walk out there to get his boat…just glad he did not get hurt because it could have been worse. Only wish I had the picture...but it was behind some bushes from my view...oh well.
About 15 minutes later this ambulance comes storming into the campground, sirens cut as he pulls in, but lights still flashing (I just got unlucky and took the shot between flashes). At first we thought it was for the racer who got knocked out of his boat, but it was for a camper down the way who had a diabetic attack…they hauled him off to the local hospital, with spouse trailing a bit behind after the tent and everything got packed up into their van thanks to neighboring campers.
After the race had ended, this guy shows up. I thought at first that he was just a bit late….
…then realize he was in the race, broke down either up or down river, and they had to go pull his boat out. This gal was taking a picture of the propeller area, so I assume that is what busted.
We knew it was going to be a crazy weekend, and it was. But the people were all friendly, by 10 pm the quiet time was recognized by all, and other than the noise of fisherman pulling out with their boats in the early morning, all was quiet up past 8 am. The worse part of the weekend was the overcast both days...had to run the engine to keep batteries charged to where I like them. Today it is 65 degrees, sun shinning, the quietness has returned, and frankly…just a bit boring….naw, just joking, we enjoy the peace and quiet.
My last fire update. It is 100% contained…the sound of helicopters flying overhead is long gone. The group renting the camp have claimed responsibility, according to the local newspaper, but they still won’t talk about “how” it happened. They assured the paper that they had insurance, and it would cover the cost of putting the fire out…estimated to be over 1.5 million dollars now and rising. However, I am certain the forestry company whose land also burned…who lost a 10+ year area of a Redwood Grove that they planted…is going to go after them for a business loss…hope they have lots and lots of insurance…well, on the other hand, going bankrupt and shutting their eco-activist business down might be better.
Now THAT was an exciting, however noisy, day. At least everyone was respectful of the 10:00 quiet time.
ReplyDeleteLiked Sunday better Saturday, that's for sure.
ReplyDelete