06/04/2011 - Grandman Triathlon

Header image. A wave of swimmers in shallow water are still bouncing on the bottom instead of swimming. David in the kayak can be seen in the background watching the swimmers.

1) Sunrise over Mobile Bay.

2) A few ducks on a stump. The staging area for the Grandman Triathlon can be seen in the background at Fairhope Pier.

3) This baby duck did not seem concerned by the nearby swimmers.

4) Today's paddle was a volunteer paddle to watch over Grandman Triathlon swimmers in Mobile Bay - to be there if they needed us, and there were a bunch of them!

5) A traffic jam wave of swimmers goes by as Harriet keeps a eye on them. Harriet is the leader of the kayak volunteers. Thanks for all you do!

6) There were over a dozen kayakers on the course watching for swimmers who might be having a problem.

7) Danny is in the front kayak and David is in the kayak behind the swimmers, both watching for any swimmers that stray from the course or need assistance.

8) Harriet keeping a watchful eye on the densely packed swimmers.

9) The swimming portion of a triathlon can overwhelm some participants. Swimmers grab onto kayaks when they get tired. This lady decided to call it quits. A member of the search and rescue boat extends a hand to the tired swimmer to pull her out of the water.

10) Since I was in Fairhope, I decided to paddle up Fly Creek and crossed paths with three groups of paddlers.

11) The water in Fly Creek clears the further up you go. It is cool to watch 1 to 2 foot long fish glide by.

05/30/2009 - Fairhope

1) Getting to see the sunrise over the Fairhope Yacht Club required an early start in order to be at the Grandman Trialthon on time.

2) Triathlon participates are split up into seven waves to make it safer. If they all swam the 1/3 mile course at the same time it would be chaos.

3) Swimming in waters so shallow many racer simply bounce along the bottom instead of swimming. 

4) The Mobile Bay Canoe and Kayak Club had members stationed all along the swimming course to provide support for the swimmers. The Grandman Trialthon benefits Mobile Baykeeper, The Gulf Coast Area Triathletes, The Baldwin County Trailblazers, and Camp Rap-A-Hope.

5) The last of the swimmers make their way to the transition area where they hop on their bicycle for a 16 mile ride and then conclude with a 5k run.

6) After the all the swimmers were on land I headed over to Fly Creek. A Fly Creek group is suing over upstream construction activity that was polluting the waters. Ironically, this Fly Creek resident is polluting the air around the creek they want to protect.

7) Colorful sailboats on protected waters make for nice reflections.

8) The new Fairhope Yacht Club building can be seen in the background. The old building was destroyed by a hurricane.

06/03/2006 – Fairhope (Grandman Trialthon)

Launch: Fairhope Yacht Club. Launch Cost: Free. Route: South about 1.2 miles to Fairhope Pier where I had volunteered to help out with the Grandman Triathlon. Distance: 6 miles. Average Speed: 2.6 mph. Time: Approx 3 hrs. Pace: Leisurely. Weather: Warm and hazy.

(1) Above left. Salmon colored sunrise from near the Fairhope Yacht Club. (2) Above right. Another early morning photo from the Eastern Shore near Fairhope.

(3) Above left. Steve in his sharp looking homemade kayak gets into position as race time nears. The swimming portion of the race is broken up into different groups, each group wearing a different colored swimming cap. (4) Above right. Harriet, coordinator for the kayak volunteers, keeps her eye out for any struggling swimmers. Kayakers approach struggling swimmers and let them grab onto the end of the kayak until they are rested enough to start swimming again.

(5) Above left. Since a large portion of the swimming event is in shallow water, many swimmers walk or bounce most of the distance. Here, several kayakers are following the last wave of swimmers who are walking in waist deep water. (6) Above right. Two kayakers are heading south after the event, passing the Martin House Condominiums. The pier in the background, damaged by last year’s hurricanes, is still being repaired.

I started surfing some small waves on the way back to the Fairhope Yacht Club in my Hobie Mirage pedal boat, with the brand new Turbo flippers. Sadly, the composite plastic housing on the pedal unit broke during a quick sprint to catch a wave. The stainless steel shaft is eroded and squealing. The pedal unit, rusted, is also worn out. It is quite disappointing to have to be replacing half the parts on the pedal unit when it is only a year old. The new unit had already broken several times in the past. 5 weeks later, and I’m still waiting on parts. Hobie Mirage owners, beware – you better take along a spare drive unit or be prepared to paddle back.

06/18/2005 – FYC / Grandman / Point Clear

Launch: Fairhope Yacht Club. Route: South along the Eastern Shore to the Fairhope Pier. Members of the Mobile Bay Canoe and Kayak Club were helping swimmers in the waters of Mobile Bay during the swimming portion of the Grand Man Triathlon. After the event, I went south to the Grand Hotel and back to FYC. Distance: 21.5 miles. Average Speed: 3.0 mph. Time: Approx 7.5 hrs. Pace: Slow except for a few early morning wind sprints to catch waves. Weather: Cloudy with light sprinkles and distant thunder in the morning. It cleared off by mid morning, and then clouded up again in the afternoon. Warning! There is an XXX Photo Below. You have been warned.

(1) Above left. A few kayaks sit lined up along the beach. The beginning of the Grand Man Triathlon race, hosted by the Mobile Bay Watch http://www.mobilebaywatch.org/ organization, was still twenty five minutes away. Mobile Bay Watch is helping to protect the beauty, health and heritage of the Mobile Bay area. Please consider supporting them. (2) Above right. Steve rests in his kayak, waiting for the first wave of swimmers in the triathlon to take to the waters. http://www.thegrandman.com/triathlon.html

(3) Above left. The swimmers receive their instructions and I believe there was also a moment of silence for Larry McDuff who was recently killed by a hit and run driver while riding his bicycle. (4) Above right. Roland, Brint, and Harriet keep an eye on swimmers while they make the turn to head back into shore. Harriet organized the kayaker participation for this event and she did a fantastic job.

(5) Above left. Mobile Bay Canoe and Kayak club members, despite the poor weather, provided swimmers with a bow to hold on to if they needed to catch their breath. Here, the last two swimmers had a Grand escort back to the beach in the slightly choppy conditions in the Bay. (6) Above right. George, in his white wooden kayak, passes by one of the swimmer course markers as the horizon darkens with the hint of an approaching storm. The rain squall was brief. The winds kicked up a few nice waves to surf with the kayak, but they quickly abated.

(7) Above left. After the races, I headed down to the Grand Hotel (http://www.marriottgrand.com/) enjoying the sun that finally appeared after the front passed. There was a lot of construction activity going on to repair or replace damaged docks on the trip south. I thought the pilings had to be driven in by a crane with a pile driver. Wrong, here, pilings are being sunk six feet into the sand with the aid of a water hose connected to a long PVC pipe, and a compressor. The forced water blows a hole in the sand allowing the pile to sink. (8) Above right. As promised, here is your XXX photo. Who knows where this XXX photo was taken (approx GPS coordinates)? Five points to the first person who answers correctly.

(9) Above left. Crew aboard the Kaotic seemed perplexed as they passed by me. Apparently, they had never seen a Hobie Outback before. There wasn’t much wind for a boat to sail today. (10) Above right. Heading back to the Fairhope Yacht Club http://www.fairhopeyachtclub.com/ I passed by some small sailboats and because there was little wind, I pedaled circles around them. Here, this young fellow gazes at the Hobie like he has never seen one before. What a splendid day.